THE STORY

This is worth repeating...
My sister Thereas Allen sent this to me this morning and I don't know if I could have said it better myself.

The story... what is it about Easter that makes it the most significant event among Christians?
What is it about death, dying and suffering that is contrary to th miracle of victory. Jesus death was no end point in history, but it became the moment where He set us up to be delivered from our sins, trials and tribulations. Many of us are dead while we are alive and hope to be alive after we are dead. Death where is the sting, grave where is the victory. It was in the Resurrection. He got up with all power in his hand. As I encourage myself, I encourage you to avail yourself to the promises of the Resurrection, not only today, on this Easter Sunday, but for all the days of your life. Let's rise up and renew our faith in God's promises. Arise! Arise! Arise!

Heart Shape

Today I want to put my attention on a matter of the heart. Have you checked yours lately? Besides the fact that it’s still beating… Is it hard or soft … Is it clean or cluttered…Is it happy or sad… Is it empty or full… Is it open, is it broken… Kay Jewelers advertises the Open Heart Collection by saying, “Keep your heart open and love will find its way in.”

Tina Turner boldly asked the question, “What’s love gotta do with it?” In talking with my brother about someone who died after having some heath issues and going through a nasty divorce, he said , “People talk about watching what you eat to stay healthy but we need to watch what’s eating us!” That’s food for thought.

Love contradicts what Forrest Gump’s mother said,“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” When you give everything with a rich filling of love that is what you’ll get in return. That is the matter of the heart.

TIME LINE

It was a moment of pure enlightenment. The phrase that I’ve heard countless times and even carelessly let tumble out of my mouth, suddenly had new meaning. ‘I have time to kill.’ Think about that. Do you really… and why would you? In light of the recent deaths of a family member and friend, I had a rude awakening of how precious time is.



We say things like, there’s not enough time in the day, or the day is dragging but we can’t do one thing to add, take away, slow down or speed up the 1440 minutes in each day. So where do we get the idea that we can kill time.

We adjust our schedules to do things we like or need to do which means on a conscious or subconscious level we have put a price tag on our time. You may say, ‘Oh it’s just an expression." I say words have power. From now on, when I find myself with time on my hands, I will make something of it, share it with someone or treasure the rare opportunity to be still.

There are a lot of things I can say about time, but killing won’t be one of them. Enough said.

Pieces of a DREAM

The shot that was heard around the world still resounds in my spirit.
Today many celebrate, Martin Luther King Jr, a man of great stature. Snippets of his, “I HAVE A DREAM” speech will be seen and heard over the course of the day. You can also call me a dreamer. One piece of his speech is a recurrent dream for me: “When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing…”

I share that noble dream; a day when conflict between nations, races, classes, religions, cities and states no longer exist. There will be no more lines drawn in the sand. “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood”, Martin’s words still hold true.

There is also undeniable truth in his statement, “Darkness can’t drive out darkness and hate can’t drive out hate.” The day when we wake up to the realization that, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (MLKing) there will be an all encompassing light and love in the world and we all can join hands and sing, “free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Go ahead… make someone’s day

How do I acknowledge you… let me count the ways… There are people who regularly deal with the public. Then there are those who are in the public dealing. There lies opportunities to make someone’s day.

There’s nothing sweeter than the sound of your name
Just to name a few, cashiers, medical personnel, wait staff and even TSA agents serve on a platter opportunities to have meaningful exchanges just because they are wearing name badges. Addressing someone by name shows respect and lets them know you know who they are. If you really want to get
and give kudos for paying attention, if they’re wearing a photo ID tell them that their photo doesn’t do them justice; it probably will be true. That will surely make someone’s day and makes employers think name badges are worth the expense.

How much does a compliment cost
It depends on how much you want to spend, and if you invest wisely you may be the one to cash in. Unashamedly, I am an earring fanatic. When I see someone wearing a pair I really like, I might say, ‘I love your earrings, when you’re done with them I’d like to have them.’ I promise you I have acquired many pairs of earrings on the spot as a result of that exchange. Now that’s what you call getting two for one. The math doesn’t always work out like that but a compliment is always priceless.

One question
I don’t know about you but I used to only talk to strangers or people in line if they had a cute child. I never wanted my motives questioned. But now I see that it does more good than harm. Small talk is huge. In the process of writing this blog a waiter named Simon in Atlanta turned the tables on me. I was wearing a sweatshirt from the MOJA festival in Charleston, SC. He asked me how I pronounced the word MOJA. After responding he told me in Swahili the word meant One. I asked what country in Africa was he from and Simon said Kenya. I told him when we make a return visit to Ethiopia we plan to go to Kenya. Then we found out after he finishes his studies in computer technology he will return to his homeland. It’s amazing the things you can learn about each other in a few moments. I have turned perfect strangers into real friends and it all started with just one question.

Today we move and live and have our being at such a fast pace. Taking time to smell the roses is one thing. What’s of far greater value and leaves a sweeter aroma is taking time to acknowledge someone just because they are standing where they are. Go ahead… make someone’s day.

First Sunday Sermon

Someone said, ‘I would rather see a sermon than to hear one.’

Behold there were squirrels sitting up straight with curled tails. Wrens blended in the left over leaves while birds with pumpkin colored breast stood out. One chipmunk moved under cover only to emerge with its find. And two shinny black birds with iridescent feathers swooped down and went in separate directions. That was the prelude to the sermon I saw as I opened my front window blinds. It was a first on the first day and first Sunday of this New Year.

It was like someone said, breakfast is being served. The front lawn was the buffet table and the fowls of the air and other fury and short tailed creatures came to feast. The main dish was a medley of nuts under a bed of dried leaves garnished with grass. They all seem to savor their meal. It seemed no thought was given as to how much the other had at their disposal; unlike crabs in a barrel. Interestingly enough, only one bird helped itself to a beverage. It drank from the overflow saucer of my planter filled with pansies. As they all scampered around, instinctively they knew there was more than enough. That struck a chord in me and served as confirmation to what I believe. When they all had their fill they left quietly and contented one by one.

I may never again see such a convergence on my front lawn for breakfast but I will always remember the sermon I saw in that fine dining experience. Plainly stated in Matthew 6:25-26, “Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat or what ye shall drink…. Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”

LEST WE FORGET

Despite it being a chilly morning, my husband and I set out for the Walk to End Alzheimers.
It warmed my heart to see men, women and children out in mass out for the same cause. People had colorful pinwheel flowers in honor, memory or in support of loved ones. They were placed in the ground in a make shift garden… if only the flowers could speak. The stories to be told far surpassed the people represented there. Today I want to speak on behalf of caregivers.

For those with the disease it is easy to forget to do the things they need to do or remember that they did them. Unfortunately, caregivers forget to do the things they need to do also. The most important thing is to take care of themselves. Yes, easier said than done, but it must be done.

You can consider yourself blessed if you are not related to one of the 80,000 people in South Carolina or the 5.2 million people in the US who are living with Alzheimers. On the other hand you can consider yourself a blessing if you helped someone who is. There are simple ways to help both the caregiver and/or the person with the illness: A visit, phone calls, taking them for a walk, run errands, help with child care, help with doctor’s appointments, bring over a meal, gift certificate for a massage, sitting to give caregiver a few hours break, listening.

People don’t want to talk about these things especially when it doesn’t affect them but lest we forget,
Alzheimers like many other diseases does not discriminate. So as we do what we can to take care of ourselves by exercising e and eating right we should also do what we can to support those plagued by the disease with a humility that “ but for the grace of God there go I.”