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Ayana’s Ride Part I

Ayana's Ride
Ayana’s Ride

 

I

My car pulls into the car-waiting area of the Regent Retirement Village and finds a spot about seventy metres from the front door, under a grove of trees. The kind of spot that I’ve selected among its list of rental preferences. A blast of hot air slaps me in the face as I step out and turn towards the building.  The car resembles a massive grey egg on wheels. The whisper of the electric motor shuts down and the door closes and locks automatically.

As I approach the front door of the two-story building the tinted green glass doors slide open with a hiss that’s barely more than a whisper.  There is a receptionist’s desk but no receptionist. Instead there is a microchip reader that resembles a small notepad, and an LED screen. I make a fist and hold my wrist over the reader. A woman’s voice emanates from the screen.

“Resident’s name.”

“Elijah Keeper.”

“Your relationship.”

“I’m his granddaughter.”

“For security. What is the resident’s date of birth.”

“January first, two thousand and one.”

“Name of resident’s first partner.”

“Evangeline Keeper.”

A plastic badge silently protrudes from a slit under the reader. My likeness stares back at me. Underneath the likeness is my name, time and date of sign-in: Three forty-seven p.m., Sunday, July 21, 2080. Another set of ghost doors slide open on my right. Pops, here I come.

The Regent Retirement Village is more like a holiday resort than a retirement home. Past the lobby area, you enter through a pair of glass doors to an atrium. Natural light filters through the glass domed roof, from the entrance area, past the administrative offices, all the way to the rear and the first floor suites. As you enter the atrium, to the left are two tubular elevators with glass doors. I take the first to the Level Two suites. The units open to a long balcony that the residents use as a walking path that wraps its way all around the second level. Residents in groups of twos and threes chat quietly and look over the balcony down to the activity on the ground level. The second level is the envy of the entire complex.

Here it is, Room 2C.

There is a numeric pad on the door. I enter the visitor code.

“Come on in, Ayana.” Pops’ voice is now becoming thin and brittle. The door slides opens onto a small living/ dining room. At the far end, through another set of sliding glass doors, Pops is in a flannel bathrobe sitting at a small table on the veranda. His cane is resting against the table. I pass through the living/ dining room and open the veranda door.  A blast of hot air practically pushes me back into the air-conditioned living room. Thank God, I wore my shorts and a t-shirt.

“How are you, Precious?” He holds my hand as I throw one arm around his shoulder and plant a kiss on his forehead.

“That’s a question for you, Pops!”

“Oh I can’t complain.”

“Never does any good anyway, right. They treatin’ you good?”

“Uhm, I guess.”

“You’d tell me if they weren’t, wouldn’t you, now?”

“Uhm, I guess.”

“Why don’t you sit inside? It’s burning up out here.”

“Oh I don’t mind the heat.” He looks away at the sky. “So many fancy new drones and AAV’s nowadays. It’s like getting to a point now where there are traffic jams in the sky. I can’t believe there aren’t more accidents.”

I reach into my purse. “Brought you a present.” I place a small cardboard box on the table. “Open it.”

“What’s this,” he says, eyeing the box.

“Open it! I printed it especially for you.”

He slowly reaches for the box and opens it. “A watch? What do I need another watch for?”

“It’s not just a watch. It’ll only work when it’s on your wrist.  And if you just tap this button here, then this one, it automatically alerts me. It’ll tell me that it’s more than a telephone call. It’ll tell me to come and get you right away.”

“Why? Why do I need this?”

“I want you to know that you will always have me, Pops. I never want anything bad to happen to you. I’ll always be your Ayana.”

“Why all of this all of a sudden? Who’s been talkin’ to you?”

My shoulders stiffen and a slight chill shocks my body. I could never hide anything from those all-seeing eyes. I tug at his chair and roll it out a bit. “Here, let me sit on your lap.”  His eighty-year-old eyes are as clear and bright as ever. He extends his hand. It is cold and clammy, even though it must be at least thirty degrees out here on the veranda.

“There’ll be coming for me soon, you know, I can feel it,” he says.

“I know you didn’t mean what you wrote. We all do. Why don’t you just apologize? I’m sure you’ll be able to come home with me.  I’ll take care of you, and you’ll be safe.”

“I hope you’re right, Precious.  But my days are numbered. I’m sure of it. Whenever anyone has said anything good about Fallstead, bad things happen. Every time.”

You just made a mistake. You know you didn’t mean it. I know you didn’t mean it. Just apologize, and sound like you mean it, and you’ll be okay.”

“Not sure that I can do that…”

“Why not?”

Just then there’s a buzzing sound and he pulls a phone out of his pocket. “Yes, Bess. Come in.” He turns to me. “It’s Bess, with my medication.”

I clutch my bag. “Would you like me to leave?”

“No, don’t,” he says, with a steel rod in his voice, but his old hands can manage only a gentle squeeze as he grasps my wrist.

The nurse approaches with a small bag. “Hello, Bess,” he says.

“I didn’t realize you had company. Hi, Ayana.”

I ask her how she’s doing.

Bess extends her hand and I take it. “I can come back later if you like,” she says.

“No, no, no. It’s quite all right. Ayana doesn’t mind.”

I start towards the cool of the living room. “While you’re doing this I’ll get out of your way. There’re a couple of calls I’d like to make.”

Inside I close the door behind me. There are two ottomans in the living area. On one of them is a thin glass or polymer pane, about twenty centimetres by twenty-five centimetres. Bess’ notebook. I shoot a quick glance out to the veranda. She’s talking to him, holding his right hand.

I can’t help myself.  I slide over to the notebook.   It’s open. There’s a long list of medical terms that I don’t understand. It looks pretty good though—there’re a lot of lines in green font. That has to be good.  No red font anywhere. Good for you, Pops! You’re going to be around a long time. At the bottom of the screen, the page counters shows ‘2’. I slide the screen to the right. The first page of his profile appears—a 3-D image of his unsmiling face, and general information. Birthdate, most recent address, closest relative–Madison Keeper. Occupation, yearly income, lifetime income, net worth,  volunteer activities, length of stay at the Regent Retirement Village, key life accomplishments, and…oh, my God!  This can’t be true! That PV Score! That Personal Value Score!? How did you get such a low PV Score? This’s got to be a mistake.

Outside Bess is still holding his wrist. Did Pops know about his score?  Is this why he was so depressed? Pops, what’s going on here?

© Weldon Turner, 2016. All rights reserved.

Nest month, Ayana’s Ride, Parts II and III.

Sacred Songs: Stories behind ten of our most beloved hymns

The writers and stories behind ten of our most beloved and influential hymns.

The Voice - Season 9
Contestant sings hymns on way to winning The Voice 2015 season

 

All Creatures of Our God and King – St. Francis of Assisi
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God – Martin Luther
Doxology (Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow) — Thomas Ken
Christ the Lord is Risen Today — Charles Wesley
Amazing Grace – John Newton
Battle Hymn of the Republic – Julia Ward Howe
Blessed Assurance – Fanny Crosby
Jesus Loves Me — Anna B. Warner
Great Is Thy Faithfulness — Thomas O. Chisolm
Take My Hand, Precious Lord — Thomas Dorsey

From St. Francis of Assisi’s, ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’, to Thomas Dorsey’s ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’,   hymns written to the glory of God have encouraged, sustained and uplifted people of faith for hundreds of years. Here are the stories and writers behind ten of the most beloved and influential  hymns written for the glorification of Jesus Christ.

All Creatures of Our God and King
Words: St. Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226
English translation: Henry Draper, 1855-1933
Music:  From a German hymnal in 1623, the Geistliche Kirchengesang

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

All Creatures of Our God and King, St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh See and hear it on YouTube.

St. Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni Bernardone into a wealthy family in 1282. After serving as a soldier and engaging in behaviors and indiscretions that ultimately proved unrewarding, he experienced a spiritual awakening, and dedicated his life to serve Jesus Christ. He renounced his father’s wealth, and proceeded to live out in the open, in nature, if you will, dressed in rags, working for, and sometimes even begging for food. [1]   A group of young men joined Francis. They traveled the countryside preaching the Gospel. St. Francis would go on to found the Franciscan Order of Friars. A female follower created the ‘Poor Clare’ order of nuns.

Continue reading Sacred Songs: Stories behind ten of our most beloved hymns

Bob Dylan and the Gospel Songs

"Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan."
“Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan.”

Amid a driving rain Air Force One touched down in Havana, Cuba on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20, 2016.  The President and the First Family descended the steps under a family of stiff black umbrellas, and TV reporters and pundits struggled to find a metaphor that fit the historic occasion. Finally one commentator, steel in the voice, proclaimed. ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’—there you have it, a reference to Dylan’s song from 1963.  Continue reading Bob Dylan and the Gospel Songs

Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth – Part II

Satyagraha in Action

 

Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) (foreground, second right with walking staff) and his followers during the Salt March protests, India, March or April 1930. The march, orgainzed by Gandhi, was a 25-day, 241-mile walk across India designed to protest taxes on salt levied by the British on the Indian people. (Photo by Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) (foreground, second right with walking staff) and his followers during the Salt March protests, India, March or April 1930.

Satyagraha in South Africa

The ‘Black Act’–1906-1914

In August of 1906 Mohandas Gandhi picked up one of the local newspapers and read the draft of an ordinance proposed by Transvaal Government.  (At the time of the Black Act Transvaal was a province that included Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.) The official name of the Ordinance was the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance [1], but became known as the ‘Black Act’.  ‘I shuddered as I read the sections of the Ordinance one after another. I saw nothing in it except hatred of Indians. It seemed to me that if the Ordinance was passed and the Indians meekly accepted it that would spell absolute ruins for the Indians in South Africa’ [2].

Continue reading Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth – Part II

Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth – Part I

Father of Satyagraha
Indian statesman and activist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 – 1948), circa 1940.

The Birth of Satyagraha

Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement ‘Satyagraha’, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence…This then was the genesis of the movement which came to be known as Satyagraha, and of the word used as a designation for it. — Mohandas K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa. [1]

After a long and introspective journey for Truth, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi originated a philosophy of non-violence and non-cooperation to counter social injustice and civil rights abuses in South Africa and in India.  Decades later, civil rights movements used techniques patterned after Gandhi’s philosophy to address social injustice and civil rights abuses around the world. Continue reading Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth – Part I

Saint Romero: The Violence of Love

Saint Oscar Romero on The Violence of Love.

The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work —Archbishop Oscar Romero, November 27, 1977 [1].

Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917 - 1980) at home in San Salvador, 20th November 1979.
Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917 – 1980) at home in San Salvador, 20th November 1979.

We follow the nun down a narrow street as her habit, a shimmering, heavenly white, flutters in the breeze.  She opens what appears to be a large, old, wooden door. Inside is a small courtyard.  She gestures to a wall covered with numerous plaques dedicated to the late Archbishop, Oscar Romero. “These plaques were on his grave because people asked for favours from God through Monsenor,” she says. She leads us to a library, where his homilies are kept, as well as four pastoral letters, and his identification cards.

The Carmelite nun is demure but her smile, as well as her voice, is fixed with a resolve and a gentle confidence as she describes the home of the Archbishop. “Here is his bedroom,” she says. We enter and the camera pans right and reveals a small bed, a cot, really, against the wall. “He would offer this little bed to visitors to stay the night. He would tell them ‘Stay the night, don’t leave this late! The neighbourhood is a bit dangerous. You could get mugged. I will sleep in the other room. I have my hammock.’”

In another corner, under a window, there is a tiny desk with a washed-out green IBM Executive typewriter, a cassette recorder that resembles a portable radio, and a telephone. “On that typewriter he wrote all his documents, his homilies…and he recorded his diary every night on that tape recorder.”

Continue reading Saint Romero: The Violence of Love

Music Video – I Believe

‘I Believe’ is a music video on YouTube, based on one of my songs, that looks at the struggles people have faced for as long as we have been on this earth. It also imagines the positive things that are possible if we can somehow, someday, get it right.

I Believe
I Believe

Please check it out on my YouTube channel.  YouTube-icon-full_color

 

Next month, ‘Romero’– an article on Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador. Hero, martyr, a voice for the voiceless in a time of oppressive government rule.

Dr. Ben Carson — Part II

The Making of a Candidate

Overview

Since announcing his bid to be the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States, Dr. Ben Carson has been at or near the top of the polls.  Despite the success of his campaign thus far, he has actually said very little about his core values, why he’s running for president, in mainstream media interviews. One can only speculate as to why this is the case, but the media coverage that he has received thus far—concentrating on anecdotes that he has mentioned in his books, stories that have occurred over fifty years ago when he was a teenager–has probably played a role in the candidate’s ability to share his core values with a wide audience. In addition, some of his public statements, which some have called controversial, has overshadowed a candid discussion on why he wants to be president.

There is no shortage of information on his key values, however. The numerous books that he has either authored or co-authored provide a window into his beliefs about his country, where it has been, and where it’s going.

A lifelong physician, Dr. Carson has little experience on foreign policy issues, and some would argue that his executive experience—like running a large organization or creating jobs—is rather thin. He cites his experience as head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, a board member of a number of large organizations—including Costco and the Kellogg Company, as well as the president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, [1].  His competitors by contrast have all won statewide office or have run large businesses.

Dr. Carson’s view, by any examination, would be considered conservative, but even so, as recently as April 2, 2014 he was a registered Independent, [2]. He has however voted Republican since 1984 [3].

He is unique among candidates due to his inspirational story of overcoming poverty and racism to become one of the most renowned brain surgeons in the world. That, as well as a very bold Christian faith, has made him one of the most popular presidential candidates, of either party. It’s no surprise then that his personal values are playing a huge role in his campaign thus far. An examination of his books, interviews and speeches reveal several values that are particularly prominent. And these are the issues I will touch on in this paper.

My take on his key issues are the following:

  • The Role of Government
  • Freedom and Liberty
  • Spending and the Debt
  • Health Care
  • Political Correctness
  • Social Values
  • Foreign policy, Defense and Illegal immigration

Continue reading Dr. Ben Carson — Part II

Dr. Ben Carson – Part I

The Making of a World Renowned Neurosurgeon

 

On February 7, 2013, at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton in the U.S. capital, Dr. Ben Carson stood a few feet from the President of the United States, gave the keynote speech, [1]   and stepped into the national spotlight. A little less than two years and three months later,  on  May 4, 2015, at Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Dr.  Carson announced his bid to become the Republican Party’s nominee for the President of the United States. [2].

Since his announcement, Dr. Carson, who has never held political office, has consistently ranked at or near the top in the myriad of political polls, second only to the outspoken billionaire real-estate tycoon, Donald Trump, and way ahead of experienced elected officials like former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, Senator Marco Rubio, and current Ohio governor, John Kasich. What has propelled this unlikely freshman candidate to the top of the polls in the race to become the next President of the United States? Nothing less than a real-life Horatio Alger story of a poor inner-city kid from Detroit and Boston who would one day become one of the most renowned brain surgeons in the world.

As Dr. Ben Carson campaigns to become the Republican nominee for President, his backstory has become increasingly well known. Much has been written and broadcasted about him since his ascendancy to the top of the polls. In this article—which will examine his medical career, and the subsequent article—which will examine his social views—I will attempt to examine the portrait of the man that has emerged from his own pen, from his speeches, and interviews that he has granted. I’m primarily interested in understanding Dr. Carson from his point of view, not from the perspective of a journalist or pundit who may or may not have a built-in bias, or a personal, professional or political agenda.

Abandoned

Continue reading Dr. Ben Carson – Part I

The Screwtape Letters–Part II

In the first part of this article I looked at several basic character traits that Mr. Lewis present as potential obstacles to a successful Christian walk. Traits such as the novelty of a new faith, relationships with family or acquaintances, prayer,  spiritual ‘dryness’,  humility, a sense of separation from God, and even time,  can be used to stunt, and eventually destroy, a person’s Christian faith.

In the second and final part of this piece I’ll primarily look at Mr. Lewis’s examination of close personal relationships, and how they can help or hinder a fruitful Christian life.

To recap the premise and terminology of the novel: It is written as a series of instructional letters by an experienced demon, Screwtape, to his neophyte protégé and  nephew, Wormwood, who is tasked with securing the soul of his ‘patient’, a young man who has recently converted to Christianity. God is referred to as ‘The Enemy’. The Devil is referred to as ‘Our Father’, Hell is ‘Our Father’s house’, and the ‘patient’ is the young man whose soul Wormwood is attempting to secure.

Love and Sex

Screwtape delivers a primer on how marriage, sexuality, and the idea of ‘being in love’ can be used to capture a patient’s soul, thereby destroying his relationship with God.  Continue reading The Screwtape Letters–Part II