All I Don't Want For Christmas

Ginger Bread met Hugh Morris just before Christmas one year. They had been friends for awhile, but had not seen each other for years. Ginger asked what Hugh would like for Christmas, and Hugh said, that he was content with whatever. 

Ginger then asked, "What kind of underwear do you wear?" 

Hugh said, "depends..." 

And the moral of this story is... See title and pic. 

Want To See Inside A Prison?

Some people are locked in their own minds. Held captive by their belief, sealed behind the vault of a closed mind. You are about to meet some of them now. 

Follow me please. We will walk down the long hall, where the floors are polished, and the gray concrete appears to be as slick as it has the potential to be icy cold. We pass a series of heavy cast (steel or iron) doors, some slam shut with each repeating the apothegm of, "you're now at our mercy." The officer escorts us for the remaining portion of our journey and it is there we meet individuals from all walks of life. In a snug room with few tables tightly fit, men sit along each one either begin their studies or await instructions. Some individuals are mature enough to belong to the geriatric setting, while others are young enough to be fresh out of high school. Some are Caucasian, some are of African ancestry, some with lots of hair, some balding, some bearded, some clean shaven, and others in between. It is then that one of the younger in between's calls out, "Hey... Hey... Excuse me, Mr. Obama!"

The facilitator lifts his head and eyes turning to the gentleman calling for his attention, and replies with a lighthearted laugh, "Did you just call me Mr. Obama?" 

"Yeah," he replies, "I can't remember your name, and it's different, like 'Obama.'"

Another man laughs out loud saying, "Man he wrote his name on the board and how to pronounce it!" 

The other men  I.  laugh at the first man as well now. 

The first man, with a sly grin on his face says, "That word with the 'w/' next to the letter, and plus sign next to those other letters is how to say his name?! Man I thought that was algebra, or something!"

Needless to say, that earned a boisterous laugh from the entire group, even the facilitator, aka "Mr. Obama." 

How is it that I cannot seem to escape the connection to this man? I have to admit that I have mixed emotions concerning that connection. Association with the intellect, and articulation is great. Association with the humanitarian in a person is also great. Association with a politician... not always so great. 

Speaking of politicians and humanitarians. Some men will seek to help you as they help themselves, while others will look to get one over on you, and do not desire to work hard and make a change. They only want to help themselves, and not due to hard work either. Those are the imprisoned, and don't plan on leaving that prison even after they leave the facility. What do I mean by that? 

Some men that are incarcerated actually look forward to earning their diploma, getting their GED, rightfully obtaining their freedom. Others are stuck in the mindset, of having to get rich, quick, or die trying. The sad thing is, that their attempt and dying from trying is most likely going to be a long painful death. It is a death that kills a families spirit, it kills morale, and it kills freedom. That individual ends up back in prison, on lock down, and in most cases incarcerated for several years. They are prisoners of an inescapable prison, the reprobate mind. 

You have now encountered my walk into prison. My walk out is something like this: my Christmas wish and prayer is that all that walked that hallway with me just now counted each step. That you counted each step as though you were blind, that you listened to every door slam shut a little more intently, and that you felt the variance of temperature through each corridor in the same manner. That as you now enter the gatehouse with me, you can see the officer at the controls, and understand that he or she will assist us to obtain our freedom again, just as each man in the room that we just left looks to us and their instructors to obtain their mental and educational freedom. As we walk out together I pray that you thank him/her, as I do, for assisting us to exit. I pray that you'll join me in also in praying that as we help these men obtain their education that they will use it to better themselves and better serve our communities, their communities, our state, our nation, our world. Lord, free our minds, so the rest will follow... Amen. 

(Love myself some, En Vogue)! 

What Does It Matter?

This is a birthday blog for a very special lady, on a very special day. God graced us with a leader on this day. A leader that has ambition, compassion, and intelligence. A woman that I am proud of, and her name is Candace Tiana. 

Candace you remind me that the struggle for a woman's rights didn't end in the 60's. You remind me that Rosa Parks didn't sit or take a stand alone. So what difference does it make if I don't write this blog or vote? 

The difference is that if I don't exercise my rights, I may very well lose my rights. 

If Mrs. Parks hadn't taken her stand, it would have to be a Candace Tiana. Then Candace Tiana would have to be someone else, perhaps my baby girl in 2030 or there about? 

So thank you Candace for continuing to make a stand, I hope more women take a stand with you, and pursue their education, their passion, their rights!

With this I conclude, women (not just stemming from African ancestry either), do you want equal pay? Do you want equal rights? Do you want a voice? 

A group of men voted because enough of you women were heard! Do you think things would've changed if Harry Thomas Burn, Sr of the Tennessee General Assembly hadn't taken heed from his mother and braved the actions of others and voted in favor of a woman's right to vote? So yes, it does indeed matter!

If they had been silent the silence would have remained. 

Candace I applaud your work, your drive, and your inspiring ways. I love you Madame Senator! I hope to see you in office soon! 

Happy Birthday!

Lessons In Life

Image courtesy Richard Davenport and The Primitive Quartet

There were two men that made a huge impact on my life during my years in the music industry. They were/are Doyle Lawson and Norman Wilson. I read today, on Mr. Lawson's Facebook page, that Norman Wilson had passed away. 

These two men will always have a huge impact on my life for one simple reason, they were genuine in their compassion. When they asked you how you were doing, they were sincere. Mr. Lawson NEVER made one visit to our facility when he didn't stop by my office to check on me. Wait, I stand corrected, there was the one time that he was rushed and had to leave as quickly as he came in. He came in on the next visit shortly there after and apologized for being in such a rush an talked with me for a good bit. Doyle Lawson is more than a true professional, he is a true humanitarian that cares for people (especially those that are lost), he is a true Christian. When Doyle Lawson leaves a room, his spirit remains and bears witness to the Holy Spirit. His ethic, his drive, his will to make others around him better. I am forever inspired by Doyle Lawson. He taught me a great deal in a short time. The wonderful post that he shared today has taught me a great deal. 

Then there was Mr. Norman Wilson. Wow! He was an inspiration, not a member of the Southern Gospel group (it's ok to smile there), but a true inspiring soul. Mr. Norman stood with me outside one day, prayed with me, and I prayed for him. Mr. Norman prayed for me. He came to my office, and he and Mr. Reagan Riddle (another Primitive member), sat in the break room and had coffee as they shared with me. Mr. Norman took me outside one day. The sun was bright, the air a bit cool, and Mr. Norman had another cup of hot coffee in hand. He looked at me, and said something close to this: 

I know good people, and I know good intentions. That's what makes a true Christian. 

Then the man that looked YEARS younger than he actually was, and had a man's man of a hand shake looked at me with tears in his eyes, and said; 

You're a good one, and I know God has big plans for you. Your intentions are genuine. I know your prayer was earnest. 

Mr. Norman Wilson taught me a new lesson in humility, a lesson in good and true intentions. I began to tear as well when he opened up to me and I apologized. 

He said, I see the real you, don't apologize for that. Then he asked me what made us as Chrisrians. "Why do we do what we do? Why do we put our entire paycheck in the collection plate? Is it to impress another individual or our church, or do we do it for the betterment of the Kingdom, do we do it for Gods' glory? What are our intentions." 

God please show Mr. Norman my intentions now in this article. Show him that I was listening to You, through him. 

I will miss a great Christian man and his family is most definitely in my prayers. The Primitive Quartet comsists of not only great musicians, but great families. My heart goes out to the Primitive family and the Wilson family. God bless you all.  

"Travis what separates us from others is our intentions!" Norman Wilson

Pretending

Big purple dinosaurs influence some of us to use too much imagination and not enough reality. We pretend to be a friend, but then we don't have time for our friends. We pretend to care about people, but are so carefree that we become careless enough to become uncaring and rude. Some people will go as far as to lie to one another and pretend not to be interested in another's caring or compassion then they observe the other individual (stalk) them for the sole purpose of the self-indulgence in ego tripping. Yes ego trippin'! They watch you just to see if they're hurting you, or if they're getting to you. What's good is that the purple dinosaur can't trump a purple clad spirit. Don't pretend to care, no instead prove that you do care. The imperfect Christian's spirit is in tune with a greater spirit. That spirit is the Holy Spirit. 

In the first pic, that's an image of a great friend (a brother of mine), and myself. In the second pic, it's actually the two of us, not a reflection, or refraction. We don't have to pretend that we are there for one another. We are actually there for one another. 

When I say I don't need Facebook to appreciate this brother, I'm sincere in that. I don't have to follow him on Twitter or lie to him about losing my password (both of us knowing I can retrieve it in my email), to keep from helping him out by following him and trying to be stealth and stalk him without his knowledge of it. 

Do we agree to disagree? Sure, but we don't pretend to be something we aren't. We're friends for life and we have taken and take time to grow as friends. That's what good friends do. That's how good relations are conducted. Whether it be public, private, or otherwise, that's how rational people conduct themselves. When I was a child I spake as a child (I cursed without caring, I talked without thinking, I talked vulgar and partook in like events), I understood as a child (my understanding was that as long as it was good for me, that's all that mattered), I thought as a child (I thought it was ok to rush into things, that it was ok to say one thing, then do another), but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (Sometimes the childish things will put themselves away, let them be done, let them stay lying, and if you have to put them away yourself, then put them away and do not look back. Do not look back just rejoice and be glad that you're not the one having to figure out how it was that you missed and allowed things to go so wrong, that it had to be put away in the first place.
I Corinthians 13:11

Pretending leaves you in a fantasy, not a fantastic voyage. Happy sailing realist. Happy drifting without a sail pretender.

In the News

What do I love most about working with the public? That's right... The PEOPLE. 

A more mature gentleman approached me while I was working and asked me if I had heard the latest news. I told him that I had not. Therefore, he began to tell me about the breaking news: 

"An 85 year old man in Avery County was arrested for trying to rape a young woman this morning," he said. 

I replied with, "Wow!"

Then the gentleman closer to 80, (by a few years) than myself said, "They caught him before he could do anything."

Relieved I said, "Well that's good."

He concluded his news briefing to me saying, "Yeah, fortunately they caught him, and charged him... assault with a dead weapon!"

I laughed out loud and scared a more mature woman standing nearby. This joke was by far better than the joke that ended our last conversation with the question, "That wasn't so funny was it?"

Again I wonder what things will come out of my mouth if I am blessed with golden years.