The Only Answer to Despair

Judy Hogan and Sheila Crump,  two of the leaders of the Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump at the Gospel Sing in Moncure, Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, January 2016.  

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Can Flowers Change Your Life? XI.  February 28, 2016

Every so often I ask myself: how am I doing?
Where am I on this path that now has so
many calls to answer?  I keep walking.  I
hear despair in other voices, some cynical,
others frightened.  I tell them to keep walking.
Believe in justice.  Let your hope outlast
your fears.  Each new task adds time, but
I share them, saying, “If we work, we think
less of our fears.  Without our belief, we
will fail.  Can truth-telling and simplicity
of heart win again?  It’s the only thing
that can.  Without my own call I myself
might stumble.  With it I keep striding 
forward.  I know that others walk with me,
trust me, and that is all I need to know.
My path and keeping to it is the only
answer to despair.  Trust that deeply placed 
call. Will to be myself, and keep walking.

Someone didn't like this sign Martha Girolami made, and vandalized it, but it expresses our Moncure Community's feelings about what Duke Energy, with the cooperation of the state government, is doing to us, shipping by truck and rail 12 millions of coal ash. Winter 2015-16