The Journey – adifferentkindofstorybook purposely avoids getting into political, religious and racial discussions online. These topics are VERY personal and tend to cause people to retreat to their comfort zones. I don’t see the use in having an argument with someone half a world away, or even across town, who I probably will never see face to face.

I’ve been blessed to be approaching 66 years old, and I’ve experienced many changes in our country along the way. My ministry incorporates the power of storytelling into my approach to reaching out and helping suffering people. I love metaphors, so my stories are depictions AND they have a message.

I love nature, and one of my favorite television channels is the BBC network. Their documentaries about our planet are amazing to me. I watched an episode about the world’s coastlines and beaches. I was in awe of the life that lives under the surface of the sand at beaches around the world. I also found it interesting how the tide, which is controlled by the moon, dictates how these creatures live. I noticed that when the moon pulls the tide out to sea, these creatures are able to emerge from their hiding places. (HMMM!) I also found it fascinating just how many species begin their lives as eggs and how many adults live under the sand—from fish to crabs to turtles and more. It was the sand crab that really got my attention. It lives under the sand and, at the right time, hundreds of them come out and run wild on the beach to feed and to breed. Then when the tide changes, they submerge back into their hiding places.

One day while watching “The March for Our Lives,” demonstrations being held around the world, I called my sister, Clarice, and spoke about the power of that day. We talked about the current state of our nation. It got me thinking about how hatred is on the rise in America. I happen to believe that racism is rooted in fear! I believe if we pull back the curtain of racism, we will find fear. I grew up in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s when equal rights were on America’s front pages and, thanks to television, the world witnessed firsthand the evil that prevailed in our country. That evil was exposed!

“Evil triumphs when good people do nothing!” Not my words, but my belief. Good people rose up and demanded a change in our culture, just as the young people today are rising up concerning gun control. At the turn of the 20th century, racism had little or no opposition, but that changed halfway through the century. GOOD did something, and because something was done, evil went underground, in the woods, under the sand.

While speaking with my sister about the decline in our nation’s moral fabric, I remembered the sand crabs. I remembered how the moon affected the tide and the tide affected the beach and its inhabitants. Once the tide rolled out to sea, the beach was exposed, and the sand crabs emerged and ran rampant all over the beach. I also remember hearing that since the 2016 presidential election, hatred and hate crimes are on the rise. It appears the new moon in Washington, D.C., has pulled back the progress that has been made toward equality in our nation for the past 60-plus years. Those living beneath the surface now feel emboldened to come out and run rampant like the sand crabs and spread their evil once again.

In my story, “Unleashed,” which I published after the 2016 election, I stated that the advantage that evil had 100-plus years ago no longer exists! Good people will no longer sit idly by and let evil reign. There are far too many similarities between today and the evil dictators of the early to mid-1900s and the dictators of today. I wonder if the people who sit in silence in the face of evil are afraid to speak up, or are they evil, too?

We CANNOT allow bullies to intimidate us or silence us. Instead of getting into a screaming match and responding in kind to evil, let’s let our voices be heard at the ballot box!

NEVER GIVE UP!
Love & Peace,
Brother Charles