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Foretold is forewarned...

Yes, there is a God!

I have seen the signs...

You will have to excuse me for this entry. It's been a tiring and emotional week for me. Anytime you have to open the door to a dark past and relive experiences that should never have been experienced in the first place, well...

James Gibson finally had "his day in court" this week. James waited four years for this day to arrive. They say that "the truth will out". Well, over the past two days, it did.

Those of you who know James, know that he is literally a man of God...a minister who, in fact, co-presided over the funeral service of my wife, Julie. James will readily attest that if it were not for his faith, he would have never weathered the emotional hardship placed upon him by officials of Cairo School District Number One...stress that has negatively affected his health.

But, James "kept the faith". Instead of being consumed by fear and doubt over what further evil might be wrought by Cairo School District officials, he trusted in God to move hearts and minds.

It was this faith that caused James to push his IEA-appointed attorney to call witnesses to testify to the truth...witnesses that the attorney would NOT be able to question prior to their appearance before the judge.

To say that James' attorney was reluctant would be an understatement. As you have heard, attorneys NEVER want to ask a question in court to which they don't already know the answer. Attorneys do not like surprises...something that could blow their case right out of the water.

To his attorney's chagrin, James was undeterred. Call the witness!

James' faith in God, the truth, and the witness was not misplaced. The truth did come out...confirming James' assertion to the court.

Okay, you may think I've gone off the religious deep end.

So be it...

If you cannot have hope and faith that good will eventually triumph over evil, what's the point? We might as well all hang it up and "go home"...the sooner the better, oh, Lord!

So, as the hearing came to a close last night, my wistful thoughts wondered...could this FINALLY be the beginning of the end? James had faith and it was rewarded. Could I have such faith...that SOMEBODY "on the dark side" would finally see the error of their evil ways...that persecuting the innocent will never bring about good, only destruction?

Lord, show me a sign!

This rainy, miserable morning, I got into my car and drove the streets of Cairo. (I find myself doing that each day...talk about depressing!)

However, it is something that I have NOT done since Sunday. The past three days of preparation for the hearing and the actual hearing meant that I did not return to Cairo until long after dark. My routine was broken.

On this morn, I sensed that something was different as I prepared to turn left and go down 8th Street - our million dollar brick street. Something in my peripheral vision indicated a difference, but did not register.

However, when I got to the stop sign at 8th and Commercial and glanced left, well, I had a religious experience...

OH...MY...GOD!

As I said, James and I have waited four years for his day of atonement.

I have waited many, many more years for the City of Cairo to demolish its downtown eyesore. But, lo and behold, THAT is exactly what has begun this week! The cranes are out and crumbling structures are being removed. The old vine-covered Blum's ruin that was so visible from Washington Avenue has been leveled. Oh, the bricks are still there, but NOT visible from Washington Avenue...and will soon be removed!

Hallelujah!

Call me a religious nut if you will, but I see this long-awaited event as a metaphor for what transpired at the Carbondale Hampton Inn this week. The ruins of a once excellent school district are FINALLY going to be cleared away.

The ruins of downtown Cairo forever remind us of Cairo's dark past...the destruction that hatred and conflict can inflict upon a once-thriving community. That a house divided against itself cannot stand. So went Cairo...so went Cairo School District Number One.

This week, the City of Cairo FINALLY began to clean up its past.

Hopefully, the hearing held in Carbondale, Illinois, this week will be the beginning of Cairo School District Number One cleaning up its act...to FINALLY put aside hatred and conflict...to allow a healing to begin.