DREAMS-HOPE-FAITH A LIVING TRINITY

Transcription

1 DREAMS-HOPE-FAITH A LIVING TRINITY Howard N. Lee General James Stockton, VP candidate to Ross Perot in 1992 presidential campaign, opened his debate statement with two questions: WHO AM I? WHY AM I? Many found this comical---i found these to be serious and honest questions. I believe he was searching for a true definition of himself and his role in the campaign. These are questions we all should ask each day, as I do. WHO AM I AND WHY AM I HERE? I hope you will ask and answer these questions for yourself. Who are you? What is your purpose? How much should be expected from you? How do you justify your existence? I describe myself as a dreamer, a symbol of hope and a person of strong faith. During the days I spent on the sharecropper s farm in Georgia, I have been inspired by my dreams, motivated by hope and sustained by faith. I describe this as my living trinity. 1

2 My trinity is different from the Holy Trinity which represents God as one My Trinity represents three ways we can engage. Three words have been drivers in my life---dreams-hope-faith. Everybody should, as most do, take some time to Dream. My dreams inspired me to create my own perfect world in my mind. Life is made more tolerable, even at the worse, if we have Hope. As long as I could believe that tomorrow would be better than today, I could find the strength to push forward. However, without faith, in a higher power it is difficult, if not impossible, to either find comfort in my dreams and keep hope alive. Dr King s dream speech represented what the civil right sacrifices could bring. Those who marched dreamed of freedom, and had hope that all would end well and had faith in the future. The distance for me from the sharecropper s farm in Georgia to this day---has been a long, dangerous and gratifying journey through Klan infested, Jim Crow contaminated wilderness, oppressive Georgia to Chapel Hill. We live in a different time today, but people need a way to find some optimism and comfort in their lives. Those of us, who have been blessed with a life to achievement and comfort, can 2

3 empower those who are struggling to find meaning in their lives to transform dreams in to possible reality. Our mission should be to motivate doubters to reach for a higher rung on the ladder of success. Hope motivates us to take a chance on transforming dreams into reality. Hope gives us the courage to try something different. Hope makes us work harder to achieve the desired outcome. If you have hope for yourself-then you can instill hope in others. This is the sustaining foundation. Believe in yourself first; believe you in requiring others to participate in their own success. Using the old adage don t just hand a fish, teach how to fish. I believe God kept me here to fulfill many missions, to be a symbol of hope and inspiration. Reflecting on your own life, my guess is you will share similar feelings. We should not just see things as they exist and ask why, but seek to make what they should be. Sometimes circumstances require us to take a risk. Like the group of young people who recently worked to free two men from death row Like Dean Smith who challenged Governor Jim Hunt to abandon the death penalty. 3

4 Like Bob Seymour who is always ready to step up and be counted. The late Hubert Humphrey, was a great humanitarian and a true Statesman. A highlight in my life was the few times I spent in his presence during his last days, while he was dying of cancer. On one occasion, I remember him clinching his fist in frustration and saying I am going too soon, because there is still so much to be done and so many needs to be fulfilled. Since we are still here, we should act to get as much done to benefit the masses as we can. When I was younger I wondered why God allowed black folk and poor people to be treated so badly. Today I hear myself wondering quietly. How God can allow so many to suffer and live with hopelessness and do nothing to change it. Then I hear a voice that reminds me. God has and is doing something about. God sent you. God has kept us here. God has placed us in positions of influence. God expects us to do the job we were sent to do. God sent Jesus who died that we might have a life of abundance. God sent Martin Luther King, Jr. who died that we might enjoy a life of freedom. God sent the Binkley founders and Bob Seymour to become the conscience of Chapel Hill. 4

5 Yesterday on the golf course one of my playing partners complained he was having a bad day because he didn t sink a putt. I reminded him that he had won the lottery when he got up and was on the golf course. While he slept a bus full of college soft ball players was being rammed by a big rig; killing 3 or 4. In an inspiration book, I working on, I write these words when things go badly, as they sometimes. Don t become angry, sad or blue. Look around and you will see what s true. There is somebody else worse off than you. Lillian and I were comfortable in SAVANNAH, Georgia, when the unthinkable happened---- AND DR GRAHAM. God designated me to be a pioneer. I did not become Mayor of Chapel Hill on my own. I believe a higher power, God, intervened Now back to the questions: Who am I?---I believe I am one of God s disciples sent and left here to empower the weak to become strong, to defend those who can t defend themselves the youth. To break down the barriers that impede those who need access to service. Why am I here? Because I have been given a mission to help save generations; especially black boys. In September 5

6 I opened an all black boys academy in Durham as one way to close the pipeline to prison. Isn t it strange that princes and kings, and clowns that caper in sawdust rings. That common folks like you and me, are builders for eternity. Each is given a bag of tools, a shapeless mass and a book of rules. Each must make ere life is flown, a stumbling block or stepping stone. May God continue to bless us all and these words I have shared today. 6