A Christmas recollection

Occasional contributor Frank Goodsir sent this essay to me in February and I put it aside, thinking somewhere toward Christmas would be a better fit. Thanks, Frank, for sharing this with all of us. Truth spoken by prophets of any color should be celebrated and remembered year-round, not relegated to a day or a month - they are gifts and timeless.

It was customary, in my childhood, that I and my siblings meet in the parlor of our home with our mother, each evening before going to bed, for the purpose of meaningful time together before saying our evening prayers.

One Christmas we found a book under the tree of famous Americans. Each evening, before the book was exhausted, we read aloud from it about a famous individual. I can, at this point, only remember the chapter of George Washington Carver and his days at Tuskagee Institute and all the marvelous things he created from the lowly peanut. That's all I remembered until one day, five or more years ago, I came across, at a book sale, a book on the life of George Washington Carver. I guess I bought it because of the nostalgia associated with reading about him with my siblings. Now I know much more about this great African American man who devoted his life to Tuskagee Institute, a scientist who left a legacy of meaninful discoveries and inventions that have enriched the lives of people universally.

The most important thing, as far as I am concerned, is the fact that George Washington Carver kept repeating "people look but they do not see." After thinking this over it made a great impression on me. The phrase now lives in my subconcious and if I tend to be rushing through something like a visit to a botanical garden or museum or a wonderful architectural gem, my subconcious alerts my conciousness that "you look but do not see." At this point I change my course and take the time to "look and see".

I am ever grateful to George Washington Carver for his wonderful words that have enriched my life immeasureably.