To Mom with Love

Heavenly Father,

You gave me a Mom who was not afraid to say, "No," when it was best to protect me from danger.

You gave me a Mom who was not afraid to say, "Yes," when it was best to encourage me.

You gave me a Mom who was not afraid to teach me at an early age that the most important thing in my life is knowing Jesus Christ and His forgiveness.

You gave me a Mom who was not afraid to stand against compromise, who taught me to know right from wrong, who didn't worry about being my friend and yet become my friend as I matured and recognized the protections she and my dad had covered me with.

You gave me a Mom who taught me a love of music that I will take with me the rest of my days; a song in my heart speaking volumes when words cannot.

You gave me a Mom that was in many ways, fearless, breaking barriers, standing against injustice and in many ways, frail, blended together by your hand.

You gave me a Mom that loved laughter and joy and corny jokes, a perfect match for the love of her life, my dad.

You gave me a Mom that was not afraid of commitment and taught me that love withstands all things and remains loyal and honorable to that commitment.

You gave me a Mom that shaped my life with all that is good in this world, a life lived that touched eternity.

I am humbled that I have received more than I could measure, more that I could have ever hoped for in the woman that you created to be my Mom.

Yes Father, you gave this to me as a gift, a heart full of memories that will carry me over until I see her and my dad again in Heaven.

I love you Mom.

Being on the Outside

A member from our credit union came in for a loan. As we talked, he told me about a woman whose husband had died. They had been married for 32 years and she was very upset because in the tribal tradition of burial, she could not be part because she was not Indian. As I questioned him about this he said that the man was taken, given the burial ceremony and then buried in an unmarked grave in a remote area on the tribal burial grounds.
That tribal ceremony had no respect for a life lived of 32 years together. It didn't acknowledge the love, care and support spouse had given to spouse. No acceptance of two lives lived together for most of an earthly existence.
I told him how wounded I would have been if I had given that much of my life to one man and then not been allowed to be present in death simply because I was or was not a particular blend of humanity. I told him that God is no respecter of persons, He doesn't require us to be a particular blend of human, or have particular rites. He agreed, he said, "Man is the one who shuts people out based on their perception of what is allowed. God does not."

Week 4 Political Science Post

2) If you could interview a prominent political activist (living or dead), whom would you select? List five questions that you would ask about that individual's childhood or personality in order to better understand his or her political behavior. Why are these particularly revealing questions?


If I could interview a prominent political activist, I would choose William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was responsible for the abolition of the slave trade in England, spending the larger part of his life fighting it. He fought tirelessly for many years against political corruption and greed that kept slavery alive and well, as it was a very profitable trade for many of his peers in Parliament.

1. What first unleashed your passion to make a wrong right by abolishing the slave trade?

2. How did meeting John Newton, (the creator of the song Amazing Grace) affect you and lead to your decision to take on the challenge of abolition? (John Newton had been a slave trader for years responsible for the miserable life and deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of slaves that he brought from Africa, until one day, he met God. He did not stop slave trading immediately upon his conversion, however, after some years and much study, he did give up that life and began a life of church service.) Wilberforce had gone to visit Newton to inquire about giving up his life of politics now that he had met God. Newton wholeheartedly encouraged Wilberforce to serve God and mankind where God had placed him, in politics.

3. As a youngster, you were frail and sickly, and as a man, while still frail and sick often times, you took on a challenge of gigantic proportions in the slave trade. Were you ever concerned that you would not have enough fight in you to prevail in winning freedom for the slaves?

4. Did you feel overwhelmed with the amount of adversity you faced with political opponents, motivated by large sums of money, which were entrenched in Parliament, having enough political clout to continually thwart your efforts? What kept you going during the times when victory seemed unobtainable?

5. Your biographies mention that you have a beautiful speaking and singing voice. Would you sing Amazing Grace for me? What does that song mean to you?

These questions reveal the tenacity that is required to accomplish great things via a political life. Without a foundation of courage, character, compassion and commitment, the important issues that need attention and correction will not be addressed. William Wilberforce was beloved by his countrymen and his opponents, and, left a legacy that is still celebrated today both in England and the United States, with colleges that bear his name as well as celebrations of the historic day his legislation passed. Wilberforce College in Wilberforce Ohio was one of the first African American owned colleges in the US and is primarily an African American college.

The Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.The butterfly then emerged easily.But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.And we could never fly.

Intelligence vs Wisdom

From a post on my college online class homework. Steve's main issue was how the old people had it made because the young people would have to support them with SSA payments.

Well Steve,I am old and so far I have taken care of, mentored, encouraged, protected and served far more young people than old. Speaking from a life lived for half a century, (plus a little but who the heck is counting? Not me for sure!) I can tell you that I have more WISDOM now - even without my college education than I ever had when I was young. I think God gives everyone intelligence but that it doesn't become wisdom until we learn to use it to serve others; to encourage those who loose hope, to mentor those who need to learn, to protect those that need protection and to take care of those that are not able to care for themselves - young or old. I'm glad I'm independent enough that I won't plan on being supported by SSA but at the same time realize that it is our dependency on each other that keeps us humble and teaches us our most important lessons. And for the debt being incurred? If we all lived off of a cash basis, we probably wouldn't send folks to Washington that didn't have the same respect for money that we do.

Why Grace?

Folks often wonder why Grace would make a difference in a persons life. All too often, we judge, we condemn, we gossip, and we discourage everything we don't agree with. Things that make us stretch outside of our comfort zone because we really don't know how to react.

Grace doesn't fear. It doesn't judge, it doesn't condemn. Instead, Grace allows wisdom to speak and to question; to determine the best response. One that will respect humanity while protecting honor and integrity.