Embracing What is Right

First, let me say that this is not a political entry. This is a personal entry. I try very hard to steer away from the political realm, as difficult as that sometimes is. Also, I am not claiming anyone to be guilty by association, so don't even read into that here.

As I watched history unfold during the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, I was unimpressed. There wa no 'wow' moment for me. From Rick Warren's 'prayer' until the end of Joseph Lowery's 'bendiction' - nothing.

I wasn't surprised by the crowds. I expected them.

The music left no lasting impression except for the fact that they could keep stringed instruments in such great tune at such low temperatures. I hear that maybe it was pre-recorded; a Yo-Yo version of lip-synching? Yo-Yo Manilli. I couldn't resist.

There was no historic 'quote' from th ePresident's speech that we will ever see etched in marble or written in history books. For such a charismatic and eloquent man, and after all of the campaign speeches, it was almost anti-climactic. We appear to be stuck with "Yes, we can."

The poem was, well, odd.

And then Rev. Lowery takes to the microphone to pronounce the benediction. Still not impressed, but it definitely sticks with me.

BENEDICTION - A benediction (Latin: bene, well + dicere, to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.

According to wikipedia, Dr Lowery has been in ministry since at least 1952. He should certainly know the purpose of a benediction. He got most of it right. He prayed for protection over the President and his family. He prayed for an end to war in this world. He prayed for the unity of the millions in attendance. Then he tried to add the rhyming and humor to his 'prayer'.

Here is the closing text of this benediction:

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

That is NOT a blessing! It is NOT, as the latin states, speaking well of anyone.

This is not an attack on the man of God. He has very many accomplishments, has served God many years and I would never discount any of that. But, I would think that after all of the trouble our new President has had in the past with preachers, he would make some safer choices.

In the following video, you can even see his regret in his face...watch closely...



There are some other things that I can say here regarding the struggle against racism in the United States, but they may start a riot in front of my home. Now, while SOME of my readers may want me to do that, I am not going to. There are many of my African American blogging friends who say it very well.

Suffice it to say, that the three main challenges facing us with regard to racism are these:

1. Old thoughts are still in play. That is to say that people of the older generation and even some out-of-touch, uneducated people of my own generation, have a certain mind-set regarding other races. they do not see anything wrong with their viewpoint, and feel free to speak their mind on the issue.

2. We still call racism a 'problem'. The more you call something a problem, the more of a problem it becomes. The Bible says that:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Proverbs 18:21

3. The victim mentality. A young man that I have really grown to admire says it best in the following video. And since he's black, he is allowed to say it. Whatever! This was posted pre-election. While I agreed with his views in the rest of the video at that time, some of it now falls out of line with our support of our current President. I know you're going to watch it all. This video was in response to someone else's blog entry, but watch around :54 through 1:34. A tip of the hat to an Ol' Broad for this video.



Finally, let me say this: When we start viewing ourselves as we are; a great, blessed, powerful country, we will be able to re-take our rightful place in this world as a leader. As long as we view ourselves as struggling within, we will always be a struggling nation. It is time for us, as a nation to renew our mind. The current President is in office because the left succeeded at getting some on the right to renew their minds about certain things. Unfortunately, the church is responsible for putting an ungodly man in office and America as a nation will pay the price.

Yes, it is time for white and every other color to embrace what is right.

God is right.

We made it!

I received the following from a wonderful woman in my life through an email. I have made some adjustments and posted it here.

To Those of You Born

1925 - 1983

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, white rice, white pasta, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times,we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet, no Facebook, no MySpace and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

No one had ADD or ADHD. We were disciplined to pay attention and learned self-discipline. Some just needed more of the 'discipline' than others.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Our generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, send a link to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

My Newest Motivation

For the two to three of you who actually read this blog, thanks! As you have noticed, I haven't been blogging lately. A few reasons:

1. The holidays are very active for our business and I really didn't have time.
2. The political rigormarole, while very interesting, is not really something I choose to blog on. Truth and Life is more about the real Messiah and His Word. (oops, there I go again).
3. My thoughts and convictions are a little strong for this world at-large. I know that shouldn't matter, but I try to avoid the conflict whenever possible. You should see some of the comments I get from some ridiculous people out there.
4. I haven't really had any inspiration.

Number four brings me to this:

Thank you to Mama and her rants for this kind award.


As I understand it, this award is given to blogs that show great attitude and/or gratitude.

I am now to bestow said award upon 10 other blogs that meet that criteria.

Give me some time to think about it, but thank you for the inspiration. Mama, you are, in fact, my favorite American sister-in-law. ;-)

I think I will, out of respect for the new incoming President, hold off until after his big day.

Please pray for him. Every President needs it.

Your J. O. B.

The following post was taken from an Ol' Broad and edited for content:

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see us as free and self-employed. You’ve imagine us in a big house; dining out with our children. I’m sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about our life.

However, what you don’t see is the back story.

We started this company 10 years ago. At that time, We lived in a run down apartment, someone's basement where, as my 8 month pregnant wife and I laid on our mattress on the floor, we could hear the tinkle of everyone in the toilet over our heads, and an unkempt friend's rental for 5 years. More than half of our living room was converted into an office so we could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you at a wage of WELL OVER the minimum.

Our diet consisted of Macaroni and cheese on Monday, white rice on Tuesday, white rice with beef bullion on Wednesday, white rice with chicken bullion on Thursday, Spaghetti on Friday and leftovers on the weekends because every dollar we made went right back into this company. If we had any meat to eat, it came from the food pantry in town. We drove broken down, third hand cars with defective transmissions & may-pop tires. Our children sacrificed time with their parents. We didn’t have money to go out. Often times, we stayed home on weekends, while our friends went out to the movies and dinners. While everyone else was secure in their HMO coverage, we depended solely upon the Mercy of God and favor of man.

We lived our business - hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. You can not POSSIBLY tell us how difficult it is to make ends meet. Do not even try.

Meanwhile, our friends and relatives got jobs. They worked 40+ hours a week and made a modest $100K plus a year and spent every dime they earned. They enjoyed good health coverage. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom’s for the latest hot fashion item, we were trolling through the clearance racks at Wal-Mart extracting any clothing item that would fit our children. Our own clothes we never bought, but depended on the kindness of wealthier clients to give us their hand-me-downs. Our friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. We, however, did not even own our own home until recently. We put a lot of time, money, and our life into a business with a vision so that eventually, some day, we too, would be able to afford these luxuries our friends supposedly enjoyed.

So, while you physically arrive at to work at 7am, mentally check in at about 11, and then leave at 2pm, we don’t. There is no “off” button for us. When you go home, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. We unfortunately do not have the freedom. We eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to our family like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden - the house, the cars, the trips … you never realize the back story and the sacrifices we’ve made. But we wouldn't have had it any other way. It was our dream; our vision for our family's future.

Now, the economy is falling apart and we, the couple that made all the right decisions and saved our money, have to bail-out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that we earned and sacrificed a decade of our life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price we’ve paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

We are being taxed to the brink and the government thinks we don’t pay enough. We have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. We have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. Sometime between now and April 15th, I will clench my teeth as I find out if I can even break even with our personal taxes or will we have to pay even more.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Us, the couple who has provided all of you good people with good paying jobs servicing homes and offices in 2 states and 9 counties with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don’t understand … to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to us that we didn’t need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing over $100,000 into the Washington black-hole, we would spend it, hiring more employees, start new business outlets and ventures and generate substantial economic growth. Our employees would enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the new power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you you will get.

So where are we going with all of this? It’s quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on us, or our company, our reaction will be swift and simple. We will sell off our business assets. We will fire you. We will fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t our problem any more.

Then, we will close this company down, sell most of out possessions and move to another country, do mission work and eventually retire. You see, we're done. We're done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. Our motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, the dream we worked so hard to achieve.

So, if you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find us teaching some foreign children the Word of God, being appreciated simply because of what we have to offer and not the tax base we can provide, and with no employees to worry about …

Signed,
your employers.

Jason Upton