Love's In Need of Love Today

Last week was rough. I had to travel to 5 different states in a matter of 4 days. I drove about 1000 miles in 5 days. It's exhausting! Add to that, the terrible news about the passing of Teddy Pendegrass. I am a child of the 70s. I am pretty sure I was conceived after or during a Teddy song! In an African American home in the 70s, you could sure of a few things: an Afro, an 8-track player, and the Philadelphia Sound with Teddy P as its ambassador.  Music was amazing back then . It had so much meaning. So much power. We were starting to come into our own. Civil Rights had gripped the nation in the previous decade. The 70s was all about climbing up from the ruins of Jim Crow laws and restriction. There was a lot of pride, a lot hope. It was a great time to be born.

Love songs in 70s were true and beautiful. I can remember growing up and listening to Stevie Wonder. Songs of the Key of Life was released the year I was born, 1976. I have always been amazed at how a man who has never seen the love of his life can write such magical music which can move you to tears of sadness and joy. His songs inspire you to believe in love and never give up on it. It reminds you that love hurts, but love can be triumphant. Love is in Need of Love is one of my favorite songs on that compilation CD. It can solve the needs of the world today which brings me to the other tragedy of last week.

The earthquake in Haiti breaks my heart. I can't watch the news coverage because I feel helpless. I want to do something. I have contributed some money, but I still want to do more. The hardest part of the entire tragedy is the heartlessness of men. Why are men like Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson allowed to exist? I understand God has a purpose for all people, but I fail to understand what their purpose could be. How can you claim to be a God-fearing person and try to conjure up such hate in people?  For Rush Limbaugh to make a Haiti a political matter is more the despicable, it's inhumane. How can a person look at the struggles and devastation of the people in Haiti and not feel anything loving or compassionate? How can you watch children crying in the street, trying to find their parents, or looking for some resemblance of stability when their world has been completely turned upside down, and tell your listeners not to help these people? Most importantly, why is he still on the air? Can the radio stations who play him be so greedy that they too have lost their souls? It makes me cry to know someone with his influence would use his resources to promote such hatred toward his fellow man all because their skin is black.  Why doesn't he just put a sheet on and prove me right?

Pat Robertson is no better. He pretends to be a man of God, but promotes hatred. All the natural disasters that have happened in my lifetime, he has never said the tornado that hit Oklahoma City and devastated the town and cost many lives was a sign from God because the people of Oklahoma City had done something wrong. When hurricanes hit Texas, he didn't say it was because the people of Texas had sold their souls to the devil. Why? Because they are mostly white. No one will say that's why Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh behave the way they do. They are racist, and the worst kind. They hide behind God and politics to cover their true motives. I believe they both in some way have sold their soul, and I believe one day, some day soon, they will both have to answer to God. Thankfully, neither will have to answer to me. God is much more forgiving than I am. I would have no sympathy for either of these men.

My travels last week, although tiring, reminded of something. People are good people by nature. There are some of us who have a bad soul, whose hearts are filled with evil, and they mean no good to mankind. But I also was able to see that most people have good intentions. I went to bar to have a drink in Philadelphia. I met lots of wonderful people while I was there. I met a man who was having drinks with his son. They were both white men, but it didn't even matter. All I saw was two men with beautiful souls. They were filled with joy, and you could tell through their conversation, they had a positive outlook on life. The father hugged me when he left. Just a genuinely wonderful man. I had those experiences when I went to Reading Terminal in Philly, while I was eating dinner in Richmond, and when I checked into my hotel in Delaware. I see good everywhere I go, and I want to believe one day good people will be in control of this world we live in.

We can't let hatred win. We can't let negativity dictate our futures. We can't let bad people steal our spirit. I pray for the people of Haiti. Nothing I could do would ever be enough to give them back what they have lost, but I have faith that God will see them through. He will give them strength to survive and to overcome. He will protect those with a true heart. He will help them see the light when nothing but darkness surrounds them.

I am going to volunteer and help box up all the supplies that have been gathered in DC and get them ready to ship to Haiti. It's the least I can do. And that's all anyone can ask you to do.