Postcards From Myself

Watching the Olympics the last few days reminds me of being here in Charleston. Why? Because we have had about the same amount of snow. What, 3 inches? But seriously, I watch the Olympics more for the scenery than any of the events. I mean have you seen the mountains in the background? Those long shots really make you want to go snow boarding, skiing, sledding, or at least drinking in the lodge by the fire.

I have friends who take ski holidays every year. They go to all sorts of places all over the world, yes rich friends, to take romantic ski get-aways. They have gone on holiday in the US, Canada and Europe. I will tell you, some of those places are beautiful and could cause you to fall in love even if you are an old curmudgeon like me.

I have searched many of these places on the web and have looked at the mountains through Switzerland, Germany and Austria. I love looking at those because you can get between them all by train and mass transit and never have to leave your relaxed state. (I love driving, but not in the snow.)

Of course I will tell you the truth, I have been skiing once. And that one time was when I was a teenager when I was much more limber and had better balance than I do know. I never made it off the bunny slope and nearly killed a young child in the brief time I was there. Luckily I am tall and he ducked and went through my legs. We both fell over comedy style after getting about 3 feet beyond each other. Somehow on that same trip I lost my pants to my thermal underwear but came back with two shirt. All in all, these are things that make me think I should stay away from ski slopes. Especially since I was on a church youth trip at the time.

I got notification throughout the day today, at different times, that three people close to me had written articles for various publication. They are as follows:

First there was this one from my father – Laws – But Not Hearts – Have Changed on Racism. “As a child, I listened to wonderful people who spent their lives on the foreign mission field, yet black people weren’t welcome in our church”.

Next, one from my cousin, Don Gilliland – Inner Peace, Part IV on his visit to a Birmingham, Alabama, mosque. “The anxiety I’d felt earlier is beginning not so much to lift as to transform to an awareness of a closely-knit, healthy community. Not terribly different from the communities I’m more accustomed to.”

And last but not least, an editorial from my friend and high school class mate, Reverend Matt Tittle – Liberty University Dehumanizes Homosexuals. “This sort of ignorance, hatred, and hostility have no place in our society today. ”

Now it is not surprising at all to me that these three people wrote these articles. What does kind of startle me though is that they all came out on the same day. Talk about serendipity! The other thing these articles say to me is that I am surrounded by some great people – and you can certainly tell where the ideas that help make up my life come from.