Volume III, Issue XCV
The 'other' weekly news magazine cover headline, 'An Army Apart' refers to the life our soldiers live far awy from our shores. As Veterans' Day approaches, we remember in prayer those who guard our freedom and our dreams. May our Gracious Father look after them and bring them safely home... to pursue their dreams and become part of what we at THYME celebrate today, the young people we know who are already at work shaping the world of tomorrow!
The pioneer work of Florence Nightingale still influences the care given to hurting, wounded people today. At age 17 this young woman first received her calling to care for the suffering. She followed that dream and laid much of the foundations of modern nursing.
Today much ink is spent in telling us that our young people lack vision and direction. Kay Hymowitz and others have documented a perpetuation of male adolescence well into adulthood. A 24 year old in the 1960's would likely be married with a child. He might be going to school on the GI Bill. In our day, he most likely will be single and in no hurry to 'grow up.' All around me, however, is much evidence to the contrary...
Young People Building a Better Tomorrow
As a 'powerful' member of the alternative media, I was given an advance copy of Chuck Balsamo's soon to be released book: "Make Me a Legend" from Destiny Image Publishers. It didn't take me long to see that the devotion to a dream, the ability to step up and be a world changer, was a characteristic that I observed and admired in people close to me.
At 28, David Karaffa is already engaged in building a better world. Others will step up to analyze the political implications of his victory in the Augusta County supervisor's race. I would like to focus on his ability to focus on a problem and work tireslessly towards its solution. Along with Pastor Balsamo, I would like to point out that this quality is one that every one of us should cultivate. All of us have gifts. They need to be opened and cultivated. Mr. Karaffa taught me much in the way of how that can be realized by his own example.
Seeing the local board of supervisors moving in a predictable course and codifying faulty assessment values, David stepped up his involvement in local affairs. He successfully created an awareness of the issues and branded his own 'New Conservative' campaign to put a new level of responsive representation into local government. He helped motivate a wave of candidates who ran as independents... answerable ONLY to the voters. His Campaign Manager, Tommy Kelly is younger than him. A Volunteer Fire Fighter, Tommy spoke with authority about issues surrounding the support of essential government services.
The lackluster world of local races where few people vote and even fewer work the polls was shaken on November 8th. The independent candidates had energetic people walking neighborhoods and meeting voters at the polls on election day. David's younger sister worked the polling places, as did his Grandmother Lucille! You could see in several generations of Karaffas a true apprenticeship of dearly held values.
Driven by our collective belief, the Karaffa campaign won the election and gave citizens a new voice in their affairs. David's work is no less important than the work of men like Jefferson and Adams, who first inked our charters of liberty.
Pastor Balsamo apologizes for interjecting a bit of history into his second chapter. His brief account of the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening and the Great Prayer Awakening of 1857-1858 offer background that is pure gold for today's young people to absorb. Between the great periods of revival, the human condition suffered under the burden of depravity. Men were driven to prayer and inspired individuals received Divine calling. Does G-d call men to his service today? I know a young man who preached a stirring sermon on prayer, his first, at age nineteen.
When I look into the faces of so many young people I know I see a world of promise. I see a dedication to building G-d's Kingdom, to alleviating human suffering and building a better world for those around them. This weekend I will have the priviledge of working with a nineteen year old who is devoting her brightness of spirit to working with youth in the neighborhood of her church. Her story and many others inspire my own prayer and hope for the future.
Got to www.chuckbalsamo.com [click to view] for more inspiration!
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." -- 1 Timothy 4:12
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