From a Nike Commercial

A Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes homepage

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

--Knocked this off from a Nike Olympics commercial--fit my mood well

Fading

All is black and white

The color gone

like twilight

I look at my hands

what do they say?

they tell a story

but who will write it?

They want to caress

to love

but no more.

No more will they dance gracefully

no more

they fade to

black and white

and shades of grey

its hard to see

hard to hear

animated no

more.

s

A confession

One of my jobs is at a local Department Store. I have worked there for almost 2 years supplementing my income as a part-time faculty member at a local college. VERY part-time lately it seems with enrollment down especially in my area.
It has been very frustrating to be going to college in a Bachelors completion program, and then getting bumped by faculty with more seniority and not teaching at all. This drops my income by 2/3 of what i made last year. So I work doing part-time work at one or two other jobs to make ends meet.
I have a lot of frustration in my personal life too. So I have to confess I have recently looked at my store manager at Macy's, a lovely, competent and kind lady, who is much admired, and about ten years my junior. She is a Christian that i have always been grateful to for creating a very pleasant and quality atmosphere at our store.
After a particularly frustrating day at home with my kids. I looked at Stacy(our store manager) and I thought, "God, why does this lady have looks, success, a loving Husband, money, and nice kids and I have kids that still struggle from my divorce, over 17 years ago, I struggle to survive and i have no one in my life to love and cherish me. Here i am in the latter half of life and I never did get to travel, or take my kids on the trips I wanted to take them on as children. My kids have never had the traditions of vacations as a family, and keeping the holidays that i would have wanted to keep with them as a family. We are a broken family. Why God, does this lady have it all?"
Wednesday night, when I arrived at work, I was pulled aside and told to "sit down for this". Our beloved store manager, Stacy, only 39, with 4 children at home, and a loving husband, was killed in a car accident the day before.
I feel guilty for envying her and her family. Now her children will not grow up with a mom.
What more can I say? Her life was cut short. I feel guilty for thinking that my life is so terrible.

Seeing Red

When I was growing up, and my children also, we were taught that green means go, yellow means yeild or caution and red means stop.

RED MEANS Stop! Not caution, or roll carefully or yield a bit!

I have seen drivers, who are plenty old enough to know better, ROLL a corner with BOTH a stop sign and a RED flasher! Like did they miss that part of growing up?

I think that at some point we passed a road mark where we chucked too many taboos in this culture. In the 80's we were all about getting free. We were into getting "in touch" with our feelings. We all had all this repressed anger, then we got "in touch" with it. Heaven help us now fully 1/2 of us have anger management problems. Perhaps some things are best left untouched?

Freedom is great but lets acknowledge that laws were made to protect people, including you! You don't want to end up like this poor soul:

Friends

When my son was about three or four we were taking a walk when a city bus rolled by. He asked me innocently "mom, who are all those people". I was speechless for an answer. In about a minute the little voice answered for himself and for me. "I know" he said, "those are friends we haven't met yet".

Tradition!

Ah Tevya, tradition is a beautiful thing. It is the glue that helps a society or group stay together and not loose sight of its goals.

As a volunteer at a Christian nightclub, I am respected and loved by the young poeple there. And the feeling is mutual. There is a core of wonderful young men and women there who love Jesus with all their hearts and will do anything for Him.

Occasionally, however, I hear an enthusiastic, if misguided, song about how we are "freed from tradition". It seems as if Paul's admonition to not be like the scribes and Pharisees who added to God's law has been warped into an unrecognizable rebellion against the very legacy that God has sustained in the Church for 2000 years.

I am saddened by this. Not only that, i see what a deception it is. This attitude by some Christians cuts them off from others and justifies divisions, when the proponents of it are using just as much "tradition" as those they accuse.

Does your church perform weddings? Where is that found in the Bible? Does your church sing the same songs from time to time, even if they were written as recently as 1960 through today? OH NO you might be guilty of a Tradition!!

Has your church studied and made decisions about doctrine? Isn't that YOUR tradition? Do you have a cross on the wall or a dove? Do you celebrate Christmas? Easter? Traditions all, and good ones to. Let us "hold fast to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15).

Dear to my heart

As a long time member of the movement without borders The Charismatic Renewal, one thing that is dear to my heart is unity in the Body of Christ. I agree along with Mick Bickle of the International House of Prayer movement that As THE DAY of the Lord Draws near His people, will grow in their yearning desire for Him.

The Church which is called The Bride of Christ will grow in Unity and love for God as the Great Day approaches.

One evidence of that is in the news today. Though this comes about because of the continued discouraging actions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the news today that a large and very Orthodox group of Anglican Churches have requested full communion and acceptance into the Roman Catholic Church is very welcome.

I don't believe all Unity in the body of Christ will come about because all other Christians accept Roman Catholicism but this is a very good sign that many, many Anglicans seek to heal the divisions in the Church that came about because of an adulterous King(Henry VIII).

I am sure that in the days to come, Benedict 16 will find other ways to bring more unity in the Church in the world today. He is a man of great respect and honor for not only the traditions of our Church but the traditions of all of Christendom.

And no, Virginia, tradition is not evil and Paul never said it was.