Postcards From Myself

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.

Thanks to Facebook I have been reunited with some great people from back in my high school days. Now you have to understand, I was not one of the “in” people in school. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was fairly disagreeable. And after school I lost contact with almost all of those folks that I had known.

But now it is nearly 30 years later and time has mellowed me – a bit. And I find that all those people I used to know are still out there, and guess what, for some reason they remember me fondly! No idea why, but these are some great people and they still want to be friends with me. Will miracles ever cease?

At the moment I would just like to mention two of the people. The first is Lydia Montgomery. She surprised me when she contacted me. And she just kept on surprising with her friendship, generosity, and humor. Can someone please tell me why I didn’t hang out with her more back then? Makes no sense.

The other fine lady is Liz DeLoach. Now here is smart, funny, successful woman if I ever saw one. Doubt that? Take a look at the guest article she wrote for my professional site – Why Businesses Should Have a Website and a Facebook Page. She is dead on target and addressing a very timely issue. Amazing what people you grew up with can do when enabled. And then there is the simple personal caring she has shown for me and my family recently. I am humbled.

Now don’t get me wrong, these are two great women, but they are only two of the people I have reconnected with recently. To these and all the rest, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for the past, but even more so, thanks for the great years to come!