Eulogy Tips from Martin Luther King Jnr.

When Martin Luther King Junior expressed publicly some pertinent things about his own death and his funeral, he laid out some important principles for us all.

We All Think About Death and Our Funeral

He said, “We all think about it.” Then he shared his own thoughts:

“And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense.”

Expressing Wishes About Your Funeral

King mentioned some wishes for his funeral:

“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long.”

Tell Them Not to Mention

There are some things our loved ones don’t want mentioned so ask them, ‘What are those things?’

Martin Luther King Jnr. answered that question:

“Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important.”

“Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important.”

“Tell them not to mention where I went to school.”

I’d Like Someone to Mention

King gave an idea of what he would like mentioned in his eulogy. He said:

“I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.

Say that I was a drum major for peace.

I was a drum major for righteousness.”

 Ask your loved ones what they would like mentioned.

State the Important Things and Forget the Trivia

Martin Luther King Jnr. wanted the essential things mentioned in his eulogy:

“And all of the other shallow things will not matter.

I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.

And that's all I want to say.”

 King was inferring not to short change people by speaking about the trivial and unimportant.

King’s Eulogy Principles

+ Ask your loved ones to write down their wishes for their funeral and eulogy.

+ Ask them what they don’t want mentioned or done.

+ Ask them what they’d like mentioned.

+ Highlight the important things about the person, not that which is shallow or trivial.

Geoff Pound

Sources:

The excerpt from ‘The Drum Major Instinct’ sermon in which Martin Luther King Jnr spoke about his funeral and eulogy given on 4 February 1968 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

The full sermon, ‘The Drum Major Instinct’.