Today

Today

Blinking past tears

Getting harder to hide

Something is missing

I no longer can deny

I understand the selfishness

That breaks my heart so

But I’m left with a pain

My life has never known

Yes, I know you were a part

Of God’s much larger plan

But your absence in my days

Is almost more than I can stand

I’ll have moments of peace

Followed by sudden dismay

Praying to God

Please don’t let me hear her name

The silence can be deadly

Like a terminal disease

I keep moving forward

But it’s hard to find relief

You were a blessing in my life

And all others you did touch

I know you have eternal peace

But I still miss you so much

Your life was a constant reminder

To make the most of today

Because as surely as God giveth

He most readily can take away

Not take away, as if to punish

Or payment for our sins

But to replenish His kingdom

With the angel you were within

How wonderful is our Father

Who truly understands

The impact of those eyes

The strength found in your hands

The sweet beauty of your laugh

That ever so bears...on my heart

Yet and still it is these things

Which make it difficult being apart

And yes of course I know

That you are with me always still

It is only your voice I’m missing

Which I know is God’s will

So tonight like nights before

I will fall down to pray

Always letting God know

I submit to His way

And whatever His plan

For my path and for me

Will be all that I want

As I fall to my knees

So while I will always miss you

And your beautiful way

I give thanks for the chance

To say I love you...today

I Have a Dream Too

I Have a Dream Too

I also have a dream

That one day you will look at me

And accept me for whom and what I am

And not who you need me to be

I dream of a time when

I will be good enough too

And the world will see us as equals

I will be seen as good as you

The color of my skin

And the texture of my hair

My home land of origin

And the clothes I choose to wear

Will not determine my value

In your eyes

And you will not predetermine

Or start to surmise

The value of my character

The intention of my soul

Can not be determined

By what you have been told

I dream also of a day when

A boy and a girl alike

Can play together joyously

No matter how dark no matter how light

There will be no fear of racism

Or profiling of those unlike us

Because we all would have realized

It is wrong and unjust

I pray that the deaths of Dr. King

And those like

Him will not be in vain...and

We can all unite

As brothers and sisters under God

Joined with one common deed

To love and embrace one another

And somehow we can find peace

So this is the reminder

That I am sending to you

I also have hope and faith in God

And I have a dream too

The Rule

The Rule

  Today is Human Rights Day. On this day we are supposed to remind each other that we all deserve the right to be treated fairly and justly. I guess the only way to do that is to remind each other that we treat each other unjustly and unfairly all too often. We have taken the rights and privileges of others and revoked them...as if we had given them these rights to begin with.

  After all, we didn’t give people the right to be who they are...we took that right away; and when that didn’t work we enslaved, tortured and maimed creatures of God. We shouldn’t expect acknowledgement for treating people with respect, we were supposed to do that. Should I thank someone for treating me kindly, in spite of the color of my skin or the origin of my culture? Should I be relieved if I am not attacked verbally or physically after others realize my religion is unlike theirs?

  I am always thankful when people treat others with peace and love, but not in spite of our differences...because of them. We were all created with the same concept...diversity is what connects us. We should never think that we are permitted to be unkind to other human beings, because they are different than we are. I know this can be a concept that many find hard to grasp, but we didn’t actually create anything.

  God/Allah uses us as vessels to show His love. We are permitted to give birth or participate in the lives of children. He allows us the opportunity to touch others and to have them touch us as well. It has never been written that tearing people down physically or emotionally is the will of God.

  On this day let is remind our selves that a geographic location does not tell all that there is to know. We are all of the same orientation...living beings created by that which has created us all...great and small. We are labors of love, and are supposed to convey that message to others. We don’t need praise for loving that which God loves. And sometimes we just need a friendly reminder...a memo, so to speak, refreshing our hearts. God created us from His divine love and continues to do so...even past our transgressions. God finds forgiveness...even in that which most would find unforgivable. It is that thought which gives me hope. It doesn’t give me a free pass to do whatever I may want...but it makes me aware that as long as I am trying to do the right thing...God will know it. God knows because the true intentions of our hearts are never hidden from anyone, but us.

  God’s journey for us is no secret, but we have to choose to know it. We have to own our actions and hold our selves accountable for those actions. We have to stop making excuses for our short comings. We all have them, and separating one another due to some trivial differences will always sell us short and we get exactly what we deserve when we sell our souls for the sake of a win.

  Love your fellow man today...regardless of race, religion, creed, geographic location or physical appearance. And I pray that past today we can love for the sake of doing what we were created to do. Use today as a building block not a stumbling block; but know that it is okay to stumble...as long as when you pick yourself up that you aren’t so mad about falling that you forget to keep moving forward.

  Let us live by one rule...the only rule which matters...love each other as God loves us. Shake hands, listen intently and embrace the differences that we were created with. That, my sisters and brothers...is the will of God.

Building Bridges

Building Bridges

  There are people that will come in and out of our lives...and while we may notice there absence, it is my hope that we will not miss the lesson in the experience. We are often saddened by the loss, whether it is through death or people just moving forward. It is my hope that with this we can eventually rally around what they contributed to our lives...be it something profound...or something as simple as teaching us to laugh at the things that don’t kill us.

  Laughing at adversity allows us to own whatever the stimulus might be...it makes us pro-active instead of reactive. Most people consider reactions to mean we were caught off guard...where as being pro-active infers that we were always ready for anything that may come our way. It gives us strength in the eyes of others...and re-instills the ideas that we are blessed and highly favored. Who doesn’t feel more secure with the knowledge that we are not alone?

  Life can definitely send some jabs and upper cuts our way...but the question is simple...are we so busy trying to patch up the injury that we no longer are looking for the next blow? Did we learn the lesson? There are those people who just sit and wait for the opportunity to present itself...and the opportunity usually tends to be isolation.

  You may say that you aren’t isolated...but let’s re-examine that thought. You may be physically surrounded with numerous people...you have more contacts in your cell phone than most people get holiday cards from...but are you free of isolation? It’s is ironic that these people are called contacts...yet very few actually touch us.

  What is isolation? Generally speaking, isolation occurs when a person sets themselves apart or cuts themselves off from others. You might still think that you don’t do this...but do you? How many people on your contact list...are you truly touched by; keeping in mind that “contact” generally means the state or condition of touching?

  Do you isolate yourself from what happens around you? Do you turn off the news or ignore news articles about things that you find disturbing or negative? Many people do. It can be emotionally taxing to watch how others suffer everyday...perhaps looking the other way will allow us to go on with our day, at least. Who really wants to read or watch stories about homelessness, or crime? Who wants to hear day in and day out about the famine in Horn of Africa...and who can bear to see those poor children dying? We have our own problems...and I do not think for one moment that people who think this way are callous or uncaring. They are human. But they are humans who have chosen to isolate themselves.

  Why do you think that so many people rallied around the recently executed Troy Davis? After all, he was found guilty of killing Mark MacPhail...why did he deserve any support? My best guess is this; Troy Davis...showed us that people are not expendable. I don’t think that anyone was supporting a murderer...they were supporting a human being. People gathered together by the groves...to unite for a common cause...to love their fellow man. Troy Anthony Davis woke people up. He made us look at our justice system with clarity...as if we had been walking around in a daze for centuries. Even if for just that moment...we didn’t want to isolate people. We actually wanted contact. We wanted people to know us...and us them.

  From this...conversations started...not just angry debates...but calm intellectual conversations. We started talking about everything! We wanted to know more. If you had a situation that was causing your frustration...I wanted to know about it. Your life began to matter to me. Even if for just one moment...we started remembering that we are supposed to love each other. Inadvertently, we began to “Occupy our Hearts”. The ice around our veins began to slowly melt. It was beautiful.

  Troy Davis reminded us that true justice will only occur when balancement exists. When the scales are tilted...it does not solve anything. He reminded us that only when we live in a society where we are not prejudged for some physical, financial, or religious difference will true justice happen.

  Ultimately, if we were to try and say that these biases do not exist...we are only further proving the fact that we are living in isolation.

  When this world was created...it was populated with living organisms that were molded to our Creator’s liking. We were chosen to live here...and we were chosen because we are all compatible. We can all live here harmoniously...if we so choose. Our problem has never been that we are not being able to love each other; the only problem is our own pre-conceived notions that we are better than another being. We are highly evolved creatures...we have learned how to communicate...we have invented machines to make life simpler. We have sent man and woman into space. We have raised children who would become future diplomats and literal geniuses. Yet we are the only living organisms that refuse to live together...without trying to destroy each other. There are millions of species of animals...that get along better than we do. And we will be the ONLY group of living organisms...who place themselves on the endangered species list. We would rather kill each other off into distinction than to learn how to live harmoniously.

  This is not the end of our story...but if we don’t make changes...it very well could be. Love life...make changes...say hello to someone you have never met. Hold a door open for a complete stranger...get to know your neighbors. Embrace your differences...you might learn something that will enhance your life. You may touch another person by just smiling at them. Encourage the conversation; offer each other loving solutions to a world full of problems. Take the initiative; it is what God has been waiting for all along. If we spend more time building bridges...we can spend less time building prisons.

Apples

                                           APPLES

When I was 15 or so I remember coming home to my grandmother and I was crying. She, of course, was comforting and wanted me to tell her all about it. So I go on to tell her that no boys in my class liked me, and I remember that she softly laughed at me. She pulls me to her chair and said she has something she wanted to tell me, and that she hoped it would make sense to me. She said Women are like apples hanging on a tree...she said and all the best apples...shiny, red, full of flavor...sit at the very top of the tree. Now men, of course, want the apples...and this is the most important part. Most men will walk to the tree and see that they have to jump to get the apples at the bottom of the tree...but they don't want to put in any real effort so they are content to picking up the apples whose stems were so weak that they had fallen to the ground. Now other men will be willing to jump and pluck the apples on the lower branches...because they are easy to get...and very little effort has to be exerted. But then she said...there are those...very rare men who will be willing to climb up the tree, sometimes falling down, with scratches and scrapes...yet still climbing....to get to the very best apples. She said and those men are the ones who are willing to look past the obvious, go beyond the easiest....and settle for no less than the very best that you have to offer. These are the men that you want to wait for...because they will hold you high and love you deeply.

Rays of light

Rays of Light

I wanted to take a moment to share God’s Rays of Light with you, so maybe it will show the divine way in which God gives us HIS unwavering love.

 I have always known that all that happens has a greater purpose or reason…even though we may not fully understand why it was/is necessary. How many of us have met some one and we were certain that he/she was “THE ONE”? And in time the relationship would fall apart, for whatever reason. I can remember, personally, feeling lost…not understanding why God would allow that to happen. It would take years before I could see that the relationship was not as perfect as I may have convinced myself that it was. In time I came to realize that God would use many people to help me see what I needed in my life…by showing me what I didn’t need. However I had to experience the things I didn’t need to see what they were. Maturity helped me realize that if the relationship had continued…I would have missed out on what HE had been preparing me for my entire life.

 I have noticed that often people have used an illness to try and dispel the fact that we are loved highly. After all why would a God who loves us allow us or others to suffer? I always try to keep in mind that there is a lesson in everything, so I always ask myself what I can learn from this experience. Perhaps I needed to slow down, because I was losing sight of what was really important, and I had not been using the gifts God had given me. It is, of course, always harder to watch others suffer…so in my attempt to understand the lesson in that…I had to search deeply within myself. I couldn’t imagine what lesson a child who is starving, would need to learn. I certainly couldn’t believe that the child had done anything wrong…or deserving of the affliction or circumstance. Was God overlooking that child’s prayers? Then one day, I saw the larger picture. The TRUE LESSON in having to watch a child starve to death…was in the fact that…we WATCHED. We didn’t take any responsibility for trying to help. Perhaps when the child prayed to God for help…God responded by bringing the child to our attention. So given that perspective…it wasn’t God that failed the starving child…it was us.

 Do we ever consider the fact that people are brought into our sight, for a very specific reason? How do we drive past a homeless person on the street, who is asking for help, as if we don’t see them? Almost ironically, we will shake our heads in disbelief when we hear of a man beating his wife or child to death…yet sit idly while they are being verbally abused. How many times have you heard some one say…some one should have done something? Next time, be completely honest with yourself…why didn’t you do something? What if you were the life line that God threw to that person…and you acted like it wasn’t your place? What is your place? Are our heads and hearts in the right place? After all it is our hearts which tell us what we should care about…and heads which tell us to take action. Does your head listen to your heart?

 God is loving…but the window of opportunity to do the right thing…can be brief. We blindly go about our days, as if it isn’t our job to look out for other people, especially if they don’t play a major part in our daily lives; I just can’t imagine there being a more important job than to love one another. Its like leaving something laying in the middle of the floor…and walking over top of it, waiting for some one else to take the initiative to pick it up. The problem being…everyone is waiting on some one else to pick it up. Doing the right thing is easy…we make it hard.

 The beauty of God is all around us, we see it daily. Have you ever seen a flower grow in the middle of a sidewalk? It is God’s way of showing us that even amidst mans destruction of this earth…He will allow a flower to grow…in an unexpected place. The question is will we appreciate the blessing of the flower or plow it down?

 What are God’s RAYS of LIGHT? God’s way of showing us a negative situation…which man has allowed to occur…and giving us the opportunity to make it better, through love and peace.

Peace and Perseverance

Peace and Perseverance

  For the first time since 2004, a woman was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. And to make it a triple treat, there were actually three women given this distinct honor this year; and it could not have been given to 3 more deserving human beings. I simply could not let the momentum pass without singing their distinguished praises myself. I would like to introduce you to 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Honorees:

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

 Ms. Sirleaf is a 72 year old Harvard trained economist. She became not only Liberia’s first female President in 2005, but the first on the entire continent of Africa. She is the reigning president and is coming up for re-election. When she took office in Liberia, she was seen as a reformer and peace maker. She was nicknamed the “IRON LADY”.

Leymah Gbowee

  As head of the Women’s Peace and Security Network, she was honored by the committee for mobilizing women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the war in Liberia and to ensure women’s participation in elections. Ms. Gbowee brought together Christian and Muslim women against the power of Liberia’s warlords. In addition, Ms. Gbowee has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after the war.

Tawakkul Karman

  Ms. Karman, a 32 year old mother who heads the human rights group “Women Journalists Without Chains”, has been a leading figure in protests against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. She is known among Yemeni’s as “the Iron Woman” and the “Mother of the Revolution”. The Associated Press adds that “Ms. Karman is a conservative woman fighting for change in a conservative Muslin and tribal society”.

  All three of these women should be commended for doing exemplary work. They can be held as an example to all women and all people everywhere. Just to further my belief that sometimes we must step up when others are stepping back. These women and their predecessors have paved the way for those that will follow; creating social awareness and a promise for the great things yet to come.

  As a woman, I want to thank you for shining your light so brightly.