Easter Morning Contemplations

As millions did, I went to church today. I attend church every Sunday. So today was nothing out of the ordinary except that it was Easter. And needless to say, church was packed!! You know how it is on Easter Sunday. All those folk who never come to worship except for a Sunday just as this. Attendance is always to the rafters on Easter Sunday. And oh boy... the saints... my people... looking down their noses at those newcomers. Sniggling under their breath about how those folk are hypocritical.... how those folk turn service into a fashion show. Their new outfits. Their extreme couture.... The essence of church fashion is intensified on Easter Sunday. But why do we point and criticize? why do we care if those folk come on Easter? Why interrupt our contemplation of this most sacred observance to roll our eyes at those who are visiting today? Why is it a problem for us? Sure. those folk could be here on other days. Sure they didnt have to come just today. But the point is that they came. As we consider the Last Supper, didnt Jesus leave final instruction to love one another? Why dont we take an opportunity to show love. Isnt the lesson learned today concerning Jesus sacrificing his life for our sins? If so, then these visitors have had their sins forgiven just like we have. They cannot be judged. Nor should they be. They should be given more reason to come back more often. They should feel that they too are part of the church family.                                                                                                                                                            Now, as I drive around the city after church I cant help but notice the hundreds of souls who did not make it to worship.  I see and hear those who did not hear the good news. I see the lost. the hurt, the sick. What of them? Do we look down on them too? Or do we take the example of Jesus and express love to them. Do we share the news of the resurrection with those who seemingly have not heard it? To not do so is to disobey Jesus final instructions before He submitted himself to the agony of the Crucifixion and the glory of Resurrection.  If we are to follow the instruction of Jesus.... if we are to understand the notion of this holy time.... if we call ourselves Christians, then this holiday, is an opportunity to love those who are new to the word.... to minister to the lost..... to lift up those who have lost hope... those who are sick (by His stripes we are healed).... it is not the time to criticize.... because wasnt it criticism and hateration that got Jesus nailed to the cross in the first place?

Life: Handle with Care

I went to a funeral this week.
It was the most recent in what is seemingly an unending string of such gatherings since my father's passing in 2005..... The essence of the latest homegoing was that I saw many people who have been a part of the "industry" for years, as have I....

As I looked around, I saw so many associates and friends who have been laboring in the entertainment industry for years....  Still looking the same, perhaps older and wiser....It was a completely reflective day.... A day that most will agree gave pause to take inventory of the value of life....

Tonite, I sit here in the dark, randomly prognosticating about life....  The gift of the Life..... The essence of life.... how valuable life is......

But what is life?

Sometimes we get caught up in our titles.... our jobs.... our positions here.... our status there.... but is that really what life is all about? We judge one another by the clothes we wear.... the cars we drive..... the complexion of our skin...... is that life? is that how we're living???

Even in our spiritual walk....  Is this the life we strive for even as the Word specifies life????

On the street, brothas in the hood battle even unto death over the color of a handkerchief..... is that life? of course not....

We work so hard towards material goals, but is that life??? We strive so diligently in pursuit of our careers... is that life?

Sometimes we rush to and fro in search of that which is most important (or not) in our lives... but is that thing really worth its place as center of our lives??

In recent times, I was in a season where I commuted more than 300 miles daily to and from work. I burned up two cars and was involved in a major accident in the third... I now had to walk from my house to the bus stop early in the morning. This bus would connect me to the trolley which would connect me to the AMTRAK train. If I missed that bus, my entire day's timeline would be destroyed..... ( if you are so inclined, you can relive my daily journey here...)

Every other day, there would be this elderly man on a scooter who caught the bus at my stop. And every other day, this guy would have a problem getting that darn scooter on the bus... We would have to wait while this old guy manuevered his scooter safely inside the bus- his problems often causing us to miss the trolley.... everyone on the bus would get an attitude when he was at the bus stop.

Even as folk would get an attitude with this guy, he would turn and apologize to everyone and offer everyone who would listen a butterscotch candy.... he would look each person in the eye and say hello.....

After a time. I began to talk to this man. I learned that he rode the bus because it was his only way of getting to his vital dialysis sessions.... He was up at the crack of dawn so he could get to the health center where he would have tubes probed into him all day. If he missed a session or two, he would face dire health issues....

"Hey man, I'm just trying to live" he says to me one day.....

Here I am, getting majorly angry with this guy whenever he came to the bus stop.... He was in my way... he was upsetting the delicate balance of my life.... He was in the way..... But in the real, he was living..... and living in this moment.....

Our time is appointed and anointed..... it is up to us to embrace the essence of life all around us.... promote the love that emanates from our hearts.... and celebrate the energy of our people and from whence we came....

We cannot re-do the past.... so live.....

We cannot control the future.... so live.....

We can only regulate the now, and even then only up to a point....

Each fleeting moment is a gift. Don't waste it.

No matter what the situation is, if you can breathe the breath of life, it is a gift....

Life. This moment in time.... is so precious.... so fragile.... so valuable.....

What will we do??? how will we live??? How do we treat others???

That is the individual choice of everyone in this world.... but one thing is sure....

Life is to be lived with love.......