Sweet Land of Liberty?

My country tis of thee, Sweet Land of liberty, Of Thee I sing, Land where our father's died, Land of the Pilgrims pride, Oer every mountainside, Of thee I sing!

I sing this as a prayer to God.It was taught to me in my youth. We sang it daily, in the bygone days when prayer and patriotism were stoked in the schools. Perhaps it means what I sing, perhaps it was a song of glorification of our great land. I sing, "Lord, This country is of Thee! You made it. You put it in the minds of our forefathers to covenant together to govern themselves upon it. I see Your glory in that, Lord. Continue to bless that sentiment to the Glory of Your own power and to the committed deterioration of our own sins and sinful tendencies. Help us to exalt Thee and to abhor our wayward ways. Give us grace to create policy and activity that extends the life of our self-governing and not those that bring your judgment upon us!" Our Liberty is not unconditional. We are prisoners of our success at governing ourselves. God will bless it and He has, as far as I can see. Amen.

My Country, Tis of Thee

The joy of earning the privilege of participating in governing.  Governing and being governed are important aspects of the beauty of democracy.   I have prayed earnestly to see the evolution of our race from being the governed to full participants with right perspective in the governing process.   I rejoice when I see any woman grow to education and participation. But, Black women are especially a reason for rejoicing in my heart of hearts for their continued development.  Shirley Chisolm and Kay James and Condi Rice were special to my heart in watching the development.  There is something more personal and more intense about my love of Kamala Harris.  I love her spirit.  I love her no-nonsense style.  She seems to have everything.  She seems to exude authority and power.

I see in her, something that I love and abhor in myself, tooth and grit.  She attacks the problem and the investigations like a dog and that is a beautiful thing.

I am that kind of a dog.  Truth is something to be dug for.  It is a compelling passion and an intense fettish.  But there is a seasoning that must be reached for.  There is a balance between learning the importance of truth versus the importance of relationship.  People are always more important than things.  It is important that people know you have teeth, but they needn't see them in every interaction.  Adams Rib the movie, Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn is a beautiful example of when white women grew and were learning this dynamic of relationship.  Am I speaking to a superior or an inferior?  This question usually doesn't enter our minds.  We are as much on trial in an investigation as our participant in governing.  Do you know how to speak to people who are far superior to you in knowledge and experience?  You sharpened your teeth on criminals.  They are humans first and now, perhaps the most dangerous of the people that we speak to are those who are above us.  Do we engage the training that our slave heritage has blessed us with?

Am I this man's daughter or mother?  He may perjure himself through your line of questioning.That is not the goal of our interrogation. Our respect of others as humans is important, from the criminal court to the Supreme Court.
Entreating an elder, as a father is completely lost to the African American Women in authority {our feministic culture precludes it}, for the most part.  Should you want to have a long term relationship with the truth and governing, you must learn to humble yourself.  You are not on the proving ground anymore.  You have won the right to govern.  Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will let you show your teeth, very rarely.  Your whisper will be heard and hearkened.  I love you Kamala Harris and I wish you years and years of great success in the sphere of representing us in America. I love the sincere pursuit of truth that your words and presence represents.  God bless your growth process in your governing and representing.  Amen.

Lessons from Ethy's special day.

Ethan’s graduation day.

We enjoyed a special family trip to the park near RCCC.  A game of volleyball with my adult children was a festive and enjoyable time for our family.  We have 2 graduates and it is rare that we get the chance to play so happily with each other. It is summer though and perhaps this year will be different than other years. 

It makes me think back to baby Ethan in the stroller when we would go to the park and play together.  I attempted to give the skills that I had developed to my children and they all have gotten some of the skills under their belts.  I was happy that we could get a rally going and we have most wonderful memories of spending time at the parks of NY and studying skills that lend to internal peace as well as academics.  It was a wonderful experience and it was worth every part of my sanity that was lost, some days.  This is one of those days.

We walked off the court and over through a part in the trees that was reminiscent of a meadow in Hempstead Park.  We all could see a parallel between NEmo where they went through the part where the jellyfish were.  It was so great that we had that memory and that we could see that we enjoy some of the same similes and metaphors to communicate.  The beauty of education and the beauty of relationship wedded each other for just a brief moment of time.  These guys have been through a lot to see their mom collapse under the weight of education and conviction.  I am grateful for each hand that has helped pick me up from taking on this heavy ambitious quest on, with God’s grace.  I have fallen and fallen and I have been hobbling in education and relationship, ever since.  Days when you see your 2 baby boys walk down and finish a long course of study, it makes you glad and it makes you hopeful that God will turn things toward righteousness, in spite of us.  He is flooding us with new mercies everyday!

Aging poses unique challenges for the woman attempting to live out her vows!

My daddy would encourage me to be the behind the scenes "needmeeter". So many things that were needed it is so very hard to complete them all. The chores are one thing and they are never done. In the new age, there are things that confuse a man that may not confuse us. These young people are talking about stuff I dont even want to imagine. Keeping your family anchored between the past and the future, without cracking is a very hard wifely duty. Survey the land and look at the maps. Find the shortest route between home and the job. Figure out the dynamic between he and bossy boots that can help him negotiate those personal challenges. All these things were things that my dad would encourage me to. Now we have Siri to do the mapping out, but the personal challenges are more at home than outside. Keeping him realizing that dinosaurs can still have an impact on this constantly changing world, is a wifely duty that is unspoken. Be sweet and see the conflict. Pray for your husband and learn to be a sensitive go-between, like Abigail. There are many misunderstandings that a sandwich and a smile can cure.

Happy Birthday, Sweetiepie!

We are so grateful for you! Enjoy your day.

The Sweet Smell of Clean?

What I've learned using bleachy water in Daycare...3 capfuls of bleach to a gallon of water and fill each of the sanitizers with the combination. 200 parts bleach and 500 parts bleach were tested by using litmus paper in the whole gallon and then diluting to the right strengthening for the use of each bottle. In the beginning, I had to check every single bottle. After a while, there was a routine to it and I checked the strength of the whole and the most diluted bottle and refilled the gallon with water and used the rest to clean the outdoor toys.

It is my conviction that the year that this was my responsibility, there were fewer sicknesses. I don't think this was an overstatement. Especially the yuckiness of toys that are left outside, with the bird poop and possible animal touchings, I think bleach is in order.

Little children put their mouths on everything. You may know this first hand, one day. You may have to care for little ones outdoors, here and there. They eat dirt and put the toys in their mouths. Cleaning the toys that they must keep outside, is a preventative of numerous sicknesses. I love that the State has rules for the level of bleach that should be used in such cases. How much bleach is enough is a real lesson. Too much bleach is far greater a danger, than none at all. Go ahead and let them eat the dirt. Putting their mouths on a bleachy surface is more dangerous, unless it is the right dilution.

Use Bleach, but don't use too much!

Tweet-Tweet discussion

What happened to Tweet-Tweet?

Last time I saw her, she had made the mark on the branch of the tree that she was eying for her nest in the tree. She had visited everyday for the week. Each day, she jumped from barren branch to barren branch. Jumping and grasping for the weight bearing and agility of the branches about it. She averages the leaf density to come and the depth of shade that they will provide for her coming load.

I told the children to watch Tweet tweet. There she is studying, everyday. She's planning and counting and calculating each day, which will be the best place to place her family. The beauty of her song kept us looking at her. It looked as if she was just doing a daily romp, here and there. Months of preparation and speculating made her a savvy consumer of each tree’s produce. Some trees she went to for the bountiful affids and worms that gave her sustenance in the process. Some trees were in the finals of consideration for where to construct her nest. She made it look easy. She came at different points of the day. She greeted her observers with a brief, but polite nod of the head and a song, if prompted to consider them worthy of her greater time and attention.

Some observers had left seeds or crumbs for her. Some had mentioned a considerate remark about her beauty or her resourcefulness. Each of these considerations were paid back with a melody, chosen specifically for the occasion. She wiped her brow with her wing to tell me that she was exerting energy, even if her prowess made it look like she hardly expended any energy at all. This is no game, she insisted, when I looked at her, firmly.

You look like you are having such a good time, I had to tell her. It isn't all drudgery, she returned, with winsomeness. I like knowing that when I lay my eggs they will be protected and safe. I have to leave the nest for hours, sometimes. I must know that there isn't a cat or other predator close, where they'll be eaten. I must know that most storms will be no match for my placement. I do so much homework, because there have been years that I have paid a dear price for not having used for-thought. Tears had come to her eyes as she reminisced about what caused her great concern for her eggs and nest.

Look, honey, she's talking to us and she's about to cry, I said to Kara. Yes MS. Jayne, she's crying. I wonder why she would cry, when she thinks of a storm, said Kara with a serious intensity that nearly brought tears to my eyes. I hope you will never know the futility of having built a nest that has come down in a storm, with fledglings in the nest. Natty started to cry out loud, at that word. No one else got it as quickly as she did. They died! She was screaming. This was one time that her extreme expression was felt by everyone. There were many times that Natty would scream with no reason attached, but this time we were all engaged in her cry, in our hearts, even if we couldn't give vent to the shrieks so easily as she could.

Natty had a knack for understanding the underlying meaning of things, far before any of the other children would get. Especially, when we are trying to describe a delicate subject. Her hands were holding mine to her eyes, so I could feel her tears or wipe them with her. I wasn't crying, but I could sympathize that this was the first time we had discussed such a subject and they were little children. When the entire group had composed themselves in the quiet, we touched on the reality of the loss for Tweet-Tweet. She is a bird and sometimes the ways of Mother Nature may seem cruel and harsh. Still we know that God is above all of the providence so endured and He sees the sparrows that fall to the ground and He is far more touched by the sorrows of His people, even than of the sorrow of a grieving creation.

This seemed to calm their uproar and Natty had tucked herself under my elbow with an attachment that I hadn't even noticed, until I tried to loosen her grip. She was still not fully recovered from the thought that Tweet-tweet was starting a new nest in the light of such a devastation.

Thanks for the date, yesterday!

We had a great time and I was very happy to enjoy the day with my dear children, like that. You made it possible. I know that you don't really read your blog, but I had such a time with fixing my blog today. I thought it would take me 2 seconds to clear up the gadget on my blog and make it do what I wanted it to do. I took 20 or 30 minutes fixing it and I went to my tablet to pat myself on the back for good work and you know what I found. Your link wasn't working on any of the blogs! AAAACCCCCCCHHHHH! Stuff like that makes me soooooooo mad! I almost threw my tablet on the ground and stomped it. I got through church okay. I got to fix it when I got home, but try, try, try again is such a hard thing for me! Check it out. I worked so hard on it and you never even look at it.

sharpening the uses of our tongues? Can we? May we? Might we?

There are many exercises that I use with the babies to make their tongues more able. As I feed them, I do little mouth games with my tongue... "make a fishface" or "twirl your tongue". I try to implore them not to use harsh tones of voice to one another without reason. etc. Some of them eat it up and play with words and talk and tongue stuff and some do not. How to talk about one another is something that is a soul issue.
When it is our responsibility to use our tongues to direct others and to speak to the public, it is a sacred place before God. The fear of God is very important in such a place. Pray before you talk to people. The image of Nehemiah and his heart prayer before the Lord, remains in my mind. Pray before the questions. Pray before the answers. Ask others to pray for the use of your tongue in the public eye.
Laugh with those who laugh about your talk and take criticism well. See how your children {those whose job it is to decipher what you say} are percieving your words. They are asking us what we are doing and why. We are correcting their misconceptions with gentleness and kindness. When we must hollar about things, let it be about the things that are of a sinful sort. The things that will take them to hell are the things that will make us crazy and they must feel the difference between the things that are important the things that are essential. This is impossible, apart from the grace of God and the empowerment of the Spirit. He is able to make all grace accessible to us in our labors which are above us! Let us trust Him to empower and guide us to use His grace to do just that. amen
James 3:5 

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James 3:6  

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth thewhole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James 3:8  

But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

1 Peter 3:10  

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Communicating and Carrying the Consciences of the Governed---thoughts

Oh, what a transparent Pastor to have governed us with his soul exposed to us, as much as he did.   There is a dearth of men who can and will lead and it is no wonder that there is so much chaos in the world.  I am remembering Pastor Martin,  who told us of the theory of "carrying the consciences of God's people".   I remember some of the streets of gold that we trod upon in our youthful zeal for a Theocentric family worship experience.


I am certainly rambling on about many things that have fallen by the wayside and I really have a very deliberate intent to direct you to right leadership skills;  should God ever call on you to lead anyone.  

This week we have seen good expressions of leadership from our new President and some poor expressions as well.   Yesterday, the President gathered many to announce a pick for the Judgeship.  He explained his purposes exquisitely.  I said to myself, he didn't really need to say that, but he really did.  You will find in your life that there is often a need to declare the obvious, to anyone who would follow you.   I am doing this, for this reason; is something that should often come out of your lips if you want anyone to follow you anywhere.

Pastor Martin would sneeze and take out his hanky and tell us why he had a hanky and not a tissue.  I would stick my hand in my throat to say "TOO much info!"  We love you Pastor and we would follow you anywhere why so much explanation?   I wriggled with uncomfortability, to know so much about a man whom I respected so much.

If we had visitors, it would take him an extra 20 minutes to explain why we are having consecutive readings with or without commentary and where we had been in the scriptures and why.   Why do they need to know, I wondered?  They are not coming back to visit us again!

I think that the stinky look on my face, whenever he would rant in such a way would make him go on worse and sometimes discuss the "Theory of 'Carrying the Consciences of God's People'": his terminology, my theorizing it...

Boiling it down to the brass tacks is,  when people know why you do what you are doing, it is harder for them to buck the systems.   They may complain, but it won't be because they can't see your point. Some may forgo complaining just to keep you from having to repeat your why, explanation again, and again and again.  

He wasn't a perfect man, at all, but he was a perfect example of seeing people's consciences as worthy of being carried.   I hope that our President can learn this early in his Presidency.  He is a good business man, but a poor conscience carrier.   God, send him help!!!