I was talking to a Officer friend of mine about my earlier post about "The Voice" Ted Williams. I pointed out that the arrests and personal conduct that tends to go with drug addiction and homelessness, that I was sure he had committed, had not, as of yet, come out in the press. America loves a good underdog, second chance story until they find out about all the poor choices and victims (family, friends, society) the person conducted/created before their "second chance".
Ted Williams is no exception. But second chances are not about giving someone a new opportunity to turn their life around, rather its two opportunities; one to get their life fixed and the second to rectify all the damage they perpetrated. Its still a great story, its about beginning the process of personal redemption and public reconciliation.
Here is what is on the plate for Ted:
1. With money coming in again and life stress-ors building find another way to deal with life other than drugs and alcohol.
2. Reestablish connection with children and family-both personally and financially.
3. Become a life lesson and show others that you can go from the top to the bottom to the top again.
Life is about making mistakes and turning around and fixing them. Undue the damage that has been done, as much as possible. Its not about turning your back on the past and only walking forward its about stopping and reaching out one hand to recapture the past and the other hand into the future and pulling yourself along following a positive path.
PS
You know, the straight and narrow path created by Christ and led by the Holy Spirit. If you are on this path and led by the Holy Spirit then the above is already being done.
I hope everyone is having a blessed New Year with their family and friends.
The New Year is about getting a new start and a second chance. The same "second chance" that Jesus give us in forgiving our sin, his is a permanent second chance.
I ran into this video on the web and it just strikes a chord with me...a real second chance. Watch the following video and then read the article from the New York Post.
The article from the New York Post.
Homeless man with 'golden radio voice' gets his chance
The homeless man with the "golden radio voice" wanted a second chance -- and did he ever get it.
As soon as Ted Williams, a panhandler who became an online hit after video of him begging on an Ohio roadside was posted to the Internet, appeared on a local radio show this morning the offers began pouring in -- including a dream job with the Cleveland Cavaliers and a free house.
"The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house! A house! A house!," repeated a stunned Williams, 53, on local radio station WNCI.
A caller to the show who said she represented the Cavs offered Williams, who shot to stardom after local newspaper the Columbus Dispatch on Monday posted video of his perfectly-pitched panhandling, a full-time job doing voiceover work for the team and parent company and a free home in Cleveland.
The Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, native trained to be a radio announcer before drugs and alcohol ruined his chances at a career, and he was reduced to begging on the side of a road in Columbus, Ohio, before the newspaper found him.
Local police would refer to Williams as "Radio man," when chasing him from his usual begging spots, Williams said.
"I've been out there about a year; I just didn't know anything like this would ever happen," an overwhelmed Williams said earlier in the show. "There's so many words. I've already been characterized to [Scottish singing sensation] Susan Boyle ... I'm just so happy."
Before the Cavs made their bid, the station said a group of credit unions offered Williams a contract worth up to $10,000; a caller claiming to rep MTV expressed interest in having him guest-announce a show; and callers who said they were the voiceover actors behind plugs for "The Simpsons" and "Entertainment Tonight" said they wanted him to compete on their upcoming "America's Next Voice" -- where the prize includes a home studio.
For a man suddenly thrust from an Ohio roadside into the hearts of the world, Williams set his sights low.
"Just to get back to some normalcy and responsibility -- If I can a job, whether it's a twenty-five or even $18,000, I'd be happy," he said. "At least I know God has me where he wants me."
A second chance. I have dealt with the homeless on multiple occasions (as all who are in law enforcement do) and they are usually addicted, mentally ill and hopeless. The best that we can do 90% of the time is just get them to some place warm-outside the city. Its good to see that there is hope for the hopeless, after seeing so many un-savable ghosts wonder into and out of our lockup.
