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Do not think for one moment that I have not heard you and considered or weighed out what you have said. Do not think for one moment I have not seen how you feel, especially in light of what we are going through right now in our country. I know that you have been hurt by actions of others, which has resulted in anger and rightly so. It is no secret that in this country, abroad and around this world there is a disdain for people with differences. I know that it appears as if this “hate” has a color to it because of what we view as the majority vs. the minority.
My view is I agree and disagree. I agree that there is a hate issue and the color of it is black. However, I disagree that the black color has to do with skin as much as it has to do with the metaphorical and spiritual color of the heart.
I know the Bible is wildly unpopular but there is supernatural wisdom in it that pertains to just these issues going on right now with all of this social unrest.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” -Proverbs 4:23
I would be a liar if I said I had never in my life made any derogatory, hurtful statement or comments about one of my fellow human beings, at times to their face no less. I would be remiss if I could not recall my fleshly weaknesses in purposely pointing out my brothers or sisters faults or physical attributes that I found distasteful, repugnant or unappealing, just to boost or fill the hollow gaps in my self-inflated ego.
It is true that a reform is needed. But in order to reform we must first be transformed and renewed in our way of thinking. You see, we humans require a mantle of greatness to surround our sin-soaked existence. But not just any greatness, a supernatural one. One that allows us to see past our own deeply rooted barrier we have constructed, the wall, from past experience. We must boldly take responsibility and accountability. We must make a solid decision based not only in our flesh, but in our soul and spirit as well, to pursue, encourage, inspire and duplicate through faith, hope and love. It is for this very reason I must remain as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with whom I identify, in Spirit and in truth.
Sincerely, SāF
#SparkĀFlame #SaF
James 1:23 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
Over the last decade or more our society has experienced a breakdown in our humanity. Exposure to social media has revealed some great gains, but even greater losses. Communication, now in its peak since inception, is at best a misdirected attempt at coming together while forcibly, if not purposely, pushing each other away. We retreat into our “protected” technologically created shells to become an unrecognizable force fueled by media enhanced images of who we crave in the words of Shakespeare, “to be or not to be.” But, Shakespeare was correct, “that is the question.”
The recent school shooting in Florida has once again fueled the gun debate, creating yet another wedge between people of all race, class, age, region and religious or political agenda. People want to blame the POTUS, law enforcement, religion, races and AR-15’s. The real issues of desensitization, the demise of moral and ethical principles, lack of accountability and respect, and indoctrination through controlled media resources, agenda-themed music, and film still remain. Instead of coming together as a people in support of those grieving and mourning the loss of their loved ones, people choose to use the platform to ego-boost their opinionated ideas and agendas of how much things in this world would be different if we would do this, this way or not do that, that way. The reality is most of us are incapable of just doing the small things needed daily. The small niceties in a day that can cause a infinitesimal ripple in the present, later resulting in fantastic or all to often catastrophic outcomes in the future.
Today, while shopping in Walmart, I had the unfortunate opportunity of witnessing a ripple of irresponsible behavior. There was an older Caucasian, well-to-do woman, standing one person ahead of me in the “10 items or less” line. Directly in front of her was a father and son of Mexican descent, which was apparent by their facial characteristics, skin shading and traditional clothing. The woman was obviously annoyed by the fact that this father and son had more than “10 items or less”, and she had no intention of hiding her disdain or contempt. Firstly, she spoke brazenly with another woman standing behind her, making several remarks under her breath while noticeably glaring their direction. But then suddenly after a deep sigh and rolling her eyes back into her head, she stated aloud for all to hear, “I guess they can’t count!” The father and son looked her direction briefly, peered around, then hastily looked away. As I studied their faces I could see the sizzling sting of pain that comes with being ridiculed and singled out. Their body language displayed silent efforts to make themselves appear smaller so as not to draw any more unsolicited attention.
Now, the “ignorant” person will immediately make this whole observation about race or color or even counter-racism (if such a thing exists). But the truth is most of this dreadful display just solidified the already obvious direction our society has been headed in for a long time. I can not explain the barrage of emotion that washed over me in that moment. Sadness, disgust, and shock filled my body. What bothered me most was the impatient, vulgar reaction of this woman who was obviously part of the Baby Boomer generation. A generation known for their fortuitous tolerance mixed with the ability to express wisdom and knowledge that comes from a life of reflective existence. Instead, she displayed bitterness, hatred and inexplicable rage more than likely related to the over-exposure of mainstream media combined with a silver platter attitude in which she thought herself better than those around her. She even had the nerve to say something about “karma”, as if it had something to do with retribution undoubtedly she felt due to the man and his son. And all of this because of a possible 5 items over in the “10 items or less” line. (Some might say “well it is a ’10 Items or Less’ line for a reason”, however, is it possible that the man and his son did not even see the sign?) Maybe the man and his son were just trying to get a few things for their family from Walmart and in their haste were completely unaware of all the “turmoil” they had just “caused”.
In my astonishment I began to shake my head side to side unable to wipe the judgement from my face. The impertinence of this woman reconfirmed the reason so many outsiders look at America in disgust, scoffing at our elite self-assessment of who we think we are. Just then I heard a voice speak out, “wow, shameful behavior”. The resonating disappointment at the center of that voice momentarily stopped me from recognizing it was my own. I could not believe the audacity with which this woman conducted herself, because I knew she was capable of better. As much as I wanted to stand in the gap for the man and his son I could not lower my standards. Although it might have gratified my flesh, using some cleverly humiliating quip on the woman so she could feel the same sting the man and his son felt, I resisted. But the one thing I did do was pray.
I prayed for the woman to be released from the bondage of her pride. I prayed for the man and his son not to be bound by the embarrassing, dehumanizing example displayed by this woman at Walmart. I prayed for those around who may have witnessed the exchange and ignorantly sided with the injustice. But mostly I prayed for my loved ones and myself. I prayed we would not become so jaded in our experience with others that we would thoughtlessly discount who they are as fellow human beings. I prayed we’d remain humble remembering that not one of our lives are better or more important than anyone else’s. I prayed we would remember the example of unconditional love the Father left us through His son Jesus. Jesus epitomized this fact. And unlike Jesus we did not have to prove our unconditional love by sacrificing everything till the point of death. My final thought was a desire to at least try my best to emulate the gracious example left by Christ and to not jump so quick to judgement instead remembering the grace that had been extended over my once wretched life.
James 1:25 “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
It saddens me how much the culture has changed. This present generation, for the most part, is the “Me-Generation” or the Milleniels. That spirit of self-gratification, entitlement, disrespect, laziness and fear has permeated the land to an alarming degree. In the light of so much technology, “reality” mentality and social media we have bought into the “history” and fairytales that have been fed to us on so many different levels for so many hundreds of years. And we have allowed them to separate us without question or opposition.
There are no more basic values of respect and morality for God, authority or your fellow man. People say and do what they want, no matter the extreme, without any reservation, consideration, hesitation or at the very least for the preservation of their own soul. People blaspheme God, slander their neighbor and continue to add to the already innumerable amount of hate that we have stirred up in this country and world. Perversion, miseducation and indoctrination have led to killing, stealing and destroying. We have turned on one another as rabid, starving animals fixated on a final opportunity at prey “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother” (Matthew 10:35).
PLEASE, don’t stand on your soapbox and preach to me about injustice and personal defeat at the “hands” of others. I am a Puerto Rican-Black-woman, molested by a white man and raped by a Hispanic/Black man and yet I still find the courage and conviction to live my life in such a way as to treat every man, woman, child with respect, dignity and as an individual. I have come from one of the biggest cities in the Midwest and now live in the deep South and have experienced both the ignorance of prejudice and the beauty of mutual understanding and love from all races and walks of life. People are people are people. Stop dismissing others because you don’t have the conviction nor the gumption to escape your boundaries and self-installed “great walls” to venture out and discover something about your fellow man. Stop imposing your closed-minded interpretations of who you think everyone is without even exploring past the shackles of your own mind.
Stop feeding in to the mind-blowing levels of contradiction, confusion and basic fear that these people (i.e., media, Hollywood, Beyoncé and dem, etc.) who could care less about you, instill in you on a daily. The popular opinion is just a myth exaggerated to control the masses and sway them to a level of self-destruction that seems uncomfortabably close. So your candidate won or didn’t win, God is still in control. As a matter of fact, He places kings and takes down kings (Psalms 75:7, Daniel 2:21, Romans 13:1), so if you have a beef, maybe you should take it up with Him.
Wake up. There’s a great big beautiful, unexplored world out there. When we stop looking at people like races and get back to looking at people’s faces and as individuals, maybe, just maybe we can take back the only race that truly matters. The human one.
Allumefeu ☆ Firestarter 