I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

storytelling for truth lovers

  • Reflections on a Flag


    Within the span of twenty-four days the people of the state of South Carolina have had an opportunity to witness victories over hatred and fear and unkindness with acts of love and forgiveness and good will. The importance of these victories will be measured in time in our lives by the way we treat each other as individuals and as the body politic is governed, but we have the right today to respectfully celebrate together even as a symbol of divisiveness returned to the ground from whence it sprung. Confederate flag lowered, flag pole removed, flag relocation accomplished.

    The flag flew at the State Capitol for fifty-four years amid controversy and contention and much political posturing between opposing political parties and factions within those parties. The decision to remove it came not without rancor and recrimination in and outside the State Capitol – but it did come comparatively quickly twenty-four days after the massacre at Mother Emanuel. On June 17, 2015 nine members of the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina were shot and killed by a young gunman from Columbia after he had been welcomed by them to participate in their routine Wednesday evening Bible study. Apparently he stayed in the small meeting for an hour before opening fire and killing six women and three men. Only one woman survived.

    Four days after the massacre in their church, the following Sunday morning of June 21, 2015, Mother Emanuel once again opened its doors for the regular Sunday services. By this time, the alleged killer had been caught and the crime had been identified as a hate crime of horrific proportions and video images of the man began to surface – images of a young white male waving a Confederate flag spewing racial hatred against blacks. Television interviews with his friends claimed that he hoped his actions would begin a racial war in South Carolina.

    The murders attracted international attention and an article written by John Eligan and Richard Faussat appeared in the New York Times on that Sunday, June 21st. in which they described other worship services a block away from Mother Emanuel that were taking place in a small white tent as crowds gathered to mourn the nine people killed. All the church bells in Charleston had pealed for nine minutes at 10 a.m. and various pastors in the white tent spoke following the tolling of the bells.

    Jermain Watkins, a black teaching pastor at Journey Church in Charleston, was quoted in the Times article as follows: “To hatred we say no way, not today. To racism, we say no way, not today. To division we say no way, not today. To reconciliation we say yes. To loss of hope, we say no way, not today. To a racial war, we say no way, not today. To racial fear, we say no way, not today. Charleston, together, we say no way, not today.”

    Across the country in the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, the Times article went on to quote the Reverend Michael A. Walrond, Jr. as saying “Racism, bigotry, prejudice and hatred are elements woven into the fabric of this country. There can be no healing in this land if we are not honest about who we are.”

    Being honest about who we are is easier said than done. Often, we find ourselves struggling to be honest about who we love  – not to mention who we hate. And if we have these individual struggles in our personal lives as we look in our own reflections in the mirror, how much more difficult is it to be honest about who we are as a collection of citizens who grow up with our segregating filters of race, gender, sexual orientation, income levels, degrees of health, rural versus urban with suburban in-between, political affiliations and more. We are a nation divided on many levels with distrust and fear and prejudice against those who are different from us.

    But the examples of the families and friends of the Emanuel Nine and the citizens of Charleston under the leadership of Mayor Riley with the support of local, state and federal law enforcement officials have been glimmers of hope in a land which too often appears to be hopelessly mired in hatred and fear. Removing the Confederate flag was a symbolic reaction by an entire state that said, we must be honest with ourselves about the hatred and evil that exist within our boundaries. We must resolve with the families of the Emanuel Nine to say yes to reconciliation, to say yes to forgiveness, to say yes to hope and to begin again to build bridges of kindness and concern for each other. As this flag is lowered, our collective spirits are raised.

     

     

  • Extenuating Circumstances


    Rules are made to be broken – or, at least, bended a little bit. A new category called Creativity has been added to the 2015 Second Annual Cyberspace Memorable Quotes Contest and because artistic creative people often lose track of time, the Judge of this year’s contest has extended the deadline by two days for this category.

    FB_IMG_1434335004882

    Blue Ribbon – First Place

    FB_IMG_1435682123535

    Red Ribbon – Second Place

    FB_IMG_1434335340594

    White Ribbon – Third Place

    (colorful ribbons were awarded in the Creativity Category)

    All of these entries were submitted by the Wayside Artist whose work is awesome and worthy of a visit to her online gallery. Next year Ann promises to be on time. Plus, the Judge just likes her and her quotes, too. Kind of like the Teacher’s Pet concept. Extenuating circumstances in any contest.

    Teresa and I wish all of you a Happy 4th. of July weekend. Enjoy time with your family and friends. Be safe.

  • The Suspense is Making Me Crazy


    The long one-day wait is over, and the Judge has made her final selections; but this year’s entries were so extraordinary she decided to publish the Top Ten in both categories.

    Drum roll, please.

    Announcing the winners in the 2015 Second Annual Cyberspace Memorable Quotes Contest:

    “It’s not what you don’t know that will hurt you. It’s what you think you know that ain’t so.”     —– Satchel Paige  (submitted by Warren Wood)

    “Time is priceless, but it costs us everything.” —– GP Morris

    “You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims.” —– Harriet Woods (submitted by LeighAnne Thacker Cogdill)

    “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” —– Mahatma Gandhi (submitted by Luanne Castle)

    “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right!” — Henry Ford (submitted by Bob Lamb)

    “The basic belief of Christianity is that nothing so needs changing as other people’s habits.” –—- Mark Twain (submitted by S.)

    “An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.” —–Steel Magnolias (submitted by Lisa Martin)

    “Time flies like an arrow.” —– Charles Doughtie

    “A smart girl never beats off any man.” —– Mae West (submitted by Allen Bardin)

    “As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.” —– Cleveland Amory (submitted by Luanne Castle)

    Congratulations to all of you for your recognition in this year’s Memorable Quotes Contest – I have enjoyed them immensely!

    And now for the winners in the New Category of Best Tombstones…drum roll again, please.

    “A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough.” —– Alexander the Great (submitted by Bob Lamb)

    “Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Hate to leave you, but I think I must.” —- Ray Drew’s great-aunt (submitted by Ray Drew)

    “I told you I was sick!” —– submitted by Nita Jean and Joey Cruz

    “A dead-end sign is posted on the final road to recovery.” —-submitted by GP Morris

    “Glory be to God for dappled things.” —– Gerard Manley Hopkins (submitted by Luanne Castle)”

    Actually, the Tombstone Contest has been limited to the Top Five due to lack of submissions. It’s Year One so this contest may take a little time to get off the ground. Get it?

    Now for all of you naysayers who say well, I had better quotes than those, I’m afraid we have to say Case Closed for this year. Save those gems for next year…just like we have to say in all games…there’s always next year.

    Finally, there’s a quote that defies the categories and reflects the current political temperature of our state. It comes from my good friend Harriet Hancock:

    “While I was putting on my ice skates to go skating in my backyard, I was listening to the news about Governor Haley calling for the removal of the Confederate flag when all of a sudden, a pig flew past my window.”

    Thanks so much to everyone who participated – you’re the BEST!

  • OMG – I Forgot to Send in My Memorable Quote for the Contest


    Greetings, cyberspace followers: Some of my people have neglected to send in their quotes for the Second Annual Cyberspace Memorable Quotes contest!

    Deadline is today June 30th at midnight – whenever midnight is for you!!

    Remember to send to my secret email address: smortex@aol.com.

    Hurry, hurry, hurry…I am waiting for your quotes!!

    Second category added: Favorite Tombstone Sayings

     

  • Cross Over the Bridge


    Traveling to East Tennessee last week, Teresa and I listened to a collection of Patti Page hits. One of the songs she sang in this album which was recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1997 was Cross Over the Bridge – a song I hadn’t heard since 1954 when Patti originally recorded it –  but one I remembered singing while my mother played the yellow piano keys of the ancient upright piano in our living room in the tiny town of Richards in rural Grimes County, Texas. My mom bought sheet music like some people bought cigarettes back then…she was addicted to it. One of her favorites was Cross Over the Bridge so naturally eight-year-old me learned the lyrics as my mother sang and played which meant I was able to sing along with Patti in the car while T and I rode through the gorgeous vistas of the Upstate of South Carolina toward the incredible views of the mountains in East Tennessee. Mine eyes did see the glory.

    Cross over the bridge, cross over the bridge…

    Change your reckless way of living, cross over the bridge…

    Leave your fickle past behind you, and true romance will find you,

     Brother, cross over the bridge.

    Admittedly this is a love song in the tradition of the 1950s favorite sentiments, but as I was trying to digest and cope with the overwhelming seesaws of emotion I felt yesterday, crossing bridges came to mind.

    Yesterday morning I woke up in a new world…truly a new world for me and my family. The Supreme Court of the United States lifted my status as a citizen. I was no longer “lesser than.” I was a person who mattered. By recognizing the fundamental right to marry for all same-sex couples in every state in the nation, SCOTUS recognized me as a person who was entitled to my own pursuit of happiness with life and liberty guaranteed as a bonus.

    Two years to the day after the favorable ruling in the Edie Windsor case that gave equal federal treatment to the same-sex marriages recognized in twelve states and the District of Columbia at the time, the Supremes crossed a bridge to leave a fickle past of outright discrimination behind all of us and yes, to allow true romance for whoever we love to find each of us. We crossed a bridge to walk a path toward full equality for the entire LGBT community, and the efforts of millions of its members and allies for the past fifty years were validated and rewarded.

    It was a day of rejoicing for Teresa and me in our home; we were beside ourselves with an emotional high as the breaking news unfolded on the television before our very eyes. To hear a Gay Men’s Chorus sing our national anthem outside the building in Washington, D.C. where history was being made brought chills and tears to our eyes. We savored the moment together.

    But the celebration was cut short by the next four hours of the television coverage of the funeral of the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the Emanuel Nine slain in his church in Charleston, South Carolina the week before when he was leading a Bible Study group at the church. The celebration of his life was a long one for a man who had lived the relatively short life of only forty-one years. But this man’s life had counted for more than his years.

    He began preaching at the age of thirteen and was a pastor at eighteen years of age. The men and women who reflected on Reverend Pinckney’s life did so with exuberance and humor as they told their personal stories of interacting with him as friends, family and co-workers. The picture that emerged was that of a good man who loved his family and his church and his state with its flawed history of mistreatment to the black community. He was a man on a mission to make life better for those who felt they had no voice to speak about their basic needs of food and shelter. He was a man who cared and strived to make a difference.

    He was murdered by a man who had a reckless way of living and a disregard for the sanctity of human life. He was murdered by a man who was taught to hate the color black as a skin color in a society too often divided by colors and creeds and labels. We need to change our reckless way of living as a people.

    We need to open our eyes and our hearts to see glimpses of truth, as the old hymn admonishes. Open our eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me. And may we not just see the truth, but may we speak and act as though the truth is important because it is. When our eyes are opened, for example, to the pain the Confederate Flag flying on the public state house grounds inflicts on a daily basis to many of our citizens, we must make every effort to take it down. We must speak up and act out.

    President Obama spoke in his eulogy about the grace that each of us has from God, but that none of us earned. Regardless of our concept of God, we know grace is unmerited favor. We live in a country of contrasts and  sometimes conflicts, but for those of us to whom grace has been given, we are compelled to share this bounty with everyone we encounter – whether they agree or disagree with us in our political ideals. This is harder to practice than preach. Reverend Clementa Pinckney both preached and practiced grace  in his life as he crossed another kind of bridge – a bridge that we will all cross at some point.

    The tragedy of his untimely crossing took Teresa and me on a roller coaster of emotion as we watched the funeral yesterday. From the euphoria of the Supreme Court ruling early in the morning to the depths of despair as we remembered the losses of the Emanuel Nine during the funeral of Reverend Pinckney to the stirring tribute filled with hope by President Barak Obama that raised our spirits once again to believe in the possibility of grace; we crossed over two bridges in one day that we will never forget. Patti Page had none of this in mind when she sang her love song in 1954, but I’d like to  think my mother would be happy to know her music inspired more than a little girl’s learning to carry a tune.