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Be respectful of others

Be polite to others

Be peace bearing to others

Be curious to know others, who they are, not just what they do

Be helpful to others

Be loving to others

Be kind to others

Be willing to sacrifice for the sake of others

Be an example to others of what acceptable behavior looks like

Be humane to others, regardless of who they are, where they come from, how much money they make, or whether they live at the top or bottom of the hill

Be the one to function as if you’re responsible for making being human contagious

Old and Blessed

Your form stays constant. Your frame is stagnant, with outside encasement forming a rectangular shape. Those divider panes inside the encasement are windows within windows. You’re always there from one season to the next. Each morning, you’re given an opportunity when the blinds are open to look out at the same location to which you looked the day before. When you look, you provide a view for me; I look. I see what you see in that same spot.

You are a portal to imagery the world has to offer. The panorama consists of sky, flora, and whatever passes by. You serve duel purposes. The light you capture illuminates the inside world, highlighting the colors that exist close to me. Even when the light is lessened by clouds or night, you do your best to siphon whatever bits of light that are still available.

You capture, and project inwardly elements of the outside world that are within your range of sight. You stand ready day and night.

Old and Blessed

I know you

You are the same as I

You are married

You have three adult children

You have a host of grandchildren, and several great grandchildren

You have been blessed to get an education

You have had a good career

You would probably be incased in poverty had you not been educated and received support from countless good people

You are a person of faith, who pays backwards and forwards

You are law abiding, supportive of all things that keep society running well

You vote in all elections, even though your candidate doesn’t always win

You seem like a good person

You seem like me

So, why are we at odds

You don’t look like me

You’ve been told since childhood that we’re not the same

You do all these things we have in common with folks who look like you, and I do the same

Let’s have lunch…

Old and Blessed

They fought for independence from colonizers. They fought for delivery from enslavement. They fought for civil rights. And when the benefactors of those battles thought the fight was over, there had to be a fight to reclaim the real narrative. And the fight continues. Like Fannie Lou Hammer, they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. So…

Old and Blessed

Wouldn’t it be great if I could mute people I run across from day to day when I find myself bothered but what they say? I’m not talking about any violent acts, just push a button somewhere. They would continue to talk, but no one would hear the nonsense coming out of their mouth. The racist, sexist, fascist stuff that no civilized person wants to hear would not pollute the air. Haters would continue to flap their jaws as normal, but they would only be heard by themselves.

No one would be aware of this super power I commanded. Over time, people would begin to realize that when they are watching someone speak and suddenly there would be silence, the speaker must have been saying something not worth hearing.

The power of muting, beyond controlling a ZOOM conference, would be great. But would I have absolute power?  We know what happens when one has absolute power.

Old and Blessed

You were deposited on this earth as a blank slate. From the beginning, you’ve been learning, recording your experiences. Even before you could talk, play back what you’d recorded, you’ve been like a sponge, absorbing the sweet, the bitter; the bad, the good; one set of contrast after the other. You learned more lessons than you can count. You’ve lived a long, eventful life, and now you realize that life has been your most effective teacher. Even at this age, the learning continues…no registrations, no classrooms, no normal pedagogical approaches, just walking through life.

Old and Blessed

The span started when we were covered in youth. Dark hair and supple skin housed our bodies. Movement was thoughtless whenever we desired to accomplish anything physically. We accomplished much to lay a foundation for all that the coming years had in store.

As time advanced, we saw our union produce others, little ones with inquisitive eyes and burgeoning personalities, longing to find their own places among God’s creation. We enjoyed every minute of this process. It went by too fast, but it was as it’s supposed to.

We’ve seen the generation of our families before us peeled away like the layers of an onion. They were once the elders, and now we have taken up that banner. And though dark hair and supple skin have reached a vintage that is not so dark and supple anymore, our spirits are as young as they’ve ever been.

 And though the journey hasn’t always been without potholes and at times whiplash from collisions not foreseen, God has given us the fore withal to persevere in love and compassion.

Thank God for all that He’s done, especially the seasoning love too often unspoken but ever present. We would not stand at the end of forty years without it. May He continue to keep us in whatever health we have left and sickness which is already present.

Forty years, two lifetimes for some, long for some, short in comparison to time itself. Forty years of a journey along the ring of eternity, with distance yet to cover. May God continue to bless us in the distance we have yet to traverse.

Old and Blessed

The good and the bad, depending on which side you find yourself; there has and always will be this dichotomy, this fight, this friction. This profile of human existence has been with us since recorded time. When your ancestors shed blood, sweat, tears and pounds of flesh to build things up, they were hopeful, hopeful that at some point their sacrifice would be appreciated.

That hope stays with us. Sometimes it pays dividends in the form of social reform, and a few laws that remind us that we are people, too. It’s during these times that advancements are made, when the mainstream seems open to the idea that the cultural, political, economic and social flotilla can accommodate all.

Then, something happens. The tide turns on the fear of those who have had their ungodly ideas shuttered for a while. They are emboldened by those who share their fears and have economic means to reach seats in the halls of power. Societal disarray results and it becomes clear that the darkest examples of how things have gone in the past will be seen as how they should be again. Somehow, the lessons taught by history fell on deaf ears of some students.

And so, like riding on a hamster’s wheel, round and round we go, with small respites here and there from our retched ways.

Old and Blessed

When you look around the world and its many colors, consider this: what is the best choice? When you consider the pain and suffering, ask yourself what is the best choice? When you see joy and celebration among all of this, ask yourself what is the best choice?

With all the vapor the world has to offer, choose God’s joy, the eternal reason for celebration. The best choice.

Old and Blessed

You are the person I haven’t met.

You are the person I need to meet.

You are the person who will be my best friend.

You are the person who will share knowledge with me that I haven’t been exposed to.

You are the person who will lead me to places I haven’t been to.

You are the person who will provide me with an understanding of the diversity life has to offer.

You are the person cultural gatekeepers are telling me I don’t need to know.

I’m confused because I think our relationship would allow me to experience another color, another sound, another perspective that would make me realize how vanilla my life has been. Shouldn’t I taste more than vanilla?

Old and Blessed