This motivational speech was delivered at Delta College, Bay City, Michigan, on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. We feel that the information contained in this speech would be beneficial to families around the world. Please enjoy reading the inspiring information. The audience consisted of university students and professors. The speech was modified for the website.
It is a tremendous honor to celebrate with you a great leader, Martin Luther King (MLK), who now stands with many of our great ancestors. Martin Luther King lived and died for the freedom of all mankind. His heart was tied to the injustices he saw in our nation. He found his niche and died for equality and justice for all mankind. We have focused in recent years on his famous “I have a dream” speech.
However, before King became famous, he gave a speech on February 28, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, titled “Rediscovering Lost Values.” In King’s speech, he spoke of our great scientific achievements through scientific genius.
He states and I quote: “The scientific genius of man has been amazing. I think we have to look much deeper than that if we want to find the real cause of man’s problems and the real cause of the evils of the world today. If we really want to find it, I think we will have to search the hearts and souls of men.
King spoke those words fifty-five (56) years ago. It is as if he is speaking to us today. It is very important for us to rediscover our lost moral Values. There are twelve steps to rediscover lost values through partnerships that will allow us to impact our families and our world. I really think we can by using associations.
An association is the relationship between two or more people or organizations that are involved in the same activity. There are twelve acrostic letters for the word societies.
Step 1 is personal: We have a personal responsibility to contribute to the success of families, neighbors, friends, society, government, nations, businesses, and the world. We must personally model moral values within the foundation of our own lives so that they can be transferred to our families and our world.
Step 2 is Adjust: We must Adapt to a changing world so that our families and businesses survive so that we can prosper and use our prosperity and resources to respond to needs related to our families and in our communities; issues such as lack of spirituality, substance abuse, anger, education, unemployment, literacy, health care, poverty, crime, blight, housing, recreation, and lack of unity.
Step 3 is the relationship: we must build a relationship between us to move in the same direction to address the aforementioned needs. We must bring our individual skills and talents to the table. We have a moral obligation to share our unconditional love with others.
Again I quote King from his speech, “Rediscover Lost Values:” “But the real danger facing civilization today is that atomic bomb that lies in the hearts and souls of men, capable of exploding into the deepest hatred vile and in the most harmful selfishness”. -That is the atomic bomb that we have to fear today.”
Personally, I believe that we can turn off the atomic bomb that lies in people’s hearts. Strong and healthy relationships project moral values to society.
Step 4 is Transform: Therefore, we must transform our way of thinking by thinking outside the box to generate new ideas and solutions. The world has changed and for our families, businesses, and organizations to survive, we need stable communities and a skilled workforce to meet the needs of society. Thinking outside the box gives us a new perspective on how to bring stability to communities.
Step 5 is Neglect: We must not Neglect those communities that are in decline but must grow beyond our own selfish dominance so that others may be blessed by the fruits of our labor.
Step 6 is Effort: It will take great Effort to break down the walls of our own selfish domination, but I believe that through partnerships we can transform our communities and the hearts of people. I believe that by eliminating selfishness from our lives, through associations, we will rediscover lost values.
Step 7 is Responsibility: We have a Responsibility and moral obligation to train and guide our youth to wear the mantle of moral values. This should empower them to gain the skills they need to build a strong family foundation. We want them to value education and entrepreneurship from generation to generation. This is why we need to dedicate our hearts to our families.
Step 8 is Servant: We must consider valuing the need to be Servants to one another. We must value the importance of volunteering our time to help others, which will improve society through the relationships we build. Yes, bondage: if we all applied this to all of our relationships, the world would be different.
Step 9 is Honesty – Honesty should be an important part of partnerships. We should never build relationships for selfish gain, but instead contribute to the success of others. Honesty can be the driving force that helps us build the relationships necessary to address the social ills of society.
Another quote from King’s “Rediscover Lost Values” speech:
“But I’m here to tell you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally like this, absolutely like this.”
We must not allow our lives to be ruled by selfishness, if we do we will implode.
Step 10 is to invest: It will take our inner strength to invest our time, resources, and money in partnerships. But our own ideology can get in the way of associations, but I believe in the power of the human heart. With our hearts, we have the ability to influence the lives of people around the world. We can do both by bringing our own individuality to the table. I’m sure we can form partnerships that make us profitable so we can give back to help rebuild our communities.
Step 11 is Persevere: We must Persevere despite the obstacles we face because our communities, city, county, region, state, the United States and the world need us. We can make a difference by making personal sacrifices to build a community of hope and rediscover moral values through partnerships.
Step 12 is Spirituality: Spirituality will play an important role in rediscovering the moral values of the world. We must not forget the impact that God has had in shaping our lives and in the development of our nation and the world.
We need to come together as true partners if we want to survive during these difficult times. The foundation of the family is broken and we can repair the foundation of the family by working together. It needs to be repaired to be successful in rediscovering moral values in the world.
Let me share an analogy with you. Here is a simple question that I need an answer for. “What is a piggy bank?”
What are you investing in your piggy bank?
1. If you invest pennies in your piggy bank, what can you get back from your piggy bank?
2. If you also invest quarters in your piggy bank, what can you get back from your piggy bank?
3. If you now invest dollars in your piggy bank, what can you get back from your piggy bank?
4. If you invest hundreds of dollars in your piggy bank, what can you get back from your piggy bank?
5. If you invest thousands of dollars in your piggy bank, what can you get back from your piggy bank?
You are right, you can recover pennies, quarters, dollars, millions of dollars and thousands of dollars. You have a choice of what you will get back from your piggy bank. I want you to know that the piggy bank represents your brain. Everything you have seen, heard and experienced is stored in your piggy bank (brain)
If you invest in negativity, immorality, selfishness, hate, drugs, crime, yelling, cursing, fighting, cheating, and lying, that’s what you’ll likely get back from your piggy bank.
To overcome the social ills of society, family problems, and our selfish hearts, we must invest wisely in our piggy bank. We must let our hearts focus on Rediscovering Lost Values through the twelve steps of Associations
I believe in you! I believe that God has set aside a remnant of people who will be models of moral values throughout the world.
Repeat with me three times:
I will invest wisely in my piggy bank.
I will invest wisely in my piggy bank.
I will invest wisely in my piggy bank.
I encourage you now to use your heart, soul and mind to wisely apply your investments in society.
God bless you and your family, God bless America and the world as you invest wisely in rediscovering lost values through partnerships.
