A Mother’s Dilemma…
It’s 2.55 a.m. and Sandy, a mother of three, makes her way to the kitchen for something to drink. She curses silently to herself. If only she wouldn’t have been so lazy to turn on the humidifier. She opens the refrigerator and stares at her choices: milk or juice. She quickly grabs a tall glass, pushes on the ice dispenser, and fills it with water.
“If only Bob wasn’t working the graveyard shift,” Sandy mutters to herself. “Until the end of the month, we’re going to be alone. This is the price we pay—for being homeowners.”
When Sandy reaches the top of the stairs, she notices that the television is still on in the twin’s room. She opens the door to her son’s room first. Although it is only lit from the nightlight, Sandy can see the silhouette of the raggedy teddy bear, her son clings to.
She opens the adjoining door that leads to the twin’s room. Her son needs a teddy bear to put him to sleep, and the twins the television. Sandy quietly touches each child head in turn.
Sandy starts to turn off the television, when the picture of sleeping children catches her attention. She turns up the volume slightly.
Three o’clock in the morning the announcer says.
“How could he know that I’m up at this time of the night?” Sandy chuckles. “Well my kids are peacefully asleep….Why should I care—who is answering a phone?”
But soon the answer dawns on Sandy. Bob spoke to her about it before. She never cared for politics.
Sandy turns off the television and heads for her room.
The thought still plagues her. If an emergency threatens her family, who is the person— she wants picking up that phone?
The Walls of Jericho Part 1….
I Have a Dream
On August 28, 1963 … a man stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and proclaimed his dream:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Forty-five years later … the fulfillment of that dream still eludes the nation.
Was this dream hewed from a deranged mind totally out of touch with reality?
Was this dream carved out of an imaginary utopia that only he could see?
Was this dream of a promised nirvana just an ideology, to give false hope to his people, who at that time were shackled by the chains of discrimination?
Some have become disheartened, and dispirited, that the message delivered back then does not apply today.
While others are so disillusioned and disenfranchised that they see no reason to raise their voices in unity, to assail the very political tyranny, which has enslaved them to a life of poverty.
Has the dream truly perished?
In these troubling times of economic turmoil, inadequate educational standards, and American soldiers dying overseas on every front, the demarcation lines are no longer skewed as they once were by the hue of a person’s skin, in as much as by the disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished.
In a nation overflowing with material prosperity, the promissory note pledged by the founding fathers that all Americans would inherit, for some have indeed been a returned check——clearly stamped “insufficient funds.”
Why Some Would Rather Curse the Darkness….
There seems to be a growing romanticism that serves politicians well when talking to citizens of the Rust Belt.
As I traveled through Pennsylvania, I couldn’t help but noticed the overpowering fear that gripped the people I spoke to. Across the hall from me, a group consisting of two families had taken what seemed like refuge, in one room of the hotel. It was the only way … they could afford to give their children, one-day of enjoyment over the spring break.
I met a young woman, who works two jobs and attends college, in order to make a better life for her two kids. I was drawn into a conversation with a couple that had moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and were now in danger of losing their home.
The economy in Pennsylvania has been transitioning from an industrial state to an information driven one for the last twenty years. Yet, some would rather curse the darkness, as opposed to getting a bigger breaker to provide more light.
Pennsylvanians have been characterized as simple, hard working individuals, who despise politicians with flowery speech. This portrayal has led some politicians to believe that they can easily be duped— into casting their votes for anyone promising to restore jobs to the Rust Belt … re-establishing their way of life.
What they failed to realize is that the economy has been the bedrock of previous political campaigns. All across Pennsylvania, young people are crying out for a “Change We Can Believe In.”
They have been energized and await the opportunity for their voices to be heard come election time. On April 22, Pennsylvania will host the largest of the remaining contests, which has given politicians a chance to outline their promises.
The emphasis has shifted from global and industrial policies to household economics: subprime mortgages, the rising cost of healthcare, gas prices, supermarket costs, and student loans interest rates.
While one candidate talks about changing the way things are done, the other speaks of bringing back jobs to the Rust Belt.
Which can make good on their promise?
If the empty park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was supposed to be filled with the laughter of Catholic and Protestant children, is any indication—bringing back jobs, restoring a way of life, for most Pennsylvanians … sounds like another hollow promise.
