Local action. Global vision.
Glynis Johns attribute that view point to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"From the start, Dr. King had always been focused first on his community and how it can trickle on to the rest of the world," said Johns, founder and CEO of the Black Scranton Project.
Johns was among a group from many faiths who gathered for a service at Shiloh Baptist Church in Scranton in honor of King on Monday, his birthday and the federal holiday that celebrates his life. The event was organized by Charlotte Ledbetter. Passages were read from the bible that related to King’s work and the four-member MLK Ensemble, backed by the church band, sang many songs including King’s favorite, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord."
The Rev. Darian Banks, introduced by the mistress of ceremony and his wife, Fania Blackwell-Banks, closed out the service with a sermon.
"No one should seek their own good, but the good of others," he said. "See, that's what Martin Luther King was about. He was looking for the good of others."
Those who spoke asked the congregation to share King’s message of love with one another and their community.
"We call on the Lord today, because we are celebrating a mighty man, mighty man who has seen some things, but has done some things," said Blackwell-Banks, "and those things that he has done, he's done it with diligence, with valor and with grace."
Elder Rodney Harraway read from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. The verse he spoke — 61:1 — relates to becoming free from imprisonment and darkness.
"That they might be called trees of righteousness," he said.
Rabbi Daniel Swartz of Temple Hesed offered a clarification in Hebrew of that passage.
“It's not generic tree, it’s a specific kind of terrapin oak," he said.
That type of tree never grows alone, said Swartz. It relies on a network of roots connected to other trees for sunlight and food.
"May we all leave here tonight, inspired in our own way to be trees of righteousness, not just standing upright, but standing with each other, sharing with each other, helping each other and blessing each other," he said.
