Is My Salute Clear?

Salute:

It's one of the most iconic, not to mention ironic, pictures of modern history.  Eighty years ago Jesse Owens, American track athlete, competed with distinction in Berlin, Germany.  The Nazis, under the leadership of Adolph Hitler had already begun their persecution of Jews, Roma, and other "undesirables."    According to Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority Jesse Owens shouldn't have won, but he did.   That is not to say that the problems of wrong racial views only existed on the other side of the Atlantic.  When Owens returned to the USA, though a hero, he still found it impossible to use many "Whites Only" facilities.  Though he had taken his place on the top of the medal podium he could not take a seat in the front of the bus.  The fact that he had risen to the top of his athletic discipline, did not keep him from being forced to travel up on the freight elevator, rather than out front with the White folk. When you consider the pressure in Berlin, and the lack of support back home, Owens' demeanor on the medal stand is remarkable.  It is rightly dubbed "The Salute Heard Around the World." I'll never have the opportunity to stand on an Olympic podium, but every day I am watched.  What my life says about my Lord is always important.  Is my salute clear?  (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10)  It's STTA.

Dedication:

Something To Think About, Dedication:

I know a guy who literally wore the paint off of his car by polishing it on a weekly basis.  A lady I knew thought she was having a heart attack.  She immediately flew into cleaning her house so that if she died--a good probability--those who came to her home to visit wouldn't think she was a bad housekeeper. DEDICATION! Here is a question that only seems random:  We know what ambivalence is.  Maybe you don't care.  If someone is very ambivalent does that really mean they are less ambivalent?   I'll let you sort that out.  It is clear that it is possible to be dedicated to almost anything, even nothing. Something will fill your life. The Apostle Paul asked with incredulity,   “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Romans 6:16, NASB95) If I say, "I can't get out of bed?"  What is my master. When I claim an inability to stop (you fill in the blank), am I not saying that that particular habit is my master? Most folk are dedicated to something.  For far too many that to which they are dedicated is essentially nothing.  It seems, though, that what their "master" lacks in substance, they make up for with fervor of devotion. OK, make a jump with me.  This is Veteran's Day.  From Valley Forge to Afghanistan it would be hard to find a group that is a better example of dedication to something worthy of one's allegiance than those who have served their nation--often in harms way.  As you go about your business today you'll see American flags on display.  When you see one, give thanks for those whose dedication to a worthy cause gave us the freedom we enjoy.  If you see a serviceman/woman, thank them.  But then go on and ask yourself, "To what am I dedicated?" It's Something To Think About.