Michael Shah Foundation

Thomas Gore

Thomas Gore - (born Governor Thomas Pryor Gore on December 10, 1870 - March 16, 1949) Thomas was a Democratic politician. He became blind as a child through two separate accidents but did not give up his dream of becoming a senator. In 1907, he was elected to the Senate as one of the first two senators from the new state of Oklahoma. He was re-elected in 1908 and 1914 but defeated in 1920. He was known as a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, who worked with Republicans such as Robert La Follette. He was to a large extent no different from any other politician because of his blindness, but there were problems, as La Follette recounts an example in his memoirs when, during a filibuster, Gore did not realize that the senator who was to take over speaking for him had left the room, and the filibuster failed because he did not continue to speak.


We can change the life of those who have no hope

Let there be joy, always joy in giving,
In serving those who cannot serve themselves.
There is no better gift one gets from living
Than Those sweet will that from the heart upwells.
Let there be pleasure in giving others pleasure,
Enjoyment in giving others joy,
Share happiness, beyond all one might measure,
In toiling in a loving God's employ.
So may we be the instruments of love,
The flesh of God's will working in the world,
Each a thread within the banner of
Redemption, to the winds of time unfurled.
Sacrifice is then no sacrifice,
Obligation then no obligation,
For what is gained has neither peer nor price,
There being none remotely in relation.
How might one find sanctity in service,
Each menial task a grateful act of prayer?
Perhaps if one believed that life was senseless
, Old folk were simply woe one wouldn't share.
Only love gives dignity to all,
Restoring faith in those who heed its call