Courage

I didn't know Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball. She was the Senior Pastor of the Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas, who died of cancer Tuesday morning. I read her story in the paper Sunday and I was taken with her authentic courage and her generosity.

Rev. Baskin-Ball, shared her illness with her congregation. When I was a pastor I experienced at least two major illnesses and that makes me appreciate the courage of this pastor even more. While I let the congregation know of my challenges, it was difficult for me to demonstrate the vulnerability that Pastor Baskin-Ball did. It was difficult for me to refer to the diagnosis of a tumor, the removal of which could have left me either blind, speechless or paralyzed as an illness! I had never heard my role models in ministry express doubt or fear, so I figured that 'faithfulness' had something to do with always appearing 'strong'. Now don't get me wrong, there is a place for that. But I now understand better, that it is the sharing of both faithfulness and human frailty that inspires and encourages those in a congregation who face challenges. This woman of God understood this and was brave enough to spend her last days, saying good-bye to members and friends. An amazing woman. An amazing testimony.

A good friend of mine, Pastor E.K. Bailey, the late founder and Senior Pastor of the Concord Church here in Dallas, showed us all a similar grace and courage as he battled the cancer that eventually took his life, in October 2003. A sermon that he preached, 'Farther in and Deeper Down', explored the challenges that he experienced as he discovered a greater devotion to God through the adversity posed by his illness.

Dan Rather, former anchor of CBS Evening News, would end each evenings news broadcast with the word 'courage'. Pastors, Baskin-Ball and Bailey, both demonstrated this word in their lives and deaths. As a country we face very difficult times, that do indeed expose our vulnerability. The challenge is for us to allow them to expose our courage as well.

Black Friday - 'Tis the Season to be Maniacs!

I'm not a fan of standing in line.

There are some places where its totally unavoidable - movies, banks, DMV, check out stands. But on the whole I avoid it whenever possible. That's why I have always had a hard time relating to people who will camp out in long lines, sometime for days, for movie and concert tickets, or department stores...

But the trampling to death of a Wal-Mart employee in New York, puts a whole new spin on the idea of this phenomenon. Thirty-four year old Jdimytai Damour, a temporary maintenance worker at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. He was trying to help control a mob of 2000 frenzied early shoppers who had gathered before 3:30 am to shop for 'bargains'.

There are questions regarding crowd control, adequate security, etc. All are extremely important issues for which Wal-Mart ought to be held accountable in some way. But here's another thought - how about people acting like sane human beings?!

I thought, we all got it: the recent economic decline, caused by the exploitation of policies designed to help the middle class and working class achieve homeownership; greed on Wall Street, people living beyond their means all were supposed to signal the need to re-evaluate our values. That's why citizens are incensed about bail outs, leveraged government loans, the meltdown of the capitalist system - right?

We were supposed to be reassessing our materialism and the way we equate bigger and newer with 'successful'. This is one time, we don't have a systemic problem. This problem is cultural, spiritual. When it comes to greed and insensitivity you don't have to be eligible for a golden parachute!

Don't get me wrong! Wal-Mart certainly did have a great sale - a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9. But somehow, I can't believe that anyone who bought anything on last Friday at that Wal-Mart, really believes what they bought was worth it.

But then again, according to Kimberly Cribbs, when people were asked to leave so that police and investigators could assess what had happened, "...people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

While Wal-Mart offered the obligatory public sympathetic statement, no one from the company contacted the grieving family.

The store re-opened at 1:00 pm, that afternoon...

We obviously don't get it. Black Friday indeed!

Local Politics Need the Federal Government's Support

"All politics is local", or so the legendary U.S. Senator Tip O'Neill is to have said. I have to admit that has usually come to mind when national politics aren't turning out the way I think they should. Yep, sometimes even preachers can be guilty of sour grapes!

But there is always hope that large scale history making electoral politics can actually have significant local impact, after all, aside from local sales tax, local and state income taxes, property taxes and fees, all that's left is federal money. So 'local', practically speaking, is relative isn't it?

Jim Reid, is the former Executive Director of the South Dallas Development Corporation and is now president of a statewide non-profit called Momentum Texas.

Jim's insight into the local implication of the incoming administration's policies are, I believe spot on. And his understanding of the need in areas of concentrated poverty in Dallas are inarguable:

"The severity of poverty in this part of town and the absence of "living wages" make initiatives to increase income imperative. Thousands of southern Dallas residents who work full time are unable to pay living expenses. A tax policy initiative that could move hundreds of southern Dallas residents above the poverty level is linked to proposed increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit program, which is designed to promote financial stability and "make work pay."

"Also germane is a proposed increase in the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2011. Subsequent increases would be indexed to inflation. The minimum wage is now $6.55 an hour, or $262 weekly. How can a single parent with two children meet basic needs at this income level?

"In the late 1990s, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas did a study of southern Dallas indicating that residents' main concern was good-paying jobs. This concern remains totally relevant based on today's rate of unemployment and a fragile economy."

The fact is, the people who are going to be hurt the most if this economy craters are not the people on Wall Street or Main Street. It will be the people on local streets most of which neither the people on Wall Street or Main Street have never heard of.

You can read the rest of Jim's analysis here.

Observing a pre-Presidency

Barack Obama is definitely not President of the United States yet. But, to be sure, how he is operating as president-elect, is gaining more scrutiny than any other newly elected chief executive since FDR. Like Roosevelt, the times are determining the level of intense interest.

An interesting thing has developed on the way to the White House, however. We're hearing words that are being refreshingly associated with the presidency. Words like, smart, intelligent, impressive, articulate, curious. During the primaries and the presidential campaign itself, articulateness and intelligence became dirty words. It was almost as if being thoughtful and reflective was a constitutional disqualifier.

I almost expected Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to be removed from the roster of former presidents!

This interregnum between administrations has actually turned into an Obama 'pre-Presidency', again, a sign of how desperate the times have become, but as such, it is only a hint at the decision making process of the the soon to be POTUS, not necessarily a guarantee of success. However, it apparently is enough to make the country feel, well - hopeful.

The intelligence and thoughtfulness with which Barack Obama is approaching the monumental task of righting this country's economic ship is being met with a great deal of admiration by even conservative columnists. David Brooks, referring to the current announced administrative appointees and personages ar a 'validictocracy' says, "...as much as I want to resent these overeducated Achievatrons (not to mention the incursion of a French-style government dominated by highly trained Enarchs), I find myself tremendously impressed by the Obama transition.

"The fact that they can already leak one big appointee per day is testimony to an awful lot of expert staff work. Unlike past Democratic administrations, they are not just handing out jobs to the hacks approved by the favored interest groups. They’re thinking holistically — there’s a nice balance of policy wonks, governors and legislators. They’re also thinking strategically."

Washington Post's David Broder said, "...I am struck by how lucky this country is, at the moment, that the president-elect is a super-smart person like Barack Obama."

These are not homages to a brainiac Commander in Chief, but rather, I believe a recognition that maybe we need more than just reflexive certitude in a president. Having the smartest guys in the room surrounding the president doesn't necessarily mean that there is an overlooked magic bullet to fix the economy, health care, end the war, prop up public education and - well I don't need to go on, you get the picture - that only the uber educated can find. But some Americans could learn that its not enough to just have an ideological predisposition toward a solution; that intellectually disciplined women and men, committed to presenting well thought out points of view, with enough depth that those points of view can be probed and adjusted as circumstances dictate, are an asset not a liability. It will be important as we entered the uncharted territory which the new president and his administration will surely face.

I also wonder about the example this might to our young people. All young people. African-American youth and children, Hispanics, high school age, elementary, you name it. It's a good thing to have the President of the U.S., with the ability to communicate clear strategy, inspire hope through his articulation of vision, and the capacity to critically think through problems and issues and develop a process based on the most thoroughly debated range of options?

Consider another one of Broder's observations, "...the quality of his questions -- and his follow-ups -- were a measure of the depth of his knowledge of the situation.

"He has not been tested that rigorously in the news conferences he has held so far, but his ability to respond to the questions he has been asked, to make his points in a coherent, balanced way and to avoid any misstatement has certainly been a treat to watch."

What a great object lesson it is to have a leader (and leaders), in our country who have not allowed ethnicity, age and socioeconomic challenges serve as barriers to achievements, but stepping stones? I think Kathleen Parker, another conservative columnist had it right: "By [Obama's] example, he telegraphs the following messages: Being smart is good; education is good; being a good father is essential. Being an egghead is cool."

Think about it. According to Brooks, on January 20, these are the personalities who will support the new executive branch of government:

"Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.). The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law)."

Again, I want to stress, Barak Obama's not POTUS yet (although there are some who are arguing that his first 100 days have already started), and it takes more than a degree to make one an effective leader, after all, the smartest guys in the room sunk Enron! But the example Obama currently projects may be good for more than just our fiscal and political future. It just may be good for our image of ourselves.