Saul, Paul, and Black History Month

At the end of Acts' chapter 7 an fearless profit by the name of stephen fell dead to the rocks of Jews that stoned him after he claimed to see Jesus at the side of the only true God. While the Jews stoned Stephen they laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, who from that moment went on about the business of being God's enemy. At that time the evil the Jews had committed in front of this malleable young man shaped his intentions for years until a later time when Jesus intervened. This story reminds me of a situation in which I was talking to a teacher about black history month before i spoke to her class about the monthly occasion. She said that the kids thought the month was all about black people and how they over powered the white man to become free. To finish the story of Paul/Saul being molded, Stephen cried out before the last stone freed him of his earthly bounds, "Father don't hold this sin against them." Why didn't Paul or Saul at the time take that moment of godliness radiating from Stephen and changed the world for the better instead of manufacturing evil for years after? Majority Rules, the most influence on a child's life is shaped by the people that spend the majority of the time with that child. The majority always has the loudest voice and the hate that flowed from their ruckus quieted Stephen words. That often happens with teachers, their hopeful voices often gets faded out by the noise that comes from home.

Black history month is about a common purpose and a principle that a person can have the freedom to truly do whatever they want with the God given life that they have. The majority of the people that prove this to be true was African Americans but it was a minority of whites that paid the price to see the freedom of blacks also, they were slurred at, sprayed with over powering waters, they marched while dogs bit at them, and some did give their life for my and others freedom. Its not about one but about the freedom of all for when one is not free, all are not free. Rosa fought to sit in the front for all, Dr. King said he had a dream of equality for all where his child could hold hands with a white child, African Americans fought to become even not to be exalted above any race. Black history month is not about the majority or the minority it's about process of where the minority and the majority meet. It's about obstacles taken by African American leaders and White leaders to defy the majority of what they had been taught and the majority of what others believe to hold truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. The actions of African Americans to be such examples of how a people should fight for freedom should be celebrated but not abused. We should all celebrate this month to continue efforts to push the kids of our future to the right majority, which is the story of progress of a nation of people that is different but alike at the same time. For today there are Sauls being molded when there could be Pauls molded and that divide between the two is our Slavery and our modern day segregation. I truly hope that the kids at loachapoka elementary understood my message through their present day majority.
May God bless you and May he bless this nation of immigrants, and may he give us the wisdom to create the right majorities

Where There is a Human, There is a Way

"Happy valentines day, don't be jaded there are so many people to love." That was a quote I happen to come across while rolling through my Facebook time line, from the lovely Katherine Russell. I feel as if she has always had great prospective on life every since I met her in my young days at Auburn University, as fellow students at ACF. Faith and prospective are very synonymous words, one means likely to be or become and the other means trust or confidence. Prospective is just taking a problem that is way larger than us and using our faith to make it smaller. Prospective is seeing and faith is doing, having enough belief in our abilities and our God to will ourselves through whatever storm we travel through. When we use our prospective and faith past failures, our biggest problems, and our present fears make the mountain of the uncertain future all but a pebble.

It seems as if recently the world has been burning down around me. Things just continue to get worse, as the days grow greater and as I get older. It seems as if I lost my faith in this world and the good that it can accomplish. The middle east is falling apart and no one is sure as to how it might come back together. The majority of the oil that powers the world is trapped in ports of the middle east that is worker-less because the employed is in the streets changing their governments. This has risen gas prices to new levels never seen before, effecting so many people I know who don't have a job here in Alabama from getting to job interviews, picking kids up from school, going to the grocery stores and raising those grocery prices at the same time. I also have a dear friend who has contracted cancer for the third time, and this time it's located in her brain, another friend who has a dad who fell hit his head and is now in a comma. Two friends of mine have a mother in the hospital with an unknown fever.

I don't speak of those problems to complain, but to show the faith I have in people. Age after age we as a civilization continue to rewrite the book on problem solving, we never quit, we never falter, we never stop, we never grow weary, we never lose the creativity that helps us rewrite the end of our story prolonging our journey that keeps our destruction from becoming present. The truth is that most of the time our own adversity paves the way for our success and that's having prospective. Someone once asked JFK how he became a war hero he said simply, "Somebody sunk our boat." When Chester Greenwood suffered from frost bite after a journey through the woods he went home and invented ear muffs. When Humphrey O'Sullivan got tired of his bad back aching he created the first rubber boot to support him during work. When a man shop was in poor financial position and he got his gaslight turned off due to the corrupt gas company, Thomas Edison created the light bulb. Adversity is what shapes our prospective, our faith, our battle with the unknown and our relationships with god.

Someone once said that the Brave may die young, but the cautious never live. We are the brave, we progress against all odds. Cancer may kill some of us but the rest of us WILL FIND A CURE! While oil grows short now, we will find alternatives in affordable ways. While Health care seems unsolvable, we will find a solution. While those less fortunate then us starve we will find a way to feed them. Because where there is a human there is a way! My faith in us comes from the strength god gives us, our strength to find prospective and have the faith to believe in a better tomorrow, to believe in a dawn at midnight, to know nothing but us can harm our future. For God is the same unchanging provider that gave the strength to the divide of the red sea, and the strength needed to beat cancer for the 3rd time and the strength to awake us from the grips of commas. Where there is a human god is capable of making a way.

May god bless you, May God bless this burning world in which we live, and may he continue provide the way as we follow.