From the pages of Crossroads, written by Edgar T. Chrisemer and published in 1962 by Bruce Humphries of Boston, MA, comes this inspiring story:

Many years ago one of the large eagles in Scotland snatched from the front of a small cottage a sleeping baby wrapped in light clothing. Several people witnessed the event, and quickly the whole village turned out, trying to catch the eagle as it flew away with the baby. However, eagles fly and people don't, so the eagle landed on a lofty crag. Most of the people from the village lost all hope for the child's life. However, some of the villagers were determined to exhaust every possible avenue and make the effort to save the baby before conceding what appeared to be the inevitable.

First, a sailor who was between trips tried to climb the high crag. But after a time he reached an impasse, accepted defeat, and abandoned the effort. Next, a rugged, experienced highlander who was accustomed to mountain climbing also tried. Although he got closer to the baby, he, too, could not quite make it, so he turned back in failure.

A frail peasant woman stood silently by while all of this was going on. Then she indicated that she was going to try. No one said anything, but it was obvious that everyone was thinking if a healthy, young sailor and a rugged highlander had failed to scale the heights, what chance did this frail woman have? She removed her shoes and started putting her bare feet first on one shelf of the cliff, then another, and another until she rose to the level of the child. She lifted the baby from the eagle's nest while the villagers waiting below watched anxiously and fearfully.

The descent was even more difficult than the climb because one wrong step would now result in the death of two people. Carrying the infant added to the difficulty. But slowly, step by step, the woman descended the side of the mountain. Once she hit the bottom the amazed villagers welcomed her. She was able to succeed while others failed because she had a different kind of motivation. She was the mother of the child. Her love enabled her to scale heights the others could only dream about.

To say this woman had a vested interest and a heart filled with love for the child would be an understatement, but those were motivation factors in her life. I'm confident the sailor and the highlander desperately wanted to save the child, but for the mother it was a question of the life of the baby she loved with all her heart.

That's real motivation.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of us had that same motivation, not just for our own family, but for all society? I encourage you to remember that God has a vested interest in each of us. If that thought were to saturate our minds, wouldn't we also have a vested interest in those we as government officials, represent? Shouldn't we take more interest in those we serve? Do you ever wonder just what we would be capable of doing and how much better our city would be if all of us showed genuine care and concern for those that reside here?

Responsibility and commitment enable us to do things well. Love for all empowers us to do them beautifully.

The Jackson City Council met yesterday and it appears I don't see things the way the other council member see it. Only Randy Wallace joined me in voting to table the motion for Madison Central Partners for thirty days. This would have allowed the property to be listed for sale as a redevelopment property and open to the public. Some will construe this as a some problem between John Allen and I which would be unfair and untrue. The problem lies in how the city doles out to its favorites. It still appears that a free market does not exist within the city.

Again I am the lone vote on a variety of measures.

The council also voted on allowing me to question a particular 2nd reading of an ordinance. This was a mistake due to a misunderstanding of the motion. Mayor Gist was feeling a little under the weather, as was I, misheard my request thinking it was a motion to accept the proposal.

It goes to show "It makes no difference who has the biggest gun, the one that can get to his gun first wins"! Reporting on the sister worried about her Drug Dealing Brother is another low point for the the Jackson Sun.

Tennessee State Rep. Chris Crider held off three other candidates to win the Milan Mayor's position. According to the Jackson Sun he will hold both positions.

In a defeat for embryonic stem cell research proponents, New Jersey voters rejected a ballot measure Tuesday that would have forced taxpayers to spend $450 million on the destructive research.

Pro-life groups campaigned against the proposal because it would also have funded human cloning experiments. Residents of the northeastern state defeated Public Question # 2 with 53 percent of the vote coming in against it.

Marie Tasy, the head of New Jersey Right to Life stated the result is a major defeat for Governor Jon Corzine, who personally campaigned for this Question and contributed $200,000 to a shadow group which ran radio ads and made phone calls featuring Michael J. Fox.

The pro-life group challenged the ballot referendum in court for its deceptive nature and ran radio ads featuring Police Detective Steven McDonald who was shot in the line of duty.

"Today's vote is a victory for New Jersey citizens," Tasy said. "This was an ill-conceived plan from the beginning. In the end, the people recognized that this $450 Million Boondoggle was politics masquerading as science and soundly rejected it," she said.

Voters in Kentucky booted their governor out of office. Gov Ernie Fletcher was plagued by a hiring scandal while in office and was defeated Tuesday night while Mississippi voters cast ballots in favor of keeping Gov. Haley Barbour in office.

Fletcher lost the gubernatorial race to former attorney general and lieutenant governor Steve Beshear. The Democrat received about 60 percent of the votes while the Republican Fletcher received 40 percent.

News from the non media sources.

I heard from Congressman Ron Paul that the campaign raised Monday a record $4.2 million dollars. And unlike the fatcat operations of the opposition, the average contribution from 36,672 donors was $103.

Sam Brownback, a Kansas conservative and favorite of evangelical Christians, will endorse his former Republican presidential rival John McCain, GOP officials said Wednesday.

Something you might find interesting. This gives me a rush just watching.

Thanks to Bill Thomas for sending this.

An HIV-positive paratrooper has pleaded guilty to assault for knowingly having unprotected sex with a teenager he met online.

Pfc. Johnny Lamar Dalton, 25, who is a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, entered his plea during a court-martial at Fort Bragg.

A military judge sentenced Dalton to 40 months in prison. The sentence also included a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge.

Dalton was ordered last November not to have unprotected sex after he was found to have HIV. State law also prohibits a person infected with HIV from having sex unless condoms are used and sexual partners are notified.

Doctors discovered the 17-year-old who Dalton met up with via the Internet had HIV during a routine blood test, and the teen's mother notified the military.

May God Bless and  Keep You This Day Till Tomorrow