Be Giants! November 21, 2006

Good morning all!

I heard a great sermon on Sunday and just wanted to share a little bit of it with you.  We had a guest preacher, Rev. Dr. Gregory Moss from St. Paul Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC.

He preached from the text of Numbers 13:33 which reads:

And there we saw the giants, the sons of A’nak which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

He spoke a lot about how our mentality, our insecurities, our doubts and in general, our own “stuff”, is what gets in the way of us following God’s plan for us.  We are in the habit of holding on to old things….old relationships, old hurts, old injustices, old experiences, etc. and allowing those things to prevent us from grasping the new opportunities and possibilities that exist.  We can’t explore the possibilities of a healthy new relationship because we’re still harping on the last bad relationship we had years ago or because we’re stuck in a relationship now that we know has no future.  We’d rather stay in a job we don’t like and complain about it everyday than to step out and pursue something new.  I once heard someone say that: “People would rather stay in hell because at least they already know the street names.”  For whatever reason, we sometimes hold on to the past for too long.  For whatever reason, we sometimes cripple ourselves before we even get the chance to succeed.  For whatever reason, we sometimes foster a grasshopper mentality in a world of perceived giants.  But, I don’t believe that God intended us to be fearful of our past or our future.  We have to stop gripping our past, start believing in ourselves and take a step forward…because let’s face it, we were created to be giants!

A few quotables from Reverend Moss:

• You can’t open new doors with old keys.
• You can’t walk backwards into your future.
• You can’t progress to the Promise Land of your future if you’re always trying to hold on to the Egypt of your past.

Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mis-Communication November 3, 2006

Hey all! 

I know I’ve been missing in action for a little while, but I’m back with a new end of the week poem just for you!  ) 

Just a little background on this one.  The poem was inspired by an after dinner conversation with several fabulous ladies on Sunday.  The discussion was about how, as young Black women, we tend to encounter other folks who mistakenly think they can speak to you any kind of way, simply because we are that…young, Black and female…never taking into account our intelligence, our history and our ability to handle whatever comes our way.  I know we’re not the only ones who deal with this, so feel free to insert yourself into the poem!  )  So…the poem is about taking the time to respond to someone who comes at me the wrong way and explain how as Black women, we never really are fighting by or for ourselves and furthermore, that we should never be underestimated.  Hopefully that makes sense after you read it..lol.

Take care.

Mis-Communication 

I’m sorry
I must have failed to introduce myself
because it’s clear to see
that you have mistakenly
mistaken me  
for
someone else
 
From that pseudo-superior look in your eyes
to that blatant disrespect
that drips from your lips
I can only assume
that I failed to equip you with the necessary information
to know with whom you are speaking
So seeking nothing more
than to educate you for future encounters
I feel obligated to break this down
so it can be forever and permanently
Broken
and so that you can understand
why your tone is more than a little bit off
and your words must have been mis-spoken
 
I definitely get that it may be confusing
when you’re using the youthfulness of my brown face
as the basis for your approach to me
But what you see…
these bright eyes
this vibrant smile
this ageless skin
is absolutely no indication
of how this soul has been
more places than even your mind
could imagine taking you
Now…I’m not trying to under-estimate you
but it’s clear that you don’t have a clue
who you’re talking to…

What you need to understand is that
each of the disparaging words that leaves your mouth
headed in my direction
and each of your ignorantly verbalized misconceptions
echo through time loudly
to fall on the ears of many generations of me
Your sarcasm unimpressively attempts to insult
my mother’s intelligence
And my grandmothers bear witness
with each unnecessary slight of your tongue
and when your personal quest to prove
you’ll always be better than me is almost done
it’s the remarkable sense of humor of my great-grands
that momentarily allows you to think you’ve “won”
but just before your extensively demeaning vocabulary is spent
I’ll reply with calm and clever comments
that will make you resent my great-great-grands’ wit 
 
Now I probably should admit
that they all are simply amused
by the unintentional simplicity you use
when addressing me
because it’s like I’m Einstein
and you’re fumbling to explain how
E = mc² to me
And I almost want to apologize
because it’s perhaps a little unfair of me
to allow you to ramble on continuously
without telling you
how many generations of me
will contribute to how I respond so ingeniously

So I’ll try to put an end to this
and this one time
dismiss your ignorance
by telling you conclusively
that next time you come across me
I won’t be so readily inclined
to take the “educational” approach
and I guarantee
your experience will be much more
humbling
leaving you
(in all of your intelligence)
wandering how this “black girl”
reduced you to mumbling
incoherent fragments of sentences
and stumbling over your own
pretentious-ness
 
So this is your official warning
(for whatever you decide to do)
to keep in mind
that it’s not just me
you’re stepping to
I’ve got lines of ancestors
that won’t allow me to be
disrespected by you
So unless you’re prepared
to take on my whole family tree
I suggest you think twice
(maybe three times)
before opening your mouth
ever again
to mis-speak to
Me. -11/2/06