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Show June 24, 2010 The Garfield County Insider the lAuGhiNg pOiNtr: verylCounts Chances Forward A man sent me an email. He wrote, "In our family we lost a son to suicide. He struggled with emotional disorders and alcohol for many years. At first the neighbors were so supportive, but it became clear over the past...years that we are 'the couple [whose] son took his own life.' That seems to override the rich relationships we have with many of our neighbors and [church] members for 25+ years." Yet, in Matthew 7:1-2 we are told, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Another man wrote, "I volunteer at the state prison working with addicts and it saddens me when I hear them so frequently say that they are more afraid of being released from prison than they were in coming in. And most of the fear is because of the "labels" that they will carry for years and all the difficulties that [those labels] will create in moving their lives forward." Remember, "Labels are for cans not people," (Rapp, A.). Regardless of what someone's done. This is not to say that if someone has broken the law they shouldn't pay the consequence. Of course they should. Whole heartedly. I'm not talking law enforcement in today's column, but how you react and treat a person based on his actions. The real test, for you, comes in how you describe and label a person and whether you spread gossip. The man continued, "I was asked to speak in a church meeting about my experiences at the prison and afterwards one of the good "brothers" came up to me and said, 'How do you handle being down there with the scum of the earth?' I just about lost it and as I was biting through my bottom lip. I replied, "Gosh brother, I just don't see them that way... What I see is a group of our Father in Heaven's children who are trying to repair their lives." And just yesterday I received probably the last letter from prison from a young man I've been befriending --he'll be released on July 1st-- who's been serving over a 2-year sentence for delivering marijuana for payment, for firearm possession and attempting to elude police, in Oregon and California. Here's some of what he wrote, "I'm really enjoying [the] last part of my "internship". I've really learned a lot about myself and I've found true happiness. I practice "The Secret" daily and my life is becoming more posi- tive all the time. I focus on the good in every situation and every person. It really keeps me in good spirits. I'm really looking forward to getting out and starting my new life...thank you for all your support." This young man reminds of what the prison volunteer also wrote me, "Oh, one thing that I have found interesting in working with these men is that with very few exceptions all of them are more than willing to take responsibility for their behavior and pay the price that society requires. All they want is a chance to move forward." To all of you who have ever made a mistake, and that would be every single one of you, myself included, the next time you are moved to judge, label or gossip, remember the words in Luke 6:37, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven," all the while providing others chances to move forward. Cynthia Kimball Humphreys is a professional speaker and trainer through her company Every] Counts, LLC. She writes a column for weeklies in southern Utah and is a southern Utah correspondent for the Deseret News. Her column, "Every 1Counts," appears on deseretnews. com . E-mail: kimball@every 1 counts .net BECAUSE WE THINK CANCER SCREENINGS ARE SO IMPORTANT, WE'RE ACTUALLY GIVING THEM AWAY. FIRST JOB "That's a great place to work!" shouted my 16-year-old brother after coming home from the first day at his first job. "I get two weeks' paid vacation." "I'm so glad," said my mother. "Yeah," he added. "I can't wait to find out where they send me." WEDDING BLESSING At a wedding ceremony, the minister raised his hand to give the final blessing. The bride misunderstood the gesture and surprised him with a high-five. Not wanting to exclude the groom, the minister offered him a high-five, too. He was finally able to get the blessing in, amid the laughter of the guests. SPEED OF LEARNING Instructor: "Isn't it remarkable how quickly the kids learn to drive the car?" Parent: "Yes, especially considering how slowly they catch on to running the lawnmower and vacuum cleaner." WATCH YOUR STEP! While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step on exhaust. FATHER'S DAY CARD Father's Day was near when I brought my threeyear-old son to the card store. Inside, I showed him the cards for dads and told him to pick one. When I looked back, he was picking up one card after another, opening them up and quickly shoving them back into slots every which way. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Haven't you found a nice card for Daddy yet?" "No. I'm looking for one with money in it." WEDDINGS FUNERALS Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals. It Makes Sense...By Veda Hale Good Grief! The only hint to come my way this week is to put a marshmallow in the bottom of a child's ice cream cone to keep it from dripping. This is for those little ones who take a while to eat the whole thing. Now if that is all I can come up with, I ought to be fired. But I did have another thought. That is to pass along something that is making my life more interesting. If one is using a pattern to cut something from a piece of cloth, it is hard to tell what it is going to be by just looking at the middle. One needs to check the cutting edge. I suppose that is where the term "cutting edge" came from, or something like that. Does it make sense to refuse to look at the cutting edge? It doesn't to me. I want to know as much of what is coming as possible. I want to know what the trends are. Of course, some of us look too closely and see only doom and gloom. Some see the cutting edge define the bigger picture and see possibilities. One way to help see the big picture is to take advantage of one good piece of "cutting edge" technology. Buy an I pod or MG3 player, if you don't have access to a computer, go to library or some one and ask them to help you download the Ted Conferences or Ted Talks. They are free from ITOONS. Listen to the best "cutting edge" minds in the whole world each take eighteen minutes to give their ideas. Most are excellent and will make you feel informed and more positive about our future. It is certainly a telescope out of our protected and somewhat isolated part of the world. If you have a computer, most of these talks are also on Youtube, where the visuals many presenters use are available. Send suggestions to Veda Hale, Box 956, Panguitch, Utah 84759 or email vedahale@ hotmail.com qatieft Redo,re at Fishlake Restaurant Hours Monday through Saturday: 7am - 9pm Sundays: 7am - 8pm Call 638-1040 for more information www.boweryhaven.com Fishlake, Utah Dear Voters of Garfield County District 5 •• Nearly 45,000 American women will die from breast and cervical cancer this year. And the real tragedy is that these deaths could have been prevented. That's why we're providing free mammograms and Pap tests to thousands of Utah women over 50. Even women with health insurance qualify. And any necessary treatment may also be free if cancer is detected. Call us to find out if you are one of them. If you're 50 or older, you most likely qualify for a free breast and cervical cancer screening. To find out, call 1-800-717-1811. • Utah Cancer Control Program A Joint Program of the Utah Department of Health and Utah's Local Health Departments UTAH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH This past April, I was issued a RIF letter from Garfield County School District informing me that my position at Escalante Elementary had been eliminated for at least the next few years. This freed me to run for the Garfield County School Board position for District Five, as I live in Boulder and would no longer be teaching. (District employed teachers can not be on the board.) After I signed up to run for the District Five position on our school board, I learned that the teaching position in Boulder had opened, for which I am eligible. Assuming that Garfield County School District would make a decision and let me know whether or not I would be placed in Boulder as a teacher by May, I stayed in the race for the school board seat. However, I still have not been informed of the district's plans regarding the Boulder Elementary teaching job. At the same time, having been "in the trenches" with a variety of teaching assignments and directly affected by Board decisions for the past 12 years, I have a strong desire to stay in the race for the Board seat, if I am not going to be teaching in the district. This has been quite a dilemma for me. My family could really use the income of the teaching job, and I need to put them first. BUT, I do not want to be unfair to voters. If I were definitely not on the ballot after the primary election, then voters would still be guaranteed two people from which to choose. With this in mind, I have temporarily dropped from the race, until I know for sure whether or not I will be teaching in Boulder. If I will not be teaching in the district, and remain free to be on the Board, I will run as a write-in on the November ballot. If I will be teaching, I will announce it in the local news paper, post it at the post offices in Hatch, Antimony, and Boulder, and do all I can to make sure people know -- and voters will still have more than once choice. I apologize to all those who voted for me in the Primary election, and thank you for your support. I hope you will understand why I have taken this route, and will continue to support me. If I remain free and clear to run for Garfield County School Board District Five Seat, please write me in on the November ballot. It would be beneficial to have a teacher on our Board. Sincerely, Linda Crawford |
