America is Beautiful

Did you watch Oprah today? She premiered this song, which she had asked David Foster and will.i.am to write. Faith Hill, Seal, Mary J. Blige and Bono and a choir of kids join in.

Here is a link to watch. America's Song . Downolad it for free until Tuesday afternoon here. Or watch it here. Go full screen. And feel good about our country.




Be sure to visit tomorrow to see what I have done to help Bessemer celebrate.

Almost Divine

1 Day. One day, and our country is racing toward becoming a more perfect union.

Picture credit Hell for Leather magazine

This is a picture of Walter Villa on a 250 RR Harley-Davidson/ Aermacchi in 1976 at the Nürburgring. The person who posted the picture said, "And yes, that numeral 1 on the number-plate means what you think it means."

And number 1 for our country ascends to the presidency in 1 day.

Programming Note: Bessemer Opinions will no longer be posting comments of a hateful nature. This site is not a community forum for debate. Bessemer Opinions is about moving forward, both in our community and in our country. Comments that bring people or groups of people down, without cause, do nothing to help our community or country.

"Almost Divine". Those are the word used by Dianne Mills to describe the convergence of the Martin Luther King Jr, holiday with the inaugural ceremonies of Barack Obama. Dianne hosted a party yesterday to celebrate.

But today is reserved for tributes to Martin Luther King, Jr. Watch this video tribute from Park Community Church in Chicago. Oh, it's different.



Read my post from last year, since Health Care (and war) is still an issue: Martin Luther King Jr: Pro Public Health and Anti War .

If King were still alive, I am sure he would be offering an inaugural prayer. Instead, it was offered by Bishop Gene Robinson yesterday. Here it is. Even if you are not particularly spiritual, read this prayer, as it embodies the spirit of our nation, and if we all heed its words, our nation will soar.

Good afternoon,

Before this celebration begins, please join me in pausing for a moment to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

Oh God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears, tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die a day from malnutrition, malaria and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants; women, people of color; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy simplistic answers we prefer to hear from our politicians instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed any time soon and the understanding that our next president is a human being, not a messiah. Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the ways we care for the most vulnerable. And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of the president of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady calm captain. Give him stirring words, we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color blind reminding him of his own words that under his leadership there will be neither red nor blue states but a United States. Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods. And please God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents and we’re asking far too much of this one, we implore you oh good and great God to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand that he might do the work that we have called him to do. That he might find joy in this impossible calling and that, in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

Amen.

Inaugural Celebration

WOW!
What a celebration is going on in DC.

Each perfomer, in my mind, just got better and better. But thinking back, this duet by Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi just blew me away. (HBO keeps removing the posts from YouTube, but I will keep replacing it as long as I can find it). OK HBO, you win.




If you missed it, its on again tonight and several times over the next few days, on HBO. Or, come on over, we DVR'd it.

Enjoying Flowers in the Cold of Winter

Picture credit Replacements.com

2 days. In 2 days the United States will regain respect around the world.

Here are a few new features at Bessemer Opinions.

Over to the left you will see "Popular Posts You Might Want to Read." My statcounter lets me know what you all are reading and these are the most popular pages. I will be adding more.

Also, there is a slide show of pictures. Right now there are pictures of camellias, but from time to time the pictures will change.

In My Blog List there are a couple of new links; The Western Trib, for news updates, and The Wild Reed, Thoughts and reflections from a progressive, gay, Catholic perspective.

I'm constantly trying to find ways to make Bessemer Opinions a better site (in spite of Randy's comment yesterday, "Can anyone find a way to do away with this pathetic blog.")

That's not gonna happen, so don't worry.

Two days ago our fountain was frozen and when the sun came out in the afternoon it just glistened. (It looks like David might have been a little chilly,too.) Last year the fish survived the freezing. It'll be a day or two before I know.

Recall I said that the camellias bloom all winter, but that freezing temps would kill the blooms that are open. So I rescued a few of the flowers before the big freeze. We will enjoy these for a few days indoors, and by the time they fade, more flowers should be opening outdoors.

Living Like Jesus, Voting for Obama

Picture credit : http://english.sina.com/p/1/2008/0709/170758.html

3 Days. In three days our country begins its recovery.

This picture is of Tai Shan, a panda at the Smithsonian Zoo, celebrating his third birthday earlier this year. The fruit circle, cut to make the numeral, is made of water and gelatin. Tai Shan is the first surviving panda born at the zoo, and still lives with his parents in the National Zoo Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat. If you are going to Washington over the next few days, maybe you can visit Tai Shan.

Rev. Ed Dobson made pledge to live for a year like Jesus (Story). Dobson was one of the founders of the Moral Majority in the 1980's, now he is vice president for spiritual formation at Cornerstone University.

"The one-time architect of the religious right is in hot water with some conservatives over his statement that living like Jesus during 2008 influenced him to vote for Barack Obama -- his first presidential vote for a Democrat."

"Dobson acknowledged he has been criticized for linking his Obama vote to Jesus. While disagreeing with Obama on abortion, Dobson said the Democrat was closest to the spirit of Jesus' teachings of compassion and peace."

And while we are on the subject of compassion and peace, how about Kay Warren, the "purpose-driven wife" of now-controversial pastor Rick Warren, reminding us of this:

She spoke at Judson college in Marion, AL, and praised Obama for leading the way on HIV testing. She compared today's AIDS epidemic to the biblical references to leprosy.

"I challenge you to find anyplace in the Bible where Jesus asks how someone became sick," she said.

Warren, or Jesus for that matter, was not concerned about people's "lifestyles," to use a divisive term not used in his day. He cared about ministering, healing, bringing the downtrodden and the outcasts into the fold.

If only more of the churches that claim to follow Jesus would actually do so. You've got your angry, judgemental philosophy (and God) or your compassionate, loving philosophy (or God).

I will choose to follow the one Ed Dobson is following this year. The loving, compassionate One.

Oh...4 more days

Picture Credit Vicious Delicious

I forgot to include this.

4 Days. Then America can celebrate.

WW 2 Army Bracelet Resolution

I posted this request on January 3 about the World War II Army bracelet found by a man in Belgium.

Yannick, the finder of the bracelet, wanted to find the family of the man, who he found through some research was born in Randolph county here in Alabama. Yannick thought the man had returned to live in Bessemer, which it seems turned out not to be true, but it led Yannick to contact people here to help.

I contacted a woman in Roanoke in her 80's who said she was pretty sure I had the right family, but couldn't give me more information until a few days later due to her vision and hearing impairment. She needed to wait until she had some assistance. When I called her back she gave me the name of a relative (Tim) in North Carolina who was doing some research on the family genealogy.

At the same time, my post was picked up by The Randolph Leader, who printed my information in the form of a letter. A local man, there, Howard, a cousin of Andrew Barfield, saw the letter and emailed me.

While this was going on, Yannick had found World War 2 Forums, a site formed for veterans, families and friends to exchange information, and posted information. You can read the responses there, and Howard actually posted on the site as well. (This is a great site with forums for genealogical, historical, honor, WW2 weapons and more).

While it seemed to everyone, Yannick included, that the correct Barfield family had been found, he was not 100% convinced until I confirmed with Howard and Tim, with the Army Serial Number, that it was indeed the right family.

As it turns out Howard (who is a retired nurse), has made many visits to Belgium and Germany and the Netherlands researching his family and has actually traced the family back to William the Conqueror (thus relating to all the royal houses of Europe).

So the bracelet is being returned to Andrew Barfield's widow, who lives in Florida. But just as excited is his sister, Ollie Gay, who lives in Georgia, and will be celebrating her 100th birthday tomorrow! The family, and Ollie, are on cloud nine and this news will be the highlight of her (somewhat) surprise party on Saturday.

Thanks go out to Yannick for going to the trouble to make this happen, and to Jeff and the others at WW2F for providing the forum.

You can leave Birthday Wishes for Ollie here in the comments section and I will see that Howard delivers them to her tomorrow.