Words from the Heart

  The recent controversy over the Coca-Cola commercial in which people across this diverse country sang, America the Beautiful , in their native languages has spurred me to write.  As an educator and as an ordained minister, I feel called to point a few things out. First, the attitude that if you live in America then you should speak the language of the country is a bit skewed.  "America" is vast, consisting of North, Central and South.  The "native" language of this vast land is Native American in its various dialects.  Quite honestly, I only know a handful of people who speak Native American. I come by this knowledge through the privilege of an education in Boston schools, which at the time I went to them were not considered to be the cream of academia.  However, I had amazingly dedicated teachers who informed my awareness that we - those of European roots - were not "native" to this land we call The United States. To be honest, I think the fact ...

Growing up in South Boston, I always wondered why everyone considered it the enclave of the Irish.  People would ask me what part of Ireland the Neas' came from, which caused me no end of confusion.  My Dad told me we were "Black-Irish" and my mother told me we were linked to Irish royalty.  My grandmother (Mom's mother) was an O'Riordan, which translates from Gaelic into The Kings Bard or Poet.  It took me years to weed through the legends and tall tales.  Truth is I am an American mutt, just like many folks these days.  While I am still proud of my South Boston, Irish heritage, I am also proud of the German, Slovenian, Northern Irish, Welsh and other ethnic groups linked to my family.  As a girl growing up, my mother always shared the cultures of our neighbors and friends with me so that I "understood who they were."  No one was ever "bad," simply different.  Different was never a problem.  It was OK to be different in Momma's eyes....

Image by apauls via Flickr Today is the third observance of International Golden Rule day. This day was founded by Ambassador Mussie Hailu in Ethiopia.  It is endorsed by the United Nations and celebrated by various groups around the globe.  One of those groups, of which I am a member, is The Charter for Compassion .  The Charter bases its ideology on the Golden Rule, which each culture around the world has a version of in their sacred writing or teaching. What is the Golden Rule?  The First Peoples of the Americas have passed the following down to us.   "Respect for all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk The following are other versions of this truth listed in alphabetical order.   Bahá'í "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son...