I Defend Your Right

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

I certainly do not agree with men like Jeremiah Wright and others who spew their hatred and anti-American "centrisms." I must however defend their right to speak. To deny people a right to voice their opinions is to deny them the very foundation on which this country was founded. I enjoy freedom of speech and employ it often. People may not like what I have to say but my constitutional right to say it remains free. You don't have to like the message but you must allow people their voice!

Freedom of speech stops, however, when the speaker crosses over into malicious rhetoric about killing and destroying people, or it includes defamation of character. This type of behavior should be eradicated. Whether it is preached from a pulpit, spoken in a political state house, or shouted from a street corner, hatred is NEVER acceptable!

I may not agree with what you say, but I WILL defend your right to say it as long it does not enter the area of willful and malicious intent!

Life's Lessons

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success is not to be measured by what one has but rather by what one leaves behind. If you do not leave behind wealth, but you have left children with a well-balanced life: children who love God and their fellow man, and entreat both with honor and respect: then you have succeeded.

Keep Pushing

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
- Helen Keller

No matter how small and insignificant you feel, simply remember, you are doing more than you feel that you are doing. If everyone quit pushing, no matter how small the push, nothing would ever be accomplished. Few heroes ever changed the world, it is the small touch: a mother brushing the tears away from her child, the hug from a friend, a kiss from your lover. These small seemingly insignificant pushes or touches are what keeps people going.

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR WORLD WITH JUST ONE SMALL PUSH AT A TIME! KEEP PUSHING!!

Goodness and Strength

To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind.
- William Hazlitt

When we love, or at least have a strong friendship with someone, we are willing to forgive and continue our love with them. We can strongly disagree and not strain our love for one another because our love is not based on whether we agree or not. True love is based on our heart and mind. It is no wonder that the Bible states, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." (Mark 12:30) Jana and I have had a lasting love simply because of our profound love for one another and our strength of mind to keep it that way--you can too!

Just a subscript: You can learn a lot more from listening than you can from talking. If you want to learn something about someone, take a seat, shut your mouth and don't argue back. You might be surprised how much alike that you really are! It is physically impossible to listen and speak at the same time!

Chance Of A Lifetime

A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us.
- Maltbie Babcock

Sometimes life gives us only one chance at something, and we will never get that chance again. In a single moment we can seize the chance of a lifetime and our lives are forever changed, or we can miss the opportunity and forever regret the missed chance. Every moment of every day, be aware of the chance that life affords you and apprehend that moment. It might be the one chance that you get to make a difference!

One Of Life's Important Lessons

The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.
- Margot Fonteyn

While I think that everyone should have a God measured amount of self-esteem, self-pride, and self-worth we must be careful not to take ourselves too seriously and think more of ourselves than we ought to think. The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans said it best, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12:3) The Apostle James writes in chapter 1 verse 14 of his book, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."

While you may disagree that this quote and these verses of scripture do not intertwine, I respectfully ask you to reconsider them again. Most people who take themselves too serious think more highly of themselves than they ought.

Work hard so that when your name goes on what you completed people can see that you have done a good job, but don't brag too much about your work. Let others do that for you!

Trials Build Character

Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fibre of a character, but strengthen it. Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.
- James Buckham

Temptations are brought about because of Satan or ones-self. The Bible says that, "God tempteth no man but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed." If you can overcome temptation then you will be stronger.