WRITEON FOR
JULY 3, 2019
sister alies.
Were you at the STUMP? The hot MS sun certainly was...and quite a few candidates were as well. TY Chamber for organizing and for the tasty hot dog!
The political season is clearly upon us...DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON AUG 6!...did you watch the debates? Are you watching all the channels not just one or two...to form the most informed position? Or are you stuck where you are by your prejudices?
Tomorrow is the fourth and perhaps a time to reflect...I am an independent so the following remarks are non-partisan, but certainly 'political' as is everything we do and don't do.
At the stump we heard a lot of 'local' issues and rightly so. We heard that folks were married, had kids, had parents, and were rooted somehow in Choctaw County one way or another. We heard folks were Christians, supported the NRA, wanted MS First, and the like. We heard that folks stood with Trump and other Republican leaders, assuming the crowd gathered were all conservatives...in 'morals and policies' one fella said. Were the democrats there? We heard the rhetoric, some of the accomplishments, especially of the Supervisors, and we feel proud. Rightly so.
Did you know the Declaration of Independence was actually signed (except for 2 folks/that was on July 4) on August 2, 1776? Not that it matters now, but in a time when information is hard to come by, often referred to as 'fake news' it is a tiny example of how things get overlooked. If it could happen on such a big issue...what other things get overlooked?
My little fourth of July reflection is this: to not participate, is to participate. To think your one vote means nothing has clearly been disproved (remember Florida?). To refuse to consider positions, policies, ideas simply because others do/don't hold them dear is to give over to the crowd what matters to you. Stand up to what you believe.
This fourth, besides enjoying more hot dogs and burgers, let's remember that being/becoming a citizen is a way to help everyone, not just ourselves. A democracy is a thinking person's government...look around the world at the dictatorships where others think for you. People don't want to come to our country simply to find a job. They see in us, citizens governing, participating, challenging each other. People see in us a nation of people who value the common good...don't they?
Do people see in us a welcome? Do they see that 'Christian spirit' so frequently referred to? At the end of Brian Patten's SELECTED POEMS (2007, Penguin,UK), he writes this:
“...some faces left a mark,...but it's hard to guess how one person on another works an influence. We pass, and lit briefly by one another's light hope the way we go is right.”
Don't forget how your influence matters. Who is watching you might ask? Everyone and God.
BLESSINGS.
