A Short Vacation

I spent the long weekend in Maryland and New Jersey. You could call it a short vacation. I packed the car on Friday morning and zoomed toward the New York State Thruway--my wife and youngest daughter with me. Before getting on the thruway, we bought snacks and ice from Hanaford's, planning to avoid what can often be costly drives south on the Jersey Turnpike. It was minutes before 9:00am, the morning sun behind dark clouds. Others on Rt. 9W appeared to have work on their minds. Not me.

We could have been on a plane to Jamaica, Puerto Rico or Cancun (where the storm interrupted vacations), but this July we traveled the old-fashioned way. Years ago, when our daughters were younger, we made these rode trips to Washington, Philadelphia, and even Montreal. Back then we also packed fried chicken and munched at rest stops. I make a little more money and don't eat as much fried chicken these days, so the trip was not exactly the same. What was memorable was the time in the car and bungling up in a hotel room. Our oldest daughter, now out on her own, could not join us. Next time, maybe she will--and the memories will be complete.

Favorite Photo From the Past

This is one of my favorite photos--something from the 1960s. Growing up, I never knew these two men had ever met. When Dr. King visited Chicago in 1966, he and Elijah Muhammad had a brief meeting. I have never read what they said to one another; the photo just reminds me of unity. Though their philosophies and strategies took them in different directions, they believed in the same freedom for black people. I have the photo framed in my office and visitors often wonder, first, who is the man on the left. If they ask, I tell them. Otherwise I let the photo speak for itself.

Our Deepest Fear

Last night I watched Coach Carter on DVD. I had refused to pay attention to a movie I thought was just another cliche. You know, the one about a fearless coach who saves inner city black athletes from the ghetto.

Had I gone to see the movie back in the winter, I would have discovered something beyond a worn out plot. In an early scene, Coach Carter (Samuel Jackson) asks one of his rebellious basketball players, "What is your deepest fear?" The boy looks at him in utter confusion and keeps walking out the gym---into the very fear that haunts him throughout the movie. Fast speed ahead when he returns to the team after watching his drug-dealing mentor gunned down, and we hear Timo Cruz speak from Marianne Williamson's now famous words:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I found myself wishing I'd watched the movie earlier---if only to hear this quote. It speaks to the unlimited potential of all people to reach beyond ordinary boundaries, to conquer those things we fear most.