"Wordly" wisdom

Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say all that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth…remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth.’

Although we may sometimes discreetly and prudently hide and disguise the truth by an equivocal statement, this must never be done except where the matter is important and God’s glory and service clearly require it. In any other case such tricks are dangerous. As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful and tricky soul. No artifice is as good and desirable as plain dealing. Worldly prudence and carnal artifice belong to the children of this world; whereas the children of God walk a straight path and their hearts are without guile.

- St. Francis de Sales

The wisdom of Rose

H/T to Peggy for forwarding this email:


The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?'

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.

'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.

She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...'

'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began:

We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.

She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. 

GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. 

We make a Living by what we get. 

We make a Life by what we give.

Check out this Rockin' Robin.... er.... I mean Parrot

I don't think I want a pet bird (although I'm certain our cats would LOVE it), but THIS guy is certainly entertaining!

Is there a hermit in the house?

Carlo Carretto, a leading spiritual writer of the past half-century, was a hermit in the Sahara desert for more than a dozen years. Alone, with only the Blessed Sacrament for company, milking a goat for food, and translating the Bible into the local Bedouin language, he prayed for long hours by himself. Returning to Italy to visit his mother, he came to a startling realization: His mother, who for more than 30 years had been so busy raising a family that she scarcely ever had a private minute, was more contemplative than he was.

Carretto drew the right lesson. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with what he’d been doing as a hermit. Rather, there was something wonderfully right about what his mother had been doing as she lived the interrupted life amidst the noise and incessant demands of small children. He had been in a monastery, but so had she.

A monastery is not so much a place set apart for monks and nuns as it is a place set apart (period). It is a place to learn the value of powerlessness and to learn that time is not ours, but God’s.

Our home and duties can, like a monastery, teach us that. John of the Cross once described the inner essence of monasticism this way: “But they, O my God and my life, will see and experience your mild touch, who withdraw from the world and become mild, bringing the mild into harmony with the mild, thus enabling themselves to experience and enjoy you.” John suggests that two elements make for a monastery: withdrawal from the world and bringing oneself into harmony with the mild...

The principles of monasticism are time-tested, saint-sanctioned, and altogether – trustworthy. But there are different kinds of monasteries, different ways of putting ourselves into harmony with the mild, and different kinds of monastic bells. Response to duty can be monastic prayer, a needy hand can be a monastic bell, and working without status and power can constitute a withdrawal into a monastery where God can meet us. The domestic can be the monastic.

- Father Ron Rolheiser

A little-known creed

When I went to confirmation classes as a teenager, we learned the texts of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. We also learned of the existence of the Athanasian Creed and read it, but we weren't asked to memorize it. And I do believe that's the last time I've even heard the Athanasian Creed mentioned.

Now, years later, I'm helping teach RCIA classes (for adults interested in learning more about the Roman Catholic faith). We recently discussed the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, and a long-lost neuron in my brain reminded me of the Athanasian Creed. I decided to do a bit of research, and thought my readers might be interested in learning about this as well.

Since the 6th century, many among Western Christians, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church and most liturgical Protestant denominations have accepted the tenets of the Athanasian Creed, although it has been used less and less frequently and has become little known. If we were to take a poll, probably less than 5% of Christian laity would even have heard of it.

Athanasia of Alexandria was held by many to be the original author of the Creed, in which the doctrine of the Trinity is explicitly stated; most historians, however, no longer believe Athanasia wrote it, however. The Creed countered a number of non-Trinitarian heresies, including Sabellianism, Arianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism. The text of the Athanasian Creed was originally written in Latin, but here is the English translation of the Creed:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.

For as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so we are also forbidden by the catholic religion to say that there are three gods or three lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

And in the Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.

He therefore that will be saved is must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching His godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching His manhood; who, although He is God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the godhead into flesh but by taking of the manhood into God; one altogether; not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sits at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the quick and the dead. At His coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

Indebted to the world

Read one man's "take" on thanksgiving:

All men are interdependent. Every nation is an heir of a vast treasury of ideas and labor to which both the living and the dead of all nations have contributed. Whether we realize it or not, each of us lives eternally "in the red". We are everlasting debtors to known and unknown men and women. When we arise in the morning, we go into the bathroom where we reach for a sponge which is provided for us by a Pacific Islander. We reach for a soap that is created for us by a European. Then at the table we drink coffee which is provided for us by a South American, or tea by a Chinese, or cocoa by a West African. Before we leave for our jobs we are already beholden to more than half the world.

– Martin Luther King Jr

With that in mind, let me say Thank You and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Wordless Wednesday

My friend Marion shared a few lovely pictures of her ramblings with her dog in the forest near her home in England. Thanks to her inspiration, I went on a stroll of my own in our local park and took these pix. And then JoAnn took some photos of the fall color near her home. And on it goes... It all started with the inspiration of one individual. Perhaps you, too, would like to inspire someone today!

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in

noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.

See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in

silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how

they move in silence...

- Mother Teresa

Defining "Christian"

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston , Texas . Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here,you gave me too much change .."

The driver, with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?"

"Yes" he replied.

"Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday."

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits..

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Sharing some good news.

The website of a local TV station ran this story

today. It tells of volunteers from the Millbrook High School student body, Saint Raphael Catholic Church and local businesses who donated their time to do some much-needed repairs for a Spanish teacher from the high school who has had a recurrence of her breast cancer. She has the most aggressive form of cancer, and it's in a very advanced stage.

Isn't it wonderful, in a world full of bad news and tragic circumstances, to see a community pull together to help someone who's going through tough times?

Often times, though, acts of extraordinary kindness don't get publicity as this story did. As an example, I remember a time when my husband was out of work and we seemed to be crushed under a mountain of bills. Someone from our church gave us a check for enough money to begin getting the mountain down to a molehill. They explained that they tithe, but that they split their tithe between the church and someone in need that God brings to their attention. I'm still humbled when I remember their kindness.

This is a season where we remember our blessings... including the angels who disguise themselves as people and show great kindness to others. Won't you share such a story with us?

No regrets?

I ran into a nice post on another site today.The author - who worked in palliative care - frequently had the opportunity to talk with people who were nearing the end of life. She shared some of the regrets they had... things they wished they had done, or wished they had done differently, or would do now if only they had the opportunity. Read the list she shared - it might surprise you.

I started thinking about some of the things I would have done differently, and some of the things I haven't done that I might regret if I were to realize that my time on earth was coming to an end.

As we leave our childhood, it seems we begin to become more and more cautious. Some of that caution is good. We figure out that we shouldn't give our bank account number to the widow of a deposed African potentate because an email tells us they're going to pay us millions of dollars to help them smuggle money out of their native country. But sometimes we're so busy being cautious that we miss out on opportunities to laugh, to play, to run in the rain or make mud puddles rather than huddling under an umbrella for fear we'll shrink away like the bad witch in the Wizard of Oz. Heck, I've even seen people in their bathing suits at the beach trying desperately to keep from getting wet in a summer rain. How crazy is THAT?

This quote from a famous and prolific author named "Anonymous" seems to sum up what I'm trying to express far better than I am at the moment:

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, Some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way

So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one. So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

One of my favorite childhood memories took place just after a hurricane blew by. The yard was completely flooded. My dad knew he'd have to tackle a huge cleanup job once the flood waters receded, but in the meanwhile, we had a blast in the rain. He got a big wash bucket, tied a rope to it, put me in the bucket, and pulled me around the flooded yard in our makeshift boat.

I don't think I'll remember the times my dad and I hung out under an umbrella to keep dry in the rain. But I'll never forget - or regret - "sailing" in the back yard.

What about you? are there things you'd regret if you knew your life was drawing to an end?  Maybe today is the day to make some memories to cherish later!

How does he DO that????

You want me to do WHAT???

Go into a den and take 3 baby bears from mom?

WHAT????

Changed for the better

Jaques Fesch was a spoiled young playboy with a life remarkable only for its dissolution. He turned against God as a teenager, married a woman who was pregnant with his child only to abandon her and his daughter, fathered a child with another woman, and assaulted a money changer during an attempted robbery. As shot and killed a policeman who was pursuing him, and was sentenced to death for his crime.

During the three years Fesch spent in prison, he changed dramatically. The man who had once mocked the faith of his attorney became converted. The man who had shown no remorse for his crime repented. The playboy became ascetic. The selfish man developed concern for others. He began to write diary of sorts, and his writings show evidence of his spiritual growth while in prison. Some have likened him to Dismas, the repentant thief who was crucified alongside Jesus.

The night before he died, Fesch wrote the following letter:

We have been writing so often to each other in the last six months that in this final letter I can only urge you to persevere in the way you are going, in which you have just made a little progress, for now you know the way. Try to open your eyes wide and to discern, behind what seems like chastisement, the manifestation of the divine will, which is love. Do not turn in on your grief. Take it to God, and let only one thing cause you to suffer: offenses committed against Him. This, you see, is the great goal of life. 

We are all mortal, and must leave this valley of tears sooner or later. The essential thing is to leave it in a good state of soul. Be confident about me. God has given me the great grace of drawing me to Himself, and when you read these lines I shall be looking upon our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I confess that I am a little fearful of your impulsive reactions, dictated by your profound grief. Above all, remain calm; be moderate in everything, and try to plunge your sorrow in the love of Jesus, who waits only for your appeal to come and console you. Leave all justice, all vengeance, in God’s hands; this is my formal will. 

Christ came to save the world, not to condemn it. Let us not condemn ourselves, even if others do so. Seek peace. You have, if you are willing, a great and beautiful role to fill. Many depend upon you, much will be asked of you, but by the same token, much will also be given you provided you do not resist. I hope with all my heart that in time you will be reconciled with our Holy Mother Church. It is she who distributes all of Christ’s gifts. In rejecting her, you deprive yourself of all the helps, benefits, and graces which Christ has placed within her. 

Think this over. Dear Mama, first of all I want to thank you deeply for all the love with which you have surrounded me during these last months. I am looking at the pile of your letters, which have strengthened me. Each one has been the center of every day for me, and without them I should have suffered deeply. You know what Jesus said in His gospel: “I was in prison and you visited Me...” In surrounding your child with love, it is also Christ you have comforted, and I am very sure he will reward you. 

Don’t forget that charity covers a multitude of sins! If many things seem dry or incomprehensible to you, you can rise above them through charity. Charity is kind and patient, it believes all, hopes all, never ends. Don’t forget that God is love! 

With these lines, I entrust my little girl to you. Take good care of her, with love and serenity. Think that Jesus loves her infinitely and that what you do for one of these little ones, you do for Him. Love her in God and be sure that from heaven I will protect her and watch over her with all the love Jesus will give me. Abide you, too, in the love of Christ, and you will see God. 

Now, my life is finished. “Like a little spring flower which the divine Gardener plucks for His pleasure,” so my head will fall – glorious ignominy – with heaven for its prize!

– Jacques Fesch, written the night before his execution via guillotine on October 1, 1957

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Starting Monday of this week, I began a week-long series on the death penalty. I tried to introduce some aspects of the issue that aren't discussed all that frequently. Please read this series from the beginning, and feel free to share your thoughts.

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
A last look

How you can help

One last thing before I get off the topic of prisons & prisoners. I did a web search & found a number of resources for prisoners. If you have a friend or family member in prison, these organizations may be helpful ones for your loved one. And if you'd like to help prisoners indirectly, contact these organizations for ways you may be able to assist them. Many of them would be endlessly grateful if you would volunteer your time or donate books or services to help them in their efforts.


American Bible Society
1865 Broadway
New York, NY 10023

Free bibles including large print and study guides.

Asheville Prison Books Program
67 North Lexington Ave
Asheville NC 28801

Mails free reading material to indigent inmates in facilities in NC, SC, GA, & TN. Each prisoner request is met with a package containing several books, a letter, and, if requested, a National Prisoners Resource List.

Book 'Em
PO Box 71357
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Sends free books to prisoners in all states except OR (& men in TX)


Books Through Bars
C/O Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St
New York, NY 10002

Ships to prisoners nationwide. Specializes in political and history books. Also sends literary fiction and other educational books; no religious literature.

Books to Prisoners
C/O Left Bank Books
 92 Pike St., Box A
Seattle WA 98101

Free books to prisoners to all states except CA. Request by subject, no materials or legal materials.


Campaign to End the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 25730
Chicago, IL 60625

Publishes a newsletter called The New Abolitionist (free to prisoners)


DC Prisons Book Project
P.O. Box 5243
Hyattsville MD 20782

Free books to prisoners nationwide. Give about 3 month turnaround time.

Death Row Support Project
P.O. Box 600 Dept. P
Liberty Mills, IN 46946

Offers pen-pal services to death row inmates


Gainesville Books for Prisoners
PO Box 12164
Gainsesville FL 32604

Covers prisoners nationwide. Accepts requests by topic of interest only.

Groundwork Books Collective
0323 UCSD Student Center
La Jolla CA 92037

Used college textbooks donated by students at the end of the semester. Only one book per request. Request by subject.

International Bible Society
1820 Jet Stream Dr
Colorado Springs, CO

Inmates can receive free on the inside Bible (English or Spanish) and a booklet for women or men.

Lifespark
PO Box, 4002
Basel, Switzerland

Swiss organization which arranges penpals to inmates on death row in the USA

Mennonite Central Committee, US Office of Crime and Justice
PO Box 500
Akfron, PA 17501

Free publicatins for prisoners, families

Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project
C/O Boxcar Books
310A S. Washington St.
Bloomington IN 47401

Sends free books to prisoners in the following states AZ, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, MN, IA, MO, AR, IN, OH, KY, TN, & FL. Sends up to 3 books at a time. Books can be requested every 2 months. Sends all subjects of fiction and non-fiction reading material. Priority is given to people requesting books from women's and youth facilities.

Prison Book Program
31 Montford Ave.
Asheville NC 28801

Sends free books to prisoners in NC, SC, GA, & TN

Prison Book Program
C/O Lucy Parsons Bookstore
1306 Hancock St., Suite 100
Quincy MA 02169

Covers prisoners in all states but CA, MD, MI, PA, or TX. No computer books, horror, romance, textbooks, true crime, or white supremacist materials. Publishes the National Prisoner Resource List free to prisoners nationwide on request.

Prison Fellowship
P.O. Box 1550
Merrifield VA 22116

Partners with local churches across the country to minister to prisoners, exprisoners, and their families. Publishes a variety of prisoner support literature including the Prison Survival Guide

Prison Literature Project
C/O Bound Together Bookstore
1369 Haight St.
San Francisco CA 94117

Request types of books - not specific titles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read this series from the beginning:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look

A last look at the death penalty

I mentioned at the start of this series that I write to several inmates on death row. I started writing to one of them in 1998, and have gradually come to consider him to be a friend. I'm not excusing what he did; he committed a robbery in which a woman lost her life. But he has taken responsibility for his crime and has shown what seems to be genuine remorse. In fact, when he sobered up and realized what he had done, he immediately went to the sheriff and confessed. He did not have legal counsel; perhaps if he had, he wouldn't be sitting on death row. As it is, his only desire is that his sentence be reduced to life in prison without parole. I truly believe he's a changed man, and of all the men I've written to, he's the only one I feel could live honestly and well "on the outside".

I'd like to include some excerpts from a few of the letters we exchanged this past summer:

7/21/10 - I have been thinking that I would like to have you come and be with Mom and I on that last day if it comes to that… I am mainly thinking about Mom having someone there to support her and I think that would be You or B****. I guess that I came out of left field with that but I think about it often and I sort of want to have things made up in my mind way before the time might come. Lots of guys up here seem to be scared to talk about it but I somehow find it a bit comforting just to put it out there like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8/7/10 - I guess that now I will jump on the topic of your last letter and the one that seems to trouble folks the most… It is something that I have come to accept and in some ways to even embrace, so to speak. I am not seeking it out but I will not fear it either.

The one thing that I am finding out is that maybe the dying part of all of this is really the easy part and that the folks out there have a harder part to play in it. I figured that since I was the one going to die, that if I was taking it well that everyone else would follow suit. I just wanted it to be a time of peaceful acceptance, I guess. I would like to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved. Even down to the person that actually does the executing.

I think I sort of hit you out of left field with all of this… To me, it was the greatest compliment that I could bestow on you. That I would want to spend my last day on earth visiting with You, along with my Mom. I want to spend the time with people that I truly enjoy being around and not just what seems right.

…As strange as it might seem, you are included in a list of some 4 people who will be close to me at that time. There is a lot more to this than you might see at first glance. It is not just that last day but the few days following it that I have to think about. I need people around my mom that I can not only depend on but trust to be there and that list is far shorter than you might think. Blood relation has nothing to do with it. You are family to me.. So whether you actually spend the last day with me or B**** does, I would definitely want you to come and stay with mom for a few days. I need to know that there is someone that does not have to go to work or take care of the family but can stay and not only be sympathetic to her needs but strong at the same time.

Regardless of whether you believe in the death penalty or not or are a Christian, really is not even relevant in this instance. Whether it is administered fairly or not or whether I did or did not commit a worse crime than the next person and they do not get the death penalty. As it stands now, the state of **** has voted it in and as long as it is the law, I have to live or die with the fact that it could happen, that I will be executed some time in the future. Whether it actually happens or not, I just want to be cool with it and let God work with it as He sees fit and I want you to ride along with me.

I truly hope that I have not made this even worse by saying any of this or in the way I said it. Just know that as negative as it may sound, it was meant in a most positive way.

I feel the same responsibility towards my pen-friends as many of them feel towards the guys they begin to write. I realized early on that folks write us for a number of reasons and I can usually tell what it is within just a short while. When I decided to reach out there to you all, I made it a point to be someone probably completely different than they had probably ever come in contact with. I took it as an opportunity to begin anew and do things better than I did the first time around… If I had it to do over again, I do not think that I would do it but that would mean that I would have missed out on your friendship and that would be a terrible loss…

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8/10/10 - I can imagine that this little note was a surprise for you. I have to say that I felt that my large letter which you would have already received was not my best piece of work. So I decided to drop this little note to apologize, if it fell short of where I was going or if it went too far.

Even though my intent was that purest that I can reach, I still felt that I might have come across a bit if not a lot pushy. I have to say that when it comes to things that run on the emotional side of life, that I struggle with expressing them in the appropriate manner. I always mean well but many times I feel that I come up short.

I probably put a lot of pressure on you by being so dependent on you or, at the least, feeling that I can depend on you, in all aspects of life... In all honesty, there are only two people on this earth that I feel that I can truly depend on and that is My Mom and You. I am learning to trust God more and more but there are still moments when I do trust the physical over the spiritual and when that is the case, it means you two…

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I must admit, the thought of being present at the deliberate killing of another human being is something I can't imagine. Especially when I've developed a friendship with this person over the years. Do you think you could do it?


Over the past few days, I've discussed some aspects of the death penalty that you may not have considered before. I've talked about innocence and guilt, repentance and forgiveness, vengeance and justice. I've talked about the effects of executions on those who carry them out and on family members who survive them. And I've shared some correspondence from a man who is on death row today. Now I'd like you to share. What is your position on the death penalty?

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Read this series from the beginning:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Also, please visit Conversion Diary each Friday for 7 Quick Takes.

What about the murderer's mom?

Yesterday I talked some about death row inmates. Today I'd like to bring up another group of people who are profoundly affected by capital punishment: the families of the person sentenced to death.

I must admit I'd never given them a thought before I began corresponding with inmates. As I said yesterday, many people on death row have little or no contact with family members. But I think I'd have expected the families would have been folks I'd not care to spend much time with. Truth be told, we often tend to place some blame on the families of people who "turn out wrong". Take this quote from Misty McWee, who was 14 years old when her father was arrested for murder, and twice that age when he was executed:

When we walked in the courtroom, people gave us dirty looks, just because we belonged to our father. You wonder, what did we as kids do to deserve this? There's so much you're trying to understand and it doesn't help to have people judging you. People look at it like the whole family must be bad.

 

When I visited one of my penpals several years ago, I met the mother of another inmate. She lived 1000 miles away from the prison where he was incarcerated, so she rarely had the chance to see her son. She was a well-dressed woman, probably upper middle class, well educated, soft spoken... not at all what I'd have envisioned had I tried to conjure up the image of a family member of a convicted killer. And perhaps for that reason, she has stuck in my mind... especially after I heard that her son was executed. I can't begin to fathom what that would be like, can you?

I recently ran across a report published in 2006 called Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind. This publication was put out by Murder Victim's Families for Human Rights (MVFHR). Read it - I've placed a link to the report below. The report will open your eyes.

MVFHR has launched a project which focuses on the families of those who have been executed. It's called No Silence, No Shame. After reading of the experience of Christina Lawson, whose husband was executed, I can understand the importance of such a project. Here's how she described her experience:

Then they wouldn’t look us in the eye when they frisked us. And afterwards, they were pushing us out the door and I looked up and saw that not even a minute had gone by since his death. I didn’t even get to stand there and realize what had happened. Then we started walking out of the administration building and my whole world started spinning. The activists were packing up and leaving and the prodeath penalty side was yelling at us and I kept thinking, why are you yelling at me? I didn’t do anything. I realized I was being punished for something David did.

As I said in an earlier post, I recognize that there are strong arguments both for and against the death penalty, and I can understand and respect those who hold a different point of view. But regardless of your position, I hope you can find it in your heart to treat families of those in prison with compassion rather than cruelty.

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Interested in learning more? Check these links:

Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt Families Left Behind
Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights
Murder Victims’ Families For Reconciliation

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Read this series from the beginning:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look

What's the key to "closure"?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to witness an execution? I imagine your reaction might differ depending on the method used. In the U.S., the method varies from one state to another. Lethal injection is the most common method, but Washington allows inmates to choose hanging if they so desire, and several states allow the inmate to choose electrocution over lethal injection. Some states have implemented a sort of execution insurance: if lethal injection is deemed unconstitutional, they have a backup plan to use an alternate method, i.e. hanging, firing squad or lethal gas.


Usually only a few people are permitted to witness an execution: a select number from the media, the victim's family, and the family of the condemned. But there are extraordinary circumstances, as in the case of Timothy McVeigh. He was convicted for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. 168 people died and nearly 700 were injured as a result of that blast. Roughly 30 people were allowed to witness his execution at the prison, and 232 were permitted to watch on closed-circuit television.

One argument in favor of the death penalty is that it provides closure to the families of the victim. But I wonder: is there such a thing as "closure" after the murder of a loved one?

Take the example of Kathleen Treanor, who lost three family members, including her 4-year-old daughter, in the Murrah Building. She said, "I'm glad I live in a country which has made an example of this man." Yet she also said, "I don't think anything can bring me peace. I'll never get over the death of my daughter. When I die that's when I'll get closure."

In contrast, listen to the words of New Hampshire State Rep. Robert Renny Cushing whose father was murdered in 1988: "As one victim, as a colleague, I stand before you to ask that you vote to abolish the death penalty, not so much because I want murderers to live but because if the state kills them, that forever forecloses the possibility that those of us who are victims might be able to figure out how to forgive. We've lost enough already. Don't take that option for healing away, please."

I've never experienced the loss of a loved one due to violence, so I don't know how I'd respond. I know that, at least at first, it is likely I'd struggle with the desire for revenge. But would that solve anything? Would it bring me peace? I simply don't know the answer to that. But I hope that my ultimate response would be to progress toward the freedom of forgiveness. And I can't imagine that watching the execution of the person convicted of the death would bring me lasting peace. I sometimes wonder if the families who seek closure as they watch an execution don't feel rather let down by the whole experience and hear echoes of the old Peggy Lee song, "Is That All There Is?"

I would hope that I could respond more like Debbie Morris, who managed to survive a brutal attack by the man who later became the subject of the movie, Dead Man Walking. She said,

People often ask, “How do you feel about the death penalty now? Are you for or against it?” I still have ambivalent feelings. I’ve seen mankind’s idea of ultimate justice; I have more faith in God’s. And even God seems to put a higher priority on forgiveness than on justice. We don’t sing “Amazing Justice”; we sing “Amazing Grace”. Does that mean that I think a holy God would oppose the execution of a convicted murderer like Robert Willie? I don’t know; I’m still wrestling with that question. But I do know this: Justice didn’t do a thing to heal me. Forgiveness did.

What do you think? Would you find closure if the person accused of your loved one's murder was executed? Would you watch? Could you forgive? And what would free you most from the pain of the loss of one?

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Read this series from the beginning:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look

Just another day at the office?

I've read quotes from members of a victim's family that swear they'd be glad to "pull the switch" on the person who committed the crime that took the life of their loved one. And although I have come to oppose the death penalty, I can understand the desire for vengeance. Truly, I can. But I find myself wondering what the long-term effects of assisting with an execution would be to members of the execution team.

Take, for example, Jim Willett, who was warden of the The Walls, a Texas prison where he presided over 89 executions. He said, "Sometimes I wonder whether people really understand what goes on down here and the effect it has on us. Killing people, even people you know are heinous criminals, is a gruesome business, and it takes a harsh toll…I have no doubt it’s disturbing for all of us. You don’t ever get used to it."

Don Cabana, former warden of Parchman (which houses Mississippi's death row), apparently has similar misgivings. He said, “ If the [condemned prisoner] was some awful monster why did I feel so bad about it, I wondered. It has been said that men on death row are inhuman, cold-blooded killers. But as I stood and watched a grieving mother leave her son for the last time, I questioned how the sordid business of executions was supposed to be the great equalizer…The ‘last mile’ seemed an eternity, every step a painful reminder of what waited at the end of the walk. Where was the cold-blooded murderer, I wondered, as we approached the door to the last-night-cell. I had looked for that man before…and I still had not found him-I saw in my grasp, only a frightened child. [Minutes after the execution and before heading] out to the press corps, I shook my head. ‘No more. I don’t want to do this anymore’.”

On the other hand, we have folks who are eager to do the job. Take, for example, a man who was part of the Utah firing squad that executed John Albert Taylor. He said, "It was anti-climactic. Another day at the office... I've shot squirrels I've felt worse about."

Many will argue that justice was done when John Albert Taylor died. But I wonder about a system that is carried out by a man who thinks deliberately taking a life is simply "another day at the office". If justice is truly being done, it should mean more than that.

Otherwise, it seems to me there's something squirrely about the system.

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Read this series from the beginning:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look

Taking faith behind bars

 

15 years ago I was a supporter of the death penalty. That has changed. It didn’t happen all of the sudden. I began to think about where to draw the line in condemning people to death, and I realized there wasn’t a point where I could comfortably draw that line. I then began to do research on the subject. As a result, although I acknowledge that there are rational arguments to be made on both sides of the issue, I can no longer support capital punishment.

Over the course of time, I decided I felt called to try to share my faith with someone on death row. I began corresponding with one inmate, and over time I began writing to several others in several different states. I’m not under any illusions that the people I write to are great guys who should be out on the street. With one possible exception, I hope they never step outside of prison walls. On the other hand…

The people I write to have little or no contact with family, and there are few people who maintain friendships with folks who will never leave prison. The largest cell any of my correspondents live in is 7 by 12 feet, and they are there for 23 hours out of each day. There are solid walls between surrounding them rather than prison bars, so the only time they see a human face is when the guards look through the small grilled window or when another inmate is led by, perhaps to take a shower or meet with their attorney. When inmates are escorted to take a shower or to take recreation once a week in a “dog run” outside, they are shackled en route. They have no privacy. They are subjected to “cavity checks” frequently. My penpals in Florida, Mississippi, and Arizona don’t have air conditioning. We aren’t talking about luxury prisons here, and I’m certainly not suggesting we should provide convicted felons with all the comforts of home.

But one thing they do have while they’re incarcerated: a chance to regain their freedom if it is discovered that they are innocent. 138 people have been released from death row after evidence proved their innocence since 1973. Some of these people spent nearly two decades locked up for a crime they didn’t commit. At least one of them came within 48 hours of being put to death before his innocence was proven. We will never be able to restore what these inmates have lost… but thank God they weren’t executed in the name of “justice”.

And one other thing they’ve got as long as they’re incarcerated: a chance to develop remorse for their wrongs.. a chance for repentance.

Visiting or writing to prisoners may not be your thing, and that’s OK. Each member of the Body of Christ has a different function, a different task to accomplish. But I hope you’ll join me today in praying for prisoners and their families, and for the victims of crime and their families. And I hope you'll come back each day this week and explore another facet of the death penalty debate.

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Read the entire week-long series on the death penalty:

The death penalty: a brief introduction

The execution team
Is “closure” a copout?
The murderer’s mom
Ways you can help
A last look

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Happy Thanksgiving (early)!

Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, what would be left of me?

- Patrick Henry Reardon

How about you? What will you be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day?

Meet me at Macys!

Learning to trust the slow work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything, to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability- and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you.


Your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

H/T to the Sisters of the Visitation Monastery in Minneapolis for sharing this!

Deep sea diving continues

From the time I was a kid, I remember hearing that God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnipresent (found everywhere). Although over time I’ve gotten to know God better and have been able to embellish that description with more detail, I still consider those three words to be a very basic element of my understanding of God.

So I continue to believe that God is omnipresent – everywhere – and that we are all created in the image of God. Therefore, there is some of Him in all of us… even those who refuse to listen to His voice, those who do not accept Him, those who try to drown out His voice or bury Him in sin.

But that’s not us, is it? As believers (in theory at least) we listen to His voice, accept Him as the Lord of our lives, and try to walk more and more in His light and less and less along the paths of sin that once may have attracted us.

In this post earlier this week, I mentioned a phrase from a book by Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, who used the analogy of deep sea diving to speak of our quest for God. That phrase keeps slipping into my thoughts, and I find myself trying to do a bit of deep sea diving… trying to listen to the promptings of the Spirit, trying to let God come to the surface more.

But there’s another sort of deep sea diving that I think we’re called to undertake: that of searching for the presence of God in others. To do so, we have to look past some of the less-attractive traits of the people we meet each day. We need to avoid allowing the failures and foibles of others to create a smokescreen that obscures what is best about them.

Who knows? We may well find some pearls.

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Visit Conversion Diary each Friday for 7 Quick Takes.

The plan of the founder of Planned Parenthood

On the purpose of birth control:
The purpose in promoting birth control is "to create a race of thoroughbreds." - Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)

"[Our objective is] unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children..." - The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

"More children from the fit, less from the unfit -- that is the chief aim of birth control." Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12

"Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race." - Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.

"The campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical with the final aims of eugenics." - "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

On the evils of marriage:
"The marriage bed is the most degenerative influence in the social order..." - The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.


On value of infanticide:
"The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." - Women and the New Race (Eugenics Publ. Co., 1920, 1923)


On the importance of eugenics:
"Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems. - "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need ... We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock." - April 1933 Birth Control Review.

"On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective." - "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review , October 1921, page 5.

As an advocate of birth control I wish ... to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the 'unfit' and the 'fit,' admittedly the greatest present menace to civilization, can never be rectified by the inauguration of a cradle competition between these two classes. In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feeble-minded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation.... On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective. - "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"Our failure to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying ... demonstrates our foolhardy and extravagant sentimentalism ... [Philanthropists] encourage the healthier and more normal sections of the world to shoulder the burden of unthinking and indiscriminate fecundity of others; which brings with it, as I think the reader must agree, a dead weight of human waste. Instead of decreasing and aiming to eliminate the stocks that are most detrimental to the future of the race and the world, it tends to render them to a menacing degree dominant ... We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all." - The Pivot of Civilization, 1922. Chapter on "The Cruelty of Charity," pages 116, 122, and 189. Swarthmore College Library edition.

"The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind." - quoted in Charles Valenza. "Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?" Family Planning Perspectives, January-February 1985, page 44.

"The third group [of society] are those irresponsible and reckless ones having little regard for the consequences of their acts, or whose religious scruples prevent their exercising control over their numbers. Many of this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent upon the normal and fit members of society for their support. There is no doubt in the minds of all thinking people that the procreation of this group should be stopped." - Speech quoted in Birth Control: What It Is, How It Works, What It Will Do. The Proceedings of the First American Birth Control Conference. Held at the Hotel Plaza, New York City, November 11-12, 1921. Published by the Birth Control Review, Gothic Press, pages 172 and 174.

"Give dysgenic groups [people with 'bad genes'] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization." - April 1932 Birth Control Review.

"There is only one reply to a request for a higher birthrate among the intelligent, and that is to ask the government to first take the burden of the insane and feeble-minded from your back. [Mandatory] sterilization for these is the answer." - October 1926 Birth Control Review.

On the undesirability of blacks, Jews, immigrants and indigents:
"...human weeds,' 'reckless breeders,' 'spawning... human beings who never should have been born."  - From Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people

"[Slavs, Latin, and Hebrew immigrants are] human weeds ... a deadweight of human waste ... [Blacks, soldiers, and Jews are a] menace to the race." - April 1933 Birth Control Review

“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." - Margaret Sanger's December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon's Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.

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If you're interested in reading more quotes from the founder of Planned Parenthood, the organization that performs more abortions than any other in the U.S., go here or here or here or here.

Veteran's Day today - be sure to thank a veteran!

Raymond

Brett Eldredge | Myspace Music Videos

Dial 4-1-1

H/T to Fr. Lobo at God In All Things.

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighbourhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was “Information Please” and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone’s number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbour. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlour and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlour and held it to my ear. “Information, please” I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. “Information.”

“I hurt my finger…” I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. “Isn’t your mother home?” came the question. “Nobody’s home but me,” I blubbered.” Are you bleeding?” the voice asked. “No,” I replied. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.” “Can you open the icebox?” she asked. I said I could. “Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,” said the voice. After that, I called “Information Please” for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, Information Please,” and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, “Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?” She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said sweetly, “Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.” Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone, “Information Please.” “Information,” said in the now familiar voice. “How do I spell fix?” I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. “Information Please” belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and “Information Please.” Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. “Information.” I hadn’t planned this, but I heard myself saying, “Could you please tell me how to spell fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, “I guess your finger must have healed by now.” I laughed, “So it’s really you,” I said. “I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?” I wonder,” she said, “if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls. “I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. “Please do”, she said. “Just ask for Sally.”

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, “Information.” I asked for Sally. “Are you a friend?” she said. “Yes, a very old friend,” I answered. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” she said. “Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.” Before I could hang up she said, “Wait a minute, did you say your name was Paul?” “Yes.” I answered. “Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you.” The note said, “Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.” I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant. Never underestimate the impression you may make on others. Whose life have you touched today?