Self-fullfilling prophecies

The trouble with calling everyone out for racisim is that it becomes self-fullfilling.  If you see racism in everything others think and say, it engraves it in stone. 

When you are raising children, telling them that they are good children, that they are thoughtful and polite helps to reinforce that behavior.  You know the old teacher's maxim..."Catch them when they are being good and reinforce that."  The opposite is also true.  If you tell children that they are bad, disrespectful, and thoughtless, that is what you will get from them.  They will live up to your expectations...what ever they are.

Now former President Carter says he sees racisim in criticism of President Obama.  Is that true?  Certainly there are those who harbor a racist animosity towards Obama, but is that true of all who criticize Obama's policies?  I think not. 

Obama is trying to move the country rapidly towards social change, and it is change that many do not feel comfortable with.  Dissent is a high form of patriotism, and the motives of those who dissent should not be impugned.  Carter projecting racist fears and motives on all who criticize Obama's policies is a political ploy aimed at suppressing dissent and changing the subject.  He owes this country a higher level of political discourse than that. 

Our deepest fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."     - Nelson Mandela

Some quotes I like

"The genius of communication is the ability to be both totally honest and totally kind at the same time."        A favorite quote that my Father liked, but I do not know who the author is.

"All despair is fundamentally a despair of being ourselves."  -- Soren Kierkegaard

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way." -- Victor E. Frankel

A Song for Will

To William, the brave, who loves beautiful colors, interesting stories,

Bright colored birds, video games, paintings by Van Gogh,

Starry starry nights, music for dancing, and dreams of things that will be.

Brave he is...oh yes....brave of heart....brave in his efforts to overcome.

Quick he is....youbetcha......quick to learn the most difficult things.

Figures out how to put things together....solves puzzles in a flash.

Daring he is...dares to care...dares to listen....dares to dream.

Listens when you are hurting....listens well.

Says things that help you heal....gives love a chance.

William is one of God's special angels.

Grounded in faith....Supported by love.

Photos of the surface of Mars

The erie beauty of these photos of the surface of Mars is astonishing. Not the usual brown pebbles or grey ash, but bright with color, and ....if you can imagine it... maybe even life.

The colors are both subtle and bold. The shapes of the land forms give dimension and depth. The composition flows beautifully, shaped by the hand of God.

Mars goes Hollywood

A rainbow of hot intense colors on a dead planet.

How did these colors come to be there?

What force made the tracks on the lower right corner?