As you read this week’s column I am celebrating my 83rd birthday on Nov. 26, 2014. I am not only thankful for that milestone, but a number of other blessings.
As an early stage of my life my wonderful parents instilled in our family that richness is a state of mind, not a state of being. We were raised to understand that materialism was secondary to family, friends, health and happiness. We as a family were introduced to church and God as infants and have remained an active member of a church family, New Destiny Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
I am thankful that over the years I have truly been able to profess to the world that there are those I can honestly and truly call them friends. I am thankful that I was raised during a period of time that neighbors and friends were one and the same—no houses in the community had locks on the doors, no persons went hungry, were naked or cold. The majority did not have high paying or responsible jobs, but they followed God’s greatest commandment, which is love. If a neighbor had any of the above problems the others would move to address and solve them.
As we go through life how often have you looked in the mirror and asked have I made any contribution to improving the quality of life for my brothers or sisters? The majority of us fail to understand you don’t need a prominent position to make a contribution, just doing your best at whatever your position in life is—setting a positive example can be a contribution.
I thank God that I have been blessed in life to have been provided with several opportunities to help my people and I did my absolute best. I thank God for the strength and opportunity to serve with the NAACP during the troubled times of the 1960s. I thank God for opening my mind to understand the importance of politics and the integrity to attempt to make it inclusive.
I will close the column with a true statement: God is good.
Happy Thanksgiving and remember to make a financial contribution to the Kingsley Association.
(Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a weekly contributor to the Forum page.)
