Peace Be Unto You!

    On July 13th, 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the murder of Trayvon Martin. This incident caused emotions to roll and hatred to be spread. But on this evening I would like to quote just one verse from the bible and it simply says "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

    This incident has created and uproar in the country and division is quite evident. But I just want to say regardless of how you may feel about the situation, PEACE BE UNTO YOU!!!! In my eyes there is no reason to lash out and say whatever may come to mind. As a young African American man I understand the frustration but do not let your frustration overcome you. If it is change that you seek, then like everything else you must work for that change. Do not let your disappointment in the judicial system make you hate people and what you consider their lack of understanding. Peace Be Unto You. Learn to let go and let God.

    With anything we have to lean towards peace. Peace in how we talk. Peace in how we interact with people. Peace within our families. Peace in how we live. Now peace is not easy to achieve but anything worth having will be a challenge to gain. But lean towards peace anyway. We have to learn to have love in our hearts even when we know love is the furthest thing on our minds. They say only love can conquer hate. Can you believe in that? Can you put aside those hard feelings toward somebody or something and love them? Or is it simply just impossible? In this world you shall have tribulations...But be of GOOD CHEER!!!!

    I wont drag this on because I believe that my point has been made. When we can get to that place where we learn to call in peace instead of hate and anger and work for the change we wish to see, we can do unimaginable things. Don't let these circumstances define you, but let them inspire you to reach for greatness!!!! Become better because of that terrible situation. Learn to see the truth in the midst of your storm and the Blessing that is about to take place. 

The Moon and Ocean

You are excited and filled with energy
When you speak you speak with confidence
An assuring tone is heard when condoning a friend
The light that shines from your presence is as bright as the stars
You are always the one that cast the shadows upon the world
You are the light in the dark
The crescent shape in the dark sky
The bringer of fear and nightmares but yet eternal rest
You are the power behind flowing tides
You are the life in the night
You are the strength behind everyone’s will to rise another day and fight on
You are the push

I am the dark flowing pool of life
The one object that separates the great nations
The tranquil being
But violent when the season sees fit
A threat to those that dare challenge me
I control the destiny of every ship that sails
Sink or swim is the command I give
I am ruthless yet forgiving
To show respect is my game

A nightmare that can appear at any moment
A force that seems to stop time in its tracks
I hold many secrets though at times you exploit them
I am the calm in the midst of the storm

We know no bounds and no restrictions
We are the two spirits the rule the night
Spirits that flow one behind the other in a pond of balance
You are push and I am pull
You are life and I am death
You are good and I am evil
You are peace and I am chaos
You are the tiger and I am the dragon
You are destiny and I am fate
I am Yin you are Yang
Forever maintaining balance through the night
The Moon and Ocean

The Faithful and Unfaithful; An Honest Man

"Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Faithful protection and unselfish performance. A man is someone who protects and cares for his household through the good times and adversity. The definition of faithful states a firm adherence to PROMISES or in observance of duty. Faithful to promises and duty. As I sit here I can remember a time when I encountered the unfaithful. I have never been fond of those who do not hold on to the promises that they make regardless of how big or small they may be. I can think back to a time when a promise was made but was not kept. This is the part where I ask "Can I get a Witness?" in my southern pastors voice. But this seriously bothered me as it should to most people. A basic lesson of life, do not make a promise that you can not keep.

Enough rambling about my past. What does it take to be a faithful, honest man. The first thing, have the decency to show up. Now you can interpret that in any way you want. If something is bothering you and you know its wrong, speak up. Now I will admit that speaking up is often hard when you wish to avoid confrontation but sometimes it just has to be done. The respect of women and yourself. Now I do not care what society or your friends may say, being loose as a man is not appealing. People have this idea that numerous sexual exploits as a guy makes you more of a man. Tell me who told you such a things? To me that's just something guys do to have something to talk about with their "boys". It sounds more like the actions taken to FIT IN with others, but yet people say they want to be different. 

Are you a faithful or unfaithful man? 

A faithful and honest man works for the life he wishes for. He accomplishes his goals with out selling his morals and without treacherous acts. He fights for his belief without violence. He leads by example and is not afraid to help those who truly need it. He believes in doing the right thing even when the world says its stupid. He knows when to remain quiet. He is kind and gentle for those who he loves. He is a PROTECTOR!!!! 

These traits and many more are passed down through example. This all starts with a father and his son. I know there are some who will disagree but I truly believe that every boy needs his dad. I say this because though a mother is a strong individual for raising a son, there are certain things that a mother just can not do for a young man. So to the fathers out there, be apart of your sons life, though he may try and distance himself from you that is your boy. Take care of him and show him the RIGHT way to be a man. We are what we repeatedly do. So make a change to be a Honest, Faithful men and these traits will pass from generation to generations. 

Learn to sheath your own sword: Mastering Self Discipline

"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." - Lao Tzu

      This quote speaks to many and I can truly say that it speaks to my present circumstances. Restraint is a foreign term in today's society in that people choose to refrain from restraint. Now some things you can get by with out restraining from them, but there are those things that you cant avoid. Restraint and or self discipline requires a person to realize what they have to do and take the proper action accordingly. There is story entitled "The King and His Hawk" that talks about restraint and anger. 

     It tells a story of Genghis Khan and his hawk. Well Genghis Khan wanted to drink from the spring so he found a cup and tried to fill it up with water. The thing is every time that he tried to drink from his cup, the hawk would knock the cup out of his hand. Now the bird did this a number of times so Genghis finally cut the bird down with his own sword. After this he climbed the brook and realized that where the water was trickling down from was a decent size pool of water. The thing about this pool was that within it was a dead poisonous snake, whose toxins were filling the water. So what Genghis learned was that his hawk was trying to save his life but in anger and without restraint, he had cut him down. 

Self Discipline is defined as training and control of oneself and one's CONDUCT, usually for personal improvement. Now I don't know how this may relate to your life but let me tell you how it relates to mine. My major issue that seems to never go away is doing what needs to be done. Lately graduate school is like a foreign concept. I truly want to go but the steps to get there is what is holding me back. The thought of dealing with rejection from the schools I dream of going to much like my undergraduate adventure to find a school makes it that much harder. Or the fact that I don't believe in my own ability to surpass the GMAT or any standardized exam. These are the flaws of myself that keep me from advancing my own life. The definition states control of oneself and ones conduct, usually for PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT. I am refraining from restraint. 

What do you mean? Well all I am saying is that i am not restraining those thoughts that say I cant even though I CAN BE GREAT. Like Genghis Khan, I am cutting down the very thing that is trying to help me and that is belief in myself. I  like the title suggest have to learn to sheath my own sword or my own negative thoughts in order to make myself great. I know that through faith I am able to do all things!!!!! I have to tell myself that I can make a difference and that I do matter. I have to have the self discipline to work on my future and to push forward even when the enemy is trying to trip me up. 

Now i don't know who may read this and I don't know what is going on in your life, but let me say this. never doubt yourself. Always keep the faith alive that YOU CAN MAKE IT. I know not all that may read this are of the christian faith but the bible says "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?." I know that I am God's elect and there is nothing that can stop me from full-filling my dreams. For it is self discipline and hard work that will get me and you to where we want to be

May Heaven Smile Upon You......

God is Calling your Name (Don't ignore the call)

Growing up we were always taught to follow our own path in life. Now i like many people in the world today followed the path of christianity and decided that it works for me. Now so people may not know this but both of my parents are pastors kids so i did in fact grow up in a christian home. But this passage is not to tell you about my past in the christian faith nor my families past. it is being written to talk to you about certain things that have come to my attention in the past couple of months.

I have literally been away from home now for about 3 to 4 months and in those 3 to 4 months that i have been away at school, it seems that my home town is falling into to shambles. people are doing things that they never did before or that I just chose not to pay attention to. but today something was brought to my attention that made me want to write this. my friend texted me today and told me that she had gotten into yet another car accident. luckly for her it was nothing serious that she had to worry about. But let us look at the facts here. This is not the first time this year that she has had an accident. if i count correctly this is now the third accident that could have been fatal. she has also had some run in with the law when it comes to speeding and from what i hear, she has begun to drink even more now than she has done in the past.

In the faith we are sometimes taught that God lets things happen to you to test you and to show that you are not alone. a perfect example in the bible is the story of Job. this man was a servant of God and spent his life humbling himself before God. But God and Satan wanted to test him. he was stricken with sickness, his family left him, and he lost everything he owned and yet he stayed faithful to Christ. Well i thought about this story before i started to right this and then i started to think alittle about a message I once hear from Bishop GE Patterson. in his message he talk about God calling people letting him know that he is there.

So after i thought about all of this, i thought about my friend and all of her so called bad luck. in life we are all thrown obstacles that are used to test us and how we respond to them. i was raised to know that God often is trying to get the attention of those that have strayed away from christ. and even of those who have never been apart of the christian faith he still calls them. i believe in some ways that all of these issues that she is having in general is God's way of getting her attention. she of course will not believe it because she believe that if she does in fact walk into a church that she will be struck by lightning. but this is not true for all men have sinned and it says in in the bible. we all have walked down the wrong paths that have lead us into the arms of the enemy. I know for a fact that I have multiple time. Just this week my computer decided to conspire against me. At first i thought it was just a computer thing but i later realized that it wasnt. my computer went down for a reason and it was only by the grace of God that i was able to get it fixed.

But that was Gods way of getting my attention. See sometimes god has to stripe things from us just to get our attention. Sometimes he has to make us almost face death to tell us that its time to come on home. see all of these things are nothing but test to see what we will do when we face impossible choices. im praying for my friend and i hope that everything works out fine for her. just remember one thing from this passage, if your going through something and it seems to hard for you to bare just know that God is there and he is trying to get your attention.