This past Thursday was the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and we celebrate the occasion on Monday the 19th. Throughout the centuries, there have been men and women who have struggled to advance humanity’s greater good. Some of their names are well known. Others are not. But famous or obscure, their work has moved us forward and made the world a better place to live. Their struggles have conferred blessings on us all.

Gen 32:24-29

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

I pray that I, and all others who long to do so, will find their assigned place and be able to participate with our Creator to be His hands and feet and mouth here on earth.