There are 27 books in the New Testament. Thirteen (almost half) of those books are believed to be written by the Apostle Paul. Out of those 13 books, four were written while he was incarcerated. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon are some of the most powerful books in the New Testament, and they were written by a man who was in prison – we might even refer to him as wrongfully imprisoned. Let that sink in for a moment. Paul worked tirelessly to plant churches and encourage them in their work of proclaiming the gospel. Yet, getting mixed up with Read More
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Stand Up Straight!
My training as a vocalist has caused me to be more aware of my posture. There are times when I think I’m standing up straight – until I actively correct my posture and instantly gain a few inches in height! As soon as I straighten up my posture, I feel an immediate physical improvement. However, because my body is not used to having correct posture on a regular basis, maintaining this position can be difficult. In fact, it often feels like slouching is more comfortable than keeping a straight posture. Because of this, I have to correct my posture multiple Read More
Be.
As 2015 was coming to a close, I kept seeing friends on social media talking about their word for 2016. This was a new thing to me, so I made a mental note to think about finding my own word. Before I knew it, 2016 had arrived, and I still didn’t have a word. So one day, I paused to consider if there was a particular word God was putting on my heart. “Be” came to mind. And I remember thinking that was an odd word. Be what?? A few days later, I tried again. Still, all I got was Read More
Weak
I am black. I am a woman. I am a black woman. I have chronic illnesses and a disability. I am an introvert. I look much younger than I am so am often assumed to be “young.” I grew up poor. I am a great big ball of “socially undesirable.” Since God knew me before I was even a thought to my parents, I must assume that God also knew that I would be made up of all of society’s less desirable parts. Yes, I am also made in the image of God, but society doesn’t often acknowledge (or care Read More
Don’t Trust Your Gut
Growing up as a black girl in the United States, I was “taught” a lot of things about people from Africa. The content of the lesson depended on the source. Overall, the understanding that I operated under was this: Africans did not like black people born and raised in the United States because we were not “pure” Africans. Not only did they dislike us, they looked down on us. Because of the way that Chicago is segregated (that’s a whole other blog post!), I never had the chance to prove or disprove this theory. I recently published a piece about Read More
I Can’t Breathe
The first time I watched Eric Garner die on video was completely by accident. When the videos first surfaced on Facebook, I didn’t click on them. But after multiple shares by friends, I decided to watch. I did not realize that I would eventually be watching a man die before my eyes. I experienced the video in a different way than some may have, and I continue to think about Garner’s death in the same way as it has resurfaced on social media. As someone with a history of asthma, I have experienced the feeling of not being able to Read More
So much more than Ferguson…
Warning: Sometimes, I ramble. This is one of those times. I recently had a brief email conversation with a colleague who is becoming a friend and an ally. The conversation was, of course, about Ferguson. In one of my rambling responses, I mentioned how I’ve been disconnected from a lot of what’s going on because of my struggle with trying to balance my work schedule with maintaining a healthy self-care routine. (In other words, I’m up and out the door early in the morning and have to get to bed pretty early at night, not leaving much time to catch Read More
Freedom or Bust
It was a cold and rainy night in early February. I stood in the dark, on the property of Mr. Jacob Burkle, whose home was a depot on the Underground Railroad. I shivered from the cold but also from a fear that had suddenly come over me from out of nowhere. Was I as safe as I thought I was, or was my safety most definitely in jeopardy? I was beginning to rethink my decision, but something deep inside told me it was now or never… The character and event portrayed in the above excerpt is not fictitious. It is Read More
2013 in review
This morning, I received my blog’s annual report from WordPress – as generated by their helper monkeys… I was surprised to realize that I only wrote 11 posts this year – this motivates me to write more next year. Perhaps what was more surprising was the fact that some of my most popular posts were from previous years – especially about “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971 movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). Definitely the most surprising was the fact that people from 78 countries have visited my blog (especially since people rarely comment)! Just Read More
Shower Gel
This morning, just before getting into the shower, I finally remembered to add “shower gel” to my shopping list. Then, in parenthesis, I wrote “Dove Cucumber.” Which made me feel kind of guilty. After all, I don’t have much in the way of income and am living stipend check to stipend check. Which then made me think back to all those people who find pleasure in degrading people on food stamps who have the unmitigated gall to purchase *gasp* name brand products. All my life…(cue Miss Sophia’s speech…) It’s no secret to those who know me that I grew up Read More