The Passion

I wrote this "Holy Week" 2013. As we once again approach the commemoration of his death, It is my prayer that HIS love abound in spite of those who use his name to promote hate! His message was ALWAYS love. So I post here today as a reminder:

The Passion

There is something about Holy Week that always brings to heart the intimacy of my Christian relationship. On first glance by outsiders my life would hardly seem that of the devout disciple, but on closer examination one will find the heart of one fully engaged in a love affair with the person, principle, passion and concept of Jesus "The anointed."

Ours is a long lived relationship that started in my teens. It was then that I was able to see him through my own eyes, pass the interpretation fed to me by a dogmatic doctrine that fostered more fear than love. It was then in those tenuous teen years that I found a compassionate outsider that never quite fit in with the norms of his day. I was able to see his blatant rejection of the spiritual status quo held as sacrosanct by the religious elite of his time. It was then that I realized I was already more like Jesus than I had previously seen.

During those early years I began a practice that I continue to this day, of having conversations with The Most Beloved. Back then it was usually at bed time while looking out my window at the night sky. As I grew older it evolved to small conversation throughout the day when brought to mind. These conversations served as little breaks in an always overfilled day that allowed me to connect to this ensign of love that he had become for me and thus to love itself.

The more I read scripture I was able to divine the beauty of this person we know as Jesus and my affection for him grew. How could I not love this being who was so easily and readily moved to action by his compassion? How could I, the visionary that I was, not embrace the excellence of his pursuit of a destiny he was sure was his own. And who could not love a man whose heart of compassion & length of vision caused him to say a pray for those of us who had yet to populate the planet as he prepared to cross his final threshold into immortal notoriety.

Yes, I acknowledge that accounts could have been exaggerated when being recounted. I will acquiesce that some things get lost in translation and that context could reveal other strains to the story. What does hold true however, is the impeccable tale of unselfish love that lead a man, clearly having a human experience on this planet, to give up his life to serve the greater good. A man, who while he lived, gave to all who came for help. It is the story of unwavering faith that allowed him to offer this sacrifice trusting that what he knew in his heart about his divine destiny was true. It is the epic of triumph over the naysayers that could not believe the impossible. And at the very heart of it all is me (and you):

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us... And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one..." John 17:20-22

WE are the true passion of Jesus "The Anointed" It is a desire for us to know the true intimacy & oneness of divinity that inspired him to take that last agonizing step into glory instead of asking for reprieve. By doing so he became an example of the beauty, wonder & magic that lives in that space where humanity & divinity meet. It is this understanding that fuels my adoration. And if I never called myself a Christian again, I'd always admit my love for this gorgeous being & the concept of selfless love that he exemplifies.

So, I invite you this week, no matter what your religious affiliation, to look at the story of Jesus through different eyes. See the beauty of his gesture of sacrifice. Contemplate the depth of his commitment to global change. And consider that you, individually & we collectively were at the heart of his cause and thus are his true passion.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:13

Safe Space

It’s been almost 13 years since my father transitioned to the other side. It was years after he died before I felt somewhat whole again. I say somewhat because that kind of loss is life altering and you are never the same as you were before it happened. But I did finally get to a place where I could think of him or say his name and not fall apart. Even now if I say too many sentences in a row about my dear daddy I feel the knot begin to form in my throat and the tears start to well in my eyes. I know the length of my grieving was in direct relation to the amount of safety I felt to engage my feelings. There seemed to be no space to have the meltdown that I think everyone is entitled to when they lose people they truly love. Society allows 7-10 days tops and then you are expected to go back to “normal.” But there is very little acknowledgement of the fact that for the grieving there is a new normal to which we must adjust. Friends try to be supportive but they must go back to their own lives and responsibilities. And let’s face it, unless they too have lost a close loved one like a parent, they really aren’t equipped to help anyway.

I cried every day for a year and no one knew. I’m not one who asks for help easily. So, I put on my brave face and went on about my daily activities. But I would lay in my bed at night when the world was silent enough to allow me to hear my grieving soul and cry because I’d never hear his voice again, because I would never see that smile that could light up the world again, because I’d never hear him say he believed in me again. I’d cry for the conversations that only we could have that we’d never get to have now. Mostly, I’d cry because my constant, dependable, reliable safe space was gone. No matter his imperfection, he was daddy and the world was not so big and bad with him in it.

I’m thinking of this tonight as I think of Bobbi Kristina and her fight for life. Her situation is just the most recent that has caused me to contemplate how our consumptive nature as a society has crossed over from mere material to actual emotions. The advent of reality television has given rise to a culture that consumes drama and grief like Sunday supper and leaves not space for the very real people who live public lives to safely experience their emotions. Actually we prefer they not deal with things in a healthy way because a Kanye West mindlessly acting out his grief is far more entertaining than him taking time to truly process his loss and come out on the other side of it.   

This young woman lost her mother, whom we all laid claim to as our own. So, even in those initial moments when most of us would be dealing with the reality of what happened and letting it sink in she was floating through a world wind of tributes that kept the lonely at bay for a while. But after all the tributes were through and the last songs sung, where was her safe place to grieve. The same public who claimed to share in her grief in the beginning, made her the butt of their jokes and she became just another public figure for our consumption.

Tonight I pray for her, her father and her family. May the God of peace be with them through this trying time and may they find love and a safe space in each others presence. 

I also pray that we as a society increase our compassion and decrease our need to feed on people’s emotions as a form of entertainment. I pray we learn to view people who live public lives as the people that they are and allow them the space that we all deserve to experience their private emotions. 

Selah…

2015 Purposeful Positive Action Challenge

In 2014 I found myself complaining quite a bit more than usual... Not to say there weren't many complaint worthy moments. However, I was taught by my father a long time ago that "in the history of man complaining has never changed anything! If you don't like something... CHANGE IT!" In more contemporary verbiage my dad was saying "Don't talk about it. Be about it!"

I am committed to making 2015 a year of positive actions that make my own life and the planet better. I'm starting with this 30 day challenge:
For the next 30 days when I feel the urge to complain I will stop and ask "what can I do to positively influence this situation even in the smallest way?" More times than not we have the power to shift our situations. If I find that it is a situation that requires the spirit of Ujimaa (collective work) I will do what's necessary to gather the needed forces. As the song goes "The world won't get no better if we just let it be..."

I am working to make 2015 as good a year as it can be for us all! Won't you join me? If you a willing to take the challenge please repost and tag at least 2 people. Together "we can change the world! Yes you and me!"

Love's In Need...

I was a militant teen, mainly because I experienced racism daily in the white suburb my daddy moved us to when I was eight. I was militant in my thinking all through college. Then I embarked on a truly spiritual path at 23 and worked to transform myself and access the spirit essence/divinity within. I became ordained in a couple different spiritual expressions. During this path I shook off militancy for a broader view that divine order takes care of things & that the law of reciprocity eventually catches up with everyone.

However, Since the execution of Troy Davis I've been feeling a new direction to my call. Though the law of reciprocity is real, it works when we all play our part in the grand design. Sometime Justice doesn't come until you call for it. In light of the recent event in #Ferguson I find myself working to balance feelings within that would draw me back to militancy. I am then reminded by the spirit within that love is the strongest force on the planet and will defeat hate in the end. I do believe it to be true but "what about this genocide happening right before my very eyes?! Surely, Something has to be done about it right?!" I ask Spirit.
"Indeed something has to be done, but mind your motivation," Spirit says. It was the change of perspective I needed.

So, I move forward in love, today. Love & value for the lives of Troy Davis, Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride, Rekia Boyd, Michael Brown and all of the other black and brown babies who are being disposed of by a society that does not see their worth. Love for their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who are robbed of their presence. Love for a community that will never know and benefit from the potential of their contribution because their lives were cut short. My love for them and all the black and brown babies and their mothers who deserve to walk the streets in their own country and not worry about making it back home at night, will be my motivation as I move forward in my call for the end of this American genocide!

If Love IS the greatest force on the planet and I believe that it is, then I will use it to make a change.

Changed

I am tender, raw, torn open,
Pushed passed my numbness into a deep sense of urgency.
SOMETHING has to be done about this genocide happening in America.

When 3 decades of prison industrial complex incarcerations seemed challenged to end,
They threw off facades and took to old school lynching with new tools.
Now they call it "Standing Ground," and "Appropriate force for resisting arrest."
But the fruit is still so very strange,
Picked and left to spoil in the street
Instead of hanging on the trees.

I am different today, changed.
One too many brown baby's face etched in my mind
Who will never feel his or her mama's embrace again.
How can I be unchanged by it all?
How can I not see in their lost lives
Systemic design meant to eradicate me and mine from the planet?
It's the helplessness that hurts so.

Where does one begin to insist that their life matters?
I mean, shouldn't humans just already know
That all human life is precious?
And if that is not the case,
What is the state of their humanity who thinks otherwise?
I have very few answers now.
All I know in this moment is:

I am tender, raw, torn open,
Pushed passed my numbness into a deep since of urgency.
SOMETHING has to be done about this genocide happening in America.

Unlikely Heroes

I am extremely excited about two new biopcs that are about to be shared with us, the viewing public. The stories of James Brown and Jimi Hendrix appeal to me as a musician, of course. Their influence on American music was so integral, that we would not have Rock, R&B, hip hop or Dance music of all sorts without it. But the appeal of these gentlemen’s stories goes far beyond their valuable contribution to American music and Pop Culture. Their stories appeal to me for the complexity of humanity that they both displayed. 

We are a society that CRAVES heroes. However, we want them pristine and without blemish. We leave no place for humanity with our iconography. The moment they show the slightest bit of human frailty we are ready to cast them aside and forget their many contributions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way implying that poor decisions should not be accompanied by the appropriate consequences for those decision. Neither am I saying that people should not be called to task for some of the decisions they make in life by others who might productively show them the error of their ways. I’m just saying that one, two or even three poor decisions should not define the totality of a person existence. And even if the decisions they make bring about their eventual demise it does not negate the contributions they make to the big picture of humanity's progression. It is hard to determine what people are providing to the world in the present tense. We usually only realize the part people play in the grand plan once we are looking back on them in the context of history.

These gentlemen’s stories remind me of the biblical account of King David. In all accounts he was a murder and adulterer. There is no denying that. However he was also a valiant warrior and his presence united a nation.

Similarly these men whose lives were problematic and riddled with questionable or downright poor decisions were able to unit a nation, if but for a moment, under the universal language of music. Not only did they effect the space in time in which they inhabited, they each provided a body of work that inspired every generation of musicians that followed them. Their lives are inspirational to me, not because they were flawless, no. I am inspired by the story of flawed humans like these who show us that we can be both imperfect and impactful; People whose stories, rife with slips, falls and short comings, are still able to show that there are contributions to be made even if we don’t have it all together. And THIS is the reason I am excited about these as well as most honest biographical movies. If done with true perspective they allow the viewer to see that these people they idolize are no better than they are. And hopefully it excites in the viewer an understanding that they too, in all their humanness, has the ability to do great things. 

We ARE a society that craves heroes. It is my belief that when we start allowing them to be the flawed, imperfect humans that we all are, more will arise to fulfill their part in the grand design. We are all in some way, unlikely heroes.