Unveiled faces

Farewell My Captain

The above link shows a clip from Dead Poets Society, one of many films made by Robin Williams.
I came home today to be surprised by the news of his death, what a weird range of emotions this news has sparked.

I remember in 7th grade Texas History class, mimicking Robin and some of his comedy when the teacher would leave the room. One of my favorites was his portrayal of Mr Rogers.

I remember hanging with my cousins Martha and Raymond every visit watching Robin's comedy on VHS.

I remember seeing Good Morning Vietnam in Lubbock while at Tech and walking away amazed at the talent on such vivid display.

Seeing Robin Williams act wether serious roles, or comedic, performing standup, or reruns of Mork and Mindy, staying up late to watch him crack up Johnny Carson, or hoping to meet him the year I toured with A Tuna Christmas. I was inspired.

I carried a list of questions to ask Mr. Williams in case our paths crossed. It was following Mrs. Doubtfire, a movie that I re…

Society today seems to be fractured and polarizing. The culture that we live in, the television and movies we watch, politics, sports, all boil down to categories into which we place others. Even in church this is difficult to escape, progressive vs conservative, traditional vs liberal, young vs old...the damage we do to others in this labeling and sectioning has been discussed some this week, so what bout the damage to ourselves when we label others?

To decide to place others in a category, or to apply a label to someone may very well be the actual application of the old children's argument "I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you." Each time I label others, I am placing a label on myself.

One of the things that is frustrating about today's social climate is the lack of true debate. To simply place a label on another person, and therefore assume that I know their argument blocks any chance of honest give and take discus…