Monthly Archives: May 2013
I Pray
I pray for all the families; for all the men, women, and children all over the world that are or will find themselves struggling to cope with the loss of loved ones.
I pray for the well being of all the people who find themselves barely hanging on and lost in our complex world of contradictions.
I pray that all of the children being taught violence as a solution to problems will someday find love and prove to be better than us, their teachers.
I pray that someday the American passion for life that gets displayed every time a tragedy strikes one of our communities becomes a permanent fixture in our hearts, and that this American humanity expands to include compassion for non-Christians and non-Americans all over the world.
I pray that one day, my Christian brothers and sisters will quit murdering in the name of Allah, my Muslim brothers and sisters will quit murdering in the name of God, and our American politicians will quit sending our American kids to war under the false pretense of democracy and justice.
I pray for you, in hopes that you when hit that wall and begin to believe you can’t go any further, that when you reach that point where you can’t see any hope, that when you find yourself in that space where darkness is the only thing that surrounds you, I pray that you will find the courage and perseverance to take one more step forward.
I pray for us, in hopes that someday we will truly treat one another as our brothers and sisters the way El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) did when he returned from his Hajj, the way Martin Luther King, Jr. did when he embraced humanity, the way Mother Theresa did as she worked tirelessly to make the world better, and the way so many do as they heroically go on with the business of doing for others without any fanfare.
I pray…
Still Here by Langston Hughes
Still Here
I been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,
Looks like between ’em they done
Tried to make me
Stop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’–
But I don’t care!
I’m still here!
Langston Hughes
What Are You Going To Do Today?
Love
Today I’m going to sing like I’m in concert, and it don’t matter who’s listening. Today I’m going to dance like I’m on the set of the Thriller video, and it don’t matter who’s watching. Today I’m going to smile like I’m advertising toothpaste, and it don’t matter if I’m the only one smiling. Today I’m going to look you in the eyes and say hello, and it don’t matter if you greet me back. Today I’m going to speak broken English, and it don’t matter if you have a problem with it. Today I’m going to be happy for no damn reason other than the fact that life is beautiful, and it don’t matter if you get irritated with me.
Today I’m going to do some un-American things, like give thanks to God instead of my country, read the Qur’an and the Bible, turn off the TV and embrace life, be kind without ulterior motives, write an unstructured poem, converse with a homeless man or a woman without judgment, walk fearlessly with my head high and my heart on my sleeve, and be thankful for a freedom that came from God and not through drone missiles or military force. Today I’m going to say In God We Trust and Mean It.
Today I’m going to tell the world that you can’t be free if you live in fear of our children, of the terrorists, of the big black man, of my long bearded turban wearing Arab brother, of the white supremacist, of the Mexican mafia, of poverty, of not having a bunch of consumer goods we don’t need, of failure, or of being alone… If it is, it’s because God wants it to be.
Today I’m going to love you, even if you don’t love me, even if you don’t love yourself, even if you don’t understand what love is, even if you don’t want to be loved… Today I’m going to love you without expectations of reciprocity or the condition that you need to earn my love. Today I’m going to give my love for free because I’m free.
What are you going to do today?
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