Category Global health and disparities
FMM 9 15 17 Stripped Bare
“Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees.” ~ Thomas S. Monson. I traveled to Jamaica with my family in 1963, sailing on the SS Ascania. Our journey was extended by several days, as we had to observe protocol, and allow a killer to exit the Caribbean before […]
FMM 9 8 17 Silencing Critics
“We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”~ Carl Jung. To those of us who grew up trying to please others, the opinion of others matters far too much. Children whose parents have a particular standing in the community (here I am thinking of parsons and teachers) grow up […]
FMM 9 1 17 The Less I Know
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”~ e. e. cummings. Do you remember the first time you had to question a long-held belief? When I was young, I was totally flummoxed when my brother tried to tell me that Sunday was the […]
FMM 8 25 17 To a Fault
“The person who is brutally honest enjoys the brutality quite as much as the honesty. Possibly more.” ~ Richard J. Needham. Before we moved to Jamaica, we were advised of a few requirements. Ladies should wear hats and gloves to church (this was in 1963). Parsons should wear a dog collar and robe (in the […]
FMM 8 18 17 Isms and Schisms
“All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.”~Helen Keller. I grew up in a tradition of caring for others. But more than that, we were taught to respect our common humanity, and recognize that all human beings deserve respect. My parents were practicing Christians, and they lived their beliefs. At one […]
FMM 7 7 17 Soul Ajar
“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” ~ Emily Dickinson. My mother once got prayed against. In an open church. By Deacon Morris. I have noticed that I tend to write more stories of my mother than my father. But perhaps it is because if you know my father, you are […]
FMM 6 30 17 My White Life
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”~Joseph Campbell. I learned to ‘roll flour’ (make dumplings) at Beulah School All Age School, in Jamaica. The girls (no boys) had to help out in the kitchen, taking it in turns to do our part. The technique wasn’t too strange to me. I was an […]
FMM 6 23 17 Dry Lightning
“For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”~Luke 23:31 At the end of the last century I traveled to England in June for a wedding. For weeks before the affair I begged my siblings who live there to tell me what kind of outfit to buy. […]
FMM 5 26 17 Which Path?
“Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.”~Viktor E. Frankl. I am a Mancunian by birth. That means that I know that the correct pronunciation of the city’s name is Manchister, with the emphasis on the first syllable. I lived there until I was […]
FMM 4 14 17 It Coulda Worse!
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”~Denis Waitley. They say travel broadens the mind. There is something about experiencing a place, a people and a culture far different to the one you are familiar with that helps to open […]
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