Sunday Sermon

"To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do."
-Victor Hugo

Dear lord,

Please pray for my many friends who have experienced great loss this past week and for those who still have unanswered questions and are holding out hope.

Amen.

Hope is a four-letter word.

We hope for the best and let God take the reigns from there. Yet, there is something magical in having some say in the eventual outcome.

I went home for the holidays last month and did my usual field trip to old neighborhoods and stomping grounds. It helps me to maintain my sanity and focus.

"No matter how bad you think you got it, someone got it worst."
-Wyclef

It struck my as pretty interesting that some of the old hoods I visited this time were now enclaves for massive housing projects. Liberty Hill is no more. North Park Village is no more. John C Calhoun Homes are no more. Just large single-family homes amidst downtrodden double-wides and shadowmoss eerily reminiscent of abandoned air force bases.

"Things done changed."
-Biggie

We can hold out hope that what we've always come to expect will still be there time after time, yet forever ain't promised.

Once upon a time, I hit that fork in the road. Up until that point, life was going its normal course and would have reached its eventual conclusion. But bad judgment and circumstance combined to to make mirrors cloudy. Due to the intervention of someone who didn't have to intervene on my behalf, I went home that night.

And to this day, I never said thank you.

Well, until Wednesday, December 30, 2009.

It's strange how a 30-year-old man can get butterflies walking into someone's corner office, but it happens. I felt 13 again. I shook his hand, thank him, and hugged him. I felt good. I certainly was on the verge of spiraling out of control. He probably saved from my life. Its never to late to give thanks.

Thank you, Ed Barfield.

Friends of the Dudley Branch Library Memorial Scholarship Fund

The 2010 Friends of the Dudley Branch Library Memorial Scholarship Fund is offering a five hundred dollars ($500) scholarship to a deserving high school senior who is a resident of the Roxbury community (zip codes 02119, 02120 and 02121) and slated to graduate June 2009.

The applicant should be attending college or any institution of higher learning in the fall of 2010. A Scholarship Committee of the FODL will read the essays and determine the scholarship winner.

To apply, please complete the Application Form and return it with the
following:

· Letter of acceptance to a two year, four-year college or training institute.
· Proof of Residency
· Two (2) letters of reference--one (1) community
reference and one (1) academic reference
· One student biography
· Write an essay between 300 and 400 words on the "The History of the Roxbury Community"

Deadline: Your essay and other supporting documents (completed application, reference letters, biography, letter of acceptance) should be mailed to the FODL Memorial Scholarship Fund at the below address or delivered to the Dudley Branch Library. Your package will not be reviewed unless all of the above information is completed and included. It must be received by May 15, 2010. The recipient will be notified by August 1, 2010.

For any questions or additional information, please contact: Diane Davis at 617-427-3498 (ddavis2 AT boston.k12.ma.us), Jamiese Martin at 617-822-7134 or e-mail: friendsofdudley AT gmail.com

Friends of the Dudley Branch Library
Memorial Scholarship Fund
65 Warren Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-6550

globe-trotting

I read the Boston Globe online pretty regularly for the past 10 years. Today, I was actually hand-surfing through the printed Sunday edition and came across several jawns that stood out to me. Enjoy.

• The college admissions scam - I got an interesting question the other day from this guy about why I had referred a couple of high schoolers to 2-year schools as opposed to 4-year schools. This alludes to that conversation. It's big business, buddy.
• A line in the sand - Made me think of Edisto and how exclusive (and much whiter) some parts of it always seemed to be compared to the rest of the island
• Of stitches and time - Made me think about how we all have a story, yet you will never know it if you stay at arm's length
• Round One goes to Baker and his big bucks - Made me think back to the high I had in 2006 during Deval Patrick's initial run and how dramatically that feeling has decreased since then. There's a forum in Roxbury on Tuesday if anyone wants to address some questions to him directly.
• Arenas has always been blanketed by insecurity - Just plain interesting
• Using different tools to help small businesses survive - Great straight talk and information from Robert A. Baker, president of the Smaller Business Association of New England
• Teaching has appeal for workers ready for change - Although I am not in the classroom, I'd love for some of you to consider making the switch. Especially my engineering and accounting peoples.
• Rioting in Italy underscores rising tension over immigration - self-explanatory
• What is Ajami? - Reclaiming our past

Red Sox Scholars (for BPS 5th Graders)

Applications for the Red Sox Scholars are open to all qualified 5th grade students in the Boston Public School system only. All applications must be postmarked by Monday, February 8th, 2010.

Twenty-five (25) Red Sox Scholars receive a $10,000 scholarship each year towards an accredited college or university. Please urge those 5th grade students who you believe are academically talented and economically challenged to apply.

The Red Sox Foundation and Boston Public Schools are proud to partner on this endeavor!

Contact: Ann Zeigler, 617-226-6264, azeigler AT redsox.com