Love Covers

1 Peter 4:8-And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

This was yesterday's daily scripture. I started to think about divorce rates and came to the conclusion that we have been conditioned to quit. We don’t forgive. We don't give second chances. We quit. We get mad. We feel wronged, and we quit. Our love is circumstantial instead of unconditional. Our love is conditional. Our marriages are not based on devotion, but mutual convenience. We don't let love cover. We don’t love. We “like” strongly. Maybe we need to revisit the book of Peter to get a better understanding of the power of love. Real love covers.

Unpredictable

I’m literally waiting with bated breath for the arrival of our daughter. This pregnancy has taught me that we are not in control. We have a sense of control, but not really. We can’t make ourselves breathe. We can’t make our heart pump. We can’t cause the sun to shine or the Earth to move. We can’t stop all nuisances in our life even if we wanted. Life is unpredictable. We can pray and try to move God. We can stomp our feet and have a tantrum. We can give up or we can choose to move forward. Still, we can’t control all the moving pieces of our lives. Woosah. Take a deep breath. Accept that life is unpredictable and that’s ok.

Underlying Reason

I don't think things catch me by surprise. I'm just disappointed when people do certain things, because I expect better. I want people to be better. I want people to do better. I asked God a long time ago to help me with this journey because for several seasons I had to walk alone. I experienced loss of relationships.

People I trusted, people I confided in turned their backs on me....because they were supposed to..they served their purpose. They were supposed to leave. They were supposed to hurt me. They were supposed to disappoint me. I would have never grown. I would have never left. I would have never taken the first step. I would have never moved. I would have never started this journey.

We all play our parts. Every good story has a villain. To be honest, I'm sure I have been a villain in someone else's story. I hurt people. I disappointed them. I did not live up to their expectations. Being both a victim and victor gives you divine perspective. You are but a prayer away from being on either side of the spectrum. It's the grace of God that keeps you.

There has been a new trend of telling stories from the villain's perspective. In most of these stories, the villains are humanized. Their actions are justifiable. We are able to empathize with them. So, if by chance you feel attacked or maybe you're the one doing the attacking recognize the motive. Sometimes, we act out of character when our motives shift. Motives are the underlying reason for our behavior...good or bad.

Pearls

I grew up wanting to wear my grandmother's pearls. I loved how beautiful and shiny they were against her brown skin. I knew it was a special occasion if my grandmother was wearing her pearls. Ironically, "pearl" was one of her nicknames. My grandmother valued her pearls, maybe because she knew what it cost her or maybe because wearing her pearls made her forget momentarily that she was a Black woman raised in the segregated South.

The bible speaks about not throwing your pearls to swine. Simply put, don't give what you value away. Some species of oysters die when a pearl is harvested. Are you willing to die for what you produced? Are you willing to die for your purpose to be accomplished? Your life's work is your pearl. 

Pearls are produced by irritation. The defense mechanism of the oyster is to isolate the irritant. What's irritating you? It's producing your pearls. Every layer you use to isolate the irritation is adding dimension, color, and value to your pearls. 

Keep

Remember what made you start in the first place. Brush yourself off and keep moving forward.  There will be setbacks. There will be detours. There will be moments of doubt, but there will be triumphs. There will be victories. There will be joy. Persevere. Endure. You're closer than you know.  Keep on keepin' on.

Black Power

The term "Black Power" was popularized by Stokely Carmichael and Willie Ricks during a speech in 1966. However, Richard Wright's book entitled Black Power was published in 1954. Since then, there have been several terms that celebrate Black Empowerment, (#BlackGirlMagic, #BlackGirlsRock, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackisBeautiful, #ImBlackandImProud, #BlackPride, #BlackExcellence). All of these terms resonate within the Black community. 

I finally saw Black Panther. I posed with my fist in the air next to signage. I dressed in all black. I encouraged my daughters, mother, and mother in law to do the same. We posed with our stuffed T'Challa beaming with pride. Representation matters. Gianna and Jai'Lynn will remember that three generations of their family went to see Black Panther on a school night. They will remember the Dora Milaje. They will remember the pretty little girl in the bathroom with dashiki. They will remember Shuri, the STEM genius. 

Black Power is about representation in the global marketplace. It is about economic, social, and political empowerment. It is about positive media representation. It is about reclaiming our time, our talents, and our heritage. 

Martin's Dream

The political landscape in America is changing. Party lines, race, sexuality, and religion have divided us more than ever. Ignorance is running rampant. Tolerance is running low. We are still struggling to realize Martin's Dream. We have yet to hold certain truths to be self-evident. We still don't believe that all men are created equal. We have yet to sit at a table of brotherhood. Mississippi has not been transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. Black and Brown children are not being judged by the content of the character. Our nation, now more than ever, seems to be determined to undermine the progress of the last fifty years. We are moving closer to embracing Jim Crow and redlining and calling it the norm. Systematic racism and sexism is alive and well. I often want to ask, whatever happened to Martin's Dream? Do we still want freedom to ring from every hill and mountaintop? Do we want to stay woke or are we content with the nightmares on our street?

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963