What is your Cause?

A few days ago a Facebook friend commented that she had just read the book – The Help. She commented that she was a good Southern gal and that she could not recall any separate bathrooms for domestic help in the 1960’s when she was a young lady. Then she made a profound statement “I graduated in ’62 and wish I had the foresight to be part of the solution. It saddens me that I just accepted things as they were.”

In Church on Sunday we sang ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’. The minister commented that this negro spiritual was a song of two meanings – one was the obvious religious symbol of waiting for the day they would die and receive their reward; the other meaning referred to the Underground Railroad, the resistance movement that helped slaves escape from the South to the North and Canada.

Suddenly my mind put the two events together and I began to wonder how history would see my actions? Would I be a Freedom Rider or a safe spot along the Underground Railroad? Or am I just accepting things as they are?

Am I seeing the full impact of today’s issues?

Because I read and critique obituaries (yes, it an odd habit that I started in my teens) I have often considered what information is important in obituaries. For example I am adamant that grandchildren and great-grandchildren be listed by name! Although it is rarely an issue in this day and age, listing a woman as Mrs. (insert Husbands name) really raises my hackles. Naturally, I have considered my own obituary. What can the world say about me?

Did I speak for those who are oppressed? Did I speak for those who are bullied? What did I fight for?

The answers to these questions have caused me to travel many paths. It has caused me to challenge my thinking. The answers are not always comfortable. The change is not always easy.

What about you? What do you believe in? What are you willing to fight for?