Message From The Divine

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

So,

Listen to the God in me as He teaches me to teach you.

Through His teaching, we are divinely inspired so this is the
DIVINE EXPRESSION


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Emancipation Day


Celebrating Emancipation day 2009, I am sitting in my living room on the computer and my mind is going through many motions and consequently, many emotions... When the news of emancipation finally reached Florida, many of the slaves farther north had all ready been informed of their freedom. However, being free did not mean anything to many people because there was nowhere to go after release from the plantation. There were no acres, no mules, no jobs, and no homes, so where were these former slaves supposed to go and what were they supposed to do when they got there? Just as they were freed from one form of slavery and immediated shuttled to another is the fate of many blacks in modern America.

Slavery has now become a voluntary institution. Many people are slaves to their jobs, their lifestyles and even to their secrets. People go to work everyday believing that they are free but they are only free to do what the master wants. How many Americans are one paycheck away from poverty? How many Americans are two paychecks away from eviction? How many Americans are three paychecks away from financial ruin? This is the slavery that we have voluntarily become a part of. We no longer work for passion or fulfillment, we work to hold the creditors at bay. We work to pay back student loans. We graduate from college and now have professional license to be enslaved.

Even more than that, we have chains on our minds. We don't know what we think until someone else has thought it for us. We are scared to speak up and afraid to speak out. So we become the willing cosigners to men like Al Sharpton who is supposed to speak for all of us, but usually speaks for none of this. I, for one, do not agree with many of the positions he stands on but if I am not willing to become a part of struggle, then my opinion is invalidated. So now we are slaves to our leader who drags us along like chattel during his idealogical rants. If you stand for nothing, you are a victim of anything and many of us are victims of the quiet syndrome. Silence infers agreement. We silently agree with someone we do not even identify with.

Some say education is the key, others say money is the key, but I believe that changed minds are the key. If we never realize what we can be, we will never know who we can be. We must be proactive about education but concurrently aware of why we are getting aforesaid education. Are you only in college because your parents sent you? Is the justification for your major than it will make you a lot of money? Do you stroll around campus worrying about being seen and being in organizations? One day you will be released into society and will have no idea what to do. And then you become, a slave...

Free your mind and the rest will follow...

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Judge not, lest ye


Now the Bible says that we are to judge not, lest we be judged... But how practical is that? We judge people everyday, negatively and positively... Even telling someone they look nice is judgmental... We have deluded ourselves into believing that being critical of another person is just to help or make them a better person. Usually we crush people with our unattainable standards and unfathomable expectations. We expect others to never make mistakes, never have a bad day and especially to never have a bad attitude but we have all the same. I can't understand why a people that has historically been judged and ostracized would have the audacity to do the same to other people and most importantly, to ourselves. Black people have got to be the most judgmental, critical, and negative races of them all, and yes that statement is judgmental. We feel like it is our duty, "to get people together." However, we typically have none of our stuff together.

Many people believe that if we were to achieve unity or even cohesive purpose, the race would be in much better shape. We are too busy pulling down the other crabs in the bucket to help each other get out of it. We would rather tell someone six reasons why someone cannot happen than to give them one reason why it could. Judgment is a scapegoat that allows others to feel good about themselves. I am only built up by putting you down... This mindset has keep Americans from African descent in a perpetual spiral to obscurity. No one listens when we try to take a stand because we usually end up arguing with each other. Everyone wants to lead and no one has the courage to follow. If someone else has input or insight, they are ignored and criticized. We must be able to encourage with the same fervor as we discourage. We could be so much better for it...

Mental slavery... A concept created for a people that chooses to be shackled mentally while being free physically. Since 1865, black people have been enslaving themselves. Whether this be due to skin color, home neighborhood, hair length/texture/color, even college major, we constantly judge and categorize. When will it all end? When will be secure enough personally that we do not have to decimate another to be proud of ourselves?

The problem of the 21st century is the problem of the black mind... If you can control the mind, then you can control the person...

Church... Faith... Tradition...


So I have been out of church for about three weeks and Sunday I decided to attend three services. The experience was a bit eye-opening and insightful. I was able to partake in the traditions of three separate but equal entities. One church was Freewill Baptist, one nondenominational and the last church was African Methodist Episcopal... So each of the services were similar in that the order of service followed a particular pattern and each service took up offering early. One church actually had two offerings. Now, I had no idea what a mission offering was so I neglected to write a fourth check. The first and last church had pretty long programs although the service proceeded swiftly. There was scripture reading, doxology, responsive reading, church covenant and other program points I could have done without.

I have fallen out of love with church and I don't know how to find my passion again. I don't even feel the way I used to feel because church was once a place of peace and refuge and it became a place of judgment. I don't want to sound negative but the black church has lost its way. We focus too much on appearances and not enough on making sure that souls are saved and lives are changed. Salvation is the only point of church but you would never know it... We don't even come together to learn... Most people don't even look at their Bibles except on Sundays... So how do we expect to reason together? I just can't deal anymore. I just need to chill...