Virginia Margaret McWilliams - Gone But Not Forgotten by Steven Skelley

Virginia Margaret McWilliams - Gone But Not Forgotten
Eulogy by Rev. Steven Skelley

One day I walked past a large stone monument. Engraved on the side were the words, "Gone but not forgotten."

Reading that inscription, I thought to myself, "How sad it would be to have lived your life only to be forgotten by those who once knew you."

Or, "How sad it would be to be remembered, but only remembered for all the wrong reasons."

There are some people, though, that don't fit into either of those categories. They may be gone but they are not forgotten. We remember them, not because of some unforgivable wrong but because they did so much right.

Today, we are here to honor one such person. I want to welcome you on behalf of the friends and family of Virginia Margaret McWilliams. Your presence here shows your love and respect for the one we all called Grandma Mac.

I thank you all for coming out to honor and pay your respects, to comfort the family and friends and even to receive comfort knowing that Grandma Mac has left us - - - for now.

The Bible reminds us that life is like a vapor. It is like a wisp of steam that "is" and then quickly evaporates. But - - - this is not the end.

You see, our bodies are temporary but our Spirits (our Souls) are eternal. They are forever.

On November 18, after 81 good years here with us, Grandma Mac passed on from this life. She will be greatly missed by family and friends. We were all bettered because of the time she was allowed to spend with us.

Let us choose to remember the good times.

Virginia Margaret McWilliams raised some of us.

She babysat some of us.

She befriended some of us.

And in my case, she even paddled some of us! I am both amused and honored to know that, in her 81 years, I was the only child this person who didn't believe in spanking ever spanked. It was only once and I was wearing a large, padded diaper at the time, she said. She also said that I definitely deserved it!

Grandma Mac was someone who could make us feel at home even if we weren't at home. I am sure we will all remember that when it was time to leave, if we made the mistake of saying, "Goodbye," she would always correct us and remind us that, "This isn't goodbye. It's just a See-You-Later." And then she would give us her wonderful hugs and kisses.

Virginia Margaret McWilliams is gone.

For now.

But not forever.

We take comfort in knowing that this wasn't the end. It was merely a change of address.

As we leave here today, let us honor Virginia Margaret McWilliams (Grandma Mac) by remembering her words, "This isn't goodbye! It's just another See-You-Later!"

We'll see you later, Grandma Mac.


****Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

MEMORIES OF MY MOM by Steven Skelley

MEMORIES OF MY MOM

by Steven Skelley

My mother’s name was Sherill May McWilliams (Skelley) but I called her Mom.

Mom was very beautiful as a teen and twenty-something. I always thought she looked like Lucille Ball when she was young. She looked like an old-fashioned movie star.

I’ve seen photos of her as a teen wearing a sleeveless, fitted dress blouse, Capri pants and sunglasses. She was young, fit, thin and beautiful.

When I close my eyes and try to picture her as an adult, I remember her wearing pant suits with coordinated slacks and tops or sundresses with floppy movie-star hats and sunglasses.

Mom liked to dye her hair red or light reddish brown. She wore red finger nail polish and lipstick. This made me think of her even more like the young and beautiful Lucille Ball.

If I close my eyes, I can picture Mom right now, about 35 years old on a summer day, wearing a scarf on her head and sunglasses on her eyes, somehow also looking like Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. I can see Mom smile as she looks over Atwood Lake while a breeze ruffles the hair that sticks out under the edges of her scarf.

She had a great smile as well as a slight country accent from growing up in a town named Barnesville.

Mom and Grandma McWilliams (her Mom)

Mom and Grandma Mc (Virginia Margaret McWilliams) were mother and daughter but they were also best pals. They laughed constantly when they were together no matter what they were doing. It was great seeing them having fun together and loving each other so much.

Mom and Grandma Mc were probably the ones most responsible for my love of reading. We would walk from Grandma and Grandpa Mc’s house to downtown Canton. We’d visit the library and the used book store. They’d let me sit and read and get out as many books as I wanted.

We’d continue our downtown walks by window-shopping in the stores like Kresge’s, Woolworth’s and McCrory’s. Sometimes we would have lunch at the store lunch counter.

I have very pleasant memories of those walks, especially at Christmas time when all the city decorations and lights were up, the stores’ front windows were all decorated with shining Christmas trees and enticing gifts, and people were ice skating in the square as Christmas music played in the background.

When we were little, Mom and Grandma Mc liked to take us (Skip, Sherry, Susie and me) to Mother Goose Land. It was a small, themed park at the end of the Canton Park system, not far from the McKinley Monument. The admission was 25 cents if I remember correctly. The entrance looked like a castle.

Mom and Grandma Mc would let us play on the playground and then walk us through the life-sized story-themed prop displays like Wizard of Oz, Ali Babba’s Treasure Cave, Jonah’s Whale, etc. There was also a petting zoo and a set for the Three Little Pigs complete with a wooden wolf, a three pig homes and three live pigs! (Pigs are stinky, by the way )

Sometimes, if there was any spare cash, we each got a marshmallow ice cream cone that probably cost a nickel or dime.

Mom and Grandma would also take us to the McKinley Monument and have us walk the stairs to the top and then turn and enjoy the view. They also let us play and roll down the grassy hillside to the bottom and sled ride there in the winter, ice skate in the frozen pond and warm our hands by the wood fires people made in 50 gallon barrels.

Mom loved visiting Barnesville, Ohio where she was born. She loved visiting relatives there and attending the annual Pumpkin Festival.

Grandma Mc told us that Mom was born on the kitchen table back in the days when doctors made house calls. How things change from one generation to the next!

I don’t remember Mom having a full-time job during most of my childhood but I do seem to remember her working part-time with Grandma McWilliams as a cleaning lady in an office building in downtown Canton, Ohio across from the 200 year old Church of the Savior United Methodist Church (where I would eventually work on-staff as Contemporary Music Director).

Mom and Grandma Mc cleaned the offices in the evenings after the doctors and business people left. I remember Grandma saying she was often stuck by syringe needles when she emptied trash cans. It was before there were controls over medical waste.

One of my funniest memories of Mom and Grandma Mc was when a nightclub opened for women only. It was called the Regal Beagle, if I remember correctly. The club had male exotic dancers like the Chippendales! Women would line up down the sidewalk for a block waiting to get in. One day I was walking to a friend’s house when I saw Mom and Grandma Mc, grinning from ear to ear, right in line with all the other women waiting to see the half-naked male stripper dancers!! Go Mom and Grandma Mc! Good for you!! I love that memory.

Hugs, Music and The Wizard of Oz

Mom was very tactile and very loving. She loved to hug and kiss her children on the cheek. We’d all giggle when she left a big lipstick kiss-mark on our cheeks.

If I sat with her on the sofa or swing, she would hum or sing while she’d gently rub my arm, back or head so softly it almost put me to sleep.

Getting up on the cold, Ohio winter mornings for school, no matter how grumpy I was that morning, Mom always walked me to the door and sent me off to school with her wonderful smile and the words, “Honey (or Stevie)….have a great day.” 

I am sure she knew school wasn’t going to be a lot of fun for poorer kids like us so she tried to start off the day on a positive note. I appreciate that a lot more now than I did then I suppose.

Mom loved listening to music and singing along. She had a record player in the dining room and played records by Elvis and Judy Garland. She also had records of the soundtracks from The Wizard of Oz and West Side Story. Whenever we were in the car, Mom would turn on the AM radio and we would all sing along to the songs together.

Back before there were videos and DVDs, the television broadcasters would air The Wizard of Oz once a year. It was a big deal. Mom always gathered us all together, made inexpensive Chef Boyardee pizza or even less expensive popcorn and we all watched  The Wizard of Oz together. It was great family time.

Mom was poor almost all of her life though there were several better years when Dad was working union wage factory jobs and we could make ends meet and even have some fun.

Mom was hospitalized numerous times and had more than her share of operations. Dad told me that Mom had as many miscarriages as children. I don't know if he was exaggerating. 

Eventually she would be overcome by pain and the hardships of life and she would unsuccessfully attempt suicide. Having had more than a dozen surgeries myself and having suffered decades of pain, I understand how she could become overcome and just want to end the pain. She wasn't weak. 

Mom passed away at age 45 - too young. The coroner did an autopsy and ruled it an accidental overdose of prescription medicines.

Mom was buried in Barnesville, Ohio next to her best pal, her Mom – Grandma Mc.

She deserved a better life than she got.

In spite of it all, she had a great smile, a great hug, and when she was happy, it was infectious.

That’s how I choose to remember her…in those happier times.

She died a year before my daughter Steffany was born. 

Mom would have loved Steffany. They are so much alike with their ability to smile, laugh and reach out to others with love. 

They would have been pals.

I can just imagine all the mischief, love and laughter they would have shared together. I am sorry they never met.

I hope that my daughter and I carry on that same loving spirit that embodied the lives of Mom and Grandma Mc.

I wrote a song that was inspired by my mother and my daughter. It is "Thank You God For Making Moms."

You can see a youtube video of  "Thank You God For Making Moms" at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW0d7JFm-X0

You can purchase a download of  "Thank You God For Making Moms"  at - http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-God-Making-Moms/dp/B0083VCDX0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339539968&sr=8-1&keywords=thank+you+god+for+making+moms

****Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Forever Island review by Steven Skelley

Acclaimed Historical Novel Speaks Of Naples, Integrity And Spirituality
by Steven Skelley

The history of beautiful Naples, FL is a major ingredient in the delightfully emotionally-moving recipe of Patrick D. Smith’s acclaimed novel Forever Island.

Two dear friends recommended the book to me recently and, as I began to read, I was immediately transported back in time to a land of both a forgotten kind of integrity and yet also a seemingly insatiable greed to remove nature from our beautiful state and replace it with development after development and golf course after golf course.

Forever Island is the story of Charlie Jumper, a native American who lives in the Everglades not far from Naples. His wife, Lillie Tiger, makes clothes that are often sold to the white people in Naples. They try to live a simple life in tune with nature, only taking what they need and always trying to give back to their environment as they understand that life and nature work together in the big plan of planet earth.

Each year of Charlie Jumper’s 86 years on earth have seen Florida’s natural beauty reduced and lost forever. For over 60 years, Charlie has hand fed his best friend, Little George, a nearly 20 foot long alligator Charlie saved when it was a baby from being blinded and tortured just for fun by a white tourist.Charlie Jumper and Lillie Tiger try to pass on their love and unity with Florida’s natural beauty and variety to their son and young grandson even as they watch the Florida they know disappear.

At one point a Baptist preacher asks Charlie Jumper if he is a religious man. Charlie’s reply is one we should all consider carefully."I was once a Baptist like you....and the white missionary came to me and told me that the Indian way was all wrong and that if I ever wanted to see the Great Spirit, I would have to become the Baptist and do it the white man’s way. So I became the Baptist. And then another missionary came and he was the Methodist....he told me that the Baptist way was not the right way and if I wanted to see the Great Spirit, I would have to become the Methodist. And then another white missionary came and he was the Presbyterian... he told me that the Methodist way was not the right way and if I wanted to see the Great Spirit, I would have to become the Presbyterian. I said to him that if the white man cannot decide among themselves which is the right way I will become the Indian again and seek the Great Spirit in my own way....and that is what I have done, and I will see the Great Spirit when the time comes."

Later in the book, developers begin to poison the land with arsenic in an effort to rid it of nature’s encyclopedia of wildlife. Charlie Jumper watches friends, both animal and human, suffer and die along with the Florida he has known his entire life.

Forever Island is a classic novel by a Pulitzer Prize nominated Florida author that remembers the Naples and Florida that once was, the kind of integrity that has become so rare, and the kind of child-like simple faith that we all need.

I spent several hours interviewing Patrick D. Smith in his home for the book the best of HOMETOWN HEROES florida. He is an amazing person with some of the most interesting life-stories I have ever heard.

****Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

The Gift Of A Good Example by Steven Skelley

The Gift Of A Good Example
by Steven Skelley

"The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble," said Blaise Pascal.

I just buried my big sister this week. It was just a few months ago that what she thought was a nasty cold was discovered to be cancer.

We buried her body right next to mom and grandma McWilliams on the hillside in an old, country cemetery in a small town in Ohio. Afterward I sat with my brother and sister and nieces and nephews and we went through old photo albums. I began to see the thread of the tapestry of the family and friends and influences that have affected me over the years.

Tennyson once said, "I am a part of all that I have met."

Morell said, "The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example."

We are all affected by, and we all affect those around us. Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes it is not.

What kind of affect did I remember this week? I remembered that no one who spent any amount of time with my sister Sherry could miss that wonderful smile, that goofy sense of humor, that infectious laugh that made everyone else want to laugh also, and that love that she had that was able to look past her own pain and reach out to whoever she was with. There is something very special about someone who can do those things. How many times, even while lying in her hospital bed, did she remove that blasted oxygen mask, fight to catch a breath, and then share some hilarious joke, or an ornery grin, or motion one of us down for a kiss?

There is something very special about the kind of person who can face up to the most devastating circumstances that life can throw at them, circumstances that tempt them to quit, to shrivel up, to become bitter, to give up hope. Many people do give up. Some do not. Some shine from this darkness as examples of what we all should hope to be.

Pascal is right when he says that the entire ocean is affected by even a pebble thrown into it. We have the opportunity in our short time here on planet earth to be a positive influence on those around us, but it takes effort.

Watching my sister reaching out to console others while suffering unimaginably herself taught me more than reading many books could.

This past week, I saw some of the best and worst that people can be and it made me want to work to be a better person.

This next week, let's look at the examples that are everywhere around us. Let's consider the things that influence us and the influence we have on others. Let's imitate the good things and pass them on to someone who can pass them on to someone else. Let's be that pebble tossed into the ocean sending out ripples of goodness to who-knows-where.

This life is our one short chance to make a positive difference in our world.


****Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

The Idiocy Behind SODOMY Laws by Steven Skelley

The Idiocy Behind SODOMY Laws 
by Steven Skelley

Religious fanatics and the right-wing politicians they have purchased have begun proclaiming the need to reinstate sodomy laws. They claim that if LGBTQ citizens are allowed the same basic civil rights as every other American citizen, God's wrath will surely descend upon us because of the acceptance of "sodomizers."

As ridiculous as that claim seems in itself, the story behind the term "sodomy" is even more ridiculous. Let us take a look.

The Old Testament section of the Bible that is so often quoted by religious fanatics contains a Jewish writing commonly called The Book of Genesis. One of the heroes of this section is a man named Lot.

Lot took his wife and daughters and moved to a city named Sodom. This is where the term sodomy will originate.

God is not happy that Lot has relocated to Sodom. Apparently God has a lot of time on his hands and worries about what suburb you move into. God is so unhappy with Lot's choice of neighborhoods that He sends two "angels" to Sodom to speak to Lot. In religious writings, angels usually have wings, or glow like the sun, or appear and disappear at will, or fly. Lot's angels walked into Sodom. Flying and teleporting can be sooooo tiresome, apparently.

Lot noticed that the angels had dirty feet from walking and invited them into his home to wash their feet. He also fed them a nice meal. Angels get awfully hungry when they walk instead of teleporting, after all.

Here's where the "sodomy" stuff really begins!

According to Genesis, "Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom —both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'”

Lot certainly doesn't want his full bellied, dirty-footed angels involved in a gay orgy so he comes up with a "creative" solution. Lot says, "If you let my angel buddies alone, I'll let you rape my daughters!"

I am not joking.

Here is the script from Genesis, "Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” Also notice - Lot identifies his guests as MEN not angels.

Am I the only one who sees a problem with old Lot protecting his non-flying, supposed angel buds while offering up his virgin daughters for gang rape? He hardly sounds heroic to me. The story goes on to say that the angels attacked the would-be gang rapists and Lot and his family ran from Sodom. Unfortunately not everyone survived. Lot's wife had second thoughts about leaving their home - so God turned her into a giant pile of salt!

Really? God was cool with Lot offering up his virgin daughters to gang rape but turns Lot's wife into a tasty food seasoning just for glancing back at their home?

Is the ridiculousness beginning to sink in yet? Does this sound to you like a story made up by Lot to justify the disappearance of his wife and the incest with his daughters? (Yes, incest is entering the story very soon).

Back to Sodom - God is so mad that the two dirty-footed, walking, angel-men were threatened by gay, gang rapists that he sends "fire-rain" to destroy Sodom. That fire-rain can be a bitch. Happens all the time. Apparently, the offer of a father to have his virgin daughters gang raped is not something you send fire-rain down for. That - apparently - is cool with God.

Sodom is destroyed (allegedly) and the term sodomy is forever tied to those gay, would-be, angel-men  rapists.

Believe it or not, things get even grosser. Lot's daughters get him drunk and take turns sleeping with him over and over again over a period of days until they get pregnant BY THEIR OWN FATHER!

So, Lot's story is that a) We had to move because the whole town was full of gay gang-rapists that wouldn't rape my virgin daughters even after I offered them to be raped freely b) God killed my wife and that means that I can't be blamed for her disappearance c) I impregnated BOTH of my virgin daughters but it was their fault for getting me drunk first.

Had Lot spewed this stupidity in ANY courtroom anywhere, the jury would find him guilty of murdering his wife and incest with his daughters in about two minutes.

For centuries, religious fanatics have used the term sodomy to describe sex between consenting adults of the same gender.

In many instances, they have been able to harass LGBTQ citizens by producing laws that make it illegal to have sex between two consenting adults. Republican presidential candidates and running mates have all called for these laws.

Some religious and political zealots have even called for the death penalty for law abiding American citizens who love people of the same gender.

Isn't it difficult to believe that people actually kill LGBTQ citizens over foolishness like a story about the dirty-footed, walking angel-men, a woman turned to salt, the father-approved offer to gang-rape his virgin daughters, and the incestuous father who impregnated his own daughters?

Isn't it ridiculous that what the religious fanatics get from this unbelievable story told by Lot is that the allegedly gay citizens of Sodom are the evil ones? Wow!!!!! Now you know the idiocy behind the term sodomy and sodomy laws.

Perhaps if we treated religious texts as windows into history instead of magic spell books we would find real truths. Perhaps these religious stories reveal both people who had spiritual victories as well as people who had spiritual failures. Perhaps Lot's story is one about how gullible patriarchal society can be to simply believe the story of a man whose wife disappeared mysteriously and who impregnated both of his own daughters. Perhaps it is also to show us the idiocy of bigotry toward LGBTQ people.

(Here are the actual Genesis Bible passages. Read it for yourself.)

Genesis 19
New International Version (NIV)
Sodom and Gomorrah

19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom —both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[a] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city! ” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished. ”

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[b] please! 19 Your[c] servant has found favor in your[d] eyes, and you[e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[f] )

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah —from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.


**Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

American Family Association Calls For Underground Railroad To Kidnap Children Of Gay Parents

Disgusting!

THE AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION (one of the hate groups the Chik Fil A owner has admitted donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to) has tweeted that we need "an Underground Railroad to deliver innocent children from same-sex households."

AFA's Bryan Fischer went on to say he supported KIDNAPPING children of gay parents to save them.

You want to know why Chik Fil A's owner disgusts me? Because he financially supports bullshit like this.

If he had said, "I gave several hundred thousand dollars to an organization that supports the kidnap and rescue of African American children from their parents," the whole country would be outraged. Because he targets LGBT American citizens instead of African Americans or Latinos, he is supported - by fools.

Calling the man a Christian is an insult to Christianity. He belongs in the same category as Westboro Baptist Church.

And - just for the record - if anyone had tried "kidnapping and rescuing" my child from me, it would have been the last thing they'd ever done on planet earth.

Sincerely,

Steven Skelley

**http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/bryan-fischer-underground-railroad-gay-parents-kidnapping-_n_1757378.html

**http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2012/08/09/bryan-fischer-advocates-underground-railroad-abduct-children-same-sex

**http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/fischer-we-need-an-underground-railroad-to-abduct-children-from-gays/discrimination/2012/08/08/45849

**http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/08/08/655951/bryan-fischer-children-of-same-sex-couples-must-be-saved-through-underground-railroad-kidnapping/



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Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Why do Christians lie? by Steven Skelley

Why do Christians lie? Isn't telling the truth one of the foundational principles of Christianity?

I ran across this publication by the UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE - http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/1181

The news article praises a Methodist seminary student / minister-in-training named Disney Weaver. (He claims his parents conceived him at Disney World - hence the catchy name).

Rev.-to-be Disney claims he created a youth fitness center by utilizing unused church facilities. He claims he sought donations of equipment for youth to use in a safe environment.

Unfortunately, for Disney, I know the truth.

Disney had NOTHING to do with the creation of the fitness center or youth outreach.  It had been created two years before Disney was even hired at Community Methodist Church in Belle Glade, Florida.

How do I know this? It's quite simple - Belle Glade area youth and I  created the youth outreach fitness center in unused church rooms in 2000 when I was on staff there after the church relocated my family to Belle Glade from Ohio.

A number of quality young people from Belle Glade raised funds and donations not only for fitness equipment, but also for a professional billiard table that they helped me carry to the second floor and install. Kevin Hale donated his own heavy bag (boxing equipment).

The youth involved in ACTUALLY creating the youth center but never given the credit that was instead unfairly bestowed on "Disney" include Harvard Law Graduate Matthew Sanchez, Stanford University Graduate Nick Sanchez, University of Florida Graduate Justin Gilmer, the late Fenton Hollingsworth, Published Author Steffany Skelley, Gulf Coast University Graduate Justin Miller and Kevin Hale.

I made several attempts to request that the United Methodist News Service print a retraction and correction for their article which is in complete error and is disrespectful to the people who actually DID create the youth center. They never returned my emails.

Here is the article they published-


Church connects with neighborhood youth through fitness center
http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/1181

1/18/2006

e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service
        
Church connects with neighborhood youth through fitness center

Jan. 18, 2006    News media contact: Tita Parham*  
800-282-8011   tparham@flumc.org    Orlando {0429}

An e-Review Feature
By John M. De Marco**

In neighborhoods all across the county there are kids who have the opportunity to immerse themselves in after-school activities, like sports, and there are those with no place to go once school gets out.

It's no different in the western Palm Beach County community of Belle Grade, but one neighborhood church is striving to catch the latter group of youth before they fall through the cracks.


BELLE GLADE — Youth who live in the neigborhood around Community United Methodist Church here work out at the church's fitness and game room center. Photo by Disney Weaver, Photo #06-297.
Members of Community United Methodist Church recognized the need for youth in Belle Glade to experience more physical exercise, discipleship and Christian fellowship, so they launched a fitness and game room that's open three times each week. The goal is to provide an opportunity for fellowship and recreation and to foster mentoring relationships between the church's adults and the neighborhood's youth.

"We've had the fortunate situation of having donations of some significant weight equipment and game room equipment," said Disney Weaver, the church's full-time youth and young adult coordinator. "We had the facility and were always raising the question, 'How do we utilize it in the most effective way?' In Belle Glade, there's boys and girls clubs, school activities, sports, but there is a gap when it comes to everyone having a positive, safe, drug-free environment."

Through the church's Hispanic ministry, some teenagers and adults had already begun to regularly use the cardiovascular and strength training equipment at different times throughout the day.

"We just began to explore the opportunity of designing an outreach ministry or program utilizing the facility we have," Weaver said. "We developed an idea of an after-school activity, opening up the church for teenagers to come and be here and have a safe place for recreation, as well as a place to be nurtured."

Weaver says they dream of mentoring the youth and establishing relationships with the neighborhood, "with those right around our church."

About 25 to 30 different youth gather at the church in the afternoons during the school year, with about 10 to 15 visiting every weekday. A devotional each Wednesday at 5 p.m. leads to a discussion of a current issue facing the diverse Belle Glade community. The church also has a Sunday evening youth group fellowship that was sparsely attended before the after-school activities began.

Residents around the church are primarily African-American, British West Indian, Haitian, Jamaican and a variety of other ethnic groups. Weaver said the Wednesday devotional time helps him and the ministry volunteers get to know some of the backgrounds of the youth.

"Many of the youth we encounter have a connection to another church, whether Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, non-denominational or whatever. We seek to be ecumenical in our approach and not proselytize, but facilitate. We communicate to them that there is a spiritual component to healthy living, to being a whole person," he said.

Weaver said the church has also provided computer and Internet access, encouraging youth to download sermons or listen to Christian podcasts.

Support for the program from the congregation has been mixed. Weaver said some members have donated exercise equipment they no longer use and provided positive feedback. Others have expressed resistance, asking, "Do we really think they would fit into this church or become members here?"

"I tell them, 'If we are hospitable and welcoming to them, that's a possibility.' " he said. "I'm not going to shortchange what God could do in this scenario. I expect that we're going to get some different comments, and I just try to meet them with an informative defense."

Weaver says the church built an educational wing as a response to integration in the 1960s with the goal of making it a private school. "I'm very proud to say that it is being used in an integrated manner and is a place that is multicultural," he said. "It's not just for our own people. We're establishing a rapport with a younger generation that we hadn't been effectively reaching through our worship or even our traditional Christian education."

Every Monday an intercessory prayer group of adult members meets at the church. Weaver has taken some of the youths' prayer concerns to that gathering. When he does, he lets the youth know others in the church are praying for them.

"It's a way to build a bridge to some of the people who may be the most reluctant (to support the after-school ministry)," he says.

Weaver said he is motivated by the interaction with the youth and the opportunity to get to know them. One youth expressed an interest in going to college, and through Weaver's mentoring he has enrolled in classes — an event that stands out in a neighborhood where only 9 percent of the population has a college education.

"That's an encouraging thing," Weaver said.

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This article relates to Health and Wholeness and Outreach.

*Parham is managing editor of e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service.
**De Marco is a commissioned minister of the Florida Conference and a freelance writer, speaker and consultant

****Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.