TODAY THE WORDS ARE LEMON DROPS

TODAY THE WORDS are LEMON DROPS. With reports of so much violence going on in the country and the world, it seems to leave a bitter taste in our mouths. This brought to mind the lemon drops I used to eat when I was younger. I am sure they still make them but I limit candies so they are off my list of “can haves”. That brought the focus of this message to me. Do you remember the taste of the true lemon drop? It would start with a sweet taste and when the top coat of sugar came off, the brilliant, tart, sour taste of the lemon came through. It can make your mouth water from the frenzied taste. Do you think the lemon drop tasted differently because of the color of the skin? No, it is the same taste for all. I have seen people who want the sweet taste (or as you will see later in this message the attention or excitement). It reminds me of the current events and this may not be popular. Let me clear something up, there is never one second in my thoughts, I want any child or even any grown up hurt or killed whether it is intentional, accident, suicide, or sickness. My Mother lost two sons, one by a stupid freak killing by another person at the age of 24 and lost the other one to melanoma cancer at the age of 41. Believe you, both deaths were horrible and hurt all of us tremendously. With the first lemon drop of my brother’s death by a shooting, we felt anger so I don’t fault the lemony tart feel of anger toward whoever caused the death. My brother’s death wasn’t justified, and would seem even more senseless than the ones in the media. We didn’t receive justice and so we had to taste the entire lemon drop of life. When we had lived many years afterwards and the scar had scabbed over and it still hurt but was not  healed; my other brother who had been in Vietnam for two tours, retired from the Army, was a policeman, still serving his community was diagnosed with cancer and was given 4-6 months to live. Talk about the sugar already removed and the full blown tartness came bursting into our mouths and we had to face life’s harshness again. 

Now, for the deeper thought….We were not given justice and it was not because of race, or social standing; it was just life and injustice. We probably had feelings of wanting to hurt back at the unfairness. It is not the color of the skin; it is life’s injustice. For you to realize it can happen to any race…my brother was white and unarmed and the young man who shot him was white. What is important no matter what race we are, we need to spend time with our children; love them; teach them to protect themselves and not involve themselves with others who may instigate trouble or involve them in activities to increase danger; and we need to encourage learning, working, and faith. There are gangs of all races; there are criminals in all races; there are good and smart young people who are interested in making their popularity by their accomplishments not their notoriety. I think of Martin Luther King, Jr. and I see a hero. Let’s try to deal with the sour part of life and relish in the sweet sugar of love.