With Arms Open Wide benefit concert at the Rose Bowl

The Slavic Reference Service at the University of Illinois will be hosting a benefit concert on Saturday at the Rose Bowl Tavern in downtown Urbana.

Starting at 1pm, the concert will feature local bands from a wide range of styles and genres for three and a half hours. Admission is free.

The event is a collaboration with Doctors Without Borders (DWB). DWB provides medical aid to people around the globe whose well-being and survival are threatened daily by conflict and catastrophe.

As the war in Ukraine continues to drag on, DWB has been on the ground providing humanitarian assistance. Their efforts led to a specially designed medical train such as the one on April 26 that transported patients from Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro to hospitals in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv.

"The “With Arms Wide Open - Give Across Borders” campaign aims to raise $50,000 to aid DWB’s work in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other conflict zones," says event organizer Olga Markarova-Bowman. "Any amount able to be contributed is greatly appreciated and will be used to provide urgent medical care, treatment for malnutrition, emergency surgery, and vaccinations to those in need."

For more information on about the fundraising campaign, please visit the official campaign website.

Guest Commentary: Your past plays a part of where you are today

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

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Carrying baggage is exhausting. When traveling we often pack more than we need. When making a trip it’s always easier to travel light.

Life is a trip. The longer we live the more we seem to pack and try to carry. Our mind has so many shelves, drawers and spaces for luggage of all shapes and sizes. We have this giant closet inside our brains that we fill up throughout life.

Your mental closet is filled with memories that are good and not so good. You may have spaces filled with grief, sadness, hurts, rejection, loss, failure, disappointments, defeats and more. You also hopefully have stored up some happy times, victories, successes, celebrations, achievements, love, relationships and peace. Hopefully your mind is filled with more positive happy events.

I heard the story about a young man who loved his cat. The cat died and his mother gave him permission to bury his cat in the backyard. The mother became appalled when she discovered her son was digging up the cat every few days to see how the cat was doing. Too often we live our lives this way. We dig up old stuff that needs to remain buried forever.

Too often the mind carries what cannot be physically buried, good or bad. We are frequently impacted by what we keep stored. One cold morning, a little boy put his backside up against an old coal stove. The hot stove burned his bottom and he knew never to do that again. What we have stored up in our minds can often serve us well. Wisdom is gained the hard way. The school of hard knocks is educational and expensive. We pay dearly throughout life to learn the hard way. Thus, what we have stored up can be very valuable to us as we face additional life challenges and opportunities.

Your past decisions, work, interests, achievements, failures and mistakes all play a part in where you are today. This could be very good. Or, it could be very bad. If you learned from your mistakes and moved forward then you may be further ahead than you ever imagined. If you didn’t learn from your mistakes and you continue to make them then frustration and sadness is haunting you.

Today is a new day. You can’t change the past. You do not know the future. Live your best life now. Dispose of as much baggage as you can. Do away with old resentments and regrets. Forgive people. Forgive yourself. Don’t live in the cemetery but live with hope of seeing your loved one in a better place.

Paul, the author of Philippians said it this way, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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