Staying Alive, still

When my children were young, out chasing rose petals flitting about our lawn in early July, chasing dandelions even earlier in May, chasing lightening bugs during hot late summer nights, all the while tramping through the smallest of neighborhoods, but one that included a covered bridge and swimming hole beneath it, enough woods to spy a fairy, and a few kids to trade baseball cards with, I wondered, what would become of these little people? Would they love to dance as much as I do? Would they find beats that drove them to the clubs like I did when I heard Black Box or Madonna or other late 80’s dance sounds? Now, as they have grown into young adults, with passions and degrees, with loves and jobs, I am thrilled they have found joy on the dance floor. Little makes me as happy as sharing that space with them…staying alive and living life!IMG_8954 Continue reading

Dreaming of Soul Force

With this post I am about to break a promise I made with myself. A promise to not discuss politics during this primary season, but after this week’s latest battles, I feel undeniably compelled to do so. I have friends and relatives and readers who are conservative voters, and those who are moderate independents, and perhaps some as left wing as they come, but I hope none willing to drape themselves in a white sheet and return to “the dark and desolate valley of segregation.” Regardless of your political affiliation, I hope you will stand with me and declare, “as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” Martin Luther King, Jr. spearheaded a revolution decades ago, but I’m hoping his words will light up the present rise of darkness. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force” (I Have A Dream). Soul force? Imagine someone at the podium of our present political arena proposing soul force?

Continue reading