Walk In My Shoes

The expression “you don’t know what it feels like until you have walked in my shoes” is a saying that is used frequently.

This saying is normally brought up when people want to make the statement that others can try but will never be able to relate to what they have been through.

I am writing this article today because I have been a witness to many people walking in shoes that don’t belong to them.

Sadly, some of these people get stuck in these shoes and are forced to stay in them for the rest of their lives.

The people that I am referring to can be identified as the “experiments.”

These usually are people that just want to try shoes on before buying them; these are the individuals with a ton of curiosity.

This is the guy that doesn’t want to gang bang but wants to see what it is like for a day.

This is the woman that doesn’t want children but still has the urge to undergo the experience of childbirth.

This is the teenager that despises drug addicts but just wants to see what it is like to try a drug one time.

This is us.

This is the gangster rapper that wants fame but can’t handle the consequences that may come along with some things that he/she may say.

This is the preacher that wants to share Gods’ word but lacks the motivation to help those within his/her congregation when they are in need.

These are the people who want to be anti- racism activist who cringe every time they see an interracial couple.

This is the man that wants his son to be respectful to women that occasionally hits his wife.

This is the woman who wants her daughter to have respect for her body but who also brings different men home every night.

If shoes don’t fit, then we have to stop wearing them.

If they are too big at the store they aren’t going to get any smaller upon returning home; so stuffing tissue in a shoe shouldn’t be an option.

Don’t put on the shoes of a gangster if you don’t have the heart to protect a territory, something that you live for at any cost.

Don’t put on the shoes of a mother if you make your friends first priority over your children.

Don’t put on the shoes of activist against racism if you don’t feel comfortable about interracial marriage.

We all honestly have to stop wearing shoes that don’t fit.

These shoes that don’t fit have us in lifestyles that we can’t get out of.

These shoes trap us in lifestyles that we don’t want to get out of.

We can’t wear shoes that don’t belong to us, we have to wear shoes that fit.

One for the week: …and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills. Exodus 31:3

Present We Don’t See

It’s that time of year when the lights and decorations come out.

It’s that time when families come together to express their love for each other through the actions of giving and receiving.

Once again Christmas is right around the corner.

People have hopes of getting things that they have had their eyes on for a long period of time.

People take extra hours at work to afford expensive gifts for others that normally would be impossible to purchase.

People exchange all kinds of gifts but they forget about one gift, better known as the present.

Many of us take the days; the right here’s and right now’s for granted.

We wake up in the morning and say things like, “ugh another day, or I just can’t wait for this day to be over.”

It’s truly a shame that millions of people this year will be disappointed due to the presents they do and don’t receive.

It’s ridiculous that many people will be so caught up on lack of finances that they will forget that without money it’s still possible to have a remarkable Christmas.

We all can’t afford to miss out on the ultimate gift this year, we need to recognize the present.

With the present we are able to breathe another day in the present.

The present grants us the ability to wake up and see our loved ones another day.

With the present we are all blessed with the gift of life.

So this Christmas some of us need to refrain from getting angry if all we receive is socks for Christmas.

Socks may be under the tree; however, the limbs a person is blessed with that the socks go on are the real gifts.

There may be baby diapers under the tree and nothing for you.

Don’t sigh; be blessed that you have a baby that the diapers can come in handy for.

Some people are unable to have children and would love your blessing.

Present is the real gift and this holiday; we can’t afford to forget that.

Gifts that are under the tree this year that are dismissed by people are all presents that others are hoping for.

The best gift isn’t a materialistic item.

The best gift is when a person realizes that they are blessed – currently, now, and presently.

Everyday has the potential to be Christmas.

One for the week: Colossians 2:7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

A Pencil

As an elementary student, I constantly heard the reminder, “Use a pencil not a pen.”

I tended to be the rebellious student and used a pen.

Even, though I knew that I was destined to make a mistake in math class, I wrote my equations in pen.

Although I battled with grammatical issues in English, I still used a pen.

As I look at some of my assignments from years ago and see the many scratches and scribbles, I wish that I had used a pencil.

With a pen, someone can make a mistake and try to hide it with knowledge that that the mistake is still there.

With a pencil, a person can make a mistake, erase it, and make corrections.

Many people used pens throughout the year, looking at old mistakes that they tried to cover up.

When a mistake is still visible, then knowledge that the mistake was made will remain.

This year, pens have created problems because pens had people wanting to visit the past to change mistakes that will remain visible.

We all have to realize that using a pen is just like making certain decisions that are capable of affecting the rest of our lives.

Many of us have chosen to use pens this year.

We have had children without being financially stable.

We have sold drugs to make a living.

We have abandoned younger generations that have the potential to be future leaders.

We have mistreated and abused our spouses.

We have held grudges that have created barriers between ourselves and success.

Because pen has been the choice of utensil to use this year people have been stuck in the past and unprepared for the future.

In this year of 2010 people need to approach the drawing board with pencils instead of pens.

With a pencil people can write down ideas without being subjected to follow them.

With a pencil people can change decisions that they make before they become permanent.

With a pencil a person doesn’t have to look back at previous mistakes; he or she can move on without wondering what could have been done differently.

In 2010, I’m choosing not to be that rebellious elementary student.

As an adult, I appreciate the advice from my teachers, “Use a pencil and not a pen.”

This year, I’m not going to look back and wonder if I’m going to make immediate changes myself.

I advise everyone to drop the pens that they are using and pick up pencils…

One for the week: Genesis 27:28- May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.

Unbreakable Chains

So I guess you have been trapped in confinement against your will.

I guess you have been beaten for breathing too loudly.

I guess you glorify in the idea of being urinated on to entertain other individuals.

I guess that you enjoy being stacked on top of others while enduring feces dropping on you periodically.

I guess you enjoy being shackled in chains that determine your every direction.

Evidently we all do!

We call each other niggas and we label each other as niggas.

This word is used so much I wonder if younger generations will mistake it for scholarly terminology.

Many of our families have been affected by the transformation of the economy.

Some of us have had to send family members down South to earn better wages to support the remainder of the family up North.

Americans that migrate to save the status of their families are commended, but Mexicans who do the same and migrate to America are classified as spics and unwanted company – but why?

This is simply because we are trapped in unbreakable chains that support ignorance.

Why is it that when a white male wears baggy clothing or when a black male wears a suit, things are viewed as being out of the ordinary?

This happens because we all place colors on everything.

We associate the idea of being successful and wealthy with white people.

We associate the idea of being misguided and poor with black people.

With these chains, we are only hurting ourselves.

It’s time to break away from the idea that just because things were done a certain way in the past they have to be done the same way now.

Many of us claim that we long for change; but in all reality, we still continue to lug these unbreakable chains around.

We connect color with crime; we connect it with media.

Whenever someone is murdered, the tendency is to immediately link the crime with someone of a minority race.

Furthermore, the ignorance doesn’t end there; sometimes the news tends to take it a step further.

Whenever there is a crime committed by a minority, there sometimes is no hesitation to provide a full description of the individual who committed the crime.

People throw away the unbreakable chains.

These chains are forcing younger generations to grow on the idea that the stereotypes are the truth and that the truth is deceitful.

These chains have young women proud to be identified as female dogs and exploited by numerous men.

These chains have women thinking that they have real men when they are able to tell others that their men is or has spent time in prison.

We are enslaved to these chains, and it’s time to break free.

One for the week: “At that time I pleaded with the LORD…”