Get up! Do something!

I have been wondering for the last couple week or so, what new could be said about the month of February and all of the important dates that take place in February.  Let's outline them:  We celebrate the birthdays of two famous American presidents.  One was a leader in the war that gave America it's independence.  The other was instrumental in putting an end to slavery.  We also celebrate love in the month of February with Valentine's day.

For most African Americans, the month is important because it's a time to celebrate their history and how they overcame obstacles that kept them oppressed.  The more I considered these things, the more I realized that they are all tied together....connected, as we should be.  For one, we should love each other enough to respect and help our fellow man, regardless of creed, sex, or religion.  The history of this country and the history of African American people reflect the same things. 

The first people who migrated on their own to this country, did so to free themselves of an oppressive monarch.  While, all African Americans did not come to this country of their own volition, they worked hard over decades to free themselves of oppressive slave owners.  They worked hard to ensure that the government recognized them as human beings, with equal and unalienable rights. 

These people made history because they got up and did something about their circumstances.  They lived, fought, and died for what they believed was right and just.  They took pride in their cultures, heritages, and worked to pass certain values on to their posterity.  But now, more and more, I see this strength, this desire, being trampled by laziness, detachment, amoral behavior, and a ever growing lack of love and respect for our fellow man, regardless of creed, sex, or religion.  

As we remember these people, and the struggles they endured to make us free and give us opportunity...a chance at a real life lived, we should remember that we too must GET UP and DO SOMETHING!  We must do something to restore that power we once had in ourselves as a people, as a part of the human race. This month, we should really focus on the needs of our brother man...we need to make sure that he is safe...and that our future is as well.  The only way we will succeed in doing that is...together.  

Riding in a Whirlwinds!

Have you ever experienced a whirlwind?  That great gush of wind comes along and carries you off balance for just a bit?  As it meets you, it brings along leaves that found their place on the ground underneath their home trees, and maybe a small scrap of paper that someone lost along their way. 

On a hot summer day, the whirlwind's breeze is a welcome treat!  It cools you off and brings a smile to your face, as you enjoy the sudden coolness, as it squeezes your face, which was crackling from the heat.  The people who were inside, miss nature's attempt to bring them the simple joy of a summer's day wind.  Those who don't have modernized cooling mechanisms to keep them airy, must settle more rudimentary methods to bring their skin the breeze it needs to settle down.

Imagine the breezes of life as being the same as nature's world wind.  Swift and cool...Blowing through with the opportunity of a life time. Blessings that have been hidden sometimes- wrapped in the debris that the gush has accumulated on its travels.  When it passes by you, the whirlwind swoops you up too.  And a magnetic object passes by you.  You grab hold to it and land where it lands.  As you remove the dust from the object, you realize that the ball like object is your potential.  It has a place for a lock, but the area is broken and the lock is missing.  Once you open it, you realized that it has inside a seed of opportunity- that is waiting for you to nourish it until its reality.

I found my seed of opportunity this same way, you know.  I nourished it, and loved it.  Labored for it, with no complaint.  That seed has grown into God's greatest gift for me.  Its brought more to me than I ever would have had, if I had not looked for it in the whirlwind that picked me up!