Martin Luther King made a flying visit to St Pauls to deliver a sermon on his way to pick up the Noble Peace Prize in Oslo.

He based his sermon on the following poem.

Be The Best Of Whatever You Are

By Douglas Malloch

If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
  Be a scrub in the valley — but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
  Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
  And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass —
  But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
  There’s something for all of us here,
There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,
  And the task you must do is the near.

If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
  If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
  Be the best of whatever you are!

Douglas Malloch. “Be The Best Of Whatever You Are.” Family Friend Poems,

The visit is described well on the St Pauls Web Site here

Published Dec 6th 2024