HE WAS A GENTLE SPIRIT

My father had a gentle spirit. Does that sound like a trite phrase? In today’s world I don’t think we have enough masculine gentle spirits for the phrase to be trite. Father’s Day, and any day, is a good time for me to remember my own dad and his kind and gentle spirit.

(My grandmother with my Dad, right, and his twin brother, Dan)

He was loving and kind, protective and encouraging, the perfect father to me and my sister. My father, David Collier Shattles, had Parkinson’s disease from the time I was in elementary school until his death in 1986, yet, as long as possible, he continued to work and to play golf. He didn’t complain about the Parkinson’s. I never heard him use it as an excuse for not doing the things he needed to do.

He was never rich, nor famous, yet he was an inspiration to all who knew him. He worked for Eastern Air Lines for over 25 years. The employee passes allowed him to take his golf clubs for impromptu visits to his brother, Joel, in Jacksonville or other family members elsewhere and I was often his traveling buddy. My mother and sister didn’t like to fly, so, despite the passes, we never traveled to exotic beaches or the renowned golf courses. He played on the courses in the Atlanta area, enjoying the pleasures of a sport at which he excelled.

If marriage, fatherhood, golf and his work defined his later life, his early adult years were defined by his service in the Army Air Corps. He was a hero honored with many medals and knew many close brushes with death. He was a part of the crew of the Vagabond King in 1943 as part of the raid on the Ploesti Oil Fields. Later in 1943, stationed in England with the 8th Air Force, the Vagabond King was set for another mission, when my dad developed tonsillitis. It was an ill-fated mission, with my father, the only crew survivor, having been left behind in a base hospital in England to have his tonsils removed. His faith and that of his parents was very strong, and I know that their prayers were constant for the safe return of my father, his four brothers and his brothers-in-law serving our country during World War II.

His was a kind and gentle spirit, full of love for God, family, and country. I have been blessed that the men in my life, my father, my husband, and my son, all been endowed with this spirit of love toward others.

HONORING THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD

Our daughter called recently - called just to share some news and chat while she was out walking her dog. We talked, laughed, caught up on things going on, and then each went back to our day. But it was a brighter day because of her call.

The night before her call, a similar one from her brother brightened my evening. They are both grown-up now, living their own married lives, but we are connected by that mother-child bond that links us to one another for life. Each contact with them, every memory, reminds me of how much I love being a mother – of being their mother.

As a child, growing up in the South, Mother’s Day was always a very special holiday. One special memory is of the Mother’s Day flower, usually a rose, although a carnation would also be acceptable. In our family, we always wore a rose on Mother’s Day. The tradition is that you wore a white rose if your mother was no longer living and a red rose if she was. I can remember my mother stopping at the florist across the street from our church to pick up flowers for us. Most years, however, we found a rose bush with blooms that we could pick from. My grandmother, who went to church with us, always wore a white rose, sometimes in a corsage. It was from her that I learned what the white rose symbolized. I don’t know when the tradition faded away, but I know I seldom see anyone wearing a rose for mother’s day.

Since 1981, I have been blessed with the joy of motherhood for myself. I wish my own mother had been with us longer to enjoy more time to with her grandchildren. She would have been impressed with the individuals they have become. Each year since 1987, I have missed by own mother on Mother’s Day. I miss the conversations; the sharing of traditions; just knowing she was there.

I have to admit, when Peter was first placed in my arms, I was overjoyed but also frightened. Would I be able to keep him safe, healthy, help him grow into his potential. Having a strong help-mate in their father made it less frightening; but still, I have to admit to being an overly cautious mother. When Katie was born two years later, I was still the cautious mother. With the second child, I have heard, mothers are supposed to be far less worried about germs and bumps and bruises. But, truth be told, I still worry about them, just not as much.

Being further away from our children’s day-to-day lives, and knowing they are responsible adults, I don’t stress like I did when they were young. I still tell them to drive carefully, however, when they are going on a car trip and other such motherly advice. They are polite and take my advice in stride. We’ve also reached the point where they tell us to have a safe trip, and other such cautions. It’s nice that they are concerned about us as we are about them.

Mother’s Day has a proud history as a holiday set aside to honor each individual mother. Personally, it is not only a day for remembering my own mother, it is a day for honoring the joys that motherhood has brought to me.

THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS AND CHRISTMAS EVE

We sit in our pews, carefully holding our candles and singing Silent Night. Emotions of the evening are private as each of us brings our own thoughts of Christmas pasts prayerfully into the present. After the prayer the choir begins the Hallelujah Chorus, joined by those in the congregation who wish to do so. Everyone else stands in silent celebration as the sanctuary is overwhelmed with the joy of the birth of the new born king.

It’s the night before Christmas and all through Cobb County, as it is at the First Presbyterian Church Marietta service described above, there are voices joined in resounding joy. The secular traditions of the holiday, the frazzled days of shopping and decorating, are secondary to those of the religious celebration.

One of my Face Book friends recently asked folks to tell her about their Christmas traditions that they shared with their children. Along with several others, I began by talking about our tradition of going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. I have an idea that Christmas, more than most holidays, is one in which the traditions of our childhoods play a major role in how we celebrate as adults.

I grew up as a member of a small Southern Baptist church that didn’t have a Christmas Eve service. After I married a Presbyterian, the Eve service became a part of our own family tradition. Before children and when they were very young, we were members of the First Presbyterian Church in St. Marys, Georgia, a small historic church near the intercoastal waterway. The first Christmas after our daughter Katie was born, we set out for the church in freezing cold weather. Looking back, I am amazed that, the overprotective mother that I was, I agreed to take our little baby and her toddler-aged brother out in record setting cold – minus three or so. But it was a beautiful service and the tradition has continued no matter what the weather.

Now we are members of First Presbyterian Marietta, a much larger historic church near the Square. But the size of the church doesn’t determine the experience of the Christmas Eve service. It is the worship experience; the celebration of the birth of Christ that repeats the message of the season.

This year, making the service extra special, I will be joined in the congregation by our son, Peter, and his wife Ann-Bailey and our daughter, Katie, and her husband Drew. Allan will be in the tenor section of the choir. We will join folks all over the world participating in the celebration of Christmas, our one truly international holiday.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

LET US CELEBRATE OUR FREEDOMS ON JULY 4TH

July 4th! Independence Day! This is our uniquely American holiday when we honor our freedom and American heritage. We hold parades, display fireworks and wave flags. We celebrate the 4th as a day to let the world know we continue to stand for freedom for all of our citizens.

I’m proud to be an American, not only when a particular party in is power in Washington, but all of the time. I’m proud of the citizens of our country, that we can elect our leaders without bloodshed or riot. I’m proud of my ancestors who fought valiantly to preserve the freedoms that we have today. I’m proud of every American who continues to fight for our country today to ensure that our freedoms continue.

Rather than July 4th, we could be celebrating on the 2nd. The second day of July in 1776 was the legal separation of the colonies from Great Britain. It was on that day that the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence. The final approval, however, took place on July 4, 1776. It was not until August 2 of that year that the first signature was placed on the Declaration of Independence.

John Adams, who later became our second President, wrote to his wife Abigail: “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

We continue to fulfill Adams’ prophecy, although not on the exact day he suggested. But how blessed we are to live in a country which for more than 200 years has continued a celebration of freedom; a country whose citizens have continually cherished the ideals of our founding fathers.

America is a youngster compared to many countries of the world. I pray that we will be a civilization that will endure, aging gracefully, growing in wisdom, and forever protecting the ideals of our founding fathers. The freedoms that we enjoy are not to be taken for granted. It behooves all of us to continue to study our history, to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; to elect leaders who are proud of our country; and to be proud ourselves that we are an independent nation of free people.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Take a few minutes this July 4, or perhaps July 2, to re-read the Declaration of Independence. Think about the tyrannies of oppression from which our founding fathers were separating. Let us vow not to become a nation that forces that same type of oppression upon her citizens.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND AND THE SWINE FLU

I have been watching the updates on the concern over the Swine Flu. Will it be an epidemic? Will it become a pandemic? It's too early to tell, but it is time to continue the practical steps that we should be taking anyway: washing hands often, keeping hands away from the face, and staying home when sick.

At the same time that the national health care professionals and the news media are encouraging folks to stay home when sick, many of our schools are still in the mandatory testing that is a part of No Child Left Behind. One component of this national rating of our schools is attendance. I know we must encourage attendance for our school children. As a school board member years ago, I remember being shocked at the large number of absences of some of our students. However, the No Child Left Behind rating will score a school as not meeting progress if even one sub-group fails to meet the attendance requirement on the day of testing - not all year; but just on that testing day.

With this pressure to succeed, teachers push parents to send their child to school for testing despite illness, fever, flu. There are no excuses for not taking the tests. Will we be helping to spread the flu to entire schools so that sick students can help make an arbitrary goal set by politicians?

I think we need more realistic ways to rate our schools. Yes, many of our schools need improving, but many more are doing an excellent job of educating students from diverse backgrounds and ability levels. We need to have schools that students come to with eager enthusiasm, ready to learn, well disciplined, to be taught by teachers who are well prepared and also enthusiastic. We need a way to evaluate schools by total performance in a realistic way. We are not giving teachers, students, parents or the community a realistic picture of their educational system when, as part of the evaluation for an entire school and district, we rate a school as failing because that school has one too many sick children in a sub-group during testing.

THE DAY THE DOLLAR FLOATED BY

The other day I saw a dollar bill blowing in the wind as I was driving near home. I stopped the car and watched it for a minute. In a bold move for me, I pulled into the near-by parking lot, went up the hill to the road and there was the dollar, just waiting for me. It was an exciting adventure for the day.

I have decided to take this incident as an indicator that better days are ahead for our entire economy. Never mind that this was such an extremely windy day that the dollar could easily have escaped from someone who didn’t want to lose it and that it could have traveled for miles along the gusty current before settling near me.
Many years ago my mother told me that when the economy is good, there will be more change, especially pennies, to be found on the ground. Folks aren’t as fast to pick them up when money is flowing. Well, not only have I recently found the dollar bill, but I have found a good many pennies on the ground.

My friend, Kathy, in Kentucky, on hearing my dollar story, said she still stoops over to pick up pennies. “That’s 100 stoops,” she said. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who will bend over for a penny. I like to think of them as good luck coins.

Not that long ago, I would look at the stock market report in the newspaper or at the end of the evening news, not really bothered by the ups and downs that were a normal part of the market flow. Lately, however, like many others, I have become obsessed with keeping up with the daily Dow. Okay, perhaps obsessed is too strong a term, but I do keep up with it on a daily basis.

The stock market fluctuates, gross retail sales are unpredictable, unemployment numbers continue to rise, and the television pundits and government economist seem equally lacking in understanding. With all that uncertainty in mind, why shouldn’t my penny theory be just as credible as any other?

With dollar bills flying through the air and pennies littering the ground, I will stay optimistic that there is hope for an economic recovery. Now, if only the government officials would stop saying we want to help the middle class and small businesses and actually find a way to do it.

THE ECONOMIC APRIL FOOL'S JOKE

I can't help thinking the solutions our national leaders have offered for our economic crisis are an elaborate April Fool's Joke. In that vain, I am hopeful that, once the first of April has passed, we will regain our economic sanity and be offered a truthful, workable solution. How wonderful if we can wake up on April 2 and find that market based economics are once again in place; and that a government take-over of our economy has been merely a terrifying bad dream. We will find on that beautiful morning that there is no move to socialized medicine; that the banks and major industries have not been nationalized; and that the tax rates are not being used to penalize the productive. Let's hope that the reality of the past few months is merely a myth and that the true reality is a sound economy, a healthy stock market, and citizens free from the tyranny of big government.