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Join us as we illuminate the life and career of Camille Young, a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs. Camille's passion for reconciliation, driven by her profound faith, has been the anchor of her nearly three-decade career in government affairs. Camille has proven that honesty, respect, and dignity are the greatest expressions of God's love in the political sphere. The episode also shines a light on the potential for lobbyists to make a positive change in our daily lives. Finally, listen in as Camille recounts her journey from volunteer to board member at Mission Mississippi and the hope that she has for the future of reconciliation in our state.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
Nissan, Atmos Energy, Regions Foundation, Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church, Ms. Doris Powell, Mr. Robert Ward, and Ms. Ann Winters
We would love to hear from you! Send us a text message.
Join us as we illuminate the life and career of Camille Young, a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs. Camille's passion for reconciliation, driven by her profound faith, has been the anchor of her nearly three-decade career in government affairs. Camille has proven that honesty, respect, and dignity are the greatest expressions of God's love in the political sphere. The episode also shines a light on the potential for lobbyists to make a positive change in our daily lives. Finally, listen in as Camille recounts her journey from volunteer to board member at Mission Mississippi and the hope that she has for the future of reconciliation in our state.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
Nissan, Atmos Energy, Regions Foundation, Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church, Ms. Doris Powell, Mr. Robert Ward, and Ms. Ann Winters
This is Living Reconciled a podcast dedicated to giving our communities practical evidence of the gospel message by helping Christians learn how to live in the reconciliation that Jesus has already secured for us, by living with grace across racial lines. This is Living Reconciled a podcast dedicated to giving our communities practical evidence of the gospel message by helping Christians learn how to live in the reconciliation that Jesus has already secured for us, by living with grace across racial lines. This is Living Reconciled a podcast dedicated to giving our communities practical evidence of the gospel message by helping Christians learn how to live in the reconciliation that Jesus has already secured for us, by living with grace across racial lines. Again, I have a really good guest Such an impressive resume.
Speaker 1:I told her before this started and I'm slightly intimidated because of this really, really, really stellar resume. But I have an incredible guest and also a fellow Bulldog alum, a woman by the name of Ms Camille Young. Camille is a principal with Cornerstone Government Affairs. She holds nearly 30 years of government affairs experience and has had a significant impact on community relations in Mississippi. Camille is also a deeply devoted Christian and a ferocious advocate for reconciliation. She has spent a good time, even serving on the board of Mission Mississippi. So we're incredibly excited to dig into Camille's career and how her faith and Christ and her passion for reconciliation intersect with that career. So, camille, thanks so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for the invitation and Hail State.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right. Hail State, indeed, indeed. So, camille, your bio, again, as I mentioned, is impressive. You're doing a lot of incredible things, a lot of big things, your rubbing shoulders and a lot of big circles. But for the listening audience, would you take 60 seconds or so and give us a little bit of an elevator version, so to speak, of what it is that you do?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I have to tell you that I'm a wife and mother.
Speaker 2:That is the most important part of my world, that is my first mission and that is my first ministry, being a wife to Keith and a mother to Amber, will and Kayla. But I also am very, very fortunate to have a professional career outside of my home, where I am a principal, as you said, at Cornerstone Government Affairs, and I have the privilege of working with a lot of different clients, several of the clients you mentioned as sponsors of this podcast and supporters of Mission Mississippi. I'm very fortunate to have worked with them for a number of years. So at Cornerstone we are a government affairs operation. We're based in Washington DC and we have offices all across the United States, and I've been very fortunate to have started our Jackson Mississippi office. I've been with Cornerstone for 12 years. I've been lobbying in the Mississippi legislature for 27 legislative sessions. Don't try to calculate it backwards. I started when I was really young. Let's just say that.
Speaker 1:Started when you were eight years old, working at the government affairs.
Speaker 2:I was a very early government affairs person in the capital, but I have been doing it for a long time and I feel very fortunate that I've been able to do it so long and to make such a tremendous difference, not just for the clients that I serve but for the people who are impacted by those clients and it gives me great, great joy to be able to look all over the state of Mississippi and see different things that I've had a part in and I can say, wow, I was able to have just a small part in that, whether it's a building on the campus of Mississippi State University that I've been able to lobby the legislature for funds for, oh wow, or if it is seeing a Nissan vehicle that is rolling along the highways of Mississippi and knowing not only did I have a part in bringing that company to Mississippi, but continuing to work with them, and knowing the impact that that company has had on so many families and on such a wide variety of organizations and throughout our Metro, jackson and the entire Mississippi community.
Speaker 2:I could go on and on ceasefire, knowing that when you pick up your phone hopefully have ceasefire services I'll ask you about that later but knowing that people are impacted by the work that I do in the capital in their everyday lives. It's been a joy for me and I'm very, very thankful to have had the opportunity and the longevity to play a part in government relations in Mississippi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's incredible, camille, that's incredible. And so as you talk about this idea of government relations in this space, oftentimes when you talk about lobbying, just the word in and of itself is loaded, and there are so many people that have so many negative connotations as it relates to this idea of lobbying and this idea of government affairs. So for those who are listening today, who would say, oh my goodness, let me turn this off, she's a lobbyist, how would you share with them to convince them that there are good, righteous, just causes as it relates to your space? And how do you navigate the space as a Christian when you see that there may not necessarily be good and just things that are happening? So we'd be really, really curious and I'm sure the audience would be as well for you to kind of walk us through that.
Speaker 2:I think it's important for people to realize that I am a regular person. Lobbying is what I do for a living. It is not my life. It is what I do for a living.
Speaker 2:It is what allows me the ability to do the things that are the most important to me, whether it is my family, whether it is my volunteering, my community activism all of those things are the most important thing to me. Now, do I enjoy what I do and place a lot of importance on my career? Absolutely, but I try to maintain it in its proper place. I admit I am not the poster child for work life balance, but I work hard at it. I do work hard at it. But for the people who don't understand lobbying, I would tell them you have no idea of the great things that lobbyists can do. You have no idea of the impact on your daily lives that lobbyists have, for the good. For the good, it's not always eating and drinking and taking people out to lunch and dinner and late nights and shady rooms smoking rooms.
Speaker 2:It's not that. It's working with good, solid people who have committed their life to public service as elected officials. Those people want to make a difference and they want to make a positive difference, and I'm very fortunate that they rely heavily on people like me and my lobbying colleagues to help support them, especially during the legislative session. Legislative sessions are very, very short in Mississippi. We essentially officially have a part-time legislature and you just cannot have legislators who can read every bill, who know every issue and know every part of all of the things that come before them. But they expect those of us who work for different entities and clients to know those things, to know those topics inside and out and to be experts on behalf of the people we serve and on the behalf of the clients we represent. So they rely heavily on us and one of the things that you have mainly the only thing that you have is your word, and your word is what you go to work with every day, with, you leave with it every day.
Speaker 2:If you cannot be honest in all of your endeavors, you're not going to be able to stay in business long, and at almost three decades now, thankfully, my word is still my bond and people know me and they trust me and they know that I'm going to operate ethically. They know that I'm going to operate efficiently and professionally. They don't have to question what I'm doing, if I'm going to be telling the truth or if I'm going to be on the up and up on behalf of my clients. They know me well enough to know that I'm going to do that. You know I've always thought about in my line of work. People ask me oh wow, you're a Christian. They don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Speaker 1:They don't have to be.
Speaker 2:I take a lot of pride in walking the halls of the Mississippi State Capitol that's not very far from where you and I are sitting right now Absolutely Walking that and representing Jesus every day, because I believe that what I'm doing makes a difference in Mississippi. It makes a difference for my family and your family and the families listening here today. What I'm doing can positively make a difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, give me some examples, camille, one or two examples where you've seen the, the, your works give you the most pride, so to speak, at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, brian, it's so many things over the years that I could tell you. Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation is one of my clients and actually Farm Bureau was my first job out of college and so I worked with them for a while and then, once I started contract lobbying, they came with me and have been with me for almost mine well, yeah, my entire career and so all of the things that I'm able to do with agriculture across the state of Mississippi, because we are still a very agrarian society. Absolutely, it's important that I've been able to make sure that people in every county in the state of Mississippi are able to have access to some of the things, to some of the policies that are important to not just people in the metropolitan areas of the state but to rural Mississippians.
Speaker 1:Would you say. This is where some of the rub in terms of reconciliation and diversity also come into play. When you start talking about agriculture and making sure that all of Mississippi gets oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Because so many people are confused or maybe phased when it comes to the term diversity. They think it's all about race. It's not. It's not just about race. Absolutely About race and gender and ethnicity.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And it's about metropolitan versus the rural areas.
Speaker 2:Absolutely it's about veteran status. It's about educational levels, geographical origins. There are so many different types of diversity, and especially in a state like Mississippi. So being able to bring some of those unique characteristics of Mississippians to the table is something that I do a lot of, you know. You asked me about things that give me great pride. One of the very first things that I did as a contract lobbyist was to get arms at railroad crossings. I told you I'm from a small area, shannon, mississippi. Now, if I want to be very accurate, I'm from Greater Shannon. Your listeners may not know where Shannon is.
Speaker 2:I know they don't know where Greater Shannon is, so that'll tell you how small of a community I grew up in, so not every railroad crossing had the arms, the safety arms, that come down. And that was one of my very first projects working with the legislature to get those safety arms to come down on railroad crossings and if that saves the life of one busload of students or one car that cannot cross a railroad crossing because of those safety arms, those barriers, and they may not hear a train coming.
Speaker 2:they may not see a train coming, but they see those barriers and know, that they cannot cross so little things like that, whether it is a bridge that I work to get some funding or a bridge to stay open at harvest season, so farmers don't have to drive extra miles to get to wherever their final destination is, so that they're not having to add that cost that eventually goes down to everyone who buys food in Mississippi. There are so many things that I could share with you, but it is one of those careers where I do something different every day and thankfully, I get to do really good things every day.
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent man. This is really good. I'm so encouraged and so just enamored by your career and just everything that you're doing, and so I want to continue to kind of peel the layers back more and talk a little bit about how your faith is is shaping not just your career but also your community work and your community volunteering. But we'll take a quick pause and then, after that pause, we'll come back and talk more with our guest, camille Young, on this episode of Living Reconciled.
Speaker 1:Living Reconciled is the work of Mission Mississippi, but it is not our only work. From days of dialogue and prayer meetings to consultation for schools, businesses and churches, mission Mississippi is eager to help you, your team, your church and your community live reconciled Every month. Join us for our weekly prayer breakfasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 645 am, our bi-weekly statewide connection meetings on Fridays at 10 am and a focused time of prayer on the third Thursday of the month at 7 am. To get details on any of our upcoming events or to learn how you can invite us to your church, business or school, visit our website at missionmississipiorg and click on the events button or call us at 601-353-6477. Hey, thanks again for joining us on this episode of Living Reconciled, episode 31.
Speaker 1:I am your host, brian Crawford. Again, my good friends Nettie Winters and Austin Hoyle are out today, but we have an incredible guest that I'm excited to talk more with, ms Camille Young. Camille is the principal for Cornerstone Government Affairs and Camille has been discussing her life and her career and how her life and career intersect with her faith. One of the things she talked about on the other side of the break that I want to actually continue to have that dialogue, camille, is this idea that your faith has shaped and informed your commitment to honesty. Right, and again, when you talk, when people talk about just government in general, politics in general, one of the things that people kind of kind of bemoan, so to speak, is this lack of honesty in the political space around, not just state but just in general, just federal, and how you're able to navigate this space with integrity, because your faith is shaping that integrity. How, what would you say, are some other ways that your faith is shaping the way you navigate through the halls of legislature here in Mississippi.
Speaker 2:Just in how I deal with everyone. I think it's important to treat the governor and the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house with as much respect that I treat the newest member of the House of Representatives, the newest member of the Senate, the porters who cleaned the building. All of those people deserve respect, and looking at all of those people as God's children is part of the way that I try to operate. I don't believe that God has any respecter of persons. Now, should we respect positions Absolutely?
Speaker 2:And there are certain positions that require different levels of respect and decorum, but I try to make sure that I am respectful to everyone. I try to make sure that I treat people with dignity and respect and give them the courtesies that I would want them to extend to me. So, in addition to the honesty that I try to take to my work, the respect for people is something that I think is very important and that falls a lot along the lines of reconciliation just making sure that people know that they are loved by God, that they are loved by their fellow man and that people are concerned for them. It can be something as easy as a good morning. It could be something as simple as a text to say hey, I was thinking about you today. Making sure that people see and feel God's love through me is one of the goals that I have every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I've read several books by a Christian thinker, philosopher, gentleman by the name of Andy Crouch, and one of the things that he mentions in one of his books that I have found just incredibly profound for my own life is that he, every once in a while, he'll conduct this exercise where he'll go into the airport and, you know, before and after he gets on and off the plane, he'll walk through the airport and he'll just kind of put eyes on people as he's walking by, and as he lays eyes on that individual, he'll say to himself image, bear, image, bear. Image of God, image of God, image of God. And it's just this exercise that he takes on every once in a while as an opportunity to just remind himself that each and every single one of these people that I'm walking by bears the image of God and thus they are worthy of their dignity being affirmed, they're worthy of my respect and attention, they're worthy of my love and devotion and generosity. That each one of these people bear, you know, the image of God. And it's one of these things that sometimes we can read it.
Speaker 1:You know, in Genesis 1, we can read that we were creating the image of God, and then just kind of lose sight of that. So it's something that it becomes like a Sunday school lesson, but it doesn't necessarily always resonate in our hearts in a way that we would take into the workplace and take into, like you said, the halls of legislature and the airport and to the street, you know. But even but the image of God is true, right, it's true no matter what career space we go into, and so it's incredibly encouraging to hear you just talk about how that's shaping the way that you engage people in the legislature from you know, from the least to the greatest so to speak, and that's really encouraging.
Speaker 1:You've mentioned that you also are a diversity, or rather, in reading through your bio, we've seen that you are a diversity and inclusion practitioner certified diversity and inclusion practitioner. Talk to us a little bit. I mean, you've kind of highlighted it in some already, but talk a little bit more about what that looks like for you in your space and then also how your faith is shaping your work in that space.
Speaker 2:Sure, Let me give you just a little bit of background of how I officially came to that. So throughout my career I've been fortunate to be able to do diverse community relations activities for the people I've been able to serve with making sure that all entities are represented, making sure that diverse people are brought to the proverbial table, making sure that when my clients are volunteering in the community or they're donating in the community, that they are diverse in where they're carrying out those parts of their mission. So I've been able to do that kind of thing for a long time. In the summer of 2020, our country was going through the going through from.
Speaker 2:COVID, to George Floyd, to all of the things that were happening, and I distinctly felt God leading me to do more, and I could not figure out how that I was going to do more and I finally just continued to stay in prayer and think about things and listen to God's voice. And I was led to do official certifications in diversity, equity and inclusion. And so I received my first DEI certification from Cornell University and my second from Stanford University. Wow, and once I received those credentials and became quote unquote official as a DEI practitioner, the doors just started to be open for me and having opportunities for people to reach out to me to say hey, camille, we're having some trouble as a result of all of the things going on in our country, just having our employees talk to each other, or there's a lot of tension.
Speaker 2:We don't know how we can move past some of these things. Can you come and help us? I've been so honored to be able to go into so many different entities and businesses and not only provide DEI trainings, but to establish full programs on how they can be more inclusive and people have a better sense of belonging, because there are so many statistics.
Speaker 2:The McKenzie Company did a study in 2020 that showed how important DEI was to the bottom line and most companies that I know of they want to have a very positive bottom line, so making sure that people feel that they can bring their full and complete selves to the workplace and helping companies to understand how they can receive that and still carry out the mission of their entity. So I've really enjoyed doing that. I've enjoyed doing the trainings, I've enjoyed participating in the programs and coming up with all of the educational activities. But as far as how I've been able to put reconciliation into that, it falls back into where my faith lies and that is in that we are all created in the image of God.
Speaker 2:Now, do I have to recognize some other religions? I do, absolutely. That's a part of diversity. Religious background is certainly a part of diversity. I try to make sure that I am not being overbearing with my religions, preferences and beliefs. I believe in living a sermon and then, every now and then, if I have to use some words in that sermon, I'll do that. But I believe that my living is the best sermon that I can show and that's the best part of diversity. Equity, inclusion is showing the acceptance and the reconciliation and the inclusion that I'm able to do and that I'm able to teach for the entities that I've been able to serve.
Speaker 1:Yeah, john 13 talks about. You know that by this they'll know that you're my disciples, by your love for one another. And there are times at the church that I pastor, I will tell people that even when we aren't proclaiming the gospel and the gospel is a audible, you know, legible proclamation In other words, there's words, there's a story, there's a narrative that comes with the gospel, but even when we aren't proclaiming it, there are gospel breadcrumbs that we're supposed to be leaving. In other words, people should be finding their way home based on the lives that we live.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Right, and so oftentimes you know when it ends up happening. I mentioned this a couple of times that people would. You know, the gospel is like a package and there is a. You know, the package has a deliverer, we're the deliverer of that package and oftentimes, if I'll ask the question, if a UPS package that you're expecting comes to your door and the gentleman that's holding it or the woman that's holding it doesn't have on the brown, so to speak, they don't have any designated designations on their, on their attire, to speak to the idea that they're from UPS, and you look out to their vehicle that they came in and they came in an 85 Camaro instead of the brown truck, and so they don't have on the brown, they don't have on UPS designations, they don't, they do not ride in a UPS car. The package looks all beat up, and so you're like I don't know if this package is right.
Speaker 1:Well, the gospel oftentimes is impacted by the deliverers. You know the deliverers aren't walking in love, they aren't walking in grace, they aren't working in mercy and meekness and kindness and patience, and then they're telling you hey, believe this, though, believe it. Jesus says no. The love that you walk in is going to be, in and of itself, an authentic authenticator, so to speak, of this belief and so and so, yes, there are words that the gospel comes in, but there are oftentimes that the package itself has to have a deliverer that is walking in such a way where people look at, look at them and they say, yes, I want to learn more about this Jesus that you say you believe in and you represent.
Speaker 2:You're right and Brian also, just continuing with with that analogy. Sometimes we deliver the wrong package. Yes, I know I certainly deliver the wrong package daily daily. There have been many times, personally and professionally, that I've delivered the wrong package when. I've made mistakes. I've made bad, bad mistakes, but thank God for forgiveness.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:Not just the forgiveness of Jesus, but the forgiveness of family and friends and colleagues. And then we have to forgive ourselves and not make those same mistakes, not continue to follow the path that's leading us in a place that's not the right package, and making sure that when we realize, when we learn better, we do better and try to continue doing better.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, that's good, camille. I got about a minute for our radio listeners, so I'm going to give you an opportunity. If you don't mind, can you tell our radio listeners how they can catch up with what Camille Young is doing here in the state of Mississippi? Find out the things that are important to her, what matters to her, and then we'll take a quick pause from the radio and transition over to our podcast, to the remainder of our podcast. But if you don't mind, I have the floor for about 60 seconds.
Speaker 2:You can find me where my family is. You can find me where my children are. They're young adults now, but as much as they will let me, I still try to do as much with them as possible. On any given Saturday during football season, you can find me tailgating in the junction at Mississippi.
Speaker 1:State University.
Speaker 2:You can find me in a house of worship on Sunday morning. You can find me at Cornerstone Government Affairs. You can find me doing an AK activity with my Alpha, kappa, alpha sorority sisters. You can find me trying to be a servant.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's awesome, camille, thank you so much for sharing that. And again, we're going to take a quick pause. There's bonus content for our podcast listeners, where we'll continue to explore with Camille just her life and her story of faith and her commitment to reconciliation. So if you're not listening to the podcast, then what are you waiting for? We want you to go out to Living Reconciled. You can use any podcast app to search for Living Reconciled and, once you get there, subscribe and also like, share, share with friends and family. We want you to have the, have the experience and the joy that we've been having by talking to people all over the state and beyond about every single angle of Christian reconciliation that we can possibly expose. And so if you aren't a listener yet, please go out and subscribe. But for our podcast listeners, we're going to take one more break and then we'll come back with the remainder of our episode with Ms Camille Young on this episode of Living Reconciled.
Speaker 1:Living Reconciled is a work of Mission Mississippi, but it is not our only work. From days of dialogue and prayer meetings to consultation for schools, businesses and churches, mission Mississippi is eager to help you, your team, your church and your community live Reconciled Every month. Join us for our weekly prayer breakfasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 645 AM, our bi-weekly statewide connection meetings on Fridays at 10 AM and a focused time of prayer on the third Thursday of the month at 7 AM. To get details on any of our upcoming events or to learn how you can invite us to your church, business or school, visit our website at missionmississipiorg and click on the events button, or call us at 601-353-6477. Thanks again for joining us on this episode of Living Reconciled, episode 31.
Speaker 1:I am with a wonderful guest, ms Camille Young. Camille is a principal with Cornerstone Government Affairs. We've been talking about her career, we've been talking about her story and how her faith intersects with that career, and so we're incredibly grateful for Camille's time today. I want to talk a little bit, camille, if you don't mind, on this bonus content for the podcast list. I want to talk about your community leadership, your community volunteering and just your active role in our community. Tell us a little bit about some of the things that bring you passion when you think about your work outside of Cornerstone Government Affairs and the work that you do in the community.
Speaker 2:So mentoring is one of the most important things to me. Brian, my husband and I have made a concerted effort to try to be mentors, especially to young couples me especially young women, young mothers, young professionals, because it's hard, it is hard I know that people have a lot of hats that they're wearing now and just trying to strike a balance between all of those things. So when I was coming along as a young professional especially in the government affairs world, lobbying there were not a lot of women. There were certainly not a lot of women who looked like me. So I made a decision if I could be of assistance to someone who wanted to hear how did you get to this point?
Speaker 2:How did you navigate this man's world? How did you deal with walking in high heels on the marble floors at the Capitol? How did you handle getting home to children and going to a practice and working on homework and making sure that dinner was prepared and how did you clean your bathrooms? Just all of those things that especially young women face, young men, young husbands and fathers too, but especially young mothers and young mothers who work outside of the home. So we have made my husband and I have made concerted efforts to do that and I try to take a lot of time to be a mentor. I think it's important for people to know you can survive, but here are some ways that you can survive and not only can you survive, but you can thrive and you will get through.
Speaker 2:But there are some things that you can do to make the journey better, to make the journey easier. We will get to the point where Keith and I are empty nesting, and it's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1:It is God's reward.
Speaker 2:Let me just tell you it is God's reward, but being a mentor is something that I take a lot of pride in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you talk about mentoring, camille, what stands out to you as it relates to the greatest challenges? I mean, like you said, you've been in this space since you were five years old. We've already established this right. So you've been in this space since you were five years old. For the last nearly 30 years you've been in this space, so you've seen a lot of cultural trends, right, you've seen us journey from one trend to the next. And as you think about the millennial generation, as you think about the IGEN, the Generation Z that's coming up, what are you seeing your mentoring side of the world as some of the greatest challenges that you find? Young men, young women needing direction.
Speaker 2:Social media, without a question. Social media because social media has given people, in the words of my pastor, the gall, the gumption and the audacity to do and say things that they would never, ever say to a person's face or in public. But also social media has given people unfair comparisons because social media people they're going to put their best foot forward right.
Speaker 2:They're not going to put necessarily the real life things. If they show you a picture of their beautiful Christmas tree, they're not going to show you the mess that's outside of the camera frame. If they're going to show you their beautiful outfit, they're not going to show you what they had to pay for that and what they had to sacrifice or they had to take that outfit back.
Speaker 2:So social media has put really, really high expectations on young people to think that's the way that they have to live and to think that that's the way that everybody lives. Social media is just not reality. So in my mentoring that's one of the things that I talked to, especially young mothers about do what works best for your household. Don't worry about what's on Instagram, don't worry about what people are posting on Facebook. You do what you know works best in your household. That's your responsibility, Not everybody else. And not everyone's perception of your household is your responsibility either.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, there's so many things tied into social media in terms of, as you think about, like you said, this illusion of animosity where we feel like, okay, I can say and do anything, almost as if no one's looking at the ones watching, and so the very things I would never think to say in front of an audience of two people that I can look face to face with, I'll say to thousands that are watching my news feed, and so that illusion of animity is incredible.
Speaker 1:But, like you said, the big piece is this idea that what we're seeing is what's always real.
Speaker 1:I mean, me and my wife, we just celebrate 20 years and so I put a post on social media to celebrate and honor that 20 years and honor her, and there's nice pictures of us in San Diego and all of these different smiley faces, and the reality is that we don't live in San Diego every day.
Speaker 1:There's not beaches in every day of our life and there's not smiley pictures of every moment of our life. Our life is gritty, there's struggles, there's sickness, there's challenges, there's disagreements, but all you get is this very curated version of Brian and Candy, and there are some people, unfortunately, that will look at that post that was meant to celebrate and honor what God has given us, and they'll look at that as the sum total of everything we've experienced. And then they'll begin to compare their lives to what we have. And it's like you don't know my life. All you know is that I've chosen to celebrate my wife publicly in this moment, so many, like you said, young mothers, young fathers, young men, young women are comparing themselves to what we are curating in terms of that social media presence.
Speaker 1:So that's yeah, yeah, it's a huge, huge piece, huge piece.
Speaker 2:Because nobody puts the bad stuff out there. I mean, if you're smart, most people don't play out every part of their life.
Speaker 1:The good, bad and the ugly on social media.
Speaker 2:They put what is the best part.
Speaker 1:Absolutely what they put on social media and people just have to realize that's not 100% of your world.
Speaker 2:You know, I had a Lady tell me once I said something about my husband and I were going to do something, and she said, oh, I just want to be y'all. Y'all are so perfect. And I said I'm sorry, do you know us? Do you know us at all? We're so far from that. And she's like, yeah, but y'all have the best pictures. And I said you see snapshots right snapshots of our lives. I don't put all frames right, just a few snapshots of our life. Do we have Tremendous, tremendously blessed lives? Yes, we do.
Speaker 2:But do we have intense moments of fellowship, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Intense moments of fellowship, that one is going on a t-shirt somewhere for me. But no, I mean, it's the reality. It's the real and, like you said, it's so profound, profoundly a part of our lives. The Habit, the habitual impact of social media in terms of we now it's just become a part of what we do. I reach for my phone and I'm checking to see okay, what's going on on Instagram? What's going on on tiktok?
Speaker 1:or who liked my post, who liked my post? Right, so I share. And now I'm like checking to see, okay, who commented, who liked. Oh, why did? Why didn't they comment, why didn't they like? And so now my, my, the things that I'm thinking about now, with the, with the, with the arrival of social media, are things that we would have never thought about 20 years ago. It wouldn't have filled our, it wouldn't have filled our mental space. And now is taking so much of our mental space we're wouldn't have taken any of it right and so, yeah, yeah, that's an incredible thing to mentor people through.
Speaker 1:Let me, let me conclude our time, camille, if you don't mind, by transitioning over to Mission Mississippi. Okay, so, mission Mississippi obviously is near, near and dear to me as the as the new president of this.
Speaker 1:As the new president, is very near dear to me, but it's also near dear to you you. You've spent an incredible amount of time and invested a lot of your time, talent and treasure In the work of mission Mississippi, so I would love if you would just be able to tell our listeners for a moment how did you get started with Mission Mississippi? What, what drove you towards this organization, even as a board member, as a volunteer, as just someone who served in in the organization? How did it align with your passions? How did it Connect to your faith? I mean, if you could just talk a little bit about Mission Mississippi in general.
Speaker 2:I started as a volunteer for one of our big racial reconciliation Banquets, just serving on that committee and leading all the way up to I believe I was chairman of that event right before Co-chairman of that event, right before I came on to the board. So after that I guess maybe Nettie and office saw okay, she's committed.
Speaker 2:I think she might be a good board member, and so I moved on to the board for several years and All the way through being on the search committee for our newest leader. I appreciate you, appreciate you making that decision. You're so welcome, so welcome. I'm really excited about you. But being a part of Mission Mississippi has been something that's very important to me, because Reconciliation is so important to me the 12 11 o'clock hour is the most segregated time in our country and getting people to understand the differences and how we worship, whether or not we worship the choices and the way that we live our faith those are things that Mission Mississippi is a part of, and Mission Mississippi also is a part of bettering Mississippi, and I've been committed to Mississippi for my entire life just like most people, I had opportunities to go other places.
Speaker 2:Absolutely I was committed to living here.
Speaker 2:Absolutely making Mississippi the best that she can be so that generations that follow me Will commit to living here and commit to making Mississippi better each and every day. And so I've been really honored to be a part of Mission Mississippi's efforts, across our faith and across the races in Mississippi, realizing that we may be different in how we look or how we worship or even who we worship, but we are all here together. And if we are going to make progress, if we are going to continue Living here and hopefully live into the attorney, right, we're going to have to do it well here. Right, if I can't live with my brothers and sisters here, how am I going to be able to live with them in heaven? And I want to get there, yes. So I want to be able to live here productively and Enjoy life here so that when that next phase comes, the Lord will look at me and say, okay, she did all right there in Mississippi. Maybe she'll be okay up here too.
Speaker 1:Right, right, yeah, I've been, I've been, I've been meditating a lot, camille, on this role of love in the life of the Christian and how, in particular, 1st John, chapter 4, there's like this this strong Emphasis on love, over and over and over again, talks about the idea that how can you love God whom you have not seen yet you know, say you love your brother whom you see Every day? I would say you hate your brother, whom you see every day.
Speaker 1:It's it's a, it's a contradiction, so to speak, but but even there's a. There's a passage or a portion there in 1st John, chapter 4, where it talks about If we love, then God is in us, and if God is in us, then we love. It's, it's, it's almost, it's almost kind of speaking to this idea that love serves as as an indicator of the, of the, of the vitality of the Christian, and and when there's no commitment to love across divides, across Ethnicity and across class and culture, then it is.
Speaker 1:It is, it is an indicator that the Christian life is weak you know, and I was, I was when sharing sitting with my church at one of our Small group times recently I was I was mentioning this idea that if there was a With a stethoscope, so to speak, that we could use to, to, to evaluate the heartbeat of the Christian, that stethoscope would be looking for love, right and if and if and if love across class, across culture, across ethnicity, across gender. If it was, if it was weak in terms of the absence of kindness, the absence of Truly seeing people in the image of God and treating them as if they are creating the image of God. If it was, if it was not there, then the pulse would be weak on the Christian life. And and so, and so your words about mission Mississippi and just your commitment to it, because it's an organization that's looking to More deeply love people across all of these different lines.
Speaker 1:I believe it's, it's critical, I believe it's in, in some ways, it's, it's the sum of the Christian, it's the sum total of the Christian life. And so and so, we're incredibly thankful and grateful that you have dedicated so much of your Time, talent and treasure to the work of mission Mississippi. Last thing we'll close with, if you don't mind tell us what you hope to see. Tell us a little bit. Tell the listeners rather a little bit in terms of what is your hope and your prayer For mission Mississippi and for Mississippi as a whole.
Speaker 2:For mission Mississippi. I hope that we are able to continue some of the great works that we are doing to the 10th degree. We've done some great things over the decades that we've been involved in the state of Mississippi. We have newer generations who are coming on who don't see race the same way that you and I see them of our generations and the generations before us. We also have those same people who don't see religion Religion the same way that we do so.
Speaker 2:I want to make sure that we are still broadcasting avenues To get to know our god, making sure that we are broadcasting avenues for people to see each other as people. Do we look alike on the outside? No, we don't all look alike on the outside, but are we way more alike than different? Do we all want to have Safety and health and happiness and prosperity? Yeah, absolutely. That's the goal for most people. Mission Mississippi can help to have that for the state of Mississippi.
Speaker 2:Mississippi has so, so much potential and I look forward to our state continuing to reach and exceed the potential that we have. I would love for Mississippi not to be the hidden gem of our country. I want us to be seen for who we are and who we have the potential to be. Outsiders to come in and say I've heard so much about Mississippi yes, it's true, and I want that to be the positive side of Mississippi, not just those negative stereotypes and some of the the banter that could be going on, whether politically or racially. I want people to see the good people of Mississippi, the kindhearted, generous people of Mississippi who choose to live here and choose to raise their families here and choose to have their livelihoods here. I want the country and the world to see us for who we are and mission Mississippi. I want us to continue being a part of that.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, may it be so. May it be so in.
Speaker 2:Jesus name.
Speaker 1:Jesus name, cabillol, it's been a delight and a pleasure To just sit with you and to to have this conversation. If you're, if you're a listener again, we want to encourage you to not only subscribe If you haven't subscribed to living reconciled, but we would also encourage you to share share this episode, share the podcast in general. We would love to again Share the joy that we have and speaking with so many phenomenal people across our state and beyond, and just all the lessons that we're able to glean and pull. We would love to share that With the rest of the world. So please go out and like, subscribe and share this podcast with all of your friends and all of your family. Again, um, camille, we appreciate you and we thank you. We know you're an incredibly busy woman, so we thank you for sacrificing some of your time to spend with us.
Speaker 2:It's been my honor.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. And for those of you who are listening, we want to, on behalf of netty and austin, who's absent, again, my name is brian crawford and we want to wish you, each and every one of you, a god bless and a happy Thanksgiving. Um, since thanksgiving is right around the corner Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1:God bless you guys. Thanks for joining living reconciled. If you would like more information on how you can be a part of the ongoing work of helping christians learn how to live in the Reconciliation that jesus is already secured, please visit us online at mission mississippiorg or call us at 601 353 6477. Thanks again for listening.