I set before you a choice

In 2009, the United States Congress declared September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Only about 30% of Americans are aware of this national day, but I hope that by the end of the decade most will know of it. All across the country today, volunteers are engaged in a range of community and personal good deeds. The article’s title was suggested by a text from the Hebrew Scriptures, read last Sunday in many churches:

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

— Deuteronomy 30:16 ESV

Doing good is a choice and I support the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. My particular good deeds for today (so far) are to publicize public service in this article, and  to recycle a bunch of cardboard and plastic discarded at an event. Later today I plan to photograph a new national historical site for the Wikipedia “We Love Monuments” project. There are so many possibilities.

image

  • Plant a tree
  • Read to children
  • Donate unused items to charity
  • Recycle
  • Visit someone who doesn’t get many visitors
  • Open a door for someone with their hands full
  • Improve an article at the Wikipedia
  • Build a Habitat house
  • Volunteer to help seniors with their tax forms

Birthers, will you continue to waste your energy in a hopeless cause, or will you raise up your heads and see the good that you could be doing? I set before you a choice. Choose life.

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
This entry was posted in Public Service Announcements and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

15 Responses to I set before you a choice

  1. Benji Franklin says:

    Well, then many of us owe quite a debt of apology to GenerallissiNo-Mo-No-Mo-No-Mo Zullo, because not just today, but for over a year, every day, he’s been trying to prove Obama’s birth certificate is not a forgery, and for a guy who seems to obsessively hate Obama, that’s not just a good deed, it’s terribly decent of him.

  2. The European says:

    Well, most of the things you mentioned should be done every time you get the chance to do them.

    If someone is a decent human being only on the 11th of September and Christmas maybe and an asshole the rest of the year …..

    Planting trees – a little bit early in the year for the region where I live. They may suffer.

    You get it – here I do not agree with you.

    Edited:

    Just saw that my comment is in moderation ???

  3. sfjeff says:

    My family and I are planning on going to a special grove of trees to remember this day.

  4. Bumped into a keyword filter.

    The European: Just saw that my comment is in moderation ???

  5. Of course. Perhaps thinking about them intentionally on one day will lead one to be more mindful of them on other days.

    The European: Well, most of the things you mentioned should be done every time you get the chance to do them.

  6. The European says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    Bumped into a keyword filter.

    So they are a..holes ?

  7. Crustacean says:

    Awwww, Dad, do I HAVE to? All my friends are spending the day writing about how Obama is a Usurper and a evil-doer and a America-hater. Can’t I do that instead? Pleeeeeaase?

  8. CarlOrcas says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Perhaps thinking about them intentionally on one day will lead one to be more mindful of them on other days.

    Well said.

  9. Well, you can use the other word, but it goes through moderation first.

    The European: So they are a..holes ?

  10. donna says:

    Doc: Choose life.

    did you seen FL’s AG BONDI?

    SHE postponed the execution/death penalty due to a FUNDRAISER

    Since Bondi and Scott began their first terms in 2011, eight executions have been carried out.

    is THAT “until natural death”?

  11. Kiwiwriter says:

    We had an event in City Hall to honor 9/11 and the “National Day of Service and Remembrance,” and I did the press advisory on it, and provided the event with historic newspapers and news magazines from 9/11 for the display.

    We honored the family of Reverend Sean Booker, a Newark resident killed in the World Trade Center. Rev. Booker’s mother and family were there as the Mayor, the police, the Fire Department, and Army recruiters placed a wreath.

    After the “Remembrance,” we did the service, with a whole bunch of us joining with kids from a school across the street to prepare care packages for homeless and disabled veterans. The Mayor and the other bigshots joined the assembly line to make the packages, which were full of food, toiletries, clean underwear, and even DVDs (for the disabled vets). I worked with the Deputy State Commissioner of Veterans Affairs to slit open boxes of supplies and send them down the assembly line to the kids to finish making the packages, which were put into plastic bags…the veterans can use the bags after they empty out the supplies.

    So that was what I did to honor the events and legacy of 9/11.

    What did the Birthers do? They called for a military coup. I guess they missed a couple of noted comments on the dangers of military rule:

    Gen. Kurt Von Schleicher, Germany’s chancellor just before Hitler: “You can do a lot of things with bayonets…but you can’t sit on them.”

    Tom Clancy, techno-thriller novelist (who must be popular with birthers): “Soldiers can’t act as jailers.”

  12. Terry K. says:

    Joseph Farah declared 9/11 to be a ‘National Day of Prayer and Repentence.” I suspect that Farah did not repent for all the lies he and his website have promulgated about Obama.

  13. Terry K.: I suspect that Farah did not repent for all the lies he and his website have promulgated about Obama.

    Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven. Remember that mantra.

  14. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    misha marinsky: Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven. Remember that mantra.

    If Christians actually stuck to that, maybe we’d have less of a public image problem.

  15. Kate says:

    Thanks, Doc, for this reminder about the National Day of Service. It’s so important for all of us to try to give what we can to those in need, not only on September 11, but whenever we have the opportunity to do so. I’ve actually put a reminder on my calendar, although I’m embarrassed that I have to admit to needing it, and will continue with Meals on Wheels and whatever else I can find to do in our area.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.