Washington

I had four hours in Washington today as I traveled from one state to another. I walked from Union Station up Delaware, crossed Constitution and took pictures of the Capital and the flowers and buildings. I saw a different Washington. I felt like I belonged and it sort of belonged to me too! I realized that any evil or bad that was there lies only in the hearts of the people who chose to have it, but that did not represent my Washington!

What a great city, in ways we may not see at times because we know so much about what goes on in these stone mansions! The Capital, so statuesque, so "stately" - schoolchildren on its steps - bright yellow tulips, massive azaleas, cherry blossoms - the towering structures -- it made me feel like "this is my Washington!" I never felt this way before. I could only see the "government" which meant corruption, degradation, deals, men in suits, women desperately trying to prove their abilities! But today, talking with people I had never met before - Norma, a lady who says she loves the spiritual part of God, not the power of the church and its man made laws, who thanked me for talking with her. A woman, named Jerri, such a beautiful spirit. She comes to Washington for cancer treatment. We spoke of Jesus, we spoke of our healings, we spoke of how God talks to us and we hear his voice, we spoke of what a great country we have.

In my spirit, I shall refuse to see the broken, the ugly, the sad, the destitute, the hurt, the wrongs, and the bad. I shall refuse to give in to the fear, the hate, the rude! I shall see today, a Washington of beauty, one of statue, one of lovely flowers and one of school children on the steps of the Capital learning its history, and one of people conversing with one another. I shall see crows, little birds, and squirrels darting up the tree! I shall allow my mind to go inside the tulips!

I shall look for the beauty in the people, the smile from a man in a suit; a wave from a little child; the mother pushing a baby carriage; teenagers running and laughing; flags flapping in the wind - the Stars and Stripes!- I will allow them to make me feel proud today!

MY WASHINGTON! MY FLAG! MY LAND! MY COUNTRY! All given to me by God, representing my freedoms, and my responsibility to come to the defense of the defenseless! To say no more , but to have, as a Christian, the freedom to worship the one and only God, to announce Jesus is Lord and not be ashamed. To say He healed me too, and be glad with someone over their healing and success in overcoming such great odds.

I shall honor the lady who mopped the floor, who cleaned the tables, the man who called "All Aboard"! I shall always remember the new friends I now have in life because I was not afraid to talk to someone. I shall always feel there should be more joy of the Lord in the our lives, more laughter, more smiles, more Love, much more Love.

Judy Dykes
1999

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THE WORLD NEEDS PERSONS-

Who do not have a price at which they can be bought.
Who do not borrow from integrity to pay for expediency
Whose handshake is an ironclad contract
Who are not afraid of risk.
Who have opinions instead of prejudices.
Who are as honest in small matters as they are in large ones.
Whose ambitions are big enough to include others.
Who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity.
Who do not believe that shrewdness and cunning and ruthlessness are the keys to success.
Who will have friends they made 20 years ago.
Who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion.
Who are occasionally wrong and always willing to admit it.

Author unknown

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The Star-Spangled Banner

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-Francis Scott Key, 1814

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so dauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!