Let This Be My Epitaph

I longed to live my life denying myself for others and when I die, it is my prayer that during my necrological service people will not tell what I have become or what I have achieved. Let the people know that I, a humble servant of God has been used so that others may live... and you don't need to be a saint to do that

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't
want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the
eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then
I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that
I have a Nobel Peace Prize; that isn't important.

Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other
awards; that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I
went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr.,
tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr.,
tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war
question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the
hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my
life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit
those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was
a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for
peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the
other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to
leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of
life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life
behind. And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,
If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,
If I can spread the message as the master taught,
Then my living will not be in vain.

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not
for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left
side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I
just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in
commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a
new world.

~excerpted from a sermon by Martin Luther King Jr., delivered at
Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on February 4, 1968