By Rev. Lainie Dowell
I Am Unabashedly critical of Barack Obama.
While our national leaders are fussing and fighting among one another and the whole wide world thinking they can bring about peace in the world, they are doing nobody a favor. They are only causing more grief. We see the "homeless, helpless, tossed," and the broken souls right here upon these shores. And every American who believes the dream that our God is our hope and stay and that He makes for our fruitful change understands that peace comes not from any puny man's whim but they know that peace comes from God alone.
My American Tale Told In Rhyme And Is Dedicated to A Stranger
The other night I met an old man while walking in the rain. I did not ask his name. He came up to me as I left a memorial for my family and I felt his pain.
He said, "Miss do you have some food so I can eat." And he looked intently at me and said, "Miss, I'm not a thief." I looked at the man as he stood there in front of me and I stared with disbelief.
I knew him not - nor from whence he came. And he did not ask my name.
He simply asked me for some food - for something that he could eat. And he leaned upon his cane.
It just so happened I was holding a plate I'd wrapped up from a meal I could not complete. I looked at my plate and I looked at him and I proclaimed, "Here is something to eat." And, as I handed him my plate, I told him the food was left from what I just ate.
I apologized profusely to him and I told him it was all I had. But that man I had just met seemed genuinely glad. He told me he did not mind. But still I felt less than kind. For that plate beneath the napkin I held was as dishevelled as he who took the plate from my hands and was as happy as he could be.
Once again I apologized profusely to him, because it was all I had. And, again he held that plate in his hand and he was awfully glad.
He told me he was sick. And, once more he quietly said to me, "Miss, I'm not a thief. See? This is all I have." And he was showing me a few coins he was holding out in the palm of his weathered hand. And here in the rain we stand. And as I touched his arm and looked at him, at that moment my heart truly broke. And I told him how glad I was that he spoke. And, just then it occurred to me that more food was left and I could go back to see.
So I ran back into that building I'd just left to see if I could find more food for him to take along. But when I went back into that building I learned all of the food was now gone. The food preparers had cleaned the place where we'd been. And they were also leaving then. But when I asked them about the leftover food, they told me they'd just tossed all of it in the garbage bin.
My heart broke all the more for that poor man who was standing outside the door. So I went out and explained it all to him as he clutched that plate. And I apologized to him once more, because I had been too late.
He looked at me and told me he was sick. He said he wasn't supposed to be out in the rain. And he said, "They shut off my electricity." My heart broke once more and those breaks are still deep inside of me, because I should have done more. As we began to walk away - each in our separate space, I left a parting word of blessing and told him to go to the church. He could have been my brother, my father, my nephew, my friend. But, though as a stranger he came up to me, still as a friend in my heart he'll always be.
Later, when I arrived back home, I prayed so hard for that man. And at the same time I knew it was all in the Master's plan. Then I heard a big old creature that had showed up in my house and started flying around my light. I tried to capture it, but I could not. So it stayed there throughout the night. And, in the morning, it appeared again and seemed to want to be free. I grabbed a cup and a paper towel and went to where I knew it to be.
I waited. And, as it flew all around that light, I tried to break into its flight. I prayed. And as I held that cup and napkin near. My plan became oh so clear. If that bug cleared that light, then I could interrupt its flight. I placed that cup in front of him and watched as he'd fly in. And then I'd place the napkin there and take him out. No problem. No scare.
Don't you know that my plan worked? Now he's safe and free as can be. And I can go back to being just plain ole me.
Obama and Those of His Ilk Don't Know America's Stock
Christians might come out of their church houses fat and full and less than free as they pass the hungry by. But don't you dare tell me the Preacher doesn't care. And don't you dare tell me the Preacher doesn't cry! For our God knows how much we share. And our God knows how much we bear.
Americans who call yourselves Christian. And foreigners who call yourselves American. You may as well get used to it! When we get back to the God of our "weary years and silent tears, who has kept us along the way," there will be no taking Jesus out of this our land of the free and, certainly, not out of any of us who know and love God.
We are a Judeo-Christian nation and Barack Obama's got it wrong. We do not accept "the least of these" who are less than America's best. And the best that you can do is to go back and stay where you came from. Perhaps then you will come to appreciate the meaning of freedom and respect the blood shed for you to step foot on these shores. Americans are loving and peaceful. We respect your right. Respect our rights and we will all come out right!
UPDATE!! Monday, June 8, 2009 UPDATE!!
A Tribute to Rev. Jacqueline D. Carr-Hamilton, Highly Favored of God, From the Memory of Rev. Lainie Dowell:
As I experienced that moment in time last Friday and wrote it down, I was also remembering an experience that I had with Rev. Carr-Hamilton, a strong, faithful woman of God who has continued to serve Him and those to whom God sends her to see about.
One day, during a visit with her many years ago, she and I went to a fast food place. On the way inside, an apparently homeless man came up to us and asked for money. We nodded no and entered the restaurant. When we finished eating, Rev. Carr-Hamilton went up and ordered food to carry out. It was for the man who had approached us earlier. But when we got outside, we didn't see him anywhere. So we got into the car while still looking around for him. She explained to me that the food she was carrying was for the man who had come up to us on the outside. We were lamenting the fact that we had missed that man and, at the same time, we had come to a stop at the edge of the restaurant parking lot. Then the man came up to the car and we were glad we hadn't missed him. She gave him the bag. He thanked her. And we drove off feeling, I'm sure, much better than we did on the way going inside. That was a great memory for me, too. And I have never forgotten it. In fact, I have remembered it and "(gone) and done likewise," whenever I've seen someone in need.
My lingering regret is that "The poor we will always have with us." What's more, none of us is rich apart from Christ Jesus. And, in testing times such as these, we learn that we are richest when we give, and that "The Lord will make a way ---- SOMEHOW!" And "He has never failed (us) yet." So, "In times like these," we have a Father that we vow to never forget or ever be ashamed to confess. For we are far better than any who come to these shores and seek to snub our faith, us, and "Every good and perfect thing that comes from above." Christians need to stop fighting other Christians -- especially those who know and love the Lord and reach out to help lift them and not themselves. That causes more pain in our hearts than any prick of a knife or bullet shot from a gun. Christians who discern the heavenly from the demonic spirit are able to live in peace and have great joy in every test.
May God bless and keep Rev. Jackie Carr-Hamilton, my decades-long dear friend and a woman after God's own heart.
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