NOT AN INTERNET HOAX

I was asked by a colleague at the law school if I was sure that my Fulbright was not an internet hoax.  I  thought he was joking and laughed along with him until he said, "No, I'm serious." 
I thought back over 30 years to the countless hours that I spent studying for law school, passing the bar, becoming a prosecutor, then a judge, and now a law professor...I relived the more recent tale of the Fulbright proposal that I almost did not submit and said, "Thank you for your concern."

Those of you who know me know that I felt a lot more that those five words revealed.  As I look at the splendor of a country and continent that I had only dreamed of seeing and as I experience the fortune of a lifetime, I smile...

If we can truly humble ourselves to work hard and dream big things happen...sometimes bad, sometimes good, but always there to remind us we are only human.

Each morning l leave the place where I live and ride through pockets of abundance and poverty and see faces that make me realize: 


"Wings Of Forgiveness"



Had to go
Across the water
Just to find
What was here in my heart all along
Spend so much time
Trying to be right
That I was dead wrong

If Nelson Mandela can forgive his oppressors
Surely I can forgive you...
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of resentment
And fly high, and fly high
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness

Had to run
To the arms of curiosity
Just to find
What was here in my life all along
I had found that the art of simplicity
Simply means making peace of your complexity

If Gandhi can forgive persecution
Surely you can forgive me for being so petty

I'm only human
Let's shake free this gravity of resentment
And fly high, and fly high
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness

I've searched for romance
Flowers and affection
What I found is a lesson
Of what love really is
Found the game of love is
Not about how much you can take
In fact authentic love is about
How much you can give


Thank you India Arie for this inspiration...