“There are countless, countless ways to serve, especially for people of faith,’’ Patrick said. “Faith is about more than what we say and believe. Faith is about what we do, how we act, whom we touch.’’
He saluted hundreds of Bay State eighth-graders who took part this year in Project 351, a statewide day of community service that Patrick initiated. The project takes place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and draws students from all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth.
The example set by the eighth-graders, Patrick said, will lead to what King often referred to as “a beloved community,’’ filled with people who take responsibility for each other.
Senator Scott Brown called King’s devotion to service a powerful message that could be an inspiration to those trying to end the bitter partisan divide in Washington.
“He had the ability to bring people of all walks of life together’’ for the common good, Brown added.
Walter Fluker, the Martin Luther King Jr. professor of ethical leadership at the Boston University School of Theology, was yesterday’s keynote speaker. He called on the audience to find inspiration in the memorial to King that was dedicated last fall on the National Mall in Washington.
Fluker traveled to Washington for the dedication, and noted that because it is located between the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream’’ speech, and the memorial to Thomas Jefferson across the tidal basin, “it’s as if King’s gaze stretches across the basin and it’s fixed on Jefferson. Maybe he’s thinking about the promise of equality and freedom that is written into the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.’’
In the audience at yesterday’s breakfast was Robert Cooper of Cambridge, who brought his 6-year-old son, Robert Jr., to the event for the first time.
