Where's the badge for Tribulation survivor?

Nov 30, 2013  "In my moments of honesty I realize that I am weak.  Untested."
Response:  "You consider yourself untested? Dude! You've faced some serious trials. I would have never said you were untested. Or, weak. Humble? Yes."


My friends know my battles.  They know what I've fought through in the last seven years - in my tribulation.


And I have learned - "I am weak."


I have made it through, but with the help of a God who loves me, friends and family who have been great help to me, a wife who has stuck with me even when I didn't deserve it, and a stubborn tenacity that, "this too shall pass."


I've been through hell.  (Most of it a hell of my own making, based on a number of poor, wrong, ill-advised, and/or sinful choices over the last seven years.)


If you see me standing, it is because I have been brought back to my feet, although not by my strength.


If you see me kneeling, it is because I know Who has delivered me and Who I must lean upon.


And I have learned - "but He is strong."

Can't we all just get along?

I once said, "I think our national news is too person-oriented."


Two years ago, a different case was in the news.  It got the attention, the rage (not quite the RAGE™), and the water-cooler talk.

And another one gone, and another one gone.  Another one bites the dust.


And...it's went from "if it bleeds, it leads", to "if it's a black man killed by a white man, it leads."






And, thanks to the 24hour news cycle, I can't tell if things are better than they were 40 years ago.  I don't have the time or the access to well-formatted, peer-reviewed statistical information to figure out whether we've gone from bad to worse, or worse to bad (on television!)






My kids don't understand racism.  They're aware of it, but why someone would choose to have racist tendencies and thinking...is beyond them.  My contemporaries at my job are the same way. 


I used to believe that we were closer to the point where "my four little children will grow up in a world where they are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."  I still feel that we are closer, but...


I can't deny the pain and rage with every one of these injustices.
And I know that these injustices have to be named, shamed, and quashed.
And I know that I'm not qualified to speak on this subject - serious melanin shortage.


But...


Can't we all just get along?