Most of you all probably know that Jesse Helms died on the 4th of July (as opposed to being born on the 4th of July like Tom Cruise in that old movie). He was born in a suburb of Charlotte (I think Monroe) & was a Senator here for forever. honestly I don't know that much about him because I'm not all that into politics. As I understand it, lots of people loved him & lots of people hated him. But, from what I've heard about him - I think I would have liked Jesse Helms! I guess he never really followed the party line... he just did what he thought was right. I like that. The only thing I remember about him from my growing up years was that he had one of those Thank You for Not Smoking signs in his office that said "Thank You For Smoking." I always thought that was kind of funny and witty since he was from "Tobacco Road."
his funeral was today and I didn't watch it or listen to it, but my
mom & dad both told me about 1 little snippet - probably the only
part they thought I would be interested in...
most of us know about Bono's good friendship with the late senator, Jesse. If you don't just google it. They saw eye to eye on what we should be doing for those with AIDS and crippled by poverty & I guess all their other differences just didn't matter anymore (that idea is a whole wonderful blog in itself.) You can read more on Bono's thoughts on all that here.
So, here's the whole point. Today, Bono dropped off a note at the Jesse Helms Center that said something like this - "Today 2 million children are alive in Africa because Jesse Helms chose to do the right thing." definitely made me get a lump in my throat. Again even as I'm writing this and thinking about it.
***WOW! how awesome is that! yeah, he did all kinds of stuff in his political career & 86 years here on earth, but I don't know if anything could be better than that. In partnering with Bono to fight for the "least of these" I think he stood with Jesus on one of the most important things in this world - and obviously between them accomplished some cool stuff.
& it just got me thinking ALL DAY LONG. when I die, I hope & i BEG GOD that people will be able to say "Patrick's dead, but there are millions across Africa & around the world who are still alive, free from poverty, leading productive lives, and enjoying satisfaction in Jesus BECAUSE PATRICK CHOSE TO DO THE RIGHT THING!!!"
God, help me live up to that...
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1 comment:
Hey.... I LOVE Jesse Helms. When I was in high school, I was part of the National Young Leaders Conference, and we got to travel to DC, and visit our Senator's Offices. I loved Jesse Helm's because he had all these cartoon sketches on his walls... all of the artists had tried to make fun of him, but he saw it as funny. I always admired that. Also, today, on CSPAN, I actually watched part of the funeral... not captivating TV, but part of history, nevertheless. One of my favorite quotes from Jesse Helms was,"You can compromise your preferences, but never your principles". Here, here.
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