Family Tree

Princes of the Universe

Queen : Theme song for the Highlander movie partial lyrics

 

Here we are, born to be kings,
We're the princes of the universe.

Here we belong, fighting to survive
In a world with the darkest powers.

And here we are, we're the princes of the universe
Here we belong, fighting for survival
We've come to be the rulers of your world.

I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings.
I have no rival, no man can be my equal
Take me to the future of your world.

Born to be kings, princes of the universe
Fighting and free, got your world in my hand
I'm here for your love and I'll make my stand
We were born to be princes of the universe....

I like this song.  I like the movies. Well, I like most of them.  One gives me nightmares.  I liked the TV series.

 

I think of this song sometimes when I'm thinking about my ancestors.  I've been amazed and humbled as I've learned about the men and women from whom I'm descended. They're a mixed lot of folks. Rich and poor. Common and, if the tree is correct, royal. There are family scandals and national heroes. It's the women who amaze me most. Many were living out in the countryside, wives of farmers. Some buried more children than they raised to adulthood. Some, like my grandmother, died young leaving behind a house full of children. Some, like my great-grandmother, were widowed for many, many years. They stepped up the challenge they were given and earned love and respect that will be remembered for generations.  

 

I am a daughter of men of honor, who sought truth and were willing to die for their beliefs. I can claim farmers, common soldiers, generals, preachers, and kings among my patriarchs.

 

I am a daughter of women of virtue, who lived their lives well in the face of adversity. They were women with backbones of steel and hearts filled with love for their families. They were resourceful in fulfilling their responsibilities.

 

I have a responsibility to these, my ancestors, to embody their most positive qualities and instill those qualities in my own children.

Most of all, I am a daughter of God.

Roadblock Activist

There was an interesting account in the news from my home state of Tennessee a couple of weeks ago.  It was Independence Day weekend and the local police department was running a DUI checkpoint. That in itself is not unusual. I live near a popular DUI checkpoint site. It's on a road with a long stretch of limited access levee on one side and a hill on the other. There's a boat ramp at the base of the hill that allows a convenient place to stage a secondary checkpoint. By the time you see the checkpoint you are committed to going through it.

I've got friends in law enforcement and can understand how this routine stop can go wrong in a hurry. I'm sure the officers are on a level of alert of which most citizens are never aware.  We' just annoyed by the delay and the possibility that we might not be able to lay hands on our driver license or proof of insurance quickly enough.

Imagine approaching this potentially tense situation with the intent of drawing undue attention to oneself. Why in the world would anyone on that?  One young man did just that by complying with the most literal lette of the law instead if the spirit of the law. He intentionally made the police officer uncomfortable. He politely, but with an air of arrogant self-righteousness, refused to comply with requests beyond his interpretation of the letter of the law. 

Ultimately, this young man was detained for a secondary check.  His vehicle was searched by both a dog and officers.  While his passive protest was within his right, it created a waste of valuable resources that were in place to help protect the community from persons who were actually breaking the law.  Could his energy have been used more constructively at another time, in another way? 

Perhaps our roadblock activist felt this was the best way for him to make a statement and bring awareness to what he perceived as a continued erosion of our rights as citizens as stated in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Perhaps he was right, but please, don't abuse law enforcement officers working to protect their community through unnecessary provocation.

Faith Matters

Sometimes, I find it hard to completely trust other people. I'm not talking about the kind of casual trust we tend to have all the time. We trust other drivers on the road, on some level, to be responsible. We trust parents to take care of their children. We trust athletes to do their best in representing their teams. We trust our families to more or less love us as we are. We trust spouses to treat us with love and respect. We trust the mailman to deliver the mail and the weatherman to give his best weather forecast. We trust people in so many different ways every day that we don't even realize we have trust in someone until we lose that trust. When, in some way, our trust is betrayed,  we become reacquainted with that seed of doubt and caution that serves as a layer of protection.

 

I'm interested in a deep-down-to-the-soles-of-your-feet kind of trust. It's more faith than trust. It's the sort of thing that allows you to completely surrender your mind and body into someone else's care and protection. That's not something that's easily earned. It requires a surrender of self that doesn't come naturally to adults. We make mistakes. We betray trusts. It may not be on purpose. It happens. That's not a condemnation. It's human nature. That's why I find it so hard to completely trust, or to have faith in, others.

 

I was in a position where I needed to have faith in someone this week. I had to trust my doctors to complete a medical procedure to the best of their ability. I had to trust their staff to prepare and perform their jobs well and efficiently. I had to have faith that this would happen while I was completely helpless.

 

I remember laying back on the surgical table, made as comfortable as possible with a pillow and blankets.  I closely watched the surgeon's face as I breathed deeply. I saw an expression of concern and concentration. It was compassionate and calming. He and his staff helped me move beyond trust to the calming reassurance of faith. I am grateful.

It's a crazy world we live in. Perhaps, if more of us can find someone in whom we can have faith, we will be able to find an element of peace in our lives that goes beyond what we can see and touch. Faith really does matter.

 

From Google and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Trust: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

1a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b : one in which confidence is placed

2 a : dependence on something future or contingent : hope

Faith: Complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions

2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust