Happiness Is Geese in Your Pond
When the television show, The Sopranos, was on a few years ago, I was a fan.
You may recall, if you were a fan too, that a flock of ducks began using Tony’s Pool and it brought him great joy.
In the first episode, entitled Pilot, Tony is seen wading out into the pool with his robe on to offer the ducks some food.
For the past 24 hours we have been privileged to have a flock of geese take up residence in our pond.
I have been told, more than once, by well meaning souls…that I remind them of Tony Soprano. Now I enjoyed the show immensely and it was one of my two favorites of all time…with the other being Seinfeld and the third place going to Lost.
However I am not at all sure that the likeness to ‘T’ is altogether a compliment.
I did show my good friend, Tom S., a photo of Al Capone, once, and when he asked me who the photo was of…I told him my Dad.
But, in any case, the arrival of the Goose Family has brought joy to my heart and another reaffirmation of the beauty and wonder of our world.
The Sopranos was on during some challenging years of my life…and it afforded great relief from the vagaries of being middle aged and the heartbreak of caring for my ailing mother…who suffered from Alzheimers Disease
Not long after we could no longer care for my mother…Mary Jane’s father passed away and she began caring for her mom on a regular basis.
We discovered that the care givers of an ill parent can become ill themselves and must keep an eye on the very real possibility of succumbing to the severe challenges of being a caregiver and the significant stress that caregivers undergo.
So, I like the geese and the balm that nature gives each of us, who are members of the human family,…for free.
Let Us Rise!
‘SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy took flight Tuesday and everything appears to be going seamlessly.’
‘Around 3:45 pm ET, the world’s most powerful rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.’
‘SpaceX has shaken up the rocket industry by becoming the first company to successfully reuse rocket boosters in order to bring down the cost of spaceflight. To do that, it guides the rockets back to Earth for a safe landing after their payloads toward orbit.’ CNN
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is headed for an orbit around the Sun and Mars that could continue for thousands of years. In it’s nose is a Tesla automobile, that is manufactured by the business man, Elon Musk, as is the rocket created by Mr. Musk, who heads the company.
This successful launch is an illustration of the capabilities of our human family and is something to be celebrated.
I am often inspired by my friends, Elizabeth and Ryan, and their accomplishments at SIU.
Ryan is such a wonderful chap. He performs a herculean amount of work, as a member of the Building Services’ Staff, and he does it in a quiet and professional manner…that is to be emulated.
Ryan’s wife, Elizabeth, has just raised $500.00 dollars for Special Olympics and she is going to perform the Polar Bear Plunge, in just a few days.
I have been involved in a lot of fundraising, during my career at SIU, and $500.00 is hard to raise!
The kind of, ‘Can Do Spirit’, that the Cheeks exemplify each day at Southern Illinois University is inspiring.
I saw my friend, of many years, George Sheffer, this afternoon at his former Hardware Store, Murdale True Value…now Murdale Ace Hardware.
George was one of the finest supporters of SIU…that I have ever know.
I have sat on committees of the President of the University and the Chancellor of SIU…and the name of George Sheffer was renowned and respected for his benevolence and support of his School.
During my career at the College…many times, George, reduced the price of vacuums for our organization in order to facilitate our purchase of them…on our limited budget.
As my Jewish friends would say…George Sheffer is a Mensch!
I like Southern Illinois University President, Randy Dunn, and find him, extremely easy to communicate with.
Dr. Dunn is widely respected, both at the University and through the State of Illinois.
My friend, Glenn Poshard, admired the work that Dr. Dunn was doing at Murray State University in Kentucky.
We are fortunate to have Dr. Dunn as our University President. He has an accessibility and a naturalness of speaking that is rare in a University Administrator.
So, we can accomplish great things!
The innovative spirit of the American People is not dead…it is alive and well!
We are greater than our politics.
We are greater than our fears.
We are greater than our self doubts.
We are greater than our bias and our prejudices.
We are greater than any internal battle that we have…if we will rise up!
Have You Ever Noticed the Fruit Hanging on the Tree?
As a young person I sought mentors.
We all need to emulate others, to some degree, in order to find or facilitate our place in life.
For a few years, I found myself so identifying with leaders that I knew that I felt troubled and discouraged when they were troubled and happy when they were happy.
The cult of the Hero…is prevalent in our society.
I was watching the Super Bowl, last evening, and I heard one of the sports casters remark that the patriots quarterback, Brady, had winked at him during an interview the past week. The sportscaster indicated that he had seen that wink before and that it signified that Mr. Brady, knew that he had the game in the bag.
Hindsight is 20/20…and the wink was obviously not foolproof.
President Trump’s followers are obviously loyal and a bit enraptured with their president.
For them he can say nothing wrong and for the rest of the country…he can say little right.
This is a phenomena that occurs, to an extent, in every presidency, and it is disconcerting and painful to witness.
For many years…I have looked toward what leaders and people do…much more than what they say.
Talk is cheap.
Actions matter.
When the president seeks to impede and cloud and obfuscate an investigation into Russia’s interference in our elections…and then states his unmitigated innocence…I fear that, ‘he doth protest too loudly.’
It is easy to seek a god that we can see and touch and hear and smell. A god that thinks like we do and looks like we look and is bias towards and is prejudice towards and who hates the same people that we hate.
‘And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’ Exodus 32:4 KJV
During my 40 years of association with Southern Illinois University…I have lost more than one leader who was my friend.
However, I have always kept my eye on the goal of the success of SIU and the clear fact that our University is not about me and is not about you…but it is about the light and strength and beauty that it brings to our region and our state and our country and our world.
When I retired from our beloved school…I knew that I left a lot of things that I had been working on…undone. Tears came to my eyes as University President, Glenn Poshard, spoke so complimentary of me and my time at the School.
I knew that others would take up my efforts and improve on them and that I was but a footnote in the history of a tremendous institutions of higher education…and that I was the beneficiary of a wonderful opportunity.
‘All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.’ As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world’s a stage]
Christ Said to Love My Neighbor…Who Is My Neighbor?
‘DACA was an executive action taken by President Obama that allowed undocumented immigrants who came the US under the age of 16 to apply for protection from deportation. After a background check, those individuals were able to get renewable two-year permits to work and study in the US, as well.’
‘Since it went into effect in 2012 roughly 800,000 people were protected by the program, and roughly 700,000 had active protection in September, when the Trump administration announced its end.’
‘To be eligible, applicants had to have arrived in the US before age 16 and have lived there since June 15, 2007. They could not have been older than 30 when the department of Homeland Security enacted the policy in 2012.’ CNN
‘DHS set a date of March 5 for permits to begin expiring. All current permits will be honored until their individual two-year expiration date.’ CNN
A Bill that is co-sponsored by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin would transform DACA into a formal and legal program which would afford the participants a path to citizenship.
Many students, including students at SIU, are members of the DACA program.
Is it fair to tell these students, who came out of the shadows and became members of DACA, a United States governmental program, that now they are soon to be illegal immigrants again and subject to deportation.
There are 900 members of the DACA program in our military.
President Trump says he will make a deal with the Democrats that if they will provide him with 18 billion dollars for his, ‘big beautiful wall’, in exchange for an agreement on the DACA Participants.
Do you recall Presidential Candidate Trump assuring us that Mexico would pay for the wall?
I marvel at the passionate outcries of many in our country that exclaim that the immigrants should leave the United States and that they should be either prohibited from entry to our country or limited greatly.
Our President’s family…were immigrants.
The only Americans that are native to our soil…are Native Americans.
It has been suggested that many countries that seek to immigrate to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave…come from ‘shithole countries’ according to President Trump.
It has also been noted that we need criteria that only well educated and applicants from primarily white populations be given preferential treatment for immigration to the home of the; ‘…Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breath free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp besides the golden door!’ Emma Lazarus
Transformation
On October the 10th, 1978 I began a journey.
I was a young man of 20 years old…who had been a; World Book Encyclopedia, Door to Door, Salesman, a Warehouse worker and a Furniture Delivery man for a furniture store, a Dip Solder Technician for Chrysler Vehicles at Essex International Factory, an employee of a Janitorial Service, and an assistant in laying carpet. Also, during this time I took one entire winter to assist in building a new church in Elkville, Illinois…and was very thin…as there was not much food temptation.
When I was offered a position at Southern Illinois University I had been married a few months and had already experienced being out of work and had only recently been offered a job, by my good friend Brent, helping him lay carpet throughout Southern Illinois.
I came to SIU understanding little about diversity, not because I was against it but because I had never been exposed to it. My first supervisor was a gentleman of 68 years old and African American. Jim treated me, as he said, like a father treat’s his son. He smoked the most aromatic cigars and the smoke, ‘encircled his head like a wreath,’ with apologies to Clement Clark Moore.
My mother had aspirations for me to become a barber…she thought that I would enjoy the job.
My first university course was, Understanding Computers. I received an A grade and I thought that perhaps I had the ability to succeed in college course work.
I met professors who took an interest in me. Carol Burns, in 1984, asked to meet with me after class, where she told me that after reading a few of my compositions, as her class was English Composition, that she believed that I had the ability to achieve anything that I desired and that I should set my sights on more than a Associates Degree and perhaps think about law.
I was enthralled with the diversity of my SIU experience. I worked with students from all over the world. My first custodial crew had students from; Turkey, Iran, Mexico, Africa and Malaysia.
One of the African students that I had the pleasure to work with asked me if I knew that international students wanted to work with me…because that I had no prejudice. This kind statement was one of the greatest honors of my career.
When I was the Assistant Superintendent of Building Services I took note of my supervisor, Ray, and his hiring of a wonderful person who had a disability, Randy, and I thought that if I ever got the chance…I would do likewise.
I am told that Randy retired…just the other day.
Probably the greatest thrill of my managerial career was being able to offer career job opportunities to those who do not usually have these type of chances afforded to them.
I, to this day, can see the faces of the precious members of the disabled community that worked so hard and accomplished so much for Building Services…and reflect on how that I was the blessed one…to be associated with them.
I enrolled in the early 80’s in the Electronic Data Processing. These were the days of punching holes in a card and having them read in a card reader, to produce your computer program. The Chair off the Department was so kind to me and he took a lot of time encouraging me and assuring me that I could succeed in the program…and he was an African American and I admired him.
Through my fifteen years as a member of the Civil Service Council I was given the privilege of associating with and working with several University Leaders…and I became friends with some of them.
Leaders are just like the rest of us…they are human with a lot of responsibility.
None of us are perfect…we are all a work in progress.
If, those of us who are being led, would interact with our leaders…with the Golden Rule as our guide…we would experience much more of…’treat others as your want to be treated,’…or as Jesus admonished us, ‘love one another as I have loved you.’
I attended a retirement reception for a friend and colleague from my SIU’ Days, Kerry, who is a wonderful person and someone who I relied upon on many occasions when I was the president of the civil service council.
I was talking, at the receptions, with my old friend, Tom, and another, former civil service colleague, Julie. Julie asked me what I had been doing during my retirement. I responded that I walked on Campus…seven days per week. She laughed and said that she had seen me walking and that she had seen some of my photos of Campus as well.
I told, Julie, that I loved SIU more now than, when I was employed there. I stated that so many of the good things in my life were directly attributable to my association with the University.
And, so, Transformation occurred with me…and is occurring due to my wonderful gift of; the Second Jewel in the Crown of Higher Education in Illinois…and the Miracle of Little Egypt…Southern Illinois University.
‘For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
‘The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; Song of Solomon 2:11 – 12
Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing
More often than not I have encountered leaders, both religious and political and academic, that have not been what they appear.
I have observed churches that pronounce that to be close to God…is to be close to the pastor. Many of these same churches are continually focused on money and more of it.
I have known poor people that have given almost their last dime to ministers, who’s extravagant life styles were many times grander than their congregants.
There are television evangelists that have, Lear Jets and multiple mansions, and preach to their donors that the jets and mansions are manifestations of God’s blessings on them and their ministry.
Many of the people that provide the ministers with their wealth…have difficulty heating their homes and paying for their prescription medications.
Have you ever noticed that some of the most famous motivational speakers and those who have the keys to your success, for just $99.95…to begin with and your ongoing financial support, are a testament to their success plan? They continue to become more wealthy as their impoverished ‘success plan’ participants, have less resources due to the cost of the Success Plan?
Our politicians, who attest and swear with their hand on the Bible, that they are supporters of fiscal prudence and that we have to cut wasteful spending and that we must rid ourselves of Obamacare, have the finest of insurance plans provided for them and when the government shut down, recently, had no fear of loosing a day of pay…as their pay did not cease…while over eight hundred thousand federal workers did.
Political leaders will tell us that we must not raise the minimum wage as it will cause small business to lay off people and will drive up the costs of goods and services…while they receive annual pay increases and often enter Congress as middle class individuals and exit Congress as millionaires.
How is it that federal taxes persecute the wealthy and they are the ‘poor members’ of or our nation that need tax relief the worst?
The tax reductions, that almost everyone received, at some level, sunset in a few years…while the corporate tax reductions do not.
Why is it that we are so excited to receive a few dollars more on our paychecks…while Puerto Rico…is still suffering devastation and suffering that could be ameliorated, for the most part, if our Federal Government…cared…or if they would even be treated like citizens of the United States…which they are?
I have been a member of a University Community for 40 years. During my over 32 year career and my 7 plus years of retirement…I have been associated with great leaders and I have also witnessed greed…in our Community.
I am not speaking of any specific group of Campus Leaders but rather the demonstration of several to strive to milk all that they could from our great institution.
I have witnessed individuals that you could not pay enough for their dedication to SIU and I have seen others that took all they could…with both hands opened wide…and gave back…little.
If, the University, would focus…first…on those who would work for free…if they could…they would find the energy and the spark and dynamism to revitalize our great Campus.
Have you ever noticed that you soon know and recognize and appreciate a Leader who cares more about others…than they do themselves.
I worked at SIU for over 32 years…and I never asked for a raise…as I always felt that the University had done so much of me and been so good to me…that I could not repay it.
I still feel that way. I continue to endeavor to find a way to give back to SIU…that gave me so much. I have never been able to out give Southern Illinois University.
When will we realize that our ministers, if they are paid by the congregation, work for the congregation.
Ministers are human.
When will we realize that our elected politicians work for the citizens of the United States.
Politicians are human.
When will we realize that our academic leaders and the entire faculty and staff are paid for by a combination of, taxes and tuition and donations.
University Leaders, from the top of the University hierarchy to the bottom…are employees of the state and owe allegiance to the students who assist in paying their salary.
A Lion in the Crowd
Please enjoy a great Jonathon Brooks Blog.
Bravery is a virtue. I believe a man doesn’t know how brave he can be until being brave is the only option left. During the boldest moments, or bravest, in my lifetime I was forced to think with my heart instead of my mind. These moments were never accomplished without nervousness, but they were successfully accomplished.
Have you ever noticed it’s hard to go against the crowd? When an unpopular child is being bullied in school by the majority it’s hard for a kid who thinks what’s happening is wrong to step up and say, “Leave my friend alone.” In teenage years when the crowd is getting drunk it’s hard to have a glass of water or a Coke while turning down underage alcohol. As an adult it’s difficult to resist this world’s temptations. Being a Christian is by far the most difficult job I’ve ever had.
The bravest thing…
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Where Did You Come From?
‘I always ordered the egg sandwich…but I wanted the ham and egg sandwich.’ President Lyndon Johnson
I have been listening to the audio book, The Years of Lyndon Johnson The Passage of Power by Robert A. Caro.
Former President Johnson was a fascinating figure and a study in extreme contrasts.
The book illustrates his identification with the oppressed and his inclusion of the Johnson Family along with African Americans and Hispanics as members of a forgotten groups of people.
We look back with nostalgia at our fallen President, John F. Kennedy, but we often do not think of the fact that almost all of Kennedy’s legislations was stalled in one or the Houses of Congress and that it took, The Master of the Senate, Lyndon Johnson, to fulfill JFK’s political agenda.
‘If You Are More Fortunate Than Others, Build A Longer Table Not A Taller Fence.’ Canadian Memorial Centre For Peace
The greatest people and leaders that I have ever met…never forgot where they came from.
I watched a documentary on Netflix, last night, regarding a well known race car driver who became extremely wealthy by a fraudulent Pay Day Loan Business.
Pay Day loans, typically are used by the poor in order to make it, financially, from one pay day until the next. Also, these organizations, prey upon, individuals who have unexpected expenses, such as a automobile repair or an appliance break down or an emergency furnace repair.
This business, which the owner attempted to hide through Indian Reservations due to States not being able to bring suit against them, had such a confusing contract that it was almost impossible to understand.
For instance, on a loan of $300.00…which was the typical amount being borrowed at one time…if not paid in full by the next pay day of the borrower, there was a $45 renewal fee charged to the customer…and this occurred several times.
Finally the Pay Day Loan Company would telephone the borrower and tell them that they were in arrears on their debt and when the customer protested that they had been having $45 deducted from each of their pay checks and that they assumed that their loan was either paid or almost so…they were then told that the $45 renewal fees were just to renew their contract and that they had paid nothing on the principle of their loan debt.
The typical three hundred dollar loan, by the time of the payment of the numerous renewal fees and the principle…was $975.00.
The owner of the business lived in a luxurious mansion and owned numerous three hundred thousand dollar racing cars and was complaining how unfair the judgment against him was.
I wonder how many wealthy people have become rich off of taking advantage of poor people?
The interviewer, asked him in the documentary if he would consider himself a caring and compassionate man. He responded that he was a businessman.
The Great Recession of 2008 illustrated that Wall Street was obsessed with their own interest and collection of riches and the customer, us, really did not count for much in their algorithm.
Untold thousands lost their homes…while the Big Banks, ‘To Big to Fail’, were bailed out by our government…with our tax dollars.
The pay day loan contracts were so confusing that the borrower would have needed a lawyer to stand over their shoulder and advise them on the obfuscation and cleverly hidden clauses regarding what their loan was really going to cost them.
It is hard to pay for a lawyer…when you are taking out a small loan to keep heat in your house.
The self made man…often is not.
Many times the wealthy have been the beneficiaries of inheritance or being in the right place at the right time or rules of the game that favored the upper levels of the company while those at the bottom..had difficulty purchasing lunch.
‘The top 10% of families held 76% of the wealth in 2013, while the bottom 50% of families held 1%.’ CBO
Do You Feel Unseen…and Unheard?
Jonathan and I saw the terrific and multiple Oscar Nominated Movie, The Shape of Water.
Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece illustrates what it is like to feel unseen and unheard.
The actress, Sally Hawkins, plays Elisa Esposito a night janitor who is mute. Her discovery of an amphibious man, which is reminiscent of the Creature from the Black Lagoon filmed in 1954, and their immediate bonding…is a beautiful allegory of two creatures who have been marginalized by their differences.
So it is in our time. Many in our society and around the world are invisible to the powerful and the elite.
Elisa was a night janitor and she and her cleaning partner, Zelda, played by Octavia Spencer, were questioned by the man in charge of security for the amphibious man, Mr. Strickland, played by Michael Shannon, and at one point he exclaimed…’what was he doing questioning the help…the shit cleaners and the piss wipers.’
And, so, many of us feel invisible to the majority.
We think, we feel, we bleed, and we die…and yet we are truly the silent majority.
In the early 1960’s, Jim Crow laws were well in force.
Women could be housewives or teachers or secretaries or nurses.
African Americans could not set at the lunch counter and could not use the same rest room as whites and could not sit on the main floor of theaters and could not lodge in many hotels or be a member of the audience for many productions or performances.
Gay individuals were not only looked down upon but persecuted and not afforded the simple dignities of heterosexual couples.
This was in the early 1960’s…before the Civil Rights Bill.
Before the assassination of President Kennedy.
Before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Before the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.
And, still, we wait…for a government that will accept all of it’s citizens and will not categorize or demonize or ostracize anyone who does not fit the narrow mold of the ‘secret society of the white elite.’
Hunger is rampant in America. The richest country on the face of the Earth.
Our schools now serve both breakfast and lunch to their students. It is noted that many of these students do not eat over the weekend. Many schools have summer breakfast and lunch programs…although they are not in session…due to the food insecurity in our nation.
I had a African American friend tell me that she had lived in the south and in the north but that she preferred the south…in that they were open regarding their prejudice…while in the north…people endeavored to hide it…unsuccessfully.
The amphibious man in The Shape of Water was loving and caring and compassionate and appeared to many, at first glance, to be a monster.
Truly Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote is more true today than ever before:
‘We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.’
‘We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.’ G.K. Chesterton
I began hiring people from the disabled community, many years ago.
These were, wonderful and hard working and brilliant people, that it was an honor to work with.
I learned more from my intellectual and physically disabled staff than I could ever offer them in return.
They were not blessed by me…I was blessed by them.
They were the highlight of my career!
A Blue Jay and a Cardinal
As I set on why porch…thinking about something to write…I saw both a Blue Jay and a Cardinal cavorting around my cedar tree.
It is not often that I see either in my yard…and today I have both to entertain me.
This morning, the first movie of the day on the weekends is significantly cheaper, we saw, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
What a delightful and thought provoking film.
The movie is classified as a Black Comedy and in the deft hands of Francis McDormand the strikingly serious subject matter was interspersed with a lot of funny scenes.
The movie examined the themes of grief and guilt and justice and revenge and illuminated what these subjects mean and how they are interpreted in our human psyche.
Indeed, we are the sum of all of our parts…our experiences and our interactions…our hopes and our prejudices…and our desire to become something better than we are.
Life, hands each of us difficult choices. We thrash about to be a good parent and a good husband or wife and we see so often that our best efforts fall abysmally short.
But the beauty and the dignity is in the trying.
‘For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.’ I Corinthians 13:12 KJV
‘For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.’ James 1:24 KJV
‘Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.’ Rosa Luxemburg
‘Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.’
Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach and Other Poems
The human experience is made up of a lot of mistakes and second and third and fourth, you get the idea,….Chances.
As in our personal lives and homes we experience many reversals and plans that do not work out and there is debris to clean up and often we must be picked up from the floor of our aspirations and dreams and begin again.
When the famous inventor, Thomas Edison, was asked if he was discouraged regarding the thousands of experiments that he had performed as he endeavored to create the light bulb…he answered that he was not as he now understood thousands of ways that did not work.
Have you ever participated in the building of a new home? Have you ever remodeled your home.
Building is messy and remodeling is messy.
To create something of worth and beauty and strength and security…requires a lot of dirt and debris and toil and sweat and tears.
At times, our political pendulum swings to far to the left…and at other times it swings to far to the right…it is work and struggle to keep our great American Experiment in Democracy…alive and well.
The road of life is winding and hilly and there are boulders and tar pits and earthquakes and tornadoes…but the privilege to travel the bumpy path is magnificent.
Our wonderful Southern Illinois University is going through a remodeling project and it is messy and there is debris and dirt and toil and sweat and tears…but the end result will be progress and moving forward and a renaissance of purpose and spirit and strength… for a world class School.
