Does it profit us - to listen to a prophet or profitess?

All of a sudden, it seems, we are being deluged with the words of prophets - AND prophetess's.

I have to wonder why and I have come to this conclusion.  If you scan as many news sites as I do and are as interested in the future as I am, I have to believe you have probably noticed the same phenomenon.  The question has to be, are they serious or just getting paid well for their thoughts?

Before examining some of the thoughts being expressed by these folks, I went to the dictionary first, to examine its definition.  The best home dictionary I have ever found, the Encarta, a world English dictionary is sitting next to me.  It says:  "Someone who interprets divine will" and the definition is applicable to both sexes.  A further reference names Muhammad Muhammad, the founder of Islam and Joseph Smith, the man who established the founding the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. That Church is still headed by modern day prophets,  The Bible, of course, is loaded with the prophetic utterances of those who our history professors has proved to be, actually, prophets.

I had attended church for decades before I ever heard of the word being used among my contemporaries.  I was so intrigued, I accepted a gathering of modern day prophets, hoping to learn something..  That was in the late 70's and I came away, deeply disappointed as I heard nothing that could not be traced to the fears or expectations of contemporary columnists,

So, I must admit.  Aside from those who have followed Joseph Smith - I must acknowledge that I am a member of the church and those I have heard from them recently, are merely referring to the passages in scripture regarding the lives of members, primarily.  There are no "gloom and doom" utterances that I can recall, only thoughtful recommendations for the faithful to follow.

Let us now consider, some vthe "prophesies" we hear being offered by these modern day prophets or prophetess's.  Lifetime, the TV production, has four of the latter ilk on their schedule.  Belinda Scott, a "major" prophetess, predicts child births and specializes in the in blessing the wombs of barren women.   The others are touted to be"Queens of the Church" and each has a different style and their own special way of delivering God's message.  All are "united" in their love of the Lord, the producers say.  Belinda has a protege who grew up as a Muslim who had never seen a woman in the pulpit and acknowledges that she will have "challenges".

There is another - Linda Roark whose "specialty" is delivering people from the street and bringing them to God.  Oh, I would love to meet her.  I spent two and half years working directly with"street" people and two years on the staff of a Rescue Mission.  I have seen dozens of such prophets and only a couple of prophetesses, but they had no real Biblical knowledge and you can always trace the "conversion" to the fact the "renewed" one now had a place to sleep and a few meals to enjoy as a result.  Move on to the next town and you are likely to meet the very same people, kneeling before the "Man (or woman) of God" in search of "deliverance" - aka, something to feed their bellies.  I used to be very concerned about such people "using " God and the Bible, but then I also used to attend churches where the same process was part of the plan.

Charisma magazine recently asked the question, "Where is America in Bible prophesy?'  I had to read it as my mind had not yet been cleared of the sights I have just mentioned.  They start with their claim, "America is the greatest crisis it has ever been in".  I hear that a lot these days, but ask all of those who will listen, were you there in 1929 when I was born and 60 days later, men were jumping out of office windows to their death because of the great "Stock Market crises"  Were you there on December 7, 1941 when we became a party to World War II and lost thousands of our young men defending the rights we have to talk nonsense, if we so please.  I wish they had been there when I overheard an Air Force commander - during the Korean war, order his pilots to strafe civilians because some were known to be carrying bombs to kill those whose only purpose was to get them out of harms way.  Great crisis.  Let me ask the author of that quote, "Would you care to let us know your wages, compared to your fathers at the same age.?"

We have problems, yes we do, but nothing like those faced up to by previous generations.  They faced insecurity because some prophesied that Russia was willing to engage us in a nuclear war.

Greatest crisis?  Please do not suggest that in the name of God.  We don't "understand" the present dangers.?  Yes, we do, proven by the fact that little more than a third of our eligible voters even vote on election day.  "We, the people..." have but one essential obligation to our nation and that is to reflect our voice on election day, but when we are asked to believe political news releases rather than the heart felt conviction of those who pledge their lives to represent us, we obviously no longer want to get into that game.  We have other interests.

I would agree with the second claim, that there is a LONG list of of sins committed by the church and our nation.  Those responsible appear to ignore the message that Jesus sent that caused me almost to convulse, realizing I did not really understand His words, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand".  They brought me to my knees and that will be forty years ago, next week.  They still are with me.  Especially in my times of weakness.  I pray that they will reverberate in the hearts of all who dare to represent us.  It is no easy task, we know that.  What we do not understand it their laying the blame on others.  Yesterday, as I was writing and praying as I reflected on the words I had used,  He reminded me that we all have mirrors.  We seem to have forgotten how to use them, effectively.

Now I note their writer had upped the ante.  Earlier it was - the depth and danger, now it is our peril.

He or she believes that the fact that we are - in their opinion, ignoring the prophetic timeline and I am hear to remind then - and everyone who lives, we are to live - believing ..."the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."

Are you asking us to believe in people we do not even know for certain that their readers exist, compared to the God who rescued us from the pits we had dug for ourselves?

It does not matter when Jesus saved the soul who now has a pen in his or her hand.  It does not matter what supernatural vision they believed was from God, except of course that it caused them to repent - as God did for me forty years ago.

And now, we come to the bottom line, the author of those words is a prophetic expert.  Well, since I have experienced the presence of God in my life, many times, it was never for me to "go preach" as I have often asked Him to empower me.  It was always, "Follow me,"

In doing do, I believe I am called to help the next person I meet - as I am prompted by God and if the term help is not applicable, I know that I am directed to pray for them.

Perhaps, if we would all follow Him and love others, rather than fear some others, there would be no need for the gift of prophesy in the age in which we are privileged to live.

A time out? Little did I know....

I hope you read my post yesterday, the one where it became obvious, I really did not know what day it was.  I try to examine what I have written so as to eliminate the obvious errors, but how could I have missed - not knowing what day it was?  The fact is, I did.

So, I tried to make amends and wound up wasting away a lot of time, trying to write a more lucid explanation of what I was trying to say.  My words failed me.  I knew it.

Well, not until this morning while I was scanning my incoming e-mails and came upon one of the articles from, Charisma News of all places.  I used to love those folks.  The magazine, Charisma, was created in the church I was attending at the time.  I thought I knew the Founder.  But as time has moved on, I discover I never knew him at all, but that would take longer than I want to offer this morning.

I want to share my thoughts about the article I saw this morning.  Apparently, it was written by a Cindy Jacobs and was entitled, "What is God Really Saying about America's future?  It was the title that drew my attention.  I wanted to know as I do not have that many years left to do what I can for this great nation I love so very much.

So, I read through it, pondered some of her thoughts and printed a copy so I could look at later in the day.  It is sitting here at my side as I write this.

But first, I remembered that I had not sent a "Good morning" e-mail to a dear friend who has been more than just a "friend in need" since the passing of my wife.  There is nothing romantic going on, she is just the best friend I have ever known in person since that day, almost forty years ago, when I came heart-to-heart with the Lord of the Universe, my Father in heaven.

It started out like this... "Good morning, Karen" and then this followed...

Up early, scanned my e-mails and the only item of note was a lady by the name of Cindy Jacobs who was trying to tell us - "What is God really saying about America's future?" And I know, there are people who will believe her.

That has been the subject of my prayers for quite awhile now and I keep hearing - "You already know, all you need to do is examine is the path on which you have been travelling."

Well, if that was a personal response, America has an exciting future.

God has been very real to me for the past forty years.   On May 13, it will be my fortieth anniversary of that "day" - actually, it was closer to Midnight, when I knew that I knew, God had heard my plea and had spoken to me, directly.  Two words, "Follow Me!"

And so I have and although here have been moments of doubts, they have long since been replaced by the realization, He is always close at hand.

Not Him specifically, but certainly some of His angels as I have seen them, not the "winged" variety we hear about, read about, in the media.  They came in the shape of persons who come across my life, almost daily....."

And then, I stopped.  I sensed I needed to tell others how I know that it is the God who has been watching over for me for all of those years.  Is it the same God of whom Cindy Jacobs speaks or the One in whom I have placed my trust?   I know there has to be a difference.  Not that I could have an article placed in Charisma magazine or others, but the One I have known and who has became even more real - after the passing of my wife who had led me here to Cookeville, TN, to marry and now I was left alone in a place I hardly knew.  My Sister with whom I had been living with in Hendersonville, TN, prior to moving here, was now living in Arizona.  I was eighty three years of age and as far as I could see, there was no future for me.  The pain that I bore seemed to be greater than the God I had known for so many years.  I began to plead with Him to take me home.  I began to fast so that I might weaken and die, but to no avail.  It was then that I realized, what should have been apparent to me.  If you seek God and have not found Him where you thought He should be, go to a place where He has other followers.  So I did and came across a group of angels that loved me back to life.

I cannot tell you of the joy that has flooded my life since He made that recommendation - to stop feeling sorry for myself and reach out to the virtual armies He has stationed throughout our earth.  I never realized how real they were until I began to examine the news coming at us from all directions.  Bad news!  Or was it? "Take a closer look, Sherwood"  And everywhere I looked I could see His hand.  I stopped reading the headlines and watching - and listening, to the news "breaks" that interrupted the regular programming on TV or over the radio.  I was not naive.  Every since I returned from the Korean war and realized, none of my family seemed to have missed me, nor my friends and former classmates.  All were too busy tending to their own affairs and so it should be.  The problem was - as I came to realize, we actually do have an enemy of our souls and he is busy, 24/7, 365/6 days of every year.  I knew him personally as he had nearly robbed me of everything I had once held dear to my life .

It wasn't until that fateful day 40 years ago that he lost his power over me.  Now, I know that He is really real, He has continued to open my eyes to the dangers that are everywhere about us.  But it is not the dangers that come from abroad, it is the very real dangers that come from within.  It is not from the disputes that rage between the elements of our society, the political powers, the poor and the rich, those who have too much and those who have literally nothing at all, the futurists and those who yearn for the lazy, hazy days of the past.  No, none of these.  It is the battles that rage within us as we aspire to reach beyond our capacity to accept life as it is, today.  There is nothing wrong about wanting more tomorrow unless of course, we have not yet learned to live with what we have today.  It is not the others, it is the proverbial "man in the mirror" that causes our despair.

And along comes a Cindy Jacobs, child of God, earning a living it appears, by her writing skills, but as a prophet?   Stirring the pot so that others will be lured into believing what she apparently believes.  I love her, God called me to love her, as He called me to Steve Strang, who I knew so many years ago.  I understand.  They are earning their living by catching our attention.  There is little difference between them and those who write for the New York Times.  Oh yes, I know, they are Christian as I am.  Who are the others to believe?  I can tell you the truth.  None of us are really that important.

One day, God explained my plight to me and I would like to suggest that it is appropriate for all of us.  "Son", He whispered, " you realize of course, I knew where you would be living today, ions ago.  I knew that what I did for you and what I have done for each one of the others, would lead you to this place.  I knew that long before others came to realize that the DNA I implanted in you would be different from all of the others.  So, I knew there would be conflicts.  That is why I sent My son to atone for your sins, so that you could learn to live with and love the others.  In your case, it seems to have worked well,  Some, not so well.  It cost the life of my only begotten Son so that all would understand, how seriously I took your life to be as well as all of the others."

After reading the article mentioned above, I was reminded to share what I have just shared, confident in the fact that He will dictate our futures.  The role of the prophet or the prophetess is intriguing but the fact is, America's future remains in my hands and yours.  It is my prayer we will all take our eyes off of the prophet and look squarely into the mirror.

Time out - in fact, it is past a time out

As I begin this post, it is May 7, 2015.   I want to take time to return to the year 2013 and recount some events in my life.   It is important to me and I have to believe, it might become important to you.

First recall that in late July of 2013, I was happily married to Derlene, my soul mate for the previous almost seven years and she suddenly had a physical problem that had never occurred before.  We rushed her to the Emergency room at Cookeville's regional medical center where they were unable to find any reason for the profuse bleeding that was coming through her vagina.  They suggested that she see her family doctor, but I knew that we had only recently been examined and declared to be "poster children for the Elderly" suggesting that we were doing very well for a couple of older folks - in our 70's.

But I had overheard a doctor suggest that if there was a recurrence, she should come to the hospital immediately and see him, if he was available.  I didn't know who "he" was, but I made a point of determining his name and made an appointment to see him the next day.  He saw us immediately and suggested a probe where they would take a sample of her blood and sent it to the lab. Three days later, it was back and the report, Stage two Cancer.  They made arrangement for an appointment with a surgeon in Nashville and on Saturday, we were on our way to check into a hospital for a further exam.  It was worse, Stage three cancer.  The Doctor told us she needed further medication, before the operation which was to be scheduled for the following Monday.  Unfortunately, that report was even worse.  They were only able to remove 65% of the cancerous tissue and another operation would be necessary.  They moved her to an ICU unit in the interim.  Two days later, she was dead.

Three weeks from what we thought was a "minor" episode in our lives, she was gone.

I was devastated.  I had moved to Cookeville to be married and believed, that we would live happily afterwards.  Now, I was alone.  I had no relatives nearby and very few real friends. The friends I thought I had among my in-laws turned out be far less than I might have expected. They were heirs to "her" house and I was asked to leave.  And so I did.  But in the interim, I decided it might be time to leave it all behind.  I literally stopped eating and in the process, lost nearly 40 pounds.  No one seemed to notice.  It just seemed as though they were eager to get me out of their lives.  That might not be true, but when you have lost the love of your life, you begin to wonder.  So, I moved.  I had an income, my Social Security check, but realized it would not be enough to sustain me.  I discovered she had a life insurance policy and although it wasn't much, it was enough to sustain me for a few months.  I knew I had to find a job.

Only problem was, I suddenly realized that my age, 84 when I began my search, I was no longer a potential asset.  It kept me from accepting what I thought might be an offer, only to realize that their insurance policies did not cover people in my age category.

With nothing else to do, I started to write, something I had excelled at earlier on in my life and discovered, along with a close friend, this blog.

And I had a new church.  I had been a believing Christian for nearly forty years and through another friend, I discovered a wonderful group of folks who were soon-to-be dear friends and often suggested, they had, in fact,  "loved me back to life."

All the while, I continued my search for employment, not necessarily a full-time opportunity, a part-time job might suffice, but it seemed, no one had a need for guy who was now, 85 years old.  Now, I might be many things to others, but this I can assure folks, having past through a period where their seemed to be no hope, I had no intention of growing - old!

Moving on, I heard a knock on my door.  Strange!  I had lived at this address for over a year and no one that I can recall, ever came to knock on my door.  But, here were two young ladies, pamphlets in hand wanting to talk to me about their church, the Mormons.  Having had some bad experiences with another group of "door knockers", I was not about to get interested in what they had to say.  Nor, were they content - I was about to learn, to move along until I had heard what they had to say.   I listened for a few minutes and then found myself, inviting them to come in and learned, they could not come in unless they brought another couple with them.

And so it began, a journey unlike any other I had experienced in all of my years.  At first, I was even reluctant to believe any of their claims, but as they talked, I began to realize that what they were saying was - in fact, closer to the Bible I had trusted for almost forty years than what I had heard being taught in other churches.  Not that others were wrong. but they were only focused on a portion of that the Bible teaches about living among the people that God has loved from the very beginning of time.

Years before, I had ceased to trust in the words of others, not that I might not have believed in what they were saying; it was just that they were not speaking to me.  Don't get me wrong, as I love others, all others, but I have also studied the word of God and know that I know, we are often tempted to believe the man who may or may not have experienced all that the Bible has to say to all of us, not merely just to a few of us.

Words are important.  Have you ever realized what it might say if you merely changed a couple of letters in the word, denomination?  Try changing the positions of the letters 'n' and 'm' of the first five letters in that word.  It doesn't mean anything, really.  I just want to know that you were listening as I continue this particular blog, tomorrow

A peek at what is coming in 2016

The other day, I received the following among my e-mails...

""I am running for President of the United States, and I ask for your support.

If this great nation is to survive the challenges of the modern world, we need to heal, we need to be inspired, and we need to revive the exceptional spirit that built America. 

Working with you and all of our fellow citizens, I want to lead that revival.

I am not a politician, nor am I politically correct. 

But I believe my values, my life experience, and my willingness to speak the truth and seek solutions prepares me well to lead our nation toward more prosperity, security, and freedom for every American.

Over the course of this campaign, both my team and I will ask for your support. 

So I ask for your commitment, right now,...."

You probably received the same, so I don't want to mention any names.  You probably recognized the format.  It could have come from any of he people who want us to believe, they are running for President in 2016.   What intrigued me was the fact, I have other communications from this same person, who I have come to honor and respect over the years, but this is pure, "boiler plate" as we called such announcements when I was taking an active interest in politics.  As I told my readers in the Herald-Citizen last Sunday, I am no longer interested in politics; well, politics as they are playing the game these days.

It is a game, you ought to know.  It is not "tag, you're it."  Today,  it is "see the 'fat' man run".

"Fat" as in "loaded down with the money that was once destined for the public till, where it could be used to pay down the national debt, or - as some of us would have it, to be applied to the problems that we see revealed almost every other day, on the streets of America.

Which brings me to an article I received yesterday, promoting recently published books, under the headline, "Big Dangers for the Next Election".  It is a matter that ought to be the concern of the few of us who actually go to the election booth to cast our impressions on who might become our next President.  After the way we have treated the present incumbent in the White House, why would anyone care to take on the responsibilities that go with the office?  If you are interested - and I trust that you are, the titles of the books are:  Democracy and Collected Writings, edited by Desiree Ramos Reiner, Jim Lyons, Eric Opsal,  Mikayla, Terriell and Lena Glaser, all of whom represent the Brennan Center for Justice, NYU Law School, and "The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdowns", by Richard L. Hasen, published by the Yale University Press.  I doubt if you will ever see any of the people on CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC.  The article reminds me of the kind of dialogue we used to hear when voters were more closely related to the "We, the people..." concept when I first got interested in politics - in the 50's.

The dangers cited by these good folks are - voting restrictions, redistricting and loose rules on large amounts of money being spent to influence voters.  They claim, we have been moving further and further away from a truly democratic election system.  All of which, I would add an "Amen!"

Here are some facts.. "The Brennan Center estimated that 11 percent of qualified  voters in the U.S. do not possess a government-issued photo ID or any of the other documents required by the voter ID laws in effect in 32 states - a finding confirmed by other studies.  Some people were turned away from the polls because they had a license from another State or because the license had expired.    If these restrictions are not enough to sicken those of you who still cling to the concept that "We, the people" should be encouraged - not discouraged, to vote, hear what a certain legislator in a Southern state, prior to a recent election, rushed through the Legislature, one of the harshest voting laws in our nation.  It cut back the number of days for early voting, eliminating same-day registration and prohibited people from voting outside of their home precincts - all forms of voting heavily relied upon by blacks.  Let us pray that when the elections are held in 2016, that we all remember the cities in other states, recently in the news - Ferguson, New York City and Baltimore.  The recent anniversary of the historic "March on Selma" should have been enough cause for the citizens in every State to vote "No" whenever any law is proposed to deny any citizen the right to vote. 

My opinion is that the only documents that should be necessary to vote would be a copy of the voter's birth certificate or the court document that recognizes the holder as a person afforded such rights through the process of immigration into the U.S.

Attempts to blatantly redistrict certain districts in States controlled by partisan legislatures have been thwarted in many such States, but as long as we extend their right to act as they please concerning voting, we will continue to see such efforts made by those who ignore the fact we were formed to become the United States of America.  We need to end such efforts even if it takes an amendment to the Constitution to certify the right of every citizen to vote their conscience.

I first became involved in politics in those days when State's Rights were the primary issue and like most newcomers, I thought I knew which side to join.  Little did I realize the partisan nature of our Legislatures.  I came to believe it was a "Southern" problem, but that no longer is true.  The forces that control the apparatus of our two major political parties appear to enjoy the "status quo" regarding their privileges - apparently believing that "We, the people" no longer matter.  And so it will be as long as a majority of our population continue to believe that it is the "other guy's" problem and not their own.

It is time for all of us to get really serious about the greatest problem we have at hand.

Oh, I almost forgot.... the opening letter.  Did you notice, he didn't say anything, but he did ask for money.  He may no be a politician, but he seems to be catching on, fast!  

And they continue to flow, the tears and my fears

I was almost convinced to move on, to find a subject more in line with my everyday life and the lives of the blacks who are my friends, many of whom I regard as my brothers and sisters in the faith.

But then, our local newspaper, the Herald-Citizen, published in Cookeville, TN, published an article written by a Christine Flowers, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News,  She was born in Baltimore, but her family moved back to Philadelphia, apparently, shortly after her birth.

We share something in common as she reported on her birthplace as she loves to return so she might cheer for the Baltimore Orioles, to eat the always delicious crab cakes made famous over the years along the docks in the heart of the city and to visit Little Italy.  Made me yearn to return for a visit, once again.

We also had something else in common, the carnage we all saw as the protesters began to pillage stores they had broken into and the fires they had set, began to destroy buildings in the area.  It was not new to me.  It merely reminded me of the the Watts riots years before.

Then, as seems to be the common bind that draws our younger generations together, she went on FaceBook and joined the debates with those those whose purpose is to debate the political, social, cultural and legal significance of the events at hand.  Perhaps, recalling the tales of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.  To her credit, however, Christine seemed much more concerned about the fact that this was her birthplace and it was on fire and her greater concerns appears to have been for the police involvement and the municipal authority that was under attack

She reports, "Being angry about the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and now, Freddie Gray doesn't justify destroying a city or terrorizing innocent people."  She is right.  But so were the righteous citizens of Watts, of Ferguson, of New York City, years ago   There were so many others, we tend to forget their names  But we immediately recall those whose actions terrorized their cities, and often because of the injustices suggested by others of the police or municipal authorities.

The citizens of Baltimore have seen a ray of hope, hopefully for all of us.  The State had recently appointed a lady as their State's Attorney, a relatively young lady whose family tree recorded six generations of policemen.  Her name, Marilyn Mosby.  Remember the name.  She just may go down in history as the one who brought the force of law to the agency that was supposed to have taken an oath to represent the law.  Six of the police officers involved in the arrest - and death, of Freddie Gray have now been accused of participation in his death.

So now, the wheels of justice have been activated.  Too  often, they appear to move too slowly to apply justice to the circumstances.  We honor our police officers as - for most of us, they do righteously, administer the law.  We hate to be aware of those who do not.

The drama that will frame the activities of all who are involved in this incident will bear watching.

Christine closed her article, concerned about the inevitability that what has happened in Balitimore might come to Philadelphia.  At that point, she had not heard of Marilyn Mosby.  I trust she will keep her thoughts on her and that the next story she writes about her hometown will reflect the new day that has appeared for all of us and that the divide between blacks and whites will be narrowing.

The tears are still flowing

I trust you read yesterday;s post.  If not, take a couple of minutes to read my explanation of my feeling as I watch another of the streets of our great nation being torn asunder.  And now, my feelings about tomorrow's carnage.

I first sensed the feelings erupt while I was living in the Los Angeles area and had friends and business associates, either living nearby, or having businesses in the "watts" area when those riots took place. The first picture I saw of the carnage happened to include a building, a store front in particular, where I had worked with friends to get established a few years earlier.  Our concept was to take in used clothing for re-sale and offer it to nearby neighbors.  I did some door-to-door soliciting before we were open and in doing so, became friends with a number of the folks living in the area. And when they came to the store to look around, I offered them real discounts as sort of a "primer" to increase our sales.  It worked.

Next door was a Chinese restaurant and that became my lunch place where my "friends" knew me as soon as I walked through the front door and always had a "new"" dish for me to taste.  Four months in the area and I thought I had discovered a new, home away from home.  And now, my "home" was in ashes.  Why?  I had no idea, but I was about to learn, the folks in that area had grown tired of the police harassment, merely because of the color of their skin.

How could I know?  I had friends on the police force, good friends with one man on the State police who had previously served that area as a city policeman.  I talked with him and learned, the claims were typically found to be half truths.  Half of the arrests were for legitimate causes and the rest, questionable.  A car would be stopped for a minor infraction and then, the race "issue" helped to escalate the incident.

Years would pass by until I was asked to join in with a church group, interested in prison ministry, and we visited a State prison nearby and then, a few local jails.  Our primary interest involved Bible lessons, but as I noticed the disinterest, especially among the younger inmates, I started to question those I could and was immediately reminded of the stories I had hear in "my" old neighborhood.  I did some research and discovered, there were real issues involved and my attempts to locate people who might be interested in a legitimate analysis of the situation were typically ignored,  I learned that - for the most part, my church friends had little or no interest and even the Bishop of the denomination to which I belonged offered no encouragement.  I moved on with my life.

Then, there was the death of a young black man living near to community where I had once lived, shot by a white man who was carrying a gun, issued by his employer whose responsibility it was to protect the apartment area where the shooting occurred.  You probably read of the trial that ensued and the jury that found the shooter to be "not guilty" of the crime for which he had been charged.  My thoughts immediately went back to the impressions of my neighbor friends living in the Watts area.

And then there was Ferguson, MO, another incident of police killing a man in New York City, and now, Baltimore, MD, a city I had visited often when assigned to the USAF Armament Command when their headquarters were located in Baltimore.   What a great place to live, I used to think as I traveled about in the city and its surrounding.  One of my friends from that era lived close to the area where the current crisis is still being examined.

If our history continues in its long established path, nothing will come of this event, the young man whose funeral was held yesterday will soon be forgotten by our media and the perceived injustice will be buried deep into the psyche of the areas's current residents.  Sociologists will hurry to get their analyses of the problems into print  and what ought to be apparent to all of us, will soon be lost to the vast majority of our citizens.  There will be more deaths, more analyses and as usual, more brooms to sweep the real problems that will continue to exist into the waste cans.

Today, Hillary Clinton spoke of her concerns and her established GOP opponents hurried to inform their potential  electorate of the more accurate assessment of the situation.

So, here comes my handkerchief again.  My only solace will be the tears that I sense from on high.

It is my country that will eventually be destroyed if we continue to ignore the opportunities we have to heal the troublesome problem that we ought to be concerned with; the inherent rights of all of those our forefathers referred to as - "We, the people..."

I want to cry - seriously!

It is true.  If it would help, I would not be writing, I would be on my face, crying out to God, asking the God who is the center of my life,  Why, God!  Why, I plead with you?  Why are we so blind, so many of us, caught up in our religious rituals while the heart beat of our nation is broken by what is happening, every day on the streets of our great nation?  Maybe that is what is wrong, we believe we are a great nation.  Maybe we have forgotten, the costs that were incurred in bringing us to where we are, today.  Maybe, maybe, maybe, but who knows?  We tend to shrug our shoulders and move on. Or so I "see" what seems to be happening - every other day, on our streets, and feel, helpless.

It started years ago, for me.  I was that unwanted kid - or, so I tended to believe.  My father was gone, the times were bad, so I was sent to live with my grandparents.  On a farm, where the facts of the "Great Depression" were only happening so very far away.  My mother, now a widow, was doing what she could, working as a secretary in Detroit, visiting every so often.  I wanted her to be closer, the other guys, my friends, all had mothers, I only had my grandmother and never really realized how blessed I was.  But there were those occasional visits in Detroit to visit with my Mother, and, where I would eventually learn of the "black creep", the fact that black people were buying up homes in what had been, traditionally "white" neighborhoods.  It angered my mother and I would learn that she knew how to use the "n" word, that I did not understand, then!  I went back to the farm and thought I would forget it.

A few years later however and I was in the Air Force and was now a Sergeant and was responsible for the personnel actions and activities on our base.  My Colonel called me into his office where I would learn that we would soon have seven black NCO's stationed on our base and that I would be responsible to their integration into our previously, all white ranks.  I was to befriend them and let them know, I needed to be informed of any "problems" that might arise from their assignments. When they joined our NCO club, we became more than fellow airmen, we became friends.  Three of them and I became so close, I would eventually attend their funerals.  We had talked of the problems that others had with integration, but these men were very much aware of their responsibilities and there was never any problems on our base while we were there, together.

I would even learn of their feelings when they were referred to as that "n" word and laughed together at the futility of those who tended to use them.

Then, came Georgia.  After seven years in the USAF, I decided to attend college and my mother was instrumental with my being enrolled at Georgia Tech.  What a change!  I had not completed high school but had a GED diploma and found myself in competition for grades with some of the brightest HS graduates I would ever meet,  Later on, I transferred to what is now known as Georgia State University.  It was there that I came into contact with young blacks attempting to register for their education and had to be present as they were rejected.  All of a sudden, I came face-to-face with the fact that blacks and the State of Georgia had differing opinions as to what the term equality meant. And when the Brown v. Board of Education decision was announced, the attitudes of my "white" friends suddenly changed.  It became "us" versus "them".  When the large downtown church I was attending refused to admit a group of blacks who merely wanted to attend a Sunday morning service, I knew I had to take sides.  There was no way I could agree with the prevailing thought of so many of my friends, so I became openly sympathetic with the plight of our black fellow citizens.  I wanted to leave and stand by my "brothers" and "sisters" who were marching across the South to protest the laws that made them, in fact, second class citizens, but my wife at the time was opposed and I accepted her plea that our marriage was even more important.  It wasn't, but that is another story.

There is no way I can ever accept the belief that one race is superior to another.  I guess I learned that in Japan where I was stationed for four years and learned - from those who were there in uniform defending their country earlier, revealing the real differences between the Chinese, the Koreans and the Japanese.  It had nothing to do with their nationalities, it had everything to do with the lessons they had learned from their parents and in most cases, their ancestry.  Most of whom had the same problem that we - as Americans, have and that is, the world is changing and in our case, the concept of democracy is the basis of our rule of law.  Our Constitution starts with these words, "We, the people..." and our laws are meant to reflect that concept.

As a matter of fact, if you actually study the concepts found in the Bible and consider those who waged war against others, down through the ages, you will discover that race has always been a part of the divisions between tribes and nations.  That the Bible does not "take sides" on such issues and that ought to teach us that God wants us to resolve those issues on our own.  The verse that teaches that "we are are to love one another as we are loved by God" (John 13:34) ought to end any thought of discrimination between the races and any others.

I am not through with this issue.  I still have tears in my eyes and an ache in my heart.  It is that time in our history when we either stand up for what is right - now, or we threaten the lives of those who will be coming along after us.