Heroes You Should Know:  Ruby Bridges

What’s the big deal about a six year-old going to school in New Orleans?  Maybe not much today, but in the fall of 1960, in a totally segregated school system, a certain girl attending a certain school was a very big deal.

You see, Ruby Bridges was black, and William Frantz Elementary school was for white children only.  Her father didn’t want her to go, but Ruby’s mother knew some child would have to step up.  Ruby agreed.

So, accompanied by U.S. Marshalls, six year-old Ruby with school books in hand, entered the school on November 14, 1960.  A crowd of angry protesters were waiting for her with profanities, tomatoes, and threats of physical violence.  One woman threatened to poison her, while another put a black doll in a coffin and held it up for Ruby to see as she passed by.

But none of the hatred stopped history.

Ruby attended school every day, although the school was almost completely empty.  All of the white students had been pulled by their parents, and only one teacher agreed to teach Ruby.  And the abuse outside the school continued.

But slowly, as the year continued, change came.  Some white families began sending their children back to the school, and several white families began watching the Bridges home to make sure it wasn’t vandalized, and even joined the federal marshalls in escorting Ruby to school.

Today, this courageous woman still lives in New Orleans, speaks and writes about tolerance, and continues to show us all how beautiful forgiveness is.  She is a woman of amazing grace. 

Ruby Bridges is a hero you should know.  And I'm Dr. Ross Porter.

Heroes You hould Know:  Eleanor Kirk

The victim of an abusive first marriage, and a widow before age forty when her second husband died, Eleanor Ames, with five children to support, decided she’d reinvent herself, take ‘Eleanor Kirk’ as a pen name, and write.  

She got a job as a reporter for the New York Standard, and never looked back.  Over the course of her career she would write on everything from politics and fashion to mental health and exercise. 

In 1868 she had joined forces with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in advocating on a national level for women’s rights in the workforce.

And by 1870 she was being hailed by the New York Herald as “the most pronounced of the women’s rights women.”  She remained steadfast in her belief that women’s rights could not be separated from the rights of the unborn.

By the 1880’s Kirk’s columns had become syndicated, and were being read by millions in 150 newspapers throughout the United States.  

She would go on to found her own magazine, and publish books, ranging from fiction and poetry to a practical guide for women trying to break into the writing world. 

The fact that Eleanor Kirk, as a single parent, supported five children as a writer in the male-dominated publishing world of the mid 1800’s, and earned a national following in the process is remarkable enough... and qualifies her as successful.  The fact that she used her considerable influence to advocate for the rights of women and the unborn elevates her to significant.

Eleanor Kirk is a hero you should know. And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

Words matter...

“Words matter.  The average adult speaks 16,000 of them each and every day.  Sixteen thousand!  That’s a lot of talking, and a lot of communicating…and the two are not interchangeable.”  

-Dr. Ross Porter, Exploring the Good Life:  40 Ways in 40 days

Heroes You Should Know: Bill Ashe

In a speech to the United Nations, former Director General Kofi Annan stated:  “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation, and basic health care.” 

While that statement is sinking in, let me give you one more statistic:  every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-born disease. Enter Bill Ashe. 

The owner of a successful water pump business in Southern California, Ashe began travelling to Mexico in 1962 to help orphanages and churches develop safe water supplies.  And as he saw the tremendous impact his work was having, Bill began bringing other water professionals with him.  And the work grew to the point where in 1977 he founded Lifewater International, a non-profit dedicated to providing the rural poor with an integrated program of safe water, sanitation, and hygiene programs.

The vision is for long-term solutions, not temporary fixes.  To that end, Lifewater provides the necessary training and equipment to local partners so they can then provide their own communities with safe water:  by drilling for water, building and maintaining pumps, protecting natural springs, and implementing safe sanitation and hygiene practices.  Over 2.3 million people in 40 countries have benefited.

Providing water, health and hope…

Bill Ashe is a hero you should know. And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

The Season of YES!

 

“What makes the desert beautiful is that it hides, somewhere, a well.”                               

-Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Quick...what's the first word that comes to your mind when you hear "Lent"?

I bet it wasn't "Yes".

The 40 days that precede Easter have typically been known as the Season of "No"; "no chocolate", "no meat", "no coffee", "no television", "no Facebook" (yes, I actually know several people who have given up Facebook for Lent). And saying "no" to things that distract one from responsibilities, that numb one to feelings, that sap life is certainly part of this season. Saying "no" can help us detach from bad habits.

But if all we're doing is saying "no", we're only half way home. Because the "no" won't lead to joy, peace, and growth that lasts.

"No", by itself, stops being sufficient by about age three!

We are meaning-seeking people. We need to have a purpose in mind for why we do what we do, whatever it is. "What is the point of giving up coffee, dessert, meat, or the internet?" "Why am I doing this?" "Am I just following rules to follow rules?" God help us.  This is where the "yes" comes in.

Happiness, true happiness, is not just about being free FROM something, it is also about being free FOR something...something more beautiful, more healthy, more loving. "YES."

So the next time you find yourself saying "no", find the "yes" that is attached...and celebrate the good which you are moving toward!

Question for reflection:  To affirm the goodness of life, what can you say “Yes” to today?

Heroes You Should Know: John Wood

The fact that workaholic Microsoft executive John Wood---on a hiking trip through the Himalayas---would tour a school in Nepal is interesting.  That he would be moved enough by the impact of seeing hundreds of bright children without books to read to immediately begin soliciting book donations from family and friends---and within a year return with 3,000 books---is generous.  That he would leave his lucrative position at Microsoft to dedicate himself full time to confronting injustice in Third World countries by developing schools, libraries, literacy programs, and equal educational opportunities for young girls is heroic.

But for Wood, it’s just the right thing to do.  He writes, “If we were lucky enough to be living a good life, we should recognize this gift and thank God for it by looking out for others who need our help in breaking out of the cycle of poverty.”

In 2001, he founded ‘Room to Read’, a non-profit global organization that has already assisted an estimated 8.8 million children in Asia and Africa.

In the 13 years of its existence, Room to Read has now established over 1,800 schools, 16,000 libraries, and distributed 14.5 million books in ten countries.  Additionally there are over 27,000 girls in the long-term education program for young women.

Changing the world, one book, one child, one school at a time…

John Wood is a hero you should know.  And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

Excerpts from Exploring the Good Life:  40 Ways in 40 Days

“Sincerity does not ask you to be perfect, but it does ask that you take responsibility for your imperfections, and do something about your imperfections.  Care enough to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk.”

-Dr. Ross Porter

Available at:  www.stillpointfamilyresources.org