Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 9-29-15 Edition

Editorials
You’re Eating Life’s Leftovers And Don’t Know It
Parents Can Control Violence In The Classroom
The recent regrettable assaults on police officers have made us take a painfully closer look at violence on an- other group of public servants: public school employees. As
quietly as it’s kept, at least four percent of public school em- ployees have been physically assaulted on school grounds, and no less than seven percent of them were threatened by students with acts of violence during the 2007-2008 school year. More unsettling is the fact that the numbers are in- creasing, and that parents, relatives, and loved ones are among the attackers.
Many of our readers belong to a generation where respect for teachers was required by parents and where disrespect of teachers earned humane, but decisive punishment. This tradition needs to continue in order for our children to learn in the classroom instead of suffering loss of valuable time because of violent and disruptive students. No, we are not advocating parental violence against their children. But what we mean is under no circumstances should parents or the community condone children cursing (or being cursed at), refusing to follow directions, or committing other dis- ruptive behaviors while on their way to school, at school or leaving from school.
That more than 127,000 public school teachers are phys- ically attacked (hit, kicked, body slammed, bitten, slapped, stabbed or shot) each year is an indictment on our failure to raise children who have respect for authority or their par- ents.
Thus, we encourage all parents to demand that your chil- dren show their teachers and school-personnel respect and to practice zero-tolerance for children showing disrespect at home . . . where respect should begin.
B y the time you read these words, Pope Francis’ visit to the most powerful nation on the face of the earth will be rele- gated to history. History teachers if they are wise will ini-
tiate class conversations complete with homework questions regarding the Pope’s comments as he stood in the presence of men and women whose powers of judgment far outstretched Biblical Sadducees or Pharisees. But mulling over the moun- tain of past events when this white-robed elderly Latino trod softly the halls of United States power, we asked ourselves what was the one most powerful moment during the Pontiff’s trip to the District of Columbia.
Was it when the Boeing Triple-7 touched down at Andrews Airport and the two most powerful men in the world ap- proached and embraced each other, and one of them was the first Black President of the United States while the other man was the first continental American Head of the global Catholic Church?
Was it this new Pope’s continuous reference to and direct quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who happens also to be a saint of the Anglican Church? Or was it when Pope Francis broke bread with hundreds of homeless at St. Patrick Cathedral? We chose what few papers wrote about because we ourselves almost overlooked it. First it seemed he was suf- fering from a cold. But when a white handkerchief dabbed at his eyes, we knew House Speaker John Boehner was weeping.
Old flinty, anti-Obama, dyed-in-the-wool Republican Boehner seemed to have been blinded by the lightning of Pope Francis’ words when Francis addressed Congress. Did the Pope resurrect Boehner’s Catholic roots? To have been a fly on Boehner’s collar when the tears began to roll! But does that mean Boehner repented his Conservative sins? Could we be so naïve? However, we saw what we saw. And forgive us if we admit, an adversary’s tears touched us . . . if only for a mo- ment.
“Success is the inten- tional, pre-meditated use of choice and deci- sion. Unless you choose with certainty what it is you want you accept table scraps by de- fault!” ~ Gary Ryan Blair
Empowered Greetings, I have a couple of questions I want to ask you.
Are you tired of eating table scraps? 2. Have you made a decision to succeed?
Maybe you think you’re not eating leftovers. How- ever, if you accept the things in your life as they are, and you know that you
I don’t know about any- one else but, right now, I’m feeling a little Pope fa- tigued. After an entire week of 24-hour news coverage of the Pontiff, I’m com- pletely burned out on any- thing remotely related to the Vatican.
Pope Francis’ first trip to the United States created a spectacle unlike any I’ve ever seen. The amount of attention his presence gar- nered was nothing short of astounding. And the only thing that I could think of while every major televi- sion news network focused solely on the Pope’s itiner- ary was how many under- handed moves were possibly being made while the world wasn’t looking?
With all eyes facing in one direction you have to believe that somebody, somewhere was getting away with murder. I can’t imagine a better distraction for this country’s behind the scenes power brokers than the most popular per- son on the planet making a rare 7-day visit to the northwestern hemisphere.
It was a textbook diver- sion that, if truly taken ad- vantage of, worked in the favor of all those who make
want better, then you’re eating life’s leftovers.
Only you can define what success is for your life. No matter how you define it, in order to achieve suc- cess, you must decide that you want it. You must de- cide what it looks like. You must decide that you will pursue it at all cost. Don’t sit back and wait for success to pursue you. Again, you must pursue it. Don’t wait for opportunities to arise. You must arise and create opportunities for your suc- cess.
Stop eating the scraps from life’s table by merely accepting things as they are.
a living pilfering the pock- ets of others. And the most unnerving aspect of this potentially classic hood- winking is that it will prob- ably be years before we know how much damage was done during the process.
Being a non-Catholic it also never ceases to amaze me how much reverence countries around the globe continue to have for the of- fice of the Papacy. Regard- less of the numerous times that the Catholic church has been on the wrong side of history, sanctioning the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Blessing Adolf Hitler’s agenda and the continued protection it gives hun- dreds of pedophile priests are just a few examples, there seems to be no end to the spell that their highest position of religious au- thority has over the masses.
I guess being in existence for over 1,700 years while funding empires and being the gatekeepers to the se- cret knowledge of the ages has its privileges. How else could you explain how the individual, who takes on the title of the “Holy See,” is able to make almost every nation on the planet
Decide to succeed in spite of the defeats you may have faced in life. Decide to rise above living an average life and thinking that being good is good enough. It’s time to fly and soar as a lone eagle with boldness and poise and stop flocking with turkeys just making a lot of noise. Don’t wait for people to validate you. Val- idate yourself and make an intentional decision to suc- ceed. The choices you make today will determine your level of success for tomor- row.
Invite Selphenia to be a speaker, emcee, workshop presenter or facilitator of your next event.
To contact Selphenia Nichols visit her website: successcoachtowomen.com or Instagram: Selphenia. Follow her on twitter @queenofsuccess1 or on Facebook: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women or you can call or text 813-956-0185.
bow to his whim regardless of the country’s religious affiliation?
Of course this isn’t a knock on Pope Francis as an individual. It is hard not to like a guy who not only shuns the luxury of a lim- ousine for the compactness of a Fiat, but who’s also been known to fire his se- curity detail for attempting to prevent him form physi- cally interacting with his faithful supporters.
Unfortunately, even with Pope Francis’ amicable demeanor, it’s still ex- tremely difficult to separate the man from the institu- tion he represents. And, until the Roman Catholic Church makes serious amends for the numerous human rights atrocities it has supported throughout history, the red carpet treatment often afforded to its most important digni- taries, to me at least, comes off grossly inappropriate.
`The Pope may be “king of the Earth” and consid- ered the unspoken ruler of the world but, as long as the throne he uses remains stained with the blood of the innocent, it’s hard to believe that he could truly be the chosen envoy be- tween a loving God and everyone else.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com
King Of The Earth
And Boehner Wept!
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5