A Bit on John Archie and His Faith

I have said that Sadie Mae and John Archie were pious people and that they walked with the lord. I very much mean that they walked and in open communication with the spirit that made them. My great-grandfather suffered severely from asthma, and as he worked his fields, sometimes he would have episodes that would leave everyone wondering. He would calm them all as he said, my time has not come yet. I have faith that when it is my time to go, the lord will let me know. Surely, when he got ready to die he summoned all of his children to him and he was prepared in death as he was in life, to walk with his lord.

On My Great Grandmother Sadie Mae

My great grandmother was a woman who, as they say, walked with the lord in many ways all of her life. Her motto, which was printed on her obituary was "Cast your bread upon the water and it will come back to you."My great grandmother's heart and home was always open and there was no one who was turned away from her table and no one who did not recieve what help she could give when they came to recieve it. And many did come. One anecdote I remember is my grandmother telling me, quite fitfully--for it slightly disturbed her and the rest of her siblings, of how her mother told them to make sure to give some food to the hobos who came by looking for it(the railroad was very accessible to my great grandparents' home for the hobos). My grandmother tells of this one time a man came by, who wanted food, and had a story to tell. He had been in another town and had had fifteen cents to his name. He offered the fifteen cents to a woman at a house who said that she would cook him fifteen cents worth of food. The woman crossed him and took his money and refused to cook anything. My grandmother says that man burned that woman's house to the ground..and there was an account of it in the paper of how no one knew how the fire had been started.... Back to my great, great grandmother, she never refused anyone and always gave what she had to whomever needed it. My grandmother and her siblings are quite resentful in that they felt they never had a home to themselves as there was always someone else in it, someone to share everything with. People would come and set a baby down in my great grandmother's arms and that child often wouldnt leave until they were ready to go to college or off into the world in whichever way they went. Sadie Mae and her husband, my great grandfather John Archie, were pious people, who believed firmly in the lord and who spoke directly to that power at all times. They never feared or wanted for anything because they walk with god. It is amazing to think that Sadie not only reared her eight children that survived to adulthood(she had two that died as infants) and educated them all, but that she did much of the same for dozens of others as well. If she had a bed, you could sleep in it. If she had food, you were more than welcome to eat. She embodied the true principles of Christianity and what it truly means to be a good person.She was selfless and she had a deep concern for humanity. She is truly an inspiration.

I'm Going Through

Lord, I have started to walk in the light
That shines on my pathway so clearly, so bright;
I’ve bade the world and its follies adieu,
And now with my Savior I mean to go through.
Refrain:
I’m going through, I’m going through,
I’ll pay the price, whatever others do;
I’ll take the way with the Lord’s despised few;
I’m going through, Jesus, I’m going through.
Many once started to run in this race,
But with our Redeemer they could not keep pace;
Others accepted because it was new,
But not very many seem bound to go through.
Let me but follow my Lord all alone,
And have for my pillow, like Jacob, a stone,
Rather than vain worldly pleasures pursue,
Than turn from this pathway and fail to go through.
Come then, my comrades, and walk in this way
That leads to the kingdom of unending day;
Turn from your idols and join with the few,
Start in with your Savior, and keep going through.

Memory

I remember my mother making me polish my shoes so that we could go to Harold Washington's funeral.

Great Quiz!

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 100%

You are a terrorist-loving, Bush-bashing, "blame America first"-crowd traitor. You are in league with evil-doers who hate our freedoms. By all counts you are a liberal, and as such cleary desire the terrorists to succeed and impose their harsh theocratic restrictions on us all. You are fit to be hung for treason! Luckily George Bush is tapping your internet connection and is now aware of your thought-crime. Have a nice day.... in Guantanamo!

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What Came to Me As A Revelation

I was standing in line at a campus restaurant, waiting to order. I definitely wasn't feeling the best today, so I wanted some hot soup. Standing there, I watched the girl behind the counter take the order and make the sandwich of the girl standing in front of me, who happened to be her friend. In nice slick tones, interspersed with chatter, she asked the girl how she wanted the sandwich done and took meticulous care to ask about every aspect of the order, in a far more formal, businesslike tone than the regular chatter. It clicked in my head. People are no longer people, thy are robots. I think this is true in every capacity. People have been programmed. What a revelation.

I LOVE the film Decalage Horaire.

The Scene Where I Jumped For Joy for Queer as Folk

Melanie and Brian are walking into a restaurant. Brian has just asked Melanie to represent him as he is being sued for sexual harrassment. Melanie is mulling it over, with no definite answer.


Brian: "So Homophobic Corporate America Wins Yet Again??"

Melanie: "Oh please! You know what?! You could hang a sign that says 'blow jobs: ten cents' from your office door and you would still have it better than any woman or any person of color in this country, because guess what?! You're a white man and that still counts for something in this country."

Everything

Barbra

I want to learn what life is for
I don't want much, I just want more
Ask what I want and I will sing
I want everything, everything.

I'd cure the cold and the traffic jam
If there were floods I'd give a damn
I'd never sleep, I'd only sing
Let me do everything, everything.

I'd like to plan a city
And play the cello
Play at Monte Carlo
Play Othello
Move into the White House
Paint it Yellow
Speak Portuguese and Dutch and if its not to much
I'd like to have the perfect twin, one who'd go out
as I came in. I've got to grab
the big brass ring
So I'll have everything, everything.

I'm like a child who's set free
at the funfair
every ride invites me
and it's unfair
saying that I only
get my one share
doesn't seem just
I could live as I must
if they'd give me the time
to turn the tide
Give me the truth
if once I lied
Give me the man
that's gonna bring
more of everything
more of everything
Then I'll have everything
then Ill have everything
everything whoaaaaaaaaaaa

Eighth Radical Progressive Carnival

We actually, surprisingly and much welcomed,have quite a slew of materials to post on the eighth Radical Progressive carnival. Firstly, from RDoctor Medical Portal, we have two insightful essays. The first, entitled The Psychology of Law and Order, gives us a very enlightening and insightful interview with a psychologist, discussing issues of treatment and the practice of blogging as a psychologist. The second essay from Rdoctor Medicap Portal provides an intense and eye-opening discussion with Healthcare specialist, Hank Stern, on the nature of healthcare in the US and the growing Healthcare crisis in the United States. Our second contributor, Phil For Humanity, provides us with an interesting post concerning Lobbyists in America. The Picket Line offers a detailed and very useful post on wartime tax resistance for any who would like to take part in tax resistance. Steven Silvers over at Scatterbox predicts the inevitable corporate scandals soon to arise with the fall of the Republican congress and the prospects of Congressional investigations. Lastly, but definitely not least, Black Looks offers us an essay on the use of art as activism among post colonial Africans who use art to make political statements and who defy the traditional definitions of art accepted by Western aesthetics. Very enlightening essay. All of these should be enjoyable reading.