Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 22:23:26 -0700 From: Charlie Ford To: type2@bigkitty.azaccess.com Subject: Sermon from the Mountains For the past few days I have been doing some work for the AmeriCorps programs in Colorado. The specific work I have been doing entails training AmeriCorps members in this beautiful State to take the community service they are doing to heart, and allow themselves to be affected by the service so that they will do something of service for the remainder of their lives. Personally, I believe that service is the greatest thing one person can do for another. I really don't think it matters what type service it is, as long as it creates good positive results. A simple example would be to open a door for someone, or help carry part of another person's heavy load to their car. A more complex example would be to involve ones self in the community addressing social problems or helping to alleviate crime in ones neighborhood. Just getting involved is the key. I was taught this concept of living by my Grandfather. He was a man that knew what it felt like to be poor. he had grown up in the depression era, and had learned many valuable lessons about "being in need". In his later life, he became a fairly successful businessman and public servant. he never really liked to call himself a politician. I think it was because he didn't feel as if that word really defined him as literally as "public servant". As I grew, I watched him treat all people he came in contact with, with respect. This didn't always mean that he liked them personally, but he always, for some reason knew that they had something to offer, and in knowing that he actively solicited their input on matters. I grew up seeing this example and liked it, so I followed suit as closely as I could. I have tried all of my life to be of service to anyone I could be of service to. The members of the AmeriCorps programs inspire me. They are 9 times out of 10, young people with much energy and idealism. They truly want to make things better, but at the same time I think the idealism they instill blinds them to some of the facts of life, that only "life experience" can teach them. We all were young at one time, some of you still are. We all know what it feels like and I think we all also recognize that positive changes occur only when we become involved in creating that change. So many of us these days leave work, drive home, sit down in our easy chairs, have a beer, and watch the evening news. Most all of us are guilty of sitting there and saying "My, my, what an awful world it has become. Someone needs to do something about it". I have done this, and many of you have as well. I believe all of us are a little guilty here. I am reminded of the words of an activist from the 60's. A man named Eldridge Cleaver penned the words "Either you are a part of the solution, or you are a part of the problem". Complacency, un-involvement, and complaining does nothing to make the problem go away. "Action" makes the problem less severe and can eventually make it disappear. Tonight I read an article on the CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corps. Franklin Roosevelt created this program in 1933. At the time there were approximately 14 million men in America out of work. The great depression was on it's way to being history, and America was in need. The unemployed were in need, the country needed roads, parks, and a stronger infrastructure. Roosevelt heard the cry, and responded. In fact, many of the National and State parks of today were built by the CCC. they were built to last. Some of you may have visited some of those places in your area of the US. I am sure that most of you have driven on some of the roads the CCC built. The requirements of this program was that the participant must be male, between the ages of 18-25, unmarried, and willing to work hard. They were paid the whopping sum of 30 dollars a month, 25 of which they never saw because it was sent directly home to their families. These men were also provided with vocational training of some sort. There was an educational component added to the program that gave the men an opportunity to learn Geology, Motor Mechanics, English, and Surveying. This would ensure that the men, when their term of service was over could go back home and create gainful employment in their community. AmeriCorps does basically the same thing. The program offers an opportunity for people, young and old to get involved, draw a cost of living stipend (equivalent to minimum wage), and learn as they serve. After their term of service is over they also earn a voucher of $4725.00 which can be used for college and furthering their education. The concepts that this program teaches are simple. Teamwork, acceptance of diversity, and a lifetime of involvement all serve to create a program that serves not only now, but ten years from now as well. The programs that I have come in direct contact with are making great headway into the same problems that the complacent sit by and complain about. The members are responsible, caring, and accountable for their actions. Therefore it is not a giveaway program, which is what a lot of government programs have been in the past 20 years or so. I write and explain all of this to challenge all of you. I believe that in each of us, we have things we can share. Things we can offer that will help to alleviate and cure some of the ills we are seeing in our society today. it may be nothing more than life experience, or a little advice, but every little bit helps if enough people give it. I know that volunteering is tough to consider. Our jobs wrap us up and take a lot of our time, our families also require much of our time. Honestly, it doesn't take much to get involved. In fact, one day a month would help more than you think. Above all else, I believe it is important for us to find ways to bridge our gaps. One day while I was in Cincinnati, I pulled up to a red-light. I looked across the street and there sat an elderly gentleman in another VW bus. he saw me and about the same time I waved, he waved back at me. I realized then that this vehicle had bridged a gap, one of the few things I have found that actually does that in our society today. Another is volunteerism I believe. This writing is nothing more than thoughts. I have had a rough time this week with the people I am partnering with to perform these training's. They have basically been somewhat un-hospitable and to be honest quite rude to this out of towner. The members have been a great inspiration to me, in that they fed me sustenance in thought and deed. I work hard to teach this concept, as I believe it will help us be better. Join with me if you will in being a "part of the solution, and not part of the problem". These are the things I think about tonight. Sorry if I have bored you, or irritated you, with this "sermon from the mountains". Thanks for tolerating the ramblings. Charlie Ford "79" Transporter, dressed for the road The Mothership The"Turning 40 Nostalgic VW Service Tour, and Search for the Beginning of Wind". http://www.slurpee.net/~keen/charlie/charlie.html "Wider still and wider.....shall thy bounds be set"