Jewels, Who Would Have Known?

   Talbotton, GA…..does that ring a bell? I thought not, but we found some jewels there the other day.

   I had looked up the courthouse site for Talbot County before we left on this trip and found out that there were some old churches, and an old, still-in-use courthouse, so I thought it could be a nice little place to look around.

   First of all we spotted the courthouse, standing as it most always does in these smaller towns right on the high point, overlooking the rest of the area.

   This building was built in 1892 and was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday by the time we rolled into town. The clock tower, occupied by a 3,000 lb. Seth Thomas timing mechanism, was also typical of others we had seen as it told at least 3 different times. I missed the fourth side somehow and could not find it on any of my shots.

   I had a vague address for the older church in town, Zion Episcopal, but had no trouble finding it right out from the courthouse. This church was built in 1848, no longer had a congregation, but was kept up by others from the diocese and some local folks. A beautiful church structure, and , as an article stated, it had a slave gallery and a striking interior. Unfortunately, it was also closed and locked (I checked).

   While circling the block to get back on our route out of town, we saw a large columned white building on our right. Thinking that it might have been an early home in town, we stopped and found another jewel.

   I had wondered when I noted that the Zion Church had been located just north of college street, could it be that there was, or had been, a college, in this town?

   The sign out front indicated that this building was a part of LeVert Female College, a school that was under the umbrella of the Methodist Church and had been founded there in 1856. It was named for Octavia Walton LeVert, the granddaughter of George Walton, one of three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia.

   This college had to close its doors in 1907 because of the decline of cotton in the area, but the town keeps up this building for concerts and other events.

   The Straus family were donors to the school and one of the sons of the Jewish immigrant moved to New York and founded a business that became the Macy Department store chain.

   All of these jewels from a small town in West Georgia. Who would ever have known?

   There was also one other structure that I photographed as we rode out of town.

   Someone once farmed here, lived and worked here, but went someplace else. He was a part of this community, too, at one time.

   Maybe another jewel, who knows?

A Response to Ferguson

   As I watched the evening news last night and followed that up with the newscast of the grand jury deliberation in St. Louis County concerning the activities in Ferguson, Missouri, my mind went to the question:

   "How should a Christian deal with all of this?"

   I know there is a lot to pray for there. The citizens of that area, both black and white, the people that feel they have been wronged by the lack of indictments, the law enforcement men and women, the protestors, both peaceful and violent.

   How should the Christian community respond?

   But that community is made up of a bunch of individuals, and how should each of us respond? Not only in our feelings, but in our conversations about the whole matter with friends and family, and in our attitudes toward the parties involved.

   How much influence over our minds does the media have? If all we see today are the fires burning, the looters and the protestors running through the streets, that will be our perception of the whole of that society.

   Where are the peaceful protestors? Are they huddled in the background of those scenes of violence? Does the night belong only to the violent? Will they be in view in the day today, before the night falls again? Will the media cover them?

   Before we can ascertain what we can do in these situations, we must first of all determine what we believe about the parties involved. We want to place the blame somewhere, but where is the right place? Is there one?

   I pray that God will work in the hearts of those people over there, no matter the race or position on the events, to bring peace, His peace, to all.

   And I pray that He will open my mind and heart to all the factors that culminated in the events of last evening, indeed the events of the past few months. I want to see it from His perspective, and then let my words reflect that view.

   Sure, I know that this is a fallen world, but I want my thoughts and words to not be a part of the problem.

Thankful for the "Old"

   What is it about old buildings that attract me? I have a hard drive full of abandoned homes, farm buildings left to rot and fall, stately courthouses some still in use, churches of the past era active and in use today, as well as a variety of buildings captured in the cities and small towns of Georgia.

   On a short trip last week I captured these places with my lens:

   An 1801 Government building in Augusta, home to the first courts in Richmond Co.

   The Lincoln County Courthouse in Lincolnton

   A unique courthouse in Washington, GA, home of the government of Wilkes Co.

   The courthouse in Appling, still active, but increasingly bypassed as the population of the county moves toward the eastern part of its boundary.

   St. James Untied Methodist Church, built in 1856 and still serving in Augusta.

   Men and Women served in all these places. They made decisions that took care of people, preserved freedoms and liberties, and allowed the economy to prosper.

   Service in courthouses and churches all across this state gave us the lives that we now enjoy. The propagation of our democratic system, and the faith that ties us to a God that blessed us greatly.

   On this Thanksgiving holiday in 2014, I think back and I thank all those who have served in the past, and those serving today.

   And I think of all who have blessed us with their lives, all the while serving in relative obscurity in places like these:

or

   Moms and Dads, bringing up their kids "right", instilling in them the values of honesty, caring, working, and believing, no matter the economic condition.

   I am thankful for the opportunity to photograph these and many more "old" places around our state, but I salute, with my gratitude, those who served in each one, public or private, and passed down to us our heritage of freedom and Christian faith.

   Thank You, God

   May we do the same, faithfully each and every day.

"First, Do No Harm"

   A few days back, after visiting a friend over in prison, I wrote a piece about my experience there and posted it on this site. It is here:

http://walkinganewpath-pilgrim.blogspot.com/2014/11/security-whose-and-how.html

   Thinking that my friend would enjoy reading my reflections on his "home" over there, I made a copy and sent it off to him in the mail.

   Then yesterday, there are two letters in the mailbox. One from the prison officials returning my copy of the blog post, and another from the friend advising me of the situation.

   It seems that the deputy warden got ahold of the correspondence, I guess they open all the mail before it is delivered, and took offense to what I had written in the blog. By sending a copy on to the inmate, the assumption was made that I was giving information on visiting procedures that might allow an inmate to escape.

   Of course that was not my intent. In fact, I never even considered that possibility at all. All I wanted to do was to tell him what being in that prison felt like to me on that day. I never dreamed that what I wrote could be a potential problem to him. Just this little post, little in my opinion, might have triggered disciplinary actions, ones that could impact his standing in that place. Not for me were problems a possibility, but for the man who had no part in the act.

   When I got over my shock at the fact that the officials would read so much into that "innocent" post, I realized I had not thought out very well my actions in sending it to him in the mail. I had known that he would never see it on the blog site as they have no access to the Internet, so snail mail was the only way I could think of to tell my thoughts. Copying the post and printing it out for him seemed to be the best way.

   My friend wrote, telling me of the official's reprimand he received because of my actions, but more forcefully stating that I don't need to do that sort of thing again.

   In other words "Think before you act".

   While I was thinking of that this morning, the words of the Hippocratic Oath, "First do no harm", came to mind. (Researching that quote on line, I find that it is really not in the Oath, but comes from a later time period, but it does convey meaning for me in the situation.)

   Words have a tremendous potential for good or for ill, many times unintended consequences, as I found out.

   I thought also of this verse in Psalms:

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."

   Think, Don, Think!

   Too many words, too little thinking and discretion.

   First, do no harm...

Three Meaningful Words

   I received a post from a friend this morning. It was a quote from Psalm 37:4 and it talked about taking delight in the Lord.

   I jokingly replied back that it is hard when the wind chill is 21, but truly it is not all that hard.

   Looking at a definition of "success", someone said that it is "Doing the best you can with what you have and where you are."

   There is a lot in those few words:

      Your best
      What you have
      Where you are

   Those thoughts can lead to three more words:

      Gratitude
      Peace
      Contentment

   I have been working on my Georgia courthouses over the past couple of days and this picture came up as I opened the file this morning:

   Worth County, Sylvester, GA

   The fall foliage shot just seemed like the picture of those three little words:

      Gratitude
      Peace
      Contentment

   So, I delighted in the Lord and his world on the day that I took this, and I get to do it again as I think on all the life He has allowed me to live., and the people he has brought into my life.

   Thank You, God

   Amen and Amen

What is in a Name?

   There was a sign in a little park in Americus, GA that has stayed with me since that Sunday morning a couple of weeks back when I read it for the first time.

   There are some names on this plaque that stand out. Dr. Rees who gave the land for the park in 1846, his son Lucius, who died in the battle of Petersburg in VA in 1864 and for whom the park was dedicated as a permanent memorial, General Robert E. Lee, the commander of the army in which he served.

   But there is another person on there, and he is nameless. He is not known for what name he was called, but for what he did.

   The sign reads in part:

   "Against horrendous odds, and enslaved family servant, who accompanied him to war, single-handedly returned is body to his grieving family here in Americus for burial in nearby Oak Grove Cemetery."

   Too often we strive through live to make a name for ourselves, to be relevant in the place that we live.  A name that will live on after we do. How much better to be remembered for the good that we have done, even if our name is not spoken.

   Priorities in the right order.

   Another thing I need to remember and do.

 

Weekday People

   A couple of weekends ago, it was a trip to Leesburg, Lumpkin, Preston, Cochran, Baxley, McRae and Alma, with a sleepover in Americus. When you travel on a Saturday and Sunday, this is what you get.

   A courthouse building, a town square devoid of people and monuments that you can't ask anyone about.

   But what about just taking off in the middle of the week? There is more traffic on the roads to be sure, but the one thing that makes it more informative and enjoyable is that there are actually real people to talk with and learn from.

   An example of this was brought home to us this past Thursday, as we took a day off and visited the towns of Hinesville, Reidsville, Mt. Vernon, Soperton, Claxton and Pembroke, all county seats with courthouses for us to see and photograph.

   After visiting the first four on that list, and after munching on our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we rolled into Claxton, home of the Claxton fruit cakes and the county seat of Evans County.

   Evans County, named for a Confederate General who surrendered with Lee at Appomattox in 1865, was constituted in 1914 with land taken from Bulloch and Tattnall counties. The current population is around 11,000, with Claxton the largest town.

   As I came back from the front of the courthouse building, I found Mayre talking with a lady at the side door. There was an apology for the side entrance being locked, which we had not tried to enter anyway, but the lady invited us in to see the building.

   This led to a tour of the upstairs with its original courtroom as well as some minutes discussing the county and its people. This was the original, and only, courthouse the county had used for all of its 100 year history. It was built in 1923 and was in great shape after a remodeling in 1980.

   It was an unhurried visit, as we sat in the old courtroom and visited for some little time. Our guide was the Clerk of the courts of the county, Kathy Hendrix, and she was glad to answer all our questions and give us facts about things that we did not even know to ask about.

   The personal touch is what we will remember. All kinds of information can be gleaned from books and monuments, but having a person take her time to show some people around and explain the workings of the country and its government made it special.

   Georgia has 159 counties, and we have seen a lot of them, but the ones that we will remember the best will be those where the contact was personal.

   Thank you, Kathy for your willingness to share and your time to do it.

   God puts people in our path that make our lives richer just by their being there, if we only take the time to listen and look. Those are the best days of our traveling.

   The key to meaningful travel is people…

   Some day I might tell you about the locked rest rooms and the inmate reconditioned pews.