I've come to learn that finding that someone to be able to share your life with is truly a gift from God that He has ordained and blessed. I find it hard to understand how people can take their spouses for granted especially when we know how hard it is to find true unconditional love in other people these days. It should behoove you even more not to become a statistic and want to love your partner more.
I watched my mother love my father, through sickness, through health, through high pay checks, through unemployment and disability, and through death. And til this day, she never stopped loving him. So I just don't understand... when you do find that someone... that thin opportunity of time that God allows you to see and be with your wife or your husband... why do you spend that little bit of time treating them like crap?
It hurts my heart to see that... realizing that people still don't understand what REAL love is; realizing that people still are not able to translate the feelings they may have in their heart into thoughtful and caring actions. When I see couples, I want to be inspired. I still want to believe that a pure love can exist between a husband and wife when I see them together. I want to know that God is still working in our marriages when I see man and woman together, loving together. I still have hope.
Husbands and wives, God put you together for a reason and the Three of you have some work to do. Continue to love with the love of God.
Mar 30, 2012
Mar 23, 2012
Gated Communities of the Mind: Trayvon Martin Murdered by Superiority & Hate
I have not been able to fully express my feelings and thoughts on the murder of Trayvon Martin until today. For the past 2 weeks I have been unable to sleep on a normal schedule. Staying up to the dawn of the morning and finally getting a few hours of sleep in the afternoon until I have to wake up for work.
My soul is not at peace right now. If it is the year of 2012, the only things to remind of that is the modern technology of my computer, TV, and cell phone in my home right now; anything else would have told me that this was still 1952 and that it was still "okay" to lynch black men and women "Down South".
Until it happens, you can't understand it.... racism that is. Until it happens, you don't realize it exists. You want to feel like your skin color or any one's skin color is attributing factor to the treatment they may receive... but feelings aren't reality. The fact is, everyday, I'm black. Everyday my skin never changes color and when people look at me they make judgements upon me because of the way I look, the way I'm dressed, the way I talk, the way I move, the way I carry myself.
People constantly make judgements on appearance, that's the way we're wired. Our first sense is eyesight. It triggers taste, smell, touch, and emotional responses. So when people look at me, when people look at you, when George Zimmerman looked at Trayvon, something triggers inside of them... emotionally. And for George Zimmerman... that was fear and hate.
Gated communities. Gated communities are no safer than a prison when the people inside of them are just as hateful, fearful, and vigilante as a criminal. People in these types of communities think they are safer inside of them because they are guarded from the "outsiders". These types of communities promote racial and economic "homogeneity" meaning if you "don't look like us or have money like us" we don't except you. So when something or someone breaks that ideal it instills panic, fear, a state of heightened alert, as well as the idea of superiority over whatever, or in this case, whomever would be defector from the false normalcy within the gates.
Gated communities are nothing but reincarnations of the segregated communities of the Jim Crow era; White folks on this side of town... Black folks & Others on the other side. And don't be a Black man or boy on the wrong side of town, at the wrong time of day, otherwise you'll be questioned, and if you didn't answer the question right or had proof you were "allowed" to be on the "white" side... consider yourself guilty... trial by hanging.
So this is what they did to our baby, our future, our beautiful young man Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman lynched him, he murdered Trayvon.
Riled up by the fear, by the anger, by the superiority he felt in the gated community of his mind, combined with a 9mm gun.
He MURDERED Trayvon Martin.
He thought Trayvon was burglar, but walking down a side walk in a gated community is not a crime. He says it was self defense, but being scared to answer the 310 lbs. man in front of you asking you questions isn't assault. He thinks it wasn't murder, but Trayvon Martin screaming for help tells me that it was.
The bottom line is Trayvon Martin is dead. A death not fit for anyone, but we should not let his death be in vain. Let's change the laws. Let's open our minds. Let's fight for justice. Arrest George Zimmerman.
My soul is not at peace right now. If it is the year of 2012, the only things to remind of that is the modern technology of my computer, TV, and cell phone in my home right now; anything else would have told me that this was still 1952 and that it was still "okay" to lynch black men and women "Down South".
Until it happens, you can't understand it.... racism that is. Until it happens, you don't realize it exists. You want to feel like your skin color or any one's skin color is attributing factor to the treatment they may receive... but feelings aren't reality. The fact is, everyday, I'm black. Everyday my skin never changes color and when people look at me they make judgements upon me because of the way I look, the way I'm dressed, the way I talk, the way I move, the way I carry myself.
People constantly make judgements on appearance, that's the way we're wired. Our first sense is eyesight. It triggers taste, smell, touch, and emotional responses. So when people look at me, when people look at you, when George Zimmerman looked at Trayvon, something triggers inside of them... emotionally. And for George Zimmerman... that was fear and hate.
Gated communities. Gated communities are no safer than a prison when the people inside of them are just as hateful, fearful, and vigilante as a criminal. People in these types of communities think they are safer inside of them because they are guarded from the "outsiders". These types of communities promote racial and economic "homogeneity" meaning if you "don't look like us or have money like us" we don't except you. So when something or someone breaks that ideal it instills panic, fear, a state of heightened alert, as well as the idea of superiority over whatever, or in this case, whomever would be defector from the false normalcy within the gates.
Gated communities are nothing but reincarnations of the segregated communities of the Jim Crow era; White folks on this side of town... Black folks & Others on the other side. And don't be a Black man or boy on the wrong side of town, at the wrong time of day, otherwise you'll be questioned, and if you didn't answer the question right or had proof you were "allowed" to be on the "white" side... consider yourself guilty... trial by hanging.
So this is what they did to our baby, our future, our beautiful young man Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman lynched him, he murdered Trayvon.
Riled up by the fear, by the anger, by the superiority he felt in the gated community of his mind, combined with a 9mm gun.
He MURDERED Trayvon Martin.
He thought Trayvon was burglar, but walking down a side walk in a gated community is not a crime. He says it was self defense, but being scared to answer the 310 lbs. man in front of you asking you questions isn't assault. He thinks it wasn't murder, but Trayvon Martin screaming for help tells me that it was.
The bottom line is Trayvon Martin is dead. A death not fit for anyone, but we should not let his death be in vain. Let's change the laws. Let's open our minds. Let's fight for justice. Arrest George Zimmerman.
Mar 17, 2012
Are we "being" the church or just "having" church?
One word can change the meaning of your purpose. There is a difference between "having" and "being". Are we the church or are we just having church?
I think that is one of our biggest issues to overcome as the Christian church of the present time, we are just stepping into acting roles. What we perceive to be worship is has been mutated an opportunity to dress up and perform for other people. We glorify ourselves more than God. We may lift up our hands, but inwardly our hearts and minds are not focused on Jesus Christ. We come to church service expecting good music, a moment to cut a step, an exciting uplifting word, but all the while we rarely encounter God. We're "having" this church, but we are ineffective! We lack power as one body! We wonder why there is still sickness and demonic possession in the church, but we just "had" church... everything should be okay now, right?
Are we just coming to engage in the social/corporate aspect of the church culture or are we active participants in the learning, teaching, work, and service of Body of Christ inside and outside of the church building?
For me, the church is failing when it comes to teaching people to go out and become disciples of Christ through prayer, evangelism, service. Instead we've been promoting what sounds like, feels like, and looks like church: how to dress, how to act, how to "shout", when to clap, when to play that certain note on the organ, when to be quiet, how to speak in tongues (yeah I said it), how to look like your "having" church. There's so much more to the worship lifestyle experience, yet we minimalize it to one day of the week for a few hours and call that church.
I think that is one of our biggest issues to overcome as the Christian church of the present time, we are just stepping into acting roles. What we perceive to be worship is has been mutated an opportunity to dress up and perform for other people. We glorify ourselves more than God. We may lift up our hands, but inwardly our hearts and minds are not focused on Jesus Christ. We come to church service expecting good music, a moment to cut a step, an exciting uplifting word, but all the while we rarely encounter God. We're "having" this church, but we are ineffective! We lack power as one body! We wonder why there is still sickness and demonic possession in the church, but we just "had" church... everything should be okay now, right?
Are we just coming to engage in the social/corporate aspect of the church culture or are we active participants in the learning, teaching, work, and service of Body of Christ inside and outside of the church building?
For me, the church is failing when it comes to teaching people to go out and become disciples of Christ through prayer, evangelism, service. Instead we've been promoting what sounds like, feels like, and looks like church: how to dress, how to act, how to "shout", when to clap, when to play that certain note on the organ, when to be quiet, how to speak in tongues (yeah I said it), how to look like your "having" church. There's so much more to the worship lifestyle experience, yet we minimalize it to one day of the week for a few hours and call that church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)