State Vs. Religion

I have no clue what happened to Pam's picture, but I have done this post three times and I am not doing it again. So the little bitty picture is Pam. It was beautiful. For some reason it came out like a thumb nail picture every time. Oh well. It's my blog so that must be why my picture is the biggest! The picture on the left is Joan. We all hung out together and had a great time. We have started Instant Messaging and Pam and I have even talked on the WebCam, so we will get Joan started and then we can pick up where we left off.

I can remember when each and every one of my kids graduated from high school. I can remember when they graduated from technical school and from college. I was very proud of them, however, I got kind of a strange little feeling in my stomach. I felt like they looked at me differently. I think that was pretty much my imagination, but that’s how I felt. You see I didn’t go to college, just one semester, because that’s all I could afford.
I lived in Iowa when I graduated from high school. It was a two day affair. We had a religious service called baccalaureate. There was even a prayer before and after our commencement exercises. In my estimation they have separated church and state to the point where the young people of today have to go to a place of worship like a church or synagogue to experience any type of familiarity with religion if there is none at home. If that’s the case, I don’t think in most cases it will happen.
I found this in our local newspaper and thought “How appro pro. “They walked in tandem, each of the 93 students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps. They looked almost as grown up as they felt.
Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles and moms freely brushed away the tears. This class would not pray during the commencements not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.
The speeches were nice, but they were routine until the final speech received a standing ovation. A salutatory student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then he delivered his speech. An astounding---SNEEZE. The rest of the students rose immediately to their feet, and in unison said, “God bless you.”
The audience exploded into applause.
The graduating class found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval. (Author Unknown)
I want you to see my friends that I now called the Golden Girls and my children, Melanie, Joe, and Mike. My kids’ dad was really proud of our children, there was only one brother I believe, that graduated from high school and went on to college out of twelve brothers and sisters. Besides being proud there was always a lot of food and liquid libation! I stuck a picture of my mother in her graduation nursing uniform when she actually graduated from nurses’ training. I have always loved this picture, and I am so happy I can share it with you.