Quote of the Day: Criticism

Don't criticize unless you are willing to help make things better!

Follow-up on 8/12/10's Quote of the Day--Leadership Truism

I read this blog by John Maxwell and it stayed with me for a few days.  So, I decided to post it as a follow-up to yesterday's quote on Leadership.  I recommend reading John Maxwell's blog.  It offers some sage advice that we should all aspire to.

--Nona

 https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-what-does-it-mean-to-you/

John Maxwell

Leadership Truism

Leaders with integrity begat people and systems with integrity. Corrupt leaders begat corrupt people and systems. Whatever and whoever you are, you duplicate it in your environment.

--VWO

Three Powerful Words

Copyright V. Nona Ogunsula 2010

After suffering months of bullying that culminated in an entire day of insults and harassment from school classmates, Phoebe Prince, a 15 year old student originally from Ireland, committed suicide on  January 14, 2010 in South Hadley, Massachusetts.  Phoebe hung herself in a closet in her home.  She was found by her twelve year old sister.  

A Massachusetts District Attorney believed that the bullying as well as other actions by Phoebe's classmates were a contributing factor in her death and indicted six teenagers from South Hadley High School with various felony charges ranging from civil rights violations to stalking for the acts that led to the young girl's death. Newspaper reporter Kevin Cullen stated in a Boston Globe article on August 1, 2010, that Phoebe's father, Jeremy Prince, does not think the teens charged in the case should go to prison as long as they acknowledge what they did to Phoebe and apologize for it.


Very early children learned the importance of words.  From the first moment they begin to speak discernible words, they are rewarded with smiles, claps, hugs, and out and out glee by almost everyone who is in hearing distance.   Well, that's the case if they speak or repeat the "right" words and not the "bad" words that sometimes they inadvertently pick up.  Parents and teachers tell them, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you".  For young children, this adage is supposed to discourage them from resulting to physical violence motivated by the words of an antagonist.  But as they grow older, they begin to comprehend that words can be used as weapons.  In fact, hurtful words can leave an impression and hurt that takes longer to heal than actual physical wounds. 


Time supposedly heals all wounds. But as I learned from overhearing a discussion on wound care last week, time by itself is not enough to ensure that a wound heals correctly.  The kind of treatment a wound receives will determine if the wound heals properly. The representative that I spoke to from Johnson and Johnson stressed that their innovative wound care products make the difference in the healing process.  So then, we can safely deduce that something else besides time is needed for a successful healing process.


It's the right kind of treatment.  But, what is the right kind of treatment?  I believe that the answer lies in the message and the motivation behind the words used in the healing process.  A Biblical proverb challenges us in the following way, "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose." (Proverbs 18:21 The Message Bible)  


The situation involving the death of Phoebe Prince is tragic not only for her family, but for the students and all others who have been impacted by the situation.  Although the bullying at South Hadley High School may not have been the only factor in her death, many of us would have to struggle not to admit that it was a contributing factor in her decision to take her own life.  The moral of this story for all of us, young and old alike, is we should choose to speak life more often than not.  (See the links below for articles about the incident in Massachusetts.)


Here are some examples of three words that when spoken together from the heart can have a powerful effect on lives of loved ones:


I am sorry.


Please forgive me.


I love You.


I want you.


I need you.


God loves you.


What are three of your most powerful words?


Articles on the Phoebe Prince:
1.   Cullen, K., (2010, January 24). The Untouchable Mean Girls. The Boston Globe.
Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/24/the_untouchable_mean_girls/
2.  Brazelon, E.,( 2010, July 20). Could the South Hadley Schools Have Done More, Slate.
Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/id/2260952
3.  Cullen, K., (2010, August 1). Grieving Father Seeks Justice, Not Vengeance. The Boston Globe Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/01/phoebe_princes_father_seeks_justice_not_vengeance/

Quote of the Day

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow

Wow!  This is something to think about.  The first thing that came to mind was the Jim Jones and the People's Temple mass suicide of more than 900 followers in Jonestown, Guyana in November 1978. If you don't know about this historical event, google it or check out this link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones.  The next person I thought of was Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.  Millions of people were massacred for the sake of a evil idealogy.

On the other hand, the consistent rebellion of the likes of Harriet Tubman, William Wilberforce and other abolitionists like them who rebelled against the notion of one man/person owning another resulted in the eventual freedom of African slaves. 

What do you think?  Can you think of some people or events that either support or disprove C.P. Snow's quote?

Update: Webcast of the Homegoing Services for Bishop Walter Hawkins

The Homegoing Celebration for Bishop Walter Hawkins is scheduled to be webast live via the local FOX affiliate television station KTVU from the Paramount Theatre in Oakland California at 2:00 p.m. EST. 

Please remember to keep the Hawkins Family, the Love Center Church Family, and the host of his Gospel Industry colleagues in your prayers.

For more information, please visit Love Center Church's website at:  http://www.lovecenter.org/

Tribute to the late Bishop Walter L. Hawkins: Legendary Gospel Music Singer, Writer, and Recording Artist

Bishop Walter L. Hawkins, a native of Oakland, California and pastor of the Love Center Church, died Sunday, July 11, at his home in Ripon, California.  He was 61.  Walter Hawkins was a singer, songwriter/composer, and gospel recording artist extraordinaire. Tramaine Hawkins, his former wife and the lead singer of some of Walter Hawkins' greatest Gospel hits, such as Changed and Going Up Yonder, once referred to him as her "Burt Bacharach".

As many of you who were choir members in the 70's and 80's,  I can remember growing up in Oakland and singing, directing and playing many of the hits off of the Love Alive albums that featured songs written and produced by Walter Hawkins.  Songs such as, Jesus Christ Is The Way, Be Grateful, Never Alone, He Brought Me, Dear Jesus I Love You, I Won't Be Satisfied, I'm Not The Same, Right On and He's That Kind of Friend.  Did I mention one of your favorite choir songs yet?  Well, how about these:  When The Battle Is Over, God Is Standing By, and Until I Found The Lord.  You see, these are the "ole skool, back in the day" church songs.  You have to have a little church longevity to know some of these songs.  They came way before the 90's hits like Marvelous, Thank You Lord, and The Potter's Wants To Put You Back Together Again (Potter's House written for Traimaine Hawkins).

Walter and his brother Edwin Hawkins wrote, produced and performed great, perfected music and tremendously influenced the style of gospel music.  In our youth choir, one of our first arranged songs was the familiar Andrae Crouch song, Soon and Very Soon.  But the song was not complete until we put a Hawkins' style vamp on the end of the song.  Now that set it off in church everytime we sung it.

Growing up in Oakland, you might think that I saw the Hawkins family a lot, but that was not the case.  I heard their songs on the radio like everybody else.  Although I regularly visited Ephesians Church of God In Christ (COGIC) pastored by the late Bishop E.E. Cleveland, Sr. (the church where the Hawkins got their start), saw Bishop Ernestine Cleveland Reems (Traimaine Hawkins's aunt) in church services and hung out with Lawerence Matthews (a cousin and also a recording artist), I did not get to see the Hawkins live in a concert until I was 16 years old .  In 1981, they performed in a historic concert with the Clark Sisters, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Shirley Caesar and James Cleveland at the Paramount Theater in Oakland California.  The concert was off-the-hook and all I can say is get the DVD! [ Side note:  After that concert the Clark Sisters came to Ephesians COGIC for a Midnight Musical and we had "chuch".  But that's another story, for another time...]

All that being said, Walter and Edwin Hawkins and the Love Center Choir, created and refined what we now recognize as contemporary choir music.  They are the pioneers that paved the way for artists like Hezekiah Walker, Donald Lawerance, Donnie McClurkin, Ricky Dillard, and John P. Key, etc.  By the way, the young  musician in our youth choir who played our Hawkins' style Soon and Very Soon, ended up playing the organ on a few of the Love Alive Albums and produced a few songs on Walter Hawkins' latest solo effort, Song In My Heart (2006). Carl L. Wheeler, Jr. is his name and you might also remember his name from the group Tony, Toni, Tone!

Although Walter Hawkins' physical presence will be greatly missed, his contributions to the idiom of Gospel Music will remain timeless.  My prayers and condolences to the Hawkins Family and Love Center Church.

Bishop Hawkins  is survived by his children, Trystan Hawkins and Walter “Jamie” Hawkins Jr.; a daughter-in-law, Myiia “Sunny” Hawkins; two grandchildren, Jamie-Daniel and Jahve; and his siblings Carol, Feddie, Edwin, Daniel, and Lynette Hawkins.

For more information, please visit Love Center Ministries.