Young Author - Daniel Strom

Young Authors - Daniel

This weekend was the state-wide conference for young authors, a program encouraging school age children to write. My five-year-old son, Daniel, was chosen to represent his school with his book, "Animals all around the World." He was able to meet an author of children’s books and get his autograph and meet other children from around the state chosen by their schools. One of my favorite books was written by a second grade girl entitled, "A manual on how to irritate my big sister."

The most valuable player. One of the prevailing issues of injustice is an idea of unfairness. In most competitions this is readily seen. A child fiercely competes in an athletic event to be the most valuable player. The harder this person competes the better. This is true of adults as well. Not only in sports but at work, home, and everywhere else we compete over limited resources. In the workplace we fight to get ahead and it doesn’t matter what happens to others along the way as long as we are making a profit.

Pursuing a little profit. We so often measure ourselves by what position we hold, what income we earn and what possessions we own. Those not measuring up are cast aside and they often feel cheated. Life has cheated them. It’s not fair. While many excellent laws have been drafted to address some of these inequities, there is a fundamental flaw that is never addressed. In all these pursuits, we forget God. God never promised the best job, the newest toys, a powerful position or comfort. Instead of looking at what we don’t have, we should be thankful for what we do have. Instead of always competing we should be looking for ways to come alongside others to help them.

Pursuing a little prophet. This weekend reminded me of this fundamental truth. Daniel had accomplished something significant but instead of pointing to himself and gloating over how great he was, he congratulated others in his group and told them what a great job they had done. He encouraged his brother in his strengths instead of doing what most of us would do and rub it in that he had won and his brother had not. Instead of writing a manual on how to irritate his brother he wrote an information book on animals around the world so that we could learn more about how to care for animals and all of God’s creation. My little Daniel is well on his way to pursuing a little prophet. His namesake was an Old Testament prophet who understood these truths. A young man of noble birth whose world was shattered when his parents were likely killed and he was carted away to Babylon, he could have been very bitter. And yet our first glimpse of this boy is a great example of not competing but looking for ways to cooperate with his captor and remain true to his God in devising a plan over his diet. And Daniel included his three friends in this plan and encouraged them to such a degree that they could stand respectfully opposed to the King when he wanted them to bow to an idol. Even a fiery furnace could not shake their faith.

The most valuable prayer. The life of Daniel is characterized by prayer. We do not see him competing to get to the top and yet God puts him there and he serves as prime minister in the greatest kingdom of the day. He was able to influence several kings who listened to Daniel because of his wisdom which came from prayer and a deep understanding of the word. For this reason Daniel is specially chosen to meet the angel Gabriel and see visions of the future. For this reason even while in his 80's Daniel could sit in a den of lions and praise God. Even when our adversary described by Peter as a "roaring lion" seeks to devour us we do not need to be discouraged. The God who protected Daniel from the lions will protect us as well. However, if we want to face life’s challenges with the confidence of Daniel then we need to follow the example of that young author who steadfastly pursued the things of God and not the things of the world. If you want to read a great book read Daniel. My own young author helps to remind me of the truth discovered in Daniel daily. Thank you both Daniels.

Daniel and Joseph at the Young Author's Conference.

God Shed His Grace on Thee

May 5 is officially the National Day of Prayer - a day to pray for our nation and for it's leaders.

History. Our nation has a long and distinguished history of prayer. From Washington's legendary prayer at Valley Forge to Lincoln's constant seeking of the Divine through the Civil War, our leaders have sought guidance and direction through prayer. In fact it was Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed the first national day of fasting on March 30, 1863.

For some reason fasting didn't catch on and it wasn't until 1952 that we would have a national day of prayer of the President's choosing. This was of course during the height of Soviet power and the threat of Communism. It was President Reagan in 1988 who made permanent a National Day of Prayer in May. As he stated, "On our National Day of Prayer, then, we join together as people of many faiths to petition God to show us His mercy and His love, to heal our weariness and uphold our hope, that we might live ever mindful of His justice and thankful for His blessing."

Heritage. This year's theme is 'God shed His Grace on Thee'. These words come from one of the most beloved poems set to music in our history and express the rich heritage of our nation. America the Beautiful was written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates as she gazed out across the vast beauty of America from the top of Pike's Peak Colorado. When I was about nine my family went to Denver and took a memorable trip up Pike's Peak. It was in the 80's and clear when we left but many slow hairpin turns later we found ourselves in a terrible blizzard. It took a great deal of painfully quiet self-control to make our way back down the mountain. We are all familiar with the first stanza of America the Beautiful with the purple waves of grain but many of us don't remember the second stanza that was more my experience with Pike's Peak: "America! America!God mend thine every flaw,Confirm thy soul in self-control,Thy liberty in law!"

Hardship. I love America, but we do have flaws. As individuals we frequently lack self-control and lose our way in a blizzard of greed and selfishness. Our liberty in law has been made a license to promote tolerance while at the same time expressing intolerance toward religion. Sadly it was just a couple of years ago that the Village of Oak Park had to battle through the federal court system twice to win the right to have a generic day of prayer. The invocation of a Divine on public property was too extreme to be allowed. We see in the press the extreme fringes of religious zealouts who are touted as being representative of all religion and religion has begun to be marginalized and pushed to the side of the open marketplace of ideas.

Hope. While it saddens me to see our courts slowly twist "Thy liberty in law" and to see our congressman filibuster conservative court appointments to the bench, I draw my hope from a firmness in the right, as a Sovereign God gives us to see the right. I draw encouragement from the American People who time and time again will rally to care for the widow and orphan. Administer Justice exists for this purpose and we have a great privilege to serve with over 150 volunteers who are making a difference in lives of individuals in need. Our concept of liberty is not a license to do what we please, but of a Lady standing with an arm holding a light for all to see proclaiming: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." And so our prayer is joined with the prayer of a great man of faith whose library was dedicated this past week. It was Abraham Lincoln in his famous second inaugral address who exclaimed:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Law Day

All around the nation we celebrate "Law Day" on the first day of May. The American Bar Association this year as part of Law Day chose to celebrate the American Jury System. In Illinois the Illinois State Bar Association and many local bar associations hosted their annual phone-a-lawyer. During Law Day, anyone can call and ask an attorney for advice on several subjects including family, consumer issues, employment matters, social security, housing and other civil matters.

Law Day's History: Law Day began in 1958 to celebrate our nation's rule of law as opposed to the Soviet Union's rule of force. The threat of communism was at its height and Charles Rhyne, the president of the American Bar Association, wanted to contrast our rich constitutional heritage with the May day parade of new weapons touted by the Soviets.

Law Day's Hurdle: Law Day was the right idea at the right time, but it had one problem: it was created by lawyers. "What do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?" "A good start!" Well public opinion wasn't any better in the 50's. President Eisenhower's chief of staff - Sherman Adams - told Mr. Rhyne "the President will not sign a proclomation praising lawyers!" So Mr. Rhyne took the proclamation directly to Eisenhower who recognized the proclamation was not about lawyers but about the importance of the rule of law and he signed it.

Law Day's Heritage: The typical Law Day observance over the years has had less to do with substituting an international rule of law for military force, and more to do with providing wills for seniors and legal representation for low income tenants facing eviction. In the word's of Law Day's founder, "These are laudable pro bono activities—ones in which lawyers should be engaged more than once a year." The current goals of Law Day are not so different than the original goals. Equal access to justice for all citizens is the noblest foundation for democracy. The pillar of communism crumbled because ordinary citizens demanded justice. George Washington was aware of this when he proclaimed: "The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government."

Law Day's Horizon: Law Day is an excellent reminder of the need to help the weakest and least powerful of our citizens. Our nation's future strength will be measured not by might but by right! A recent study on the needs of low income Illinoisans demonstrates we have a long way to go toward making equal access to justice a reality for all. The need for organizations like Administer Justice has never been greater and all our citizens should join together in supporting the efforts of such organizations which labor tirelessly and often in relative obscurity to make our nation great by intervening on behalf of those who are most in need!

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