Stupid Is...

(...As stupid does? Maybe, but that’s not my point right now…)

Stupid is a matter of perception, methinks.

My contention is that people are fearful of what they don’t understand, and that fear … well, sometimes it can make them stupid.

Now, that’s not to say fear is a bad thing … sometimes, fear can be a good thing, a barrier that keeps one from doing something … you guessed it, stupid.

Again, a matter of perception.

Well, here’s what my four eyes see:

--First off, I was tempted (ironically enough) to use Matthew 7:13-14 as an illustration; then thought better off because the verses more of how difficult it is to find the way to heaven as opposed to it being an unorthodox endeavor.

That still didn’t keep me from telling my Bible Study class Wednesday to be Christ-like, even if it means going against conventional wisdom.

The lesson was originally designed around David’s asking for forgiveness in Psalm 51 and scriptures about the heart through the book of Matthew, but for some reason or another, I got into a point with them about working for oneself and for his/her family instead of working for/under someone else.

Not a new point brought here to the blog, but it also brought me to the problem of parenting sometimes:

I heard a 12, 13-year-old kid tell me about how he goes to bed whenever he wants to; about how most of the time he’ll wake up at 2 (a.m.) and kind of make his way to sleep.

After hearing that, my logic shifted on how homes with one (or two parents) still falter at times because the adults are always at work, and kids are raising themselves. This is a trend that continues because those same parents will teach kids to work for someone else instead of working toward an existence where they might be financially secure AND able to spend the bulk of their time with their families.

An idealist’s view?

Again, a matter of perception.

All I know is … 12-year-olds have always been precocious. It’s just a matter of what direction they’re given…

Luke 2
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." 49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.

Peace.

Makin' My Peace

Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:1

This two-part blog starts with a realization I had recently had at work:

Some people only care about control … rather, a system that creates control instead of production.

This realization might shake some people that work a 9 to 5, folks that expect to be rewarded for their good works.
I realized something at that point, though; for starters, those of us who profess to be living under the pretenses of a higher power shouldn’t be looking for such rewards; another thing is that we spend so much time fighting a system, the man, which really isn’t efficient in its own right.
And efficiency is something I strive for ... as I told a friend, it's about advancing past such systems ... not fighting them.

I just didn’t know how to address it in my mind, I guess, but efficiency is the word. To get the most out of my labor, and not only that, I guess, but to be proficient in the same stroke.
For a while, I wasn’t doing that; addressing the system temporarily took me away from that goal. However, it’s easier to make my peace, because doing so…

-- Eliminates uncertainty, which in turn eliminates fear;

-- Allows me to focus, which allows me to finish tasks (flawlessly, oh that was a tad cocky, ha ha).

The plot thickens still though, because I’m human, and because sometimes situations arise even when your productivity isn’t the real question.

This is where, as a friend of mine addressed once, the matter of picking your battles arises.

From there, I think the issue is simple still; control what you can, don’t worry about the things you can’t.

Hmmmmm. That felt pretty good … like going to church Sunday did. Things make so much sense when I go to church; a few of my friends say the same thing. It’s a wonder, then, that our busy lives keep us from cultivating the church within us … my pastor was talking something good …

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. – Romans 12:1.

Our bodies are the temples, was his contention; the church isn’t so much an edifice as it is a place of congregation. The real church is inside each and every believer, if we allow it to be.

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH that’s tough, but at least you guys know where my focus is … on trying to get better each day and keeping my eye on the things that are really important.

Shoot, that’s enough blog right there, but since I love ya’ll, I’m flippin’ today’s record on the Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide…

My vinyl’s scratched
I found the needle in the haystack
The diamond in the rough
Needs some polish, a little buff
But when the lyrics are released into the air
It’s a feeling so rare
Pollination is the purpose
We’ve reached the B-side’s surface

Two weekend occurrences piqued my interest; one more so than the other. Forgive my priorities in advance.

Tiger Woods! Barack Obama! In that order.

Tiger Woods took the controversy from the Kelly Tilghman/Golfweek ‘noose’ cover and displaced it … rather turned that energy into a virtuoso performance at the Buick Invitational.

A lot’s been said about what Tiger should or shouldn’t be doing as far as addressing the racially-charged situation; personally, I don’t think anyone has the right to impress those thoughts upon Tiger.

We can’t make him be a Malcolm X; let’s take it to transcendant athletes, we can’t make him be Muhammad Ali or Arthur Ashe. Would it be nice? Sure. The thing is, we look for celebs to speak out on issues that happen to everyday people. Are ‘regular people’ and their testimonies any less important because they’re not famous? Didn’t think so … MESSAGE!

Obama was in my native South Carolina beating the brakes off of fellow Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and John Edwards in the S.C. primary; his spirited post-victory speech made me smile and brought about great cynicism from my colleagues.

It’s still too early to determine a lot of things; one thing that was encouraging was the voter turnout; if those same (regular) people come out in droves post-2008 to turn this country around, it would be … truly phenomenal.

I haven’t decided on a candidate yet, to be honest; goodness knows I’m tired of voting for the lesser of evils. I just hope, well … I dream.

Still dreamin’…

The Dreamers

I spent the MLK Day holiday at home, which, as I found out from a number of friends and colleagues, was a blessing.

I can’t believe the man made some of ya’ll go to work … you should’ve demanded freedom, ha ha.

Anyway, I digress. I was up watching an old Boondocks episode with a fellow dreamer Monday; ironically enough, we were watching the now-infamous MLK episode.

I say ‘infamous’ because the climax of the show came when Dr. King (who hadn’t died in this Boondocks episode, but instead spent an extended period of time in a coma, then woke up) told what he called a bunch of “ignorant (ninjas)” to “please shut (the heck) up!”

You have to see the episode for yourself, though, because it’s so much more than about a single charged comment, much like King’s life was about so much more than a single speech.

Another fun fact: did you know that the third Sunday in May is Malcolm X Day? I gotta be honest; it slipped my mind since those days I used to compete in Black History bowls.

Ah, good ol’ Black History month. You guys know how I feel about the logic behind BHM, so I’ll just speak on a conversation a fellow dreamer and I had about what happens when dreams die …

…well, kind of.

Not like Langston Hughes, though. We grew up reading Marvel Comics, and well, there are a few similarities with the X-Men and the dreams of Martin and Malcolm.

You see, for some reason, Marvel’s writers decided to kill Professor X, which to see seems like the equivalent of killing Dr. King, someone who represents passive resistance and good will.

X’s long-time ‘rival’ was Magneto, someone who represented advancement of the mutant race “by any means necessary”, someone who clashed with X at times because of their conflicting beliefs, yet respected and embraced X’s beliefs at times because of their past (they were friends as young adults) and the fact that they were looking for the same thing: a better life for their respective race. Unfortunately, the Marvel Universe is without both figures, who were … ‘rubbed out’ by writers.

Back to the present. This fellow dreamer and I have had clashes in the past concerning means to an end, but mostly work together where figures like King/X and Magneto/X (beautiful opposites there with X) mostly clashed.

He believes that the change, the uncertainty that will surely come with those Marvel figures dying is a good thing, that the same structure for an extended period of time didn’t inspire real growth.

I disagreed, saying that uncertainty shouldn’t come in one fell swoop, and uncertainty shouldn’t come in the midst of chaos.

Oh well. For all that dreamin’, and for all that philosophy, the good thing is that there’s birth.

For all of you that still read Marvel, Messiah Complex ends tomorrow, which will answer so many questions about what one child will become.

For all of you that keep up with the Kings, you know that MLK’s first grandchild was born recently, which will surely bring new questions of what one child will become.

A child’s potential? Limitless, I think.
And that’s certainty in the midst of chaos.

Very Superstitious (While Trying Not to be Wry)

Very superstitious, writing's on the wall
Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall...
When you believe in things that you don't understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain't the way
--Stevie Wonder, Superstition

I would be cocky if I said my 2008 started in early December, but it kind of felt that way.
We’ll just officially say that it started with a text from my co-worker the afternoon of Dec. 31:

(paraphrasing, of course) “Make sure you’re not at work when midnight hits, lol! Walk down the street or something.”

I laughed at first, but when I sat down and thought about it, I realized that she was right.

11:44 hit, and I made some serious moves toward the door and to my car … getting away from work as fast as I could … and thought about how many times I’d gone to the car in 2007 and driven … aimlessly.

Driven – with no purpose. Couldn’t bring in 2008 like that, could I?

First thing I did was pop in a CD from my church about how people celebrate Christmas (an event that’s already passed) but don’t acknowledge the upcoming return of Jesus. Valid points, and normally I’d be at a watch night service…

(Some background info about Watch Night. I’ve always been down with wanting to spend my New Year’s Day in church; I’m not a drinker, smoker, clubber, etc., and it’s always made more sense to start the New Year off in church. At the same time, I had a small fear as a youth that Jesus was going to come back at midnight and that I wouldn’t have done enough to be raptured up. The thoughts of kids, I tell you…)

… and I was on my way there, but I wanted to surround myself with all of the themes that I wanted to be commonplace in 2008. So the first place I stopped was my childhood home.

Dad and kid brother were asleep, but I woke them up to tell them ‘Happy New Year!’ and went looking for younger brother.

He was out with his friends, so I made my way to Watch Night Service and wished folks there a Happy New Year.

Felt good, and truth be told, in 2008, I want to 1) be around family more, 2) not be at work, 3) doing more free writing, and 4) focused on my relationship with Christ.

I did all of those things early on, sans eating collards/black eye peas and not washing clothes on Jan. 1.

There’s just one little thing about trying to ignore superstition and acknowledge the truth:

Once you know the truth, how do you keep from being cynical?

I don’t want to focus on the truth so much as I want to focus on what’s on my mind:

Old folks’ superstitions likely came to fruition because they WORKED SO HARD to advance themselves. Our parents and grandparents were truly overachievers. Conversely, our generation (not necessarily you, but the collective, focus!) has rested on the laurels of our successors’ successes and underachieved. I definitely feel like there’s more I can do.

That being said, it’s a New Year, and we all want change----buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Yes. Change. It’s why Obama won the Iowa caucus, right? It’s why African-Americans are going to vote in droves in November, right? It’s why you, yes, you, are more concerned with the political process than you’ve ever been!

Yet, here’s a question that was posed to readers of a column on ESPN.com:

Suppose God appeared in a glowing cloud and said, "You either may have indefinite continuation of existing social and economic trends or you may have change, but I make no promises about what type of change" -- which option would you select?

Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.

The truth is – your perception is your reality just like my perception is my reality. And I perceive that whomever should become President in 2009 will inherit a bona fide mess, and he/she won’t be able to clean that mess up by themselves. (Remember this when someone/something's made out to be a scapegoat in the next few years.)

Yeah, yeah, you know, you know. But you know what we don’t know? We don’t know how this person poses to inspire you and I to not be cynical, to inspire us that real change can occur.

Not only that, but inspire us to believe that American life is about more than gas prices, atrocious media coverage and being looked down upon by other countries because of our arrogance.

Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.

What I want is a candidate that acknowledges our present, and acknowledges that we are in dire times. I want that same candidate to promote improvement within everyone in this country and make it so that our turnaround involves a renewing of the mind, something like the renewing that occurs in Ephesians 4:23 … because America was founded as one nation under God, true? (not an ounce of cynicism here.)

Because I’m tired of living with the lesser of two evils, I’m tired of debating whether I should fill up my tank with $2.99/gal gas or wait for the possibility that gas might drop five cents this week b/c there’s a glimmer of peace in the Middle East.

I want things to cha-- screw that. Right now, I’m working on…

Working.