Category Archives: Public Service

Annette Bowling the Heart of a Servant (1936 – 2016)

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Photo of Annette Bowling

Annette Bowling (1936 – 2016) Courtesy Albany ARC

Annette Bowling stepped into eternity last Wednesday. She was the founder and Executive Director of the Albany Advocacy Resource Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving individuals with developmental disabilities.

There will be a lot written about Annette Bowling. I remember hearing of an account in her life that sums up the heart of a servant. It was not meeting with Governors, Senators, Representatives, or even Presidents. It had to do with a simple cocktail napkin.

What can a cocktail napkin tell you about service? In the hands of the right person it can tell you a lot.

Annette Bowling once visited a foreign country. Paper products were scarce and she was staying with a very poor family.

A fellow American on the trip observed

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Fifteen Years Later

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Fifteen years ago we were viciously attacked.  The enemy was not a nation with a flag.  It was an ideology of hate and domination.  We witnessed heroic actions of Americans.

Today we remember and honor those who fell on that day as well as those who have since fallen in the war against terror. We pray for those who are still fighting that war.
On that day in 2001 and the days following, America came together.  Images of fire fighters raising the American flag in the rubble of the Twin Towers displayed our resolve.

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Veterans Group Questions Bishop’s Military Service

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A Veterans group blog site recently filed a Freedom of Information request regarding Congressman Sanford Bishop’s claim to be an Army veteran. They posted the response on their blog and the Facebook page of the 2nd District Republican Party.

Congressman Bishop’s official biography reads, “He served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971; completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, entered Advanced Reserve Officers Training, and received an Honorable Discharge in 1971.”

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Remembering Gervaise Perdue

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I received the e-mail shortly after midnight letting me know that Mrs. Gervaise Perdue had stepped into eternity to meet her Savior. She was 90 years old. A few months earlier she had fallen and things went downhill after that for her.

Everyone knows that life on this earth is terminal. While we all know it intellectually, it is something that still impacts us when it happens.

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Perpetual Half Mast

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Have you ever reached for the radio dial to find a news station when you saw a flag flying at half mast? Two words probably ran through your mind. “Who died?”

When a flag was at half mast, it meant that a senior statesman died or there was a tragic event. When a flag was at half mast, it got your attention. It stood out.

Today, our flag is at perpetual half mast. Victims of terrorist attacks have barely been laid to rest before we hear of another attack.

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Review of John Kasich Presidential Candidacy Announcement

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Ohio Governor John Kasich announced his candidacy on July 21, 2005 at his alma mater of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. His speech lasted a little more than 40 minutes.

After introducing his twin daughters and his wife on the stage with him, he turned to the American dream. He talked about drawing inspiration from the past in order to carry it forward to the next generation.

“…we can all work to make sure the next generation is going to be in a position of greater strength than what we received. And I get my inspiration from the people who came before me. And I want to tell you about a few of the ones that inspire me.”

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4th of July and 6 Powerful Words We Need in a Candidate

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This coming Saturday, we will celebrate the 239th birthday of the United States. It is far more than just the anniversary of an event in time. The opening words and the closing words of the Declaration of Independence have a powerful message for us today.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

There is a recognition that this new nation was on equal standing among the powers of the earth with any other nation on the earth. The basis of that equal standing was not something that other nations gave to them, but something to which God held the title and God gave to them.

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D-Day Remembered

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On June 6, 1944, thousands of young men from across our nation had either already suited up with paratrooper gear and loaded into an airplane to jump out over France or were on landing craft moving across the English Channel.

President Roosevelt, General Eisenhower, and a relatively few strategic planners knew what was taking place. They knew that even if there was 100% certainty of a successful mission ( and there was no certainty of success), there was also a 100% certainty that thousands of those men would never return to their homes.

Normandy Cemetery

Normandy Cemetery – American Battle Monuments Commission

President Roosevelt addressed the nation with a prayer. I invite you to take 5 minutes to listen to his prayer and read the text as you listen to this. If you have a child or grandchild, pull them aside to tell them what happened on this day.

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