Sterling Griggs

This election season is turning out to be a doozy, isn't it? I make it a habit to not write or post about politics in a way that is confrontational or leaning towards the endorsement of a particular candidate, and this will be no different. Most people that I know and speak with are frustrated, and with good reason. Not once in my 46 years here on earth have I seen such an electorate so divided yet also so hesitant to cast a vote. Many of my pastor buddies have turned to social media to express their views and distribute their advice and wisdom to those who would receive it. Honestly, I have more often been disappointed by what I have read than encouraged. It's very apparent that my evangelical friends are taking stances against both presidential candidates, and in doing so they are inviting some pretty ridiculous feedback from their parishioners who feel the need to comment while offering no real direction for them to take. When that happens, things just get down right sill...

In 1986 The Beasie Boys released their blockbuster album License to Ill and immediately the track (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party)! became an unofficial anthem for the '80s generation. As a produce of that decade, these words summed up how I felt about life in general. I was all wrapped up in the things that I not only wanted to do, but that I was convinced that I had a RIGHT to do. Fast forward to today and that attitude still prevails, and we don't even need a theme song to go along with it. Everywhere you turn people are getting bent out of shape because someone somewhere is either denying them what they believe to be their rights or prohibiting them from expressing them at all. In the 1960's when the Civil Rights movement was at it's height, the fight for the rights of minorities was noble and good. Not that racism and prejudice against others went away back then - sadly, those ills will always be with us - but the mechanism for addressing them wa...

Growing up, I played the card game Rook all the time with my friends. We had regular get togethers at our homes on weekends to play and whenever we went off to summer camp we would play late into the night by flashlight. The best part about Rook was that you were able to "trump" other cards in the game. Whatever color was called trump, that color was king and it beat the other cards on the table. And if you had the actual Rook card, you essentially ruled the Rook world for that hand. Your trump card could beat the others, even if it was lower in number. In today's world, specifically in America, it seems as if everyone is looking for their own trump card that will allow them to have things their own way. We want to express ourselves however we want regardless of the consequences. And many people will step up to affirm your personal trump card even if they don't make the same life decisions that you have chosen to make. Helping others and being tolerant has the capa...

Yesterday we as Americans observed and celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who, if he was still alive today, would have turned 84 on January 15. The kids were out of school and my six year-old son in particular was full of questions about who Dr. King was and what he did. When I was a student at Wake Forest University from 1988-1992, I took a few courses in racial and ethnic studies, including a course specifically on the Civil Rights Movement. These classes were filled with the history and stories of men like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and other Civil Rights visionaries who struggled for racial equality that, today, seems like a no brainer to most. Yet as my son asked me questions I realized that I didn't really think all that much about the struggles that occurred among my black brothers and sisters during the 1950's and 1960's (and yes, I know that race issues are still alive and well today, but that period is the epicenter of the movement and the change...