There are not many readers who would encourage smoking, drinking alcohol or taking drugs while pregnant.

He was well-intentioned enough, in his explanation, as this well-known member of our community called me Thursday evening before the vote to discuss the election.

The dictionary is of no real help when looking to define “public servant.” Jesus Christ was a public servant and it was through humility, personal sacrifice, taking risks and maintaining a vision, that he served others best. It’s a style of leadership based on giving without the need for recognition.

Self-blame is one of the most toxic forms of emotional abuse. Psychologists say it exaggerates our perceived inadequacies, whether real or imagined, and creates an illusory ideal that we simply cannot meet. In fact, in the Book of James, we are reminded, we all stumble in many ways” and from the Book of Ecclesiastes, we know “there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”

The Bible teaches us that a “sin of omission” is a failure to do something one can, and ought to do. James 4:17 reads, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Sometimes we get so caught up in using labels that we miss the forest for the trees. Of course, labels help us organize our world, which is increasingly loud, confusing and misleading.

By now, you’ve heard about the Caddo Parish School Board’s plan to close six schools, and open three new ones, and make improvements in various others using $108 million in bonds. The plan is branded by the school board as, “Reinvest in Caddo.” The plan has drawn both supporters and critics, but both groups may be missing the forest for the trees.

Yet recent news reports in our nation seem to tell a different story today, and it’s one that seems increasingly obsessed with the colors of our skin, rather than the content of our characters; of what divides us, rather than what strengthens us.