Meet My Tribe
My aunt used to live in Paris. I remember, she used to come home and tell us these stories about being abroad. And I remember she told us that she jumped into the river once, barefoot. She smiled. Leapt, without looking. And tumbled into the Seine. The water was freezing. She spent a month sneezing. But said she would do it again.
Here’s to the ones who dream. Foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make.
She captured a feeling. Sky with no ceiling. The sunset inside a frame. She lived in her liquor. And died with a flicker. I’ll always remember the flame. Here’s to the ones who dream. Foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make.
She told me.”A bit of madness is key.To give us new colors to see. Who knows where it will lead us? And that’s why they need us”
So bring on the rebels. The ripples from pebbles. The painters, and poets, and plays. And here’s to the fools who dream. Crazy as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that break. Here’s to the mess we make. I trace it all back to then. Her, and the snow, and the Seine. Smiling through it. She said she’d do it again. (A Song entitled: The Fools Who Dream)
These are famous people across different fields. You may or may not know them. You may know them and become surprised and think to yourself, “who would have thought?”
Leaders:
Jesse Jackson, Jr. - a former member of The U.S. House of Representatives; Theodore Roosevelt - 26th President of the United States of America; Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United Sates of America; Patrick J. Kennedy - former member of the U.S. House of Representatives; Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; John Curtin - 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Ted Turner - founder of CNN; Rene-Robert Cavalier - French Explorer
Math and Science:
Isaac Newton - English Physicist (Inventor of Calculus); Ada Lovelace - British ( The first computer programmer)
Singers:
Frank Sinatra; Britney Spears; Demi Lovato; Selena Gomez; Ellen Joyce Loo (Hong Kong); Yung Lean (Swedish); Jang Keun Suk (South Korean); Chris Brown; Mariah Carey; Rosemary Clooney (Aunt of George); Kurt Cobain (Frontman of Nirvana)
Actors:
Carrie Fisher - Star Wars as Princess Leia; Jean-Claude Van Damme (Belgian); Robert Downey Jr. - Played as iconic Iron Man; Sushant Singh Rajput (Indian); Cassia Kis (Brazilian) Mariette Hartley - founded the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; Mel Gibson - The Passion of the Christ; Francis Ford Coppola- film director
Painters: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch) & Frida Kahlo (Mexican) Writers: Edgar Allan Poe; Morio Kita (Japanese); Swadesh Deepak (Indian); Ernest Hemingway - Pulitzer Prize and Noble Prize in Literature winner for The Old Man and the Sea. Musician: Robert Schumann (German Composer) Chef: Bernard Loiseau (French) Wrestler: AJ Lee
And the list goes on…
Reflection:
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. (Luke 16:1-15)
In the final analysis, when disabled people like our tribe could contribute to the world, how much more could able-bodied people like your tribe can contribute to the world. And, if we meet halfway then just image how through Our Lord Jesus Christ We can move mountains. We must be people of the Light.