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.

Precious Moments

Precious Moments

If I had taken a picture

For every time you smiled

I would have a creation of love

That would span across the miles

If I had known this small hand

Would give my heart wings

I would have held it more often

And forgotten lesser things

If I had imagined that there were angels

With silken flowing hair

That gave God’s love freely...

By simply breathing our air

I would have hugged you more often

And frowned so much less

I would have dipped your dreams in chocolate

In spite of the mess

I would have understood that smiles are hugs

We give our broken hearts

And it doesn’t matter when you finish

Only that you start

I would have seen that life isn’t

Always what we thought

And our souls cannot be purchased

And God’s love cannot be bought

I would have lined your path with rainbows

And little pots of gold

And given you more love and peace

Than your little hands could hold

I will not feel bad

About the things that I regret

About all of the goals

That I still haven’t met

Instead I will give you

All I have and hold dear

This is the knowledge

That God led you here

So beautiful soul

Wherever your heart lands

I want you to know

That I finally understand

God has no boundaries

And has no sense of time

But out few precious moments

Are priceless treasures of mine

Prevalence of Peace

Prevalence of Peace

  I often write and refer back to the fact that we are supposed to be peaceful with one another; and often I remind us that peace is what God wants for us. However, what is meant by “peace on earth”? What is peace? If I do not speak to you, if I ignore or avoid you...in the name of peace...is it actually peace? If we elude, evade, or dodge people are we giving them peace?

  Let’s us look at it this way...if I ignore you...do you feel warm? This can not become a matter of “If you can’t say something nice than say nothing at all”. What have I given you to pass on to another person...silence? In the quiet, are you reflecting? In the avoidance, are you contemplating how to show your love to another person...or managing a wartime strategy? Peace is not quiet time. Peace is not obtained through a spiritually motivating conversation...unspoken. Peace does not exist when there are guns going off...on the battlefield or in our minds. Peace is destroyed when we are developing ways to divide and conquer for our own personal or professional gain. Peace can not be developed when we are allowing people to dictate who we should love and support. Peace does not exist when we allow violence to touch the hearts and minds of our children.

  When we allow the growth of drugs, gangs, and domestic bloodshed within our neighborhoods...how can peace prosper? How can we expect our children to thrive in conditions that are indicative of hate? Yet, we send our children walking through these neighborhoods to school...which is similar to sending them marching through a mine field. How can we lead other countries into peace...if our own backyards are combat zones? Don’t our children deserve peace of mind? We typically want the very best life has to offer, for our children. Yet we turn a blind eye to the harsh conditions that they are met with...simply by walking to a friends house.

  How do our children learn about peace...if no one even taught us about it? Is peace...quiet? Absolutely not; peace is loud, boisterous, receiving, participatory, and Godly. I will yell...scream...stomp and point at any and all injustices. Until we make changes in our world...there can be no peace. Peace is not nodding and smiling. Peace is not stifling oppression. Peace means change.

  Peace is only obtained through understanding and love. We can stop war...but if we still have hate and indifference in our hearts then peace can not survive. Please understand that indifference is worse than hate...because it implies that we have no concern one way or another, for another human being.  Reflect on that statement for one moment...it means we do not care about a being that was created by God. Is that what we have become? Peace is obtained through consideration of others, kindness and compassion toward our fellow man/woman. We must learn the ways of our Creator, by becoming accepting, kind and considerate of our brothers and sisters under Heaven.

  Peace is not silence. Peace happens when we learn how to live in harmony...when we start caring about other people as much as we do ourselves. Peace is the practice of out stretching our arms to those in need. When we become God’s life raft...and put ourselves second to the needs of others...only then can the quest for peace begin. Remember that if we only show love and concern for ourselves...one day we will look around and see that we are all that is left.

  We should look around at the world we live in...God has populated it with beings that are intended to help uplift us and others. Our true path is found when we start doing God’s work...by nurturing other beings.

  Peace can not be obtained by waiting for lightning to strike in an unusual place. Peace is what we strive for...it makes us better people. It changes those around us. It stops wars and builds bridges. It does not cause separation due to some boundary or limit that man has selfishly created himself. It is the understanding that without it...we have no hope of survival.

  I pray that each of you finds a way to make peace with everyone you touch. May this circle of hope...go unbroken and stand the test of time...because time is running out.

Stop the Violence

Stop the Violence

  Today is Stop the Violence Day. Even in writing that it seems ridiculous to have to say. As children we are taught, from an early age, to be kind to one another. We have religious books that will tell us to be kind to our neighbors, and to want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves. And since I doubt that anyone wants death and destruction brought upon themselves or those that they love...I doubt we are thinking of it in that way.

  Violence has become a way of life for most of our world. And to support the violent action we are often making excuses for it to continue...both on the domestic and global fronts. We will often hear an abusive person making excuses for his/her behavior stating that they were led to that dark place...often by the victim. When we hear such an outlandish statement, we often shake our heads. And we react in this way because it is juvenile for us to believe that another person could lead us into such violence. After all, we are individuals. We have our own minds and thought patterns. We certainly can not be led astray by another individual...can we? We couldn’t become so angry that we would want to strike someone that could be considered weaker than us, could we? We couldn’t actually hope for people to believe that a child could do something so awful that they would need to be battered or bruised...but do we?

  Tempers flare, but we are responsible for those actions. And if we can not control the actions of our bodies or mouths...we should reach out for help. I learned some startling statistics that I wanted to share with you, so that we could see this problem in black and white.

1.   In South Africa 1300 women are raped everyday

2.  In the United States, 683,000 forcible rapes occur every year

3.  Child abuse is reported every 10 seconds

4.  Every 9 seconds a woman is beaten

5.  5-6 children will die from complications of abuse every day

6.  Most Rapists commit 10 rapes before they are caught

7.  4 million women a year are seriously abused every year

8.  1 in 5 high school girls are sexually or physically abused by a partner

  These statistics, while startling are completely factual. There is nothing worse than being abused. This violence has to stop. We are literally killing each other...every single day.

  No one...has the right to put their hands on another living soul. We do not have eminent domain over another person. People are not property. We can not be held or contained and if we are...it is a violation of our civil rights. It is criminal to make anyone do anything against their will...whether spoken or implied.

  I pray that we use this day as an example of how we are supposed to live. We need to learn to live in harmony, with ourselves and others.

Hidden Heredity

Hidden Heredity

  November is Native American History month. I am always prompted to write about my heritage during this month specifically because I don’t think that enough is widely known about this beautiful group of people, which are my family.

  My teenage daughter has never, been taught anything about Native American History in her school system; in fact the only information she has...comes from our conversations. I, of course, do not mind telling her about my heritage...as I find it to be the most significant thing about me. This week, however I posed a question to myself and did some research to try and understand why we don’t hear anyone speak in a Native American tongue. I wanted to understand what happened when Native children were placed on reservations. The information I found was startling and disturbing.

  It all started with something called “Kill the Indian and save the man”. The title alone left me in chills. How does one separate the two? What I learned brought me to tears. Native American children were placed in boarding schools, under the guise of giving them the benefit of an “American” education. Their culturally significant hair was cut, so the children wouldn’t stand out. The children were also told that if they spoke in their native language or spoke of their culture, they would be punished. And, dear readers, they were severely punished. The children that attended the boarding schools were as young as 6 years of age. The children who had difficulty remembering to not speak in their indigenous language were beaten and made to eat soap. I even read about an incident where a young boy died from choking on the soap. As a result of this conditioning the children and later adults became afraid to speak or participate in their own culture. The way they dressed was changed, as it was part of the Americanization process which was started by George Washington.

  These indigenous people were forbidden from participating in their traditional dances and feasts, polygamy, funeral practices and the “medicine men” were prohibited in the ways of their culture. The people of the United States also felt that it was the responsibility to convert the indigenous culture to Christianity and suppress the native religions and practices that had been a part of their culture. This practice was referred to as “making apples”; where the man would be red on the outside, yet cultured to be white on the inside. In fact, if a Native American was found guilty of practicing “heathen rituals” it was punishable by serving up to 30 years in prison, until the law changed in 1978.

  I found these facts to be very unsettling. I was upset by this because these practices are just another way for man to try and control another group of [people...using fear.

  Please understand that we were not placed on this earth to manipulate or control anyone else. It is our nature to be loving...we were created to do so. It is never okay to degrade or tear another person or group of people down. One culture, religion or race is not better than the other. We are one group of beings...always created to be ONE with our Creator. It does not matter by what name we refer to Him. We are supposed to find peace and give it others. We are supposed to love ALL people, not just those who we understand or those who have an understanding of us. It is our job to promote the love of God, who is the Creator of all things. We have no right to restrict, ban, isolate, or segregate people from their way of life. It is not fair nor is it GODLY of us to say that a group of people must adhere to our culture...or else.

  I am of Indigenous descent...I am proud of my culture. Unfortunately, this blog is necessary. It is necessary because if we do not change our way of thinking...we will continue to hold back entire groups of people. We are brothers and sisters under God’s Heaven...we should start behaving as such.

That Which is Us

That Which is Us

Through your eyes I see me

Filled with your unwavering love

Through my heart I see you...

And a world I only dreamed of

I reach out my hand to you

As lovers often will

Always finding your hand there

Waiting for me still

And when there came a time

That I caused the scales of us to tilt

You wrapped me in His love

And our eternal pyramid was built

Thank you ...forever

For knowing who I was from the start

And showing me my path

By trusting me with your fragile heart

To Thine Own Self Be True

To Thy Own Self Be True

      I wish I could show you, When you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being. ~Hafiz

  I pray that today can be the beginning of a new tradition...a tradition of love and peace. Don’t worry we will not need to travel to a foreign land, or learn a new language. Today we will start the change within ourselves.

  I want to spend some time reminding you about how precious and necessary you are in this life. Often we may feel that our place in this world is so minute that it is insignificant. We may feel like if we can not have things the way that we think they should be that we have no reason to go on. I promise you the only reason that you feel this way is because you are not seeing life clearly, right now.

  We are often tested...pushed to our limits. While this may seem unfair or harsh...it is the same principle behind letting go of our child when they are learning to ride a bicycle. We are pushing them beyond their conceivable limits. We are teaching them that if they believe in themselves that they can overcome adversity. Can you remember the first time that you rode a bicycle without your mom or dad holding on to you? I know that I felt like I was soaring with eagles...and in my mind I probably was.

  The thing to remember is that our limits or adversity do not own us. We are tested to show us that we can move past a certain level. Often the pain that we feel is placed there so that we will move on...not give up. Giving up means that we were defeated...but it doesn’t have to end this way.

  I understand what it is like to have to deal with real problems head on...I have struggled with my limits also. I always kept in my mind, however the issue that I was facing...was also facing me. I did not have to overcome it...it had to overcome me.

  I am not suggesting that the struggle is an easy one...or it wouldn’t be much of a struggle. However we can rein supreme...I just had to keep telling myself that I alone am enough. I can face my demons...I can walk out of the darkness; I only need to decide to do it. I also am not saying that it is something that needs to be done alone. Reach out to the positive people in your life. Talk to people who are interested in uplifting your spirit and soul. Seek support for your particular demon, it is out there. No matter what issue you are up against, I promise you that some one else has also gone through it.

  You are loved. It can be difficult to see that when it feels like the scales of life seem unbalanced. However the fact that you are here...breathing in and out every day...means that your path is still unfinished. God created you out of love and peace...it is up to you to find your way back to that place.

  I want to help you understand that you never have to struggle alone. The world doesn’t have to be a lonely place. You are a child of God and because of that fact...I love you unconditionally. Your life is very important.

  Treat your body and mind with the respect that you would a temple, church or masjid. You are a temple of God...you hold all His love and peace within you. Love your body; fortify it with the wholesome goodness that you would a sacred shrine. Give your inner self the same love and care that you would your outer covering.

  Fortify your mind with educational, spiritual and emotional love. And spread all of your love to those that you touch every day. You are a vital presence in every one’s life that you come into contact with...from the cashier at the grocery store to your family. We touch others...by just existing. Often we may feel that we do not matter to anyone...but have you ever felt the love of a complete stranger? Love can be transferred through a smile or handshake; we can spread God’s love with a kind gesture or comment. This is the true purpose of our existence...to keep the free flowing love of God all around us.

  My message to you is simple...don’t allow adversity to be the most important thing in your life. The most important thing in your life is to spread the message of our Creator...love all things. Just as I am giving you this message from God...I beg you to give it to others. We are not alone...we never have been...and we never will be. Love yourself...inside out; be true to yourself...and spread His truth in all you say and do.