Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Finger-pointing and name-calling. Haven't we grown beyond that? Are we still impulsive babies demanding our own rights, with no regard for others? You are a cop. You are called to a scene where breaking and entering is suspected. You come upon a man who appears to be trying to enter the house. When confronted, he becomes loud and "tumultuous". He says, "You have no idea who you are messing with!" How would you respond in this situation? Your job as a cop is to get control of the situation.

Mr Gates, I pose this scenario to you. You are obviously a very intelligent , learned man. Do you realize that those cops responded to YOUR house to protect YOU from vandalism?! And THIS is the way you treat them? How should you have responded? What was that verse..."Do unto others as you would have others do unto you". Mr. Gates, you were not arrested because you are a black man, you were arrested because you were disrespectful.

THE COLD WITHIN

Author Unknown

Six humans trapped by happenstance in the bleak and bitter cold,

Each one possessed a stick of wood, or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of logs, the first man held his back,

For of the faces round the fire, he noticed on was black.

The next man sat in tattered clothes, he gave his coat a hitch,

Why should his log be put to use, to warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought of the wealth he had in store,

And how to keep what he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.

The next man sitting cross the way, saw one not of his church,

And couldn't bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.

The black man's face bespoke revenge, as the fire passed from his sight.

For all he saw in his stick of wood was a chance to spite the white.

Their logs held tight in death's still hands was proof of human sin

They didn't die from the cold without....

They died from the cold within.

The Way of Haiku

by James Hackett

1) Beneath white roses

on a polished table

petals lie in dust

2) A bitter morning

sparrows sitting together

without any necks.

3) A distant dog

is adding another shade of gray

to the morning.

4) Still on this bath tub

the tiny bug that I had

promised a flower.

5) Empty the night seems

and yet endless flights of birds

caligraph the moon.

6) In this empty web

left by a will to be free

a pair of small wings.

7) The ant's great burden

becomes his bridge across

crevices along the way.

8) Now free in the world

the old parakeet just perches;

his loneliness.

9) Loneliness: for the

child, an opportunity

to play Let's Pretend.

10) The hopscotching child

kneels to the beetle and asks

to be forgiven.

11) Her child exclaimed:

"See this lovely caterpillar?"

but she never came.

Memories to be Savored

Mr. Magoo. The OLD Waldorf Astoria. Coney Island. John Denver. Captain Kangaroo. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot. The song "America the Beautiful" (when's the last time ya heard THAT?).  Homemade gravy. Dodging bats at night. Satchmo. The Carpenters. The Mamas and Papas. MoonPies. Woodstock. Haight-Ashbury. Tent meetings. Corn bread in milk. Route 66. Walter Cronkite. Coke in a glass bottle. Chewing gum paper chains. Chicklets. The milkman. Gas station attendants. Snow cream. The Beatles. Patsy Cline. Billy Graham Revivals. RC Cola. Tom Landry. 

Party lines. Fibber McGee's closet. Dean Martin. Max Factor. Lucy. Jack LaLane. Dick and Jane. Skipper. Tammy and the Doctor. Gidget. Variety shows.     sigh

The Best Line I've Ever Heard

I never knew her as anything but "High Tea Mama". She was my great Aunt. (pronounced "Ahhhhnt", not "ant").  She was from England and was quite refined and proper. She had lots of 

money and she loved children so she went as a missionary over to China to see what she could do to help. Because she always practiced the tradition of high tea every day, regardless of where she was, the chinese gave her the affectionate name "High Tea Mama". 

One day, she was to meet with a group of men about an orphanage in China. She walked into the room and the men looked up at her from their seats. One man, obviously uncomfortable said, "I'm sorry, High Tea Mama, apparently there are not enough chairs." High Tea Mama smiled and said, "There are plenty of chairs. There just aren't enough gentlemen!".

Ouch.

                                                               Praise God

Praise God, the cross is empty

   His body isn't there.

Jesus broke the bonds of death

   and rose into the air.

So when life becomes a burden

   and I struggle and I strive

That Calvary cross assure me

   that Jesus is alive.