To make Comments write directly to Jim at jimt@quixotic.ca
29
Nov
2017
She looks happy. A smile wreathes her face, which is smudged with charcoal. So is her frilly pink dress. She’s on her hands and knees inside the fireplace, one small hand raised in greeting.
Our daughter Sharon was eight months old when we moved into our dream home in North Vancouver. The rest of us were busy carrying boxes. Sharon was too young to carry anything, so we parked her inside and carried on carrying. How much trouble can a still-crawling child get into in an empty house?
Then my wife asked, “Where’s Sharon?”
No one had seen her. We scattered through the rooms, searching frantically. Panic rising in our throats, we gathered in the living room.
That’s when we heard the happy gurgle coming from the fireplace.
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: stories Bible
Last year, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided that he could not stand proudly for the U.S. national anthem played before every game. During a post-game interview, he explained: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Kaepernick himself has experienced profiling. Although he is wealthier than any of the officers who have pulled him over on suspicion.
For black people, America is not the “land of the free.” Never has been.
This year, he chose to kneel during the anthem – kneeling being a symbol of respect – instead of sitting. Many other athletes joined him. “Taking the knee” during the national anthem spread throughout the league.
The President called the athletes “sons of bitches” and wanted them all fired.
Which would probably reduce NFL telecasts to referees blowing whistles at each other.
Tags: Kaepernick, kneel, NFL, respect, dissent, offence