Guilt by Association

This blog is prompted by the comments made to Barak Obama about his continued associations with his pastor and several acquaintances of his who are radical. I have thought alot about this and my friend Kathy encouraged me to write about it on my blog. Guilt by association is a strange concept. I have served on Boards and committees over the years with people who are obnoxious and some definitely over the top with their views (some overtly racist and/or sexist). What the media is telling Obama is to remove himself from the Board or insist the outspoken one be removed. So does this mean we only agree to sit around the table with only like-minded people? Does this mean that Obama should only associate with non-controversial people? What about the strength we get from hearing other viewpoints and finding common ground? What about the richness in differences to challenge our beliefs? I think the diverse table brings more rich outcomes because of the work it takes to come together. When I sit around the table with others who think like me -- we certainly have a good time and can relax and pat ourselves on the back for thinking in the "right way". But at a Board/Committee level isn't the struggle to come together a more valuable way to build community?

My first posting

Tonight I am posting my first entry in my blog. My name is Carol meaning the song of joy which is how I arrived at my title: My Song of Joy. Singing is something I am doing in my life, mostly at church every Sunday. I am taking voice lessons and learning my boundaries are higher than I ever expected. I even sang "The Old Rugged Cross" at a funeral last week. It was quite an enriching experience for me.

I will update this blog regularly with other topics/opinions and reflections.