For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my wonderful father and I volunteered with the United Way of Southeastern Michigan and City Year Detroit at the Osborn Collegiate Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology. During the welcome ceremonies of the MLK Service Day, Michael Brennan, President and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan read a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  “The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, but It Bends Toward Justice.”

Mr. Brennan reminded us that we all have the ability to be “Arc Benders.”As Arc Benders, we can take up arms to serve our community with humility and love.  For the MLK Service Day, our objective was to build benches for the high school. The furniture we built will be painted and used within a community art project. At the beginning of the day we started with piles of various sized planks, nails, and hammers and by the end of the afternoon we had five benches ready to be beautified by Detroit’s high school youth. Although in isolation the materials used to create the bench offer little in value, together they were used to make something sturdy, purposeful, and (once painted) beautiful.

Much like the development of this furniture, the value of our service work is meaningful on an individual basis but transformative when joined with the positive efforts of others. Every act of kindness, moment of gratitude, and resistance against wrong, directs the “Moral Universe’s Arc” a little closer towards justice.