Sorrow

I've been thinking about something a lot the last couple of days and wanted to write about it here. It is something that fills me with great sorrow honestly.

Monday morning I was reading an editorial piece in the New York Times online edition. The name of the piece was "The Disciples of Hatred, in Their Own Words and Images" and was about how "a lynching exhibition puts the civil rights movement in the context of the reign of terror that gripped black Southerners." The article talked about this exhibition of photos from a point in our countries history that were taken of lynching deaths throughout mainly the southern part of the United States ranging from the late 1870's to 1960.

This exhibition is to go on display most likely in 2011 when the Atlanta Center for Human and Civil Rights opens. Here is the thing about this exhibition, called Without Sanctuary, that really caught my attention and get me to check out what it was all about. The article mentions that many of these photos were sent openly through the mail as postcards. If you look at the website linked above, you will be able to see the photos that are to be a part of the exhibition. Some of these pictures were done by professional photographers and sold to people. This blows my mind.

I have known what lynching was for years, but to be honest I had never really thought about it until I looked at the Without Sanctuary site. As I looked at these photos over the last couple of days, I was filled with sorrow. It took me a while to figure out what the right term was for what I was feeling.

As I thought about it, it made me want to apologize for the things I had seen. Because even though this is not in my personal past (that I am aware of at least) it is a part of our collective past. There is no way for me personally to make any kind of restitution for what happened and yet I feel a need to do something. It makes me think of one of the chapters in Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz. He tells a story about he and some Christian friends setting up a confessional booth at Reed College in Portland, OR and when people came in to the booth, Miller and his friends made confession to and more or less apologized to non-believers for the bad things that have been done in the name of Jesus, such as the Crusades. Even though this was not part of their own personal history, it is a part of our collective history.

Seeing how lives were thought of as being expendable or less than others was horrible. One of the most tragic things to see in the photos was to see the children that were taken to see the results of these acts. Young men and women standing in the front rows looking on as people are brutally beaten, shot and/or hung. Pictures of men holding up their kids in the back of the crowd so they can get a better view.

The problem is that there were people who were supposed to be in charge of protecting these folks from this kind of thing and they could not or in some cases would not. The most recent photo in the exhibit was from 1960. 1960!!! Yes that was nearly 49 years ago, but still it was only 49 years ago. These kinds of atrocities were still taking place that recently. Granted I am able to look at this through eyes that see 49 years of progress and forward thinking, but I would hope that I would be able to feel the same way then that I feel now.

As I was thinking about some of this last night I was listening to a song by David Crowder. The song is called Remedy. As I listened I thought about how the only remedy for all of this is the Grace and Love of God through his son Jesus. That is the only chance we have of things being made right in this life and in the world. We must pray for God's Kingdom purpose and his Grace and Love to flow in this hurt and broken world and be the remedy for us. Peace and Love y'all.

What's in a Name?

Ok, so today is supposed to be my reflections on pop culture. There are some celebrities out there who name their kids weird things. But this one takes the cake for sure.

Last week Roni was watching The View. On there (in case you didn't know) there is a segment called "What The Hell." This is the time when the ladies deal with headlines and stories that make you say "What the hell?" It seems that a couple from Lehigh Valley, PA had a little trouble getting a bakery to make a birthday cake for their 3 year old son. The problem was that the bakery wouldn't do a cake inscribed with the boys name: Adolf Hitler Campbell. Here is a copy of the write up if you want to read it.

As I heard about this story and have read a bit about it since, I can't help but feel bad for the kid. His father claims that it is "just a name" and that they used it because of the fact that no one else did. You know I can dig using a name that is different, just look at my kids' names: Averi, Aspen and Knight. There are some names though that are just synonomous with bad things. That would be why they aren't popular names. Some names you don't hear -ever- would be: Adolf Hitler, Judas Iscarriot, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Benedict Arnold or Napoleon Bonaparte.

Now while these names don't mean that a person will actually end up being like their namesake, there is a reason that they are not used. Can you imagine being saddled with a name that people automatically associate with hate and acts of violence? Or to have your name associated with betrayal? Yes a name is just a name, and the bearer may not be anything at all like the person it came from, that doesn't mean that people won't automatically jump to conclusions about who they are. It is my hope that these little children will not become something based on the names they have been given, but rather will be people who are different than what their names may suggest (also, they may want to consider legally changing those names when they get old enough to do so). Peace and Love y'all.

Football all Around

Wow it feels like it has been a long time since I last actually sat down here and wrote (maybe not for you dear reader, but for me). We had company in the middle part of last week and that is what caused me to miss a bit of time on here. I do hope you will forgive me.

So this is the day for sports. Couple of things to comment on here. First from the Texas State High School Football Playoffs class 4A. This past Saturday was the state championship game for all classes, but it is the 4A championships that have my attention. The reason is because of the fact that there were teams in each 4A title game from the district here around Quitman. First Sulphur Springs beat Dayton 69-49 to win their first ever state title. A friend of mine who is the assistant band director there told me that Supphur Springs punted the ball one time and fumbled it one time. Other than that they scored touchdowns. Secondly, Longview played in the other 4A title game. They lost to Lake Travis from Austin. The thing that stands out however is that both of these teams are from the same district. It would have been really cool for both teams to have won the title.

Amazingly, the Cowboys are still in the hunt for the playoffs. Even though they managed to lose (ugly style) to the Ravens in the final home game ever at Texas Stadium, they got all the help that they needed on Sunday and now all they have to do is beat the Eagles in Philly and they are in. They will go as the 6th place team, but hey, it could happen.

Finally three more things from the NFL. First, the Atlanta Falcons have clinched a playoff spot this season after going 4-12 last season. They had their star QB go to prison, their coach quit to go back to college with three games to go. They have had a rookie quarterback starting all season long. It has been incredible for them. Second, the Miami Dolphins have a shot at making the playoffs this season. They went 1-15 a year ago, and this year they are one win away from the playoffs. Again, incredible. Lastly, the Detroit Lions set an NFL record by losing their fifteenth straight game to start (which seems strange to say "to start the season" since we are one game from ending the regular season) the season without a win. Losing 15 in a row isn't something new. The Panthers did that a few years ago, but they started the season with a win. The Lions have now actually lost their last 16 games. The team has yet to win this season, and has a real shot at being the first team to ever lose all 16 games in a season. In a strange way, I find myself pulling for it to happen. Is that wrong?

Well that's it from here. I will get back on track this week, even with Christmas going on. Peace and Love y'all.

Family Hoe Down

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is how we get down in the Durham house here in Quitman. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about here. Peace and Love y'all.