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“Rocky Road"
(Pa ving-Schedu/edby Request)
A lew years ago, before my re
build. I found myself seated, at the
bar o f a n e ig h b o rh o o d , local
wateringhole (During those days. I
spent most of my time in bars While
sitting there I heard two men talking
about their families and lives They
shared with each other. how their life
patterns seemed almost identical The
two men had known each other since
school days. They had similar hob
bies and interests, and both were
complaining about their home lives
while sucking down drink after
drink...
They talked about leaving their
families in search of their visions of
happiness They complained about
the unreasonable demands they felt
their mates were imposing upon them,
and just knew, there had to be people,
in the world more compatible with
them. They even went on a search
ami thought they had found their
longed-for. happiness. They even
talked about how happy they thought
they were!
They poured all of their energies
into their new found visions-of-hap-
piness. They neglected their respon
sibilities to what they felt were
doomed, dull and taxing lives. The
results or nature of their new lifestyles
manifested so much grief for those
around them that they couldn’t enjoy
their new lives due to guilt. Soon,
their outlook on life became bitter,
because they still weren't truly happy.
The new visions-of-friends in their
lives didn't want to deal with their
complex feelings and issues and they
left creating a deep Void!
The two men started thin king com
paring and talking. They came to the
conclusion that. .. no matter what life
sucks. So do what you want when
you want and when its over its over!
Both men went into deep depres
sions and more self destructive be
haviors. They had placed All their
faith in other people and the quest to
find them. In other words, they went
looking in the wrong sources.
Finally, one of them ran into a
long-time old-friend. He told theold-
Iriend "My life is so screwed- up and
miserable, I feel like I’m losing my
mind!”
At that point, he began weeping
uneomtorlably. The old-friend put
his arms around him and told him
without hesitation,” you need God in
your life. Y ou’re gonna be O.K.!
W e’ve been buddies a long time and
w e’ve been through a lot together
and I’m gonna help you get through
this! You need to go to church and
I’m coming by in the morning to take
you. Be ready! You know I’ll drag
you outta bed, if I have to!”
The next morning, the old friend
came by just as he said he would and
they went to church. As he sat and
listened to the sermon he felt like the
minister had custom prepared it just
for him. His spirit was still troubled.
But for the first time in a long time he
could feel hope. He called his friend
he had known since school days and
told him what he had experienced.
They both started looking towards
God for shelter from their Rocky
Roads o f sin and destruction.
After some nourishment from The
Healer. They began to show signs of
renewed strength, vigor and true spiri
tual maturity. They started rebuild
ing their home lives according to The
Healer’s instructions. They had some
difficulties. But, each could see a
new
d ay .
T hey
a lso
noticed...someone had come along
and started cleaning and paving and
landscaping the rest of what was their
Rocky Road. In other words, they
began to receive additional Bless
ings.
Soon, one of them found out that
The Healer also gave him a gift. A
Spiritual Gift, to be exact.
In fact you could call it, “Super
Power!” The two men had finally
learned. They had to make the
changes in themselves, in order to
understand the secrets of acquiring
peace within one’s self.
They learned about the Evil-one
that lurks in and around the hearts ol
mankind.
But most important they learned
they had the power to rule their lives.
Now. the one that learned to tap
into his Spiritual Gift, or Super power
to this day is under the careful
mentorship of The Healer, and is
being transformed into another pow
erful warrior against Satan. The
w arrior’s only and favorite weapon
is Prayer!
All of us are eligible to possess a
Spiritual Gift, or Super Power if you
will. All we have to do is accept and
believe in Jesus Christ the Son of
God, Our Father who art in Heaven!
When your life seems out of sorts
and your road is rocky, remember
this:
Satan - drains whats left of you
and then abandons you -- to the side!
God - takes w hat’s left of you and
rebuilds you — from the inside!
A. H. Bradford
S u p p o rt G ro u p for W ell-Spouses
A new su p p o rt g ro u p for p e r
sons c arin g for c h ro n ic a lly ill
spou ses or p artn ers w ill begin
February 4, 1998. The g ro u p w ill
m eet at F irst U nited M eth o d ist
C hurch, at 1838 SW Je ffe rso n in
P o rtlan d , on the first and th ird
W ednesdays o f each m onth, from
1:()0-2:30 PM.
C a re g iv e rs are u nsung h ero es,
so m e tim e s c a rin g for a p artn er
w ith m u ltip le sc le ro sis, d e m e n
tia, p a rk in s o n ’s, stroke c o m p li
c a tio n s, or A ID S, for y e a r after
year. It can be an isolating, frig h t
en in g . and stre ssfu l ex p erien ce.
T h e W e ll-S p o u s e C a r e g iv e r s
S u p p o rt G roup w ill p ro v id e a
n o n -ju d g m en tal e n v iro n m e n t to
sh are the e x p e rie n c e w ith people
who are in sim ilar situ atio n s. P ar
tic ip a n ts w ill gain k n o w led g e
from each other, and guest sp eak
ers will be sch e d u le d on relev an t
topics.
T he group is open to anyone in
the co m m u n ity , and there is no
charge. For m ore info rm atio n ,
c o n ta c t C h ery l L uce, at (503)
228-3195.
Masonic Lodges Making History
Brothers meet after a unity agreement was made between their Grand Lodges.
The Prince Hall Masons F & AM from Portland and Masons from Keizer Lodge 219 AF & AM from the
Salem area have met together on two occasions. These two historical events took place when
members of Keizer Lodge visited Acacia Lodge #6 in Portland and members o f the Prince Hall Lodge
visited the Keizer Lodge located in Salem.
These meetings were the first time in the history o f Masonry in Oregon where these two Masonic
groups met together during their regular stated communications.
Sincere friendship and brotherly love during these events was certainly a reflection o f Dr. Martin
Luther King’s dreams.
Concordia University Theatre
To Present Godspell
G odspell, the story of the G os
pel according to St. Mark set in the
20th century could not be presented
at a b e tte r tim e . T h is y e a r
Concordia University ’s spring pro
duction appropriately opens on the
third day of lent running through
the next weekend with the final
matinee being held on M arch 8
com plem enting what prom ises to
be another inspiring musical event,
President National Urban League
If one wants to reduce the inci
dence of juvenile crime, does it make
sense to put young people convicted
of - or merely charged with - wrong
doing in jails and prisons with adult
offenders?
Children in adult jails are 5 times
more likely to be sexually assaulted
than those in juvenile facilities. Chil
dren in adult jails are 2 times more
I ikely to be assaulted by stal I. and are
1.5 times more likely to be attacked
with a weapon than children in juve
nile facilities. Children in adult jails
are 8 times more likely to commit
suicide.
And we can add that children in
adult jails are far more likely to gel
from their adult jail mates the kind ol
“schooling" and "counseling" that
will produce more, not less, crime.
Yet. some in Congress want to
increase this pernicious practice.
They are supporting a bill in the
Senate— S. 10. The Violent and Re
peal Juvenile Offender Act - that
would expand the number of chil
dren put in jails and prisons with
adults with little or no protection
form the adult population. The mea
sure has already passed the House ol
Representatives, so the danger it pre
sents is real and looming.
Two stalwart advocates for chil
dren. Marian Wright Edelman, the
fo u n d e r and p re sid e n t o f the
Children’s Defense Fund, and Bar
bara Kelley-Sease. director ol the
Black Community Crusade for Chil
dren, are leading an effort to defeat
this ominous measure.
They have set Tuesday, January
28 as the day for a concentrated,
visible lobbying effort on Capitol
Hill against the bill. Everyone who is
concerned about the peace and safety
of American society should oppose
this bill, either by going to W ashing
ton. if possible, or writing their sena
tors.
The danger the bill presents is
most starkly apparent in the stunning
racial disparities of who goes to jail
in America - disparities within the
nation's 1.7 million inmate popula
tion which this bill would inexorable
increase.
According to federal data, the
number of white inmates in jails more
than doubled between 1978 and 1994,
rising from more than 89,000 to
nearly 184,(XX).
But even that worrisome increase
was far outstripped in percentage
terms by the increases in the jails'
Hispanic and black populations: The
number of Hispanics shot up from
about 16.(XX) to more than 75,000
and the number of blacks skyrock
eted from just over 65.(XX) to more
than 206,000.
These increases have been largely
driven, first, by the draconian drug
laws of the '70 and '8 0 - which many
criminaljustice experts contend have
merely filled up the jails and prisons
without denting the trafficking and
use of illegal drugs.
And, secondly, they have been
driven by the racial bias throughout
the criminal justice system that re
sults in blacks and Hispanics getting
jail time for the same offenses for
which whites arc given probation or
lesser sentences.
The racial disparity in incarcera
tion of adults is present in the juve
nile system, too. African-American
and Hispanic-American children are
far more likely than white children to
be arrested, convicted, and turned
over to the adult criminal system.
Although black children consti
tuted abut 14 percent of all American
children, they make up 50 percent of
all children arrested for violent crime,
more than 50 percent of those trans
ferred to adult court, and 40 percent
of children in custody. As a group,
minority children make up 68 per
cent of the children in public custody
facilities, where they outnumber
white children 2 to I .
Thus, African Americans have a
special incentive to protest this bill.
But, in fact, all of society will suffer
from it America cannot afford-spiri
tually, socially, and economically -
to pretend the crime problem will
C o n c o rd ia U n iv e rsity C h o ir
and H andbells will be h o stin g
their annual Lenten co n cert. The
C o n c e r t w ill f e a tu r e m u s ic
aro u n d the th em e "S in g , My
T ongue, The glo rio u s B a ttle ."
The C hoir and H andbell e n
s e m b le s w ill o f f e r b e lo v e d
just go away if it locks up millions of
it citizei s.
We know that the tough-talk pos
turing of politicians afraid of seem
ing “soft” on crime w on’t solve the
revolving-door crime problem. Nor
will the self-interested exhortations
of the prison lobby to build more and
more prisons.
By c o n tra s t, w e know th at
sch o o ls that engage the in te lle c ts
o f th e ir stu dents do help reduce
ju v e n ile crim e. So, too, do a fte r
school program s that put y o u n g
sters in touch w ith c a rin g a d u lts
w ho can help them d isc o v e r their
p o sitiv e in te re sts and ta le n ts.
T hat is a m essage we at the N a
tional U rban L eague have been
p ro m o tin g th ro u g h su c h p r o
gram s as our “T im e to B eat the
S tre e t” cam paign. A nd we know
that intensive, m ulti-faceted p u b
lic agen cy -p riv ate agency effo rts
, such as the one B o s to n ’s civic-
lead ers fashioned sev eral years
ago, have w orked to dram atic
effo rt.
A ll o f these e ffo rts have one
c e n tra l m essage: T hey say that
we w ill m ake every e ffo rt to do
our best by every c h ild . N o c h il
dren w ill be left behind in h a rm 's
way.
That is why Senate bill S. 10 must
be defeated. For Am erica’s sake, we
must leave no child behind
Mighty Clouds of Joy - Vickie Winans Grammy Nominees
NARAS (National Academy of
Recording Arts A Sciences) has an
nounced its nominations for the 40th
annual telecast CGI Records Fhc
Mighty Clouds O f Joy and Vickie
Winans are nominated in the cat
egory. Traditional Soul Gospel Al
bum
The Mighty Clouds Of Joy have re
ceived lOGrammy nominations in their
40yearcareeras Vickie Winans reeci ves
her fourth nomination. The Clouds will
receive their ft ,urth Grammy Award with
a win this year as Vickie Winans will
receive her first. Both have been per
formers on the show.
The Mighty Clouds O f Joy's Live
In Charleston was released in No
vember. 1996 and had a top-ten de
but on Billboard's Gospel charts.
Vickie's Live In Detroit was released
in June. 1997 and has also been a top-
ten seller
The Clouds and Vickie are nomi
The performances will be held
February 28, March 6,7 ,8 , under the
direction of Carmela Lanza Weil, the
set design is by Gary Cotter, music
under the direction of Randy Hodson
and ch oreography by K athleen
Weisbecker.
The Concordia University The
atre is in Concordia University Fine
Arts Building, NE 28th and High
land, for tickets call 280-8512.
Free Lenten Concert to be held a t St. Michael's
Leave No Child Behind
Bv H ugh B. P rice
the C oncordia Choir and Handbells
2nd annual L enten C o n c e rt at
7:00pm.
Godspell has become a classic in
musical theatre tradition because of
its memorable tunes like “Day by
Day", "Prepare ye the W ay", and
“All for the Best.” The production
will include community and student
performers including a 4 piece live
band.
nated against Shirley Caesar, T.D.
Jakes, and the Fairfield Four at the
40th Grammy Awards from New
York City ’s Radio City Music Hall-
- Wednesday, February 25. 1998 at
8:00 p m c.s.t. The show will be
shown live on CBS-TV to 1.5 billion
viewers.
L enten H ym ns and sp iritu a ls e n
h a n c e d w ith r e a d in g s fro m
L enten S c rip tu re s.
T his C o ncert p resen tatio n will
also a ffo rd the o p p o rtu n ity for
the co n g re g a tio n to join in sin g
ing fav o rite L enten hym ns along
w ith the c h o ir voices and tra d i
tional m usical a c co m p an im en t.
T here is plenty o f lighted p a rk
ing and there w ill be a freew ill
offering.
The free c o n cert w ill be held
at St. M ich ael's L utheran C hurch,
NE D ekum , at 29th on M arch 8,
at 7:30.
G ood GTusiera/ GTome STnc.
2736 NE Rodney
Portland OR 97212
503-251-4591
Ô
This is your community based funeral home supported
byyou.
We matte the loss o f your loved ones easier to bear.
Letusyuidc you through our facility and explain about
pre arrangements with you.
C. Cox Tanner
Owner
Jerome Cox Tanner
Funeral Director
(Community CCTifixrcJtf nf (Snò
'54 friendly Church"
V .^ . •Brown
•Pastor and Counselor
We Extend Our Hand To Everyone
Services Sunday 11 A.M. and 6 P.M.
Sunday School 9:45 A.M.
Community Church of God
202 N.E. Skidmore
281-5678 Church
I