United States Civil Rights Trail

Do your homework! I have one objective in writing this post. I desire to inspire the motivated to do the hard work of understanding black history in the United States. Lisa and I recently took a week to spend time touring museums and monuments in the south to gain a better understanding of the path of black citizens through our nation's history. I believe that you will be enlightened and moved by the sacrifices that have been paid for the same rights the whites have had all along. 

The declaration of Independence preamble clearly presents the concept that all men are created equal.  The Bible teaches that God loves all and Jesus died for all. We have equal footing before God and as US citizens. The picture above is of Lisa and I standing at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. This was the sight where hundreds were denied the right to simply protest their right to vote. You can go to the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute right at the foot of the bridge in Selma.

Our journey continued in Mongomery, Alabama where we visited the Legacy Museum. This museum presented the injustices of blacks from the boats of Africa to the modern incarceration of black men and women. It also captured the vast amount of black men who were lynched. Just down the street, you can visit The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. It is sobering to see the thousands of men who were killed because of the color of their skin. It is a hard pill to swallow. When you read what each man was accused of, it sickens me that no one was ever prosecuted for these murders. 

We moved on to the Rosa Parks Museum in downtown Mongomery next. It is amazing the resolve and unity the black citizens had once she was confronted on the bus in late December of 1956. The collective community did not step foot on a public bus for three hundred and eighty-one days. They walked, carpooled, and started their own cab infrastructure. I am amazed how many of the people in the leadership of this movement were pastors. Most people do not know that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was Rosa Park's pastor for a time. You can visit the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the Holt Street Baptist Church where the masses were inspired to stand for their rights.

We moved north to Memphis on our journey. For me, a highlight was the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The exhibits are a comprehensive look at the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century until today. It is sobering to review our history where a primary leader of the civil rights movement was gunned down. If you have to make a choice of where you must go, this would be my vote. 

I gained so much knowledge and understanding of history on this trip. You can learn more by visiting civilrightstrail.com. 

I thought I would leave you with the definition of critical race theory being that I have had no one who could define it for me yet. I am not going to weigh in at this point.

critical race theory (CRT), intellectual movement, and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of color. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.  Written by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Fathers - Learn, Grow, Change

Our family usually celebrates Fathers Day altogether. We gather at one of the sibling's houses and have a carry-in meal. This year Jenny, my younger sister invited us to her home.  As I walked in, I immediately noticed my dad. He was wearing shorts (the usual) and a "Celtic Green" pair of Converse low-top tennis shoes. For many people, seeing a seventy-eight-year-old wearing bright green tennis shoes would be strange and shocking. For me, it is something that I have grown to expect and appreciate greatly.

My dad has taught me many things throughout my life. I would not have the work ethic nor the drive to learn, grow and change without his influence. He has been a never-ending inspiration to me. I have watched him through the seasons of his life. I have learned so much. This blog is an attempt to capture three areas of life that will help you no matter what season you are in as a father. 

My mom passed away a few years ago. At that time, we decided to have my dad come live with us to assist him through a knee replacement. I observed my dad change right before my eyes. God was doing a work in him that I would like to share. My dad has always been a learner. From my earliest memories, he was reading, designing, building, and using new applications. I am sure you have heard the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none." If you looked this up in the encyclopedia, you might find my dad's photo there. As a father, one of the best gifts you can give your children is a desire to learn. His never-ending thrust for knowledge is refreshing. Most people lose that desire before they hit fifty.

The second area that I have learned from my dad is the importance of growing as a person. This is much different than being a learner. Growth goes to the core of who we are. Most people I know recognize that they have weaknesses. Over time they become comfortable with those voids and never try to achieve growth in their negative characteristics and traits. Watching my dad grow is amazing. 

Growth is the process of becoming someone different. I think people who grow have to be willing to take risks. People are creatures of habit and uncomfortable to change. New ways of thinking and behaving do not happen naturally. Growth happens when people seek, experience, and know God. It has been inspiring to see God work in my dad's heart and to see him grow as a result of that. For every dad reading this blog, embrace your relationship with God, and watch growth take place.

The is one last area I want to talk about, change. Change requires humility. Change means work. Change means uncertainty. I have watched my dad change. There is no way that I would have seen my dad in green tennis shoes ten years ago. His early years as a believer were spent in a very conservative legalistic environment. He has surrendered to God changing him and not the opinions of men. Change occurs when we begin to understand that God knows what He is doing and when we grasp onto who He is shaping us to be. 

Fathers, remember that one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is being a man who learns, grows, and changes.

Bass Lessons

30 bass in less than 3 hours. Sound like fun? or more like a summer dream? It became a reality for a friend and me. Recently, I was able to join up with a long-time friend and outdoor writer Mike Roux for an evening on an Illinois private lake. 

Mike texted me on a whim to ask me if I was up for an evening fishing trip the next day. I quickly texted back, "Yes, absolutely!" He picked me up around six, and we headed toward a private lake that we had fished in past. 

The plan was to fish til dark. Our usual route was to troll the lake in a clockwise fashion. Mike and I usually create a little competition to add a little spice to our outings. This night I decided that we would compete for the first fish, the biggest fish, and the most fish. What I didn't know at the time is that we would have a hard time keeping track of all the fish! 

This evening was a classic example of how the fishing dynamics change over the course of a couple hours. We carried three poles with three different lures to meet the challenges we might face throughout the evening. It was only a couple casts before we caught our first fish using a crankbait. For the next half hour, we both caught a half dozen fish. 

As we moved into a bit of shade from the saplings lining the water's edge, we began to use a wacky worm against the bank. Mike caught his first three-pound bass of the night. He put me on to Stike King's "Sweet Tater Pie" a couple of years ago and it did not disappoint once again. Over the next forty-five minutes, we caught another half dozen bass. They ranged in size but all were in the pound to two-pound range. We both had caught seven basses apiece when the evening began to get interesting as the sun began to set.

Mike decided first to switch to a topwater spinner bait. His go-to is a Moto lure that he has caught some monsters with. I was still working the wacky worm with not a lot of success when it happened. Mike got blown up by a nice three-and-a-half-pounder. Then another bass and then another. It was every cast for the next forty-five minutes. The bass were so active that we were losing track of how many we had caught individually and together. We both decided that we would stop at thirty, simply because we were not equipped to fish in the dark. It did not take very long to hit thirty. With one last cast, I pulled in a three-pounder and we called a fantastic evening! 

The takeaway is to fish changes that are occurring throughout the fishing trip. In this case, we were fishing for bass. We went from a crankbait to the wacky worm. When they stop hitting the worm, we moved to a spinnerbait on the top. This proved to be the correct formula on this summer night.