Faith.Hope.Love.

Searching for a philosophy
To live this life that God has given me
Tried to find the strength in me
But I was blinded by the hate I see
I keep tryin' to live peacefully
But the world around keeps pushin' pullin' me
Right back down into the hate I see
I need a way to break free

Faith
Believe what I cannot see
Hope
Holdin' on until we achieve
Love
Care and compassion unconditionally
Overflow inside of me

So much stuff between you and me
Communicatin' through technology
What about our humanity
Sittin' talkin' its a mystery
I want to look into your eyes
And see emotion, its no surprise
You and I were meant to be
Connectin' through our physicality

Faith
Believe in what I cannot see
Hope
Holdin' on until we achieve
Love
Care and compassion unconditionally
Overflow inside of me

Full Attention

*New Song* Much better when played/sang than when read... when I get a chance to record and post... I will.

You’ve got my full attention,
You’ve got my heart,
Wrapped up in you,
You’ve got my soul devotion, what can I do?

You’ve got my full attention,
If this ain’t love I’ve got to let it go,
But I know this is love,
Cause my heart was cold,
But now it is warm.

But I stand afraid of all this emotion,
And I stand in awe of all your devotion,
I push away and you show me new love each day.

I stand afraid of pain, the past and present,
And yet you remain, you are committed,
Your loves brought change, I am defenseless,
You draw me nearer.

You’ve earned my full attention,
You’ve earned my heart,
It lays in your hands,
You’ve earned my soul’s devotion,
What can I do, I want to trust you.

You’ve earned my full attention
If this ain’t love I’ve got to let it go,
But I know this love,
Cause my heart was cold,
And now it is warm.

You gave me your full attention,
You placed your heart in the palm of my hands,
You’ve gave me your soul’s devotion,
Your heart is true,
I can trust you.

You gave me your full attention,
You gave me your love,
You’ll never let me go.
I know this is love,
Cause my heart was frozen,
But now it is warm.

[Daddy don't call for money...]

[Daddy don’t call for money…]

Daddy don’t call for money no more.

Suppose the distance has closed that open door.

It may not be me but some has to answer,

Unfortunately that person is now my baby sister.

I didn’t mean to leave her in a space where she would suffer.

Emotional and selfish, I was supposed to be the buffer.

“Big Sis, where’d you go?”
I cry out, “I had to leave.”

Maturity came about and stole her nativity like a thieve.

There are just some things a little girl should never see.

First, she should never have to see her Daddy leave.

Second, she should never have watch her Daddy beg.

Third, she should never witness his spirit left for dead.

He’ll still pinch my cheek and call my name

But it is only a shadow of the man that remains.

His struggle has been prophesized, self-fulfilling chains

The daughters he fathered have been left for lame.

She’ll never say the pain she feels

And never deal the blame she yields.

I know her burden, cause it I bore,

Yet Daddy don’t call me for money no more.

[The inward battle...]

[This inward battle…]

This inward battle goes on and on

It’s like being on stand by for a flight

There’s no guarantee you’ll be on the next plane out

But the HOPE, the HOPE is always there

This inward battle serves a purpose

It’s out of love I try to stand

I don’t want to be easily blown like a grain of sand

If my heart ain’t searchin’ for something deeper what should it do?

This inward battle is faithful

Motivated by the unseen it hopes,

It pushes and fights for something new

Asking, “What more is there for me and you?”

I’ve concluded…

Its easier to hold on to the lil’ bit I’ve got

Than it is to let go and trust the unknown for something more

Even when all I’ve got is shit

I’m already poor

I ain’t got much to lose

But it’s all I got

So if it’s all I got then its everything

If everything and I lose I’ve got nothin’

So I ask the question…

Why does my everything seem like excrement?

I could have had something had you relinquished it.

Had you laid down just and ounce of your privilege,

I’d at least be at the starting line.

No, but instead you prefer I stay in wanting.

It’s easier for you if my people pine and parish for narcotics.

It’s easier if they seemingly die at the hands of their own.

And all so you can wash your hands of us.

But just like Pilot your guilty.

That water you just dipped into,

Well it’s tainted with disease,

So now like me your filthy.

There ain’t no freein’ yourself of sin,

The only freedom you’ll find from them chains is the same as me and them.

The only way we’ll see eye to eye

With the playin field level is on bended knee

Believin’ in the death and resurrection of Christ

Will set us free from our earthly frivolity,

And our reconciliation will come when we can say to each other,

“The Christ in you is greater than the Christ in me.”

I ain’t tryin’ to be harsh

Just straight with it.

The truth of the matter is we are separated, segregated, stratified

Hierarchically by gender, race and socio-economic status.

Categorized and stigmatized for the sake our own well-being,

But what about our personal responsibility to each other?

We were created to live in community.

It ain’t about holding hands and singing “cum by yah”.

Instead it’s about faith, hope, love, and livin’ it,

Together as one in unity.

You know “U.N.I.T.Y” (*sing it)

So, how are we supposed to do what we ain’t seen?

Especially when we are still claimin’ the wars of our fathers

And the bastard children of our mothers.

How are we supposed to move forward?

Why are we claimin’ post-racial America?

Cause we got a black president?

FYI, he’s mixed.

And brown kids still getting kicked out of swim clubs in Philly

You willing to accept the casualty and ignore a hot childs thirsty plea?

Well…

I suppose we can start by going down to the river to pray.

Teachin’ true history about our past days.

Bring to light what is hidden in darkness.

Cryin’, mornin’ and lamentin’ for justice.

Afterwards we can bathe in the healing waters of Christ

Recognizing our sin and brokenness

Confessin’ we’ve denied Him far more than thrice

Let us be honest and then acknowledge our humanity

Together remember our personal and communal responsibility

Laying down privilege and all superficiality

For the sake of a unifying vulnerability

But that is only the beginning cause Christ’ll take the rest

All we do is live in this inward outward battle

Giving each other our humble best

So we stay in this struggle as it goes on and on

Living purposefully and faithfully

By faith, with hope and in love

And when the time right our plane will come

Reconciled we’ll stand in the light of love

Reality can be so potent that it becomes misleading. Events in life are much like scenes in a story. Each and every one is important to the whole narrative. Isolated moments can throw the entire picture off if they aren't held in contrast with the rest of the dialogue or image.

It is so easy for us to isolate our own story from the the stories of those around us. We can negate the importance of context, plot and narrative. I would say that many of us have a hunger to know what is "really going on" and so we speculate. As a result, we are often unwilling to wait till the end of the story to form our conclusions. This is problematic because conclusions formed before the end may be premature and thus inaccurate.

I am guilty of this...frequently. I always want to know what is really happening beneath the surface of a particular moment. I often forget that hindsight is 20/20, and if I would just be patient and wait the picture would eventually be clear. Furthermore, I can't just sit on the sidelines listening and thinking until I can fully see. No, I must fully participate because I too am a part of the narrative in tandem with others.

Evenmore, I have a habit of choosing individual moments and/or statements as focal points. This can be both a positive or negative process. It can be positive when the focal point is one of hope, encouragement or perseverance that pushes me to live in the present with hope for the future. On the flip side, most moments are defined by those that come before and after them. If all of the moments leading up to a particular scene are positive, but all proceeding incidents are negative the focal point may become negative. Negative focal points can be disjointing, and can leave one in a funk. They an even blind a person from seeing when the negative has transitioned to a more positive state.

So, what do we do about this?

If I had an answer, I would not have asked. Ok, you are right. I might have, but this time the question is not rhetorical.

What do we do?

[I'm the Melody, You're the harmony]

I’m the melody, You’re the harmony.
Your percussion and I’m the bass line.
In the onset we don’t fit,
But in time we MAKE good music.

We can sit with silence and let the music bump,
Your head bobs, my foot taps,
Our hands move at once.

You bring the verse and I’ll bring the chorus,
Together we make the bridge when we drop that beat.

It’s easy to feel, yet hard to say,
So we musicians and vocalists take our turn at play.

This here communication is a cold collaboration,
Two souls, two hearts, many parts, one song,
Our genuine manifestation.

You move—I move—we move,
I move—You move—we move.
We move, together we look out,
And the world grooves with us.

So I’ll bring the melody if You bring the harmony,
You bring percussion and I’ll drop the bass line,
We’ll find a groove together,
And in time we’ll BE good music.