Passing days can be more

/in /by

Often times in life we fold over the calendar page only to see a date that marks a memory, an anniversary, a birthday, which we may or may not wish to experience again.

We mark our lives by milestones – graduations, weddings, funerals, and all that happens in between.

I recently read a wonderful article about the life of a cousin who passed at 103. She lived an amazing life touching many and impacting the history of my maternal ancestral home. Amazingly, I had reached out to her just a few weeks back but her hearing did not allow me to speak to her by phone, so I was going to write a letter that did not get completed in time.

For me, there are dates which pop out on the calendar for some reason. My grandma Kitty’s birthday – Jan. 5. My parents birth and death days. Though there are many fond Christmas memories from childhood, once I hit adulthood, Christmases became less pleasant, and the anniversaries are not a favorite but like everyone else, I manage often filling the void with special routines.

For years, I kept my life cycles by a calendar of annual musical performances returning to towns and festivals with music instruments in hand to bring a smile and hopefully move a crowd of enthusiastic music lovers.

While the annual cycles have fell by the wayside, I still fondly think of those times as the dates float by on the folding calendar page.

Is there a reason that we should dread the turning calendar page?

No, I don’t think so. Despite the passage of time and the inevitable wrinkles and graying hair that accumulates the more pages you toss away.

The special days should be ceased and cherished. The happy ones should be made happier with each passing opportunity. Create a new special memory attached to the day. If the memory is sad, find a way to create some happiness around it. With each passing happy moment, the accumulation of those over time, might just place the sadness deeper into the past.

It is up to us to decide whether we will be a slave to the past, or create opportunities that make tomorrow better for us.

Generations have come and gone upon whose shoulders we stand. Many knew little happiness, many knew much happiness. No matter their lot, it is safe to say they likely wanted more for their offspring and those that came beyond.

We owe it to them to make the best of the time we are afforded, not to dwell on the bad and the sad but work to improve what is around us with all our efforts.

Make a smile today, even if it simply while staring in the mirror. Your effort will be returned, even if its just by your reflection!

A quarter saved

/in /by

I placed the quarter in the hand of Uncle Sam and hit its trigger and the coin dropped down into the open bag below clicking to the bottom of the bank. It was a fun to save in a similar way my grandparent’s generation had.

While it taught me the tendency to save throughout my life, now as I look back, I wonder if the colorful design of Uncle Sam and his satchel was subliminal to train me to also put my money in the hands of Uncle Sam.

Don’t get me wrong; I have always given him his share. Needless to say, I didn’t have to smile like I did when I put it in Uncle Sam’s hand as a child.

Mechanical banks always were a fascination to me as a child and they were fun to watch as they collected their holdings.

My folks instilled in me a strong sense of saving. I had several small banks as a child until the day my mother went with me to open my own bank account. I saved for many of my big childhood items: the bicycle I wanted – an English racer; a push mower to start a lawnmower business; and many other things through the years.

Putting money back to pay for future bills, replace a vehicle, retirement, emergencies, and a myriad of other needs depending on the source of the revenue.

Those who came out of The Great Depression definitely had a different perspective about how to make the most of everything. Things just didn’t go in the trash if there was any chance something might be repurposed. Paper towels and napkins were torn in two. Aluminum foil and when salvageable plastic wrap was washed for reuse. Coffee grounds and tea bags were used twice. Clothes got patches. Sock holes were repaired.

Many had learned most of the lessons of their parents and could garden, can and store foods, fix vehicles, tools, appliances and most anything. They had learned the skills of hunting, fishing and trapping and how to process the meat those endeavors provided.

For those who are blessed to have some of these skills passed to them, you will have a leg up as we all may walk an unfamiliar path in the coming months.

I remember the stories they shared about the bank runs and the thousands of closures that followed in the 1930s, but the Great Depression followed.

As I write this, we saw our first modern day large bank run which resulted in closure. Although after the news of the closure, it appears a government plan may be in place to salvage things. But even if they do, no matter what they say, that means someone else has to pay for it. Two other banks closed in the same week. Hopefully, that will be the end of the process.

I have always been called an optimist. In case my optimism does not pan out, brush up on your skills, live local, strengthen friendships and prepare.

TV’s “In the Heat of the Night” hits 35

/in /by

We mark our lives in time by the passage of time. We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and if we should hit longevity in our experiences, it generally involves many other people acknowledging the moment in our live.

In the United States, collectively, we just passed a marker in television history. The TV police drama series “In the Heat of the Night” debuted on NBC on March 6, 1988 – 35 years ago. A racially driven story line reaching back to the novels of John Ball and the Academy Award winning 1967 film by the same name but set in the 1980s South.

When it was started production only eight episodes were ordered. While creating so few is not unusual today, then a season order was 22 episodes. It gives me the feeling that those in charge at the networks didn’t really see the staying power of such a show and the appeal it would gain from the viewers.

Those eight episodes made the show a runaway hit appealing to the residents of small and medium size towns across the country and with them they took city viewers who connected with the small town experience.

In creating the show the developers working with MGM/UA selected Carroll O’Connor as “Chief Bill Gillespie” and Howard Rollins as “Det. Virgil Tibbs” to lead an amazing ensemble of actors who brought to life the fictitious town of Sparta, Mississippi. For those of you from that state, you likely know there is a crossroads community by that name but not like the community on the screen in the series.

From left are In the Heat of the Night stars David Hart “Parker Williams,” Randall Franks “Officer Randy Goode,” and Alan Autry “Bubba Skinner” in the Sparta Police squad room. (Photo: Randall Franks Media – Ned D. Burris)

Casting directors and producers found an amazing mix of actors to depict the characters created for the new series – Alan Autry as “Bubba Skinner,” David Hart as “Parker Williams,” Christian Le Blanc as “Junior Abernathy” and Hugh O’Connor as “Lonnie Jamison” and Peter Gabb as “Horace Goode.”

That was the original police cast that instilled a desire for viewers to tune in every week.

As the network locked in a second season of 22 episodes and MGM/UA moved its on location filming surroundings from Hammond, Louisiana to Covington, Georgia, they also changed up the cast a bit leaving the characters of Junior Abernathy and Horace Goode. They added actor Geoffrey Thorne as “Willson Sweet.”

Covington and Georgia welcomed the show as it began it’s second season filming in August of 1988 and many new adventures. Hosting a TV series was a major economic coup for both the state and a medium size town like Covington. So, all the cast moved to their new hometown crossing their fingers for continued success of all the team to create engaging stories that viewers would connect with.

And connect they did. The show became a mainstay in the top 30 weekly shows. Alongside “Matlock” and “Midnight Caller,” NBC’s Tuesday night lineup ruled the ratings.

Audiences tuned in to see a group of actors playing small town Southerners who each week reacted to the impact of the problems and topics every community across America was dealing with at some level. How the writers, actors and directors depicted these issues, offered America options in how to overcome such issues, how everyone can get along together no matter our differences, how to live together in a community, and how to succeed against adversities.

Yes, it was generally a weekly story about a crime, murder, solving mysteries, and hopefully getting the bad guys and girls. But we watched because we wanted to see how these characters that became beloved by audiences were impacted and responded to whatever faced them.

The show went on to produce what they described as eight seasons of hour episodes and a few movies filming from 1988-1994 while airing both on NBC and eventually moving to CBS. At it’s height of foreign first run, 150 countries were watching the guys and girls of Sparta and the show was top 10 in several nations. The cast and crew garnered numerous award nominations for the Golden Globes, Emmys, and Image and others. And they took home 2 Image Awards, and American Cinema Editors Award, and Carroll O’Connor received an Emmy.

“In the Heat of the Night” stands alongside the greatest police dramas in TV history, and among the few Southern dramas ever produced for episodic television. We tend to look back nostalgically, while looking more harshly at our current time. The period of this show was not an easy one in America, it was a racially centered drama in a time when our country was dealing with several racially centered issues that were dominating news cycles.

The show from my prospective was a release valve, that allowed us to collectively look at issues, and find the reality of our communities within the stories, and the strengths we have when working together rather than being divided. I am thankful for the writers who wrote the stories, the directors that guided their creation, the actors who were the face of the American South in that period and even today.

While I was not there in the beginning, in the fall of 1988, the directors and producers created a character for a young country music artist who had an earnest desire to act, I was that young actor and “Officer Randy Goode” was born giving me five years of working with “Bubba,” “Parker,” “Lonnie” “Willson,” “Chief Gillespie” and “Det. Tibbs” and all those who eventually joined the police cast, some among them: Crystal Fox, Dee Shaw, C.C. Taylor, Mark Johnson, Harvey Lee and Barbara Lee-Belmonte, Sharon Pratt and John Webb. I created with these amazing people and lived a life in Sparta, a favorite town for so many TV viewers.

As we mark the 35th of the beginning, all I can say is it was “Sho nuff” a grand old time and I want to thank all of you who watched, laughed and cried along with our efforts while maybe playing some checkers along with me. Those who watched will get the last bit. You can learn more by visiting www.RandallFranks.com/in-the-heat-of-the-night or check out my Encouragers book series for more photos and in-depth experiences with stars and guest stars.

The Spirit within

/in /by

Have you ever been in a room, and someone walks in and with your body you feel in your center mass of your chest a quiver.

As they draw closer to you, the disturbance within increases in its frequency of movement. Of course, exposing this in a public situation would be uncomfortable, so instead you hold your composure and let it pass. Hopefully, the situation does not place the person in your orbit.

I have experienced this and over the years as I moved on with my life, where I had the opportunity have watched those that the quiver warned me about. I have surmised that the Spirit within me was warning me that there was something within that person that was not coming from a good place, and they did not intend the best through their actions.

There have been occasions when such a person did come into my orbit, and it was all that I could do to withstand the impact of that exposure.

I have had similar experiences while seeing people on the news or while watching a TV show or a movie.

This feeling is much like a magnet when it pushes the same pole end apart. It’s there to warn us to protect ourselves against the evil around us.

That comes in many packages, sometimes with legs, sometimes through what we watch, hear, read, and see.

If you intake things that uplift your Spirit, reinforce it and feed it with positive, uplifting messages, love for your fellow man, then that will be reflected in the actions of your heart.
If you allow things that damage your Spirit, that expose you to darkness, evil, sadness, then your Spirit hardens and the warning quiver fades because you have in essence chosen to ignore it, then your actions will more and more reflect those negatives that you allow to invade your body.

When I have not ignored its warnings, that Spirit has guided me safely through much of my life.

Although like any headstrong child – of any age – during some periods and on some days, I have lost my way, giving in to other senses and feelings allowing those to overshadow the Spirit. That has always been to my detriment, emotionally, sometimes physically and financially.

When it occurs, it weakens my Spirit, depletes my energy and scatters my focus. It saddens me when I realize that I stepped outside the blessings my companion offers.

I believe that the Spirit is God’s way to be present in our lives and to walk with us in all that we do. When we ignore it, we are choosing to follow our own will, which is a choice that He gave us. Sometimes though when we follow the Pied Piper down the path, at some point we will have to pay the piper. Our hope then must be that if we choose to walk another path that it does not lead to our destruction or into the total hardening of the Spirit within us, so we no longer recognize ourselves.

Let’s fill our minds, our hearts, our eyes, our ears with the uplifting Word and with images, stories, films and TV shows, that reinforce the good within us. Let’s cast off that which is meant to draw us into a downward spiral with some aspect of destruction inevitable.

Will I find it?

/in /by

There are times I find myself looking for something that had eluded me.

In childhood, one of my favorite Saturday morning shows was “The Land of the Lost.”

In the story line, humans fell through a crack in space and time to the period and place where they had to exist with dinosaurs.

I am not sure where that crack is they fell through. I have never seen it but I have a feeling that it simply appears and disappears at will.

I currently have a line of socks sitting on my ironing board with no mates.

The crack seems to be drawn to my dryer. While I generally have liked wearing matching socks, I

am beginning to think that trend will have to change in order to stay ahead of the losses.

Perhaps it has a magnetism, the crack simply appears when something desires to escape its surroundings and find new adventures.

I don’t know where those little items get to that seem to take the trip.

Eventually, though they find their way back and usually just slightly off from their original position no worse for the wear.

I imagine though some of them could write a book that only the other in adamant objects could appreciate.

I have often placed the disappearances especially on items like car keys or things which delay departure as simply an angelical nudge to prevent some unknown course of action which would not have been in my best interest.

Even those times pass as the item reveals itself and the original desired departure occurs.

Sometimes I wonder if they are lost or are we.

Are we searching in vain in this world trying to find something that we do not really need?

Is the path that is promised that is ahead what we have really lost?

As we look upon recent events both here at home and abroad, sometimes I feel that we all have now fallen through that crack into the land of the lost. It seems that the dinosaurs have taken a different form but they still put our future at peril.

In the increasing sequence of velocity of the negative, I am pleased to see through the crack the reverberations of those who are seeking the Light of God’s love, being drawn into Revival at points reaching out initially from the crack that revealed itself at Asbury in Kentucky.

Perhaps this crack will widen and allow many more of the Lost to be found, perhaps the socks will find their match, the keys will reappear with destination fully ready to receive all those with a willing heart.

May our land become the center of such rejoicing in God’s gifts that no one resides in the land of the lost.

Where oh where are you tonight?

/in /by
That’s a line from a comedy skit I heard so many times, I can still sing it by heart from the long-running TV show – “Hee Haw.” “Why did you leave me here all alone? I searched the world over and thought I’d found true love. You met another and th… you were gone.”
February always brings on thoughts of romance. I never realized when I was younger that skit would be a comedic commentary on my own love life or lack thereof.
Sometimes though God gives us ways to find humor in all aspects of what we face.
It is better to be able to laugh at ourselves rather than be settled in a rinse and repeat cycle of frustration, sadness or anger.
Over the years, I tried my best to learn how to be a good potential suitor.
I was taught how to act around females, what to wear depending upon the occasions, how to dance, and how to eat depending on the level of formality. Manners were the key I thought.
Then I realized many of the prettiest girls were drawn to the bad boys who seemed not to have any.
I could never pull that act off. Just wasn’t in my make up.
Although once I studied acting, I could manage a decent stab at it.
Early in my life experience, I tried but found no takers.
Then when I got a little older, I tried but wasn’t much interested in finding any takers that held on.
None really seemed like they wanted to anyway.
Once I did start trying harder, is when I seemed to be into repeating the lines of that song again and again.
I got so tired of the experience; it eventually became a comedy of errors that seems endless.
But despite my losses, I was comforted in knowing that marriage is an institution and I never want to be institutionalized anyway.
I know that love exists, otherwise folks wouldn’t spend all that money on those greetings’ cards with hearts and all those heart shaped boxes of candy, and dozens of red roses. Those must be the cement upon which hearts with initials are drawn upon.
“She took my heart out and stomped that sucker flat,” Lewis Grizzard joked.
I can say for sure that experience is not exclusive to the late columnist. Many of us have found our hearts on the floor.
But no matter how many times it hits the floor, you know, it has the ability to bounce back.
The right smile, the right look, the right words, a perfect song and your heart soars again to new heights.
And within you, you find the hope and the dream that love is possible.
You know, with God all things are possible.

Is it a God thing?

/in /by

Whenever I find myself facing an uncertain future, whether it’s in work or my personal life, ultimately, I always find myself praying for Divine intervention.
I ask for guidance. I ask for forgiveness. I ask for patience. I ask for inspiration.
It always seems I am asking Him for something. But seldom am I thanking Him for what He has already given.
From my personal experience, I know He hears and in His own way answers our requests. Sometimes the answer is no. We seldom understand that result. In fact, sometimes we interpret it, as He is not there. He is not listening. He has forsaken us.
From our own actions, many of us deserve to be forsaken but thankfully, as part of His family we will not be. We may not always get what our hearts desire. Our lives may not be easy. And sometimes they may be downright miserable. He is still with us.
In the face of what seems to be an ever-increasing presence of things that are ungodly being placed in front of us through media and in our own vision of the world around us,
I must conclude if there was ever a time for us to cry out to Him and ask His mercy upon us, it is now.
In recent weeks, I have been in prayer over lack of direction in my life, over falling short in His service and in trying to walk ever closer to Him. We all fall short of His love.
Yet, in the simplest thing, He can remind us “I am here, and I love you.”
I have a small golden key chain I was presented when I graduated from high school. I had never used it, only pulled it out and looked at it, thinking I will use it for a special occasion. Despite many years coming and going, I had not used it. I finally pulled it out and put my car keys on it. A small golden ball that served as a nut held the mechanism into place, thus holding the key ring into the golden circle into which it was mounted.
One day I went to the post office, I got out and the key ring fell apart dropping pieces to the ground. I bent over picked everything up and went on my way. I did not realize that the small golden ball that served a nut was not among what I picked up. I realized later at home it was gone. It could have unscrewed and fell off anywhere, I checked my clothes, the floorboard of the car, around the house, to no avail.
A couple a weeks passed when the thought hit me as I pulled into the post office again, go and look where you were parked that day. So, I did. I walked over to the empty parking space, took two steps beyond where my driver’s door was and there it sat. It had rolled and sat there for two weeks with no vehicles rolling over it. Not a soul had noticed this little golden ball the size of a large bb. After I had become acclimated that I would never be able to use the key chain again. God sent a thought, moved my body, and there was something I had lost, a piece of something I cherished just lying on the ground safe in a place it should not have been.
I have spent a lifetime in the music industry. I have strived to attain recognition for my music on the mainstream charts. That, along with awards is one of the ways we gauge our acceptance and success. I can tell you; those things just do not just happen. Behind the scenes, there are many actions taken by you and folks who support you which facilitate such an opportunity. I have been praying tirelessly for career guidance for months. This past week, I was notified that I had topped the Cashbox Magazine music charts with a song I wrote with Cotton Carrier and released years ago – “God’s Children” performed with the Watkins Family.
Never in my life had I been on the Cashbox charts, and then out of the blue I was number 1 on a mainstream entertainment chart with a song picked out of the blue by radio presenters with no behind the scenes promotion, no single release, not even trying. If that is not a God thing, I don’t know what is.
Look for the God things in your life. They are there, big and small. And when you find them, don’t forget to thank Him!

Dreams that inspire

/in /by

I ran down the dark corridor. My heart was beating fast as I heard footsteps rushing towards me from behind. I opened the door at the end as it swung inward and next, I found myself dangling from the doorknob over a dark pit that seemed bottomless.


I held on for dear life trying to pull myself back up into the hall.


Which was worse? Falling into the dark unknown or making it back to the solid hallway where I was being chased by who knows what.


Thankfully, I didn’t have to find out as my alarm went off bringing me safely back into my bedroom.
Dreaming can sometimes bring us to smiles, sometimes to fear, sometimes in between.


I have spent time in many dreams sitting and talking with loved ones who were long passed. Those moments are usually cherished opportunities to spend a few more minutes with a dear friend or relative.


Other dreams have found me in places I have never been experiencing new adventures with people I have never known or with faces I recognize. Those are usually quite comforting as well.


As a youth I saw dreams as roadmaps to where God wanted to take me, and often he placed the footsteps out ahead of me as if they were flashing in neon.


Those took me places I could have never dreamed of in my waking hours.


Are dreams simply our imagination running wild?


Are messages from our past, our future, or from our loved ones gone on hidden within?


I know that people in various forms of study have spent endless hours trying to answer those types of questions. From the Biblical stories of Joseph interpreting the dreams of pharaoh, to whatever scenario one might surmise from their own research, dreams play a vital part in our lives.


They give us relief, sometimes hope, and sometimes fear. No matter what they provide, if you are blessed with a good dream experience, be thankful for what has passed. Perhaps it is a God wink to uplift.


If it’s not such a good experience, maybe that is an inducement to examine your life and find where you might improve to clear your heart and mind, so next time it can be.


For me, despite a few frightening ones along the way, the good ones outweigh those, and from time to time, I do believe God’s drops in a bit of guidance here and there to make my life better, if I only recall it.
So, get a good night’s rest…

Stuck in a rut

/in /by

I have often heard a comment when people seem to be immobilized in life about them being “stuck in a rut.”

Another adage equates the rut with a grave suggesting that covering oneself up and relenting to your demise may be the best course of action.

Since there is only a slim chance any of us reading this are likely driving a covered wagon to get stuck in the rut, and even a lesser number are actually grave diggers, I will suggest, we have the ability to change our direction without filling our own grave with us in it.

However, often we might seem to be like the proverbial mouse on the turning wheel, getting nowhere in our efforts to redirect our lives.

Can we get out of the rut and “In the groove?” That’s another one of those descriptors meaning we have everything going our way. It reflects the needle within the jazz record groove moving smoothly over the surface of the album or the jazz talents being in sync with one another. A later adjective would have simply been “groovy.”

But for our analogy, its predecessor fits as we are seeking the right path. But unlike the needle going around the circles on an album, we do not know where our groove will lead.

However maybe all it will take is for us to get up and turn the crank on the Victrola to give us that momentum to find out.

What do you want next in life?

Is there a new job which is your hope?

Do you have your eyes on that perfect person to share your life?

Maybe its smaller, a few repairs, a part-time job, or simply studying a new subject that will give you skills needed for a better life.

I have often found myself seated on the precipice, trying to decide whether to jump into the unknown or remain safely perched on my solid rock watching the world roll by.

It is only when I had the strength to push off from safety that I actually began to see that forward momentum impact what was to come.

Safe is a nice thing. Comfort is a nice thing. We all have aspects of our life in which we desire those adjectives to dominate. Sometimes though we must strive away from the safety and comfort to help us find those new adventures which will forge what is ahead of us.

My multiple great uncle John Shields stepped into the unknown beside Lewis and Clark as they explored the interior of the continental United States for my third cousin Thomas Jefferson. How could he decide to embark on such an arduous adventure. I am not sure but when he was asked, he went.

My first cousin (13-removed) Sir Walter Raleigh embarked on numerous adventures, some which could have easily ended in his death, but yet he went, with his final one resulting in English execution at the behest of Spain.

Jumping bravely into the unknown does not always result in happy endings but it does add variety in the tapestry within which the threads of our life are depicted.

So, is it better to stay in the rut or to rock with all our might to force ourselves out of it, so we can gain forward momentum?

I can’t speak for you, but for me I will rock with all my might until I am able to push on to reach whatever God has in store. I pray those things are blessings and He protects me from all harm which could befall me.

But if that not be my fate, then I only ask the Grace to face the adventure with dignity, patience and understanding in whatever comes my way.

What will be your fate? Are you filling the dirt in around you with each day or does your groove show you a way out?

Are we there yet?

/in /by

A repeated question from childhood that often irritated parents from its repetitive use by every child within a traveling vehicle was “Are we there yet?”

When I was a child, I seldom uttered those words because I actually loved to go anywhere because I was fascinated with seeing the world around me.

I loved to see rolling green fields covered with cows gazing. Waters of the rivers flowing and churning by the rocks below. The mountains rising high around me as I tried to look back into every hollow to see if a small house sat there with a chimney shooting smoke into the sky.

When we went into the cities, I would stretch my neck trying to look up at the top of the buildings as we rolled through.

Since I spent much of my childhood as an only, long rides in cars were not much different than occupying my time anywhere around home. In those days we weren’t tied to car seats, so I could move anywhere across the back seat or floorboard of our blue Chevrolet Malibu as I played and filled the hours.

Nighttime was the only periods when I really didn’t enjoy trips because there was little to see beyond the door windows.

But there were many times as a small child, I remember curling up in the front floorboard of the Chevrolet pickup at the feet of my mother near the heat vent where I would go off to sleep and awake when we got to where we were headed.

Feeling warm and safe in that place made traveling a preferred activity when I was small.

Of course, trips for us were largely limited to our annual vacation or periodic trips on holidays to visit relatives. Oftentimes vacations included relatives too.

Today, as I crawl into the driver’s seat to head off for a trip, I do sometimes find myself thinking “Are we there yet?”

I know the answer, but the weariness associated with the act of driving, does make the traveling less appealing to me. I still enjoy seeing the places once I arrive but the monotony of looking out the windshield at the road makes the experience less of an adventure to me.

Often in life, we set goals, create a path, and then forge ahead towards that objective.

Along the way, we sometimes stop and access how close we are to reaching the goal in essence asking, “Are we there yet?”

So, the skill of asking that question, though frustrating to parents can be a blessing as we map out our lives.

Evaluating where we are, where we are going, and if we need to adjust to reach a goal is a great skill.

Finding our way in life day-to-day can be an adventure on its own, I know I am on a constant trend of re-evaluating my position.

Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels? Maybe you are not reaching anywhere close to where you thought you would be? Maybe you need to ask, “Are we there yet?”