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Tag Archives: Self-love
* Why racism no longer matters to me
The last straw for certain things came with a Baltimore Sun front page banner headline:
Skepticism, despair as killings continue
Residents question city response; Four day death toll stands at 12.
I anticipate no response from Julia Craven, Jenee Desmond-Harris, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stacey Patton, or Brittney Cooper.[*]
What was the last straw?
In short, it’s time for me to stop concerning myself with racism and race.
* Choosing to feel good is not a no-brainer
A few days ago, in the “smoke pit” awaiting entry to the homeless shelter where I stay, I sat facing a choice of whether to feel good or feel bad. I allowed myself to stay in that state for some time so as to examine it. As I’ve observed many times in the past, it proved to be, apparently, a completely arbitrary choice.
This really puzzled, and puzzles me. Choosing to feel good creates light. Choosing to feel bad creates darkness. There is so much “darkness” in the world, and I want to understand how it comes about. Can it really be as simple as a wholly arbitrary choice? Continue reading * Choosing to feel good is not a no-brainer
* “Son”
I don’t like Elder Conrad.
At the shelter, they compel us to attend chapel every night. A different group presents each night, following a monthly rotation. Elder Conrad and his group come the second Sunday of each month. In nigh on four years, he’s never said a single thing I felt merited attention.
There is one exception.
Continue reading * “Son”
* Life in the outer darkness
The appointed Gospel text for Sunday was Matthew’s Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Matthew 22:1-14.
I was struck by verses 11-14 —
11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
— in that, last Tuesday at McDonald’s, I’m the one who got thrown into the outer darkness.
Continue reading * Life in the outer darkness
* A short route to agony
On one occasion sometime between 1983 and 1990 — I can recall where I was living, but not where I was working — I came home from work and became suicidal. I don’t recall the basis of my agony, but it almost certainly pertained to certain foibles of “the flesh” that my “spirit” seemed powerless to overcome.
A former student had left a cassette tape at my door that day, full of music he wanted to share with me, beginning with “Bad” by U2. I had a second floor apartment, and had sometimes heard this from the boom boxes of people who walked by outside; and I knew what effect it would have on me, particularly the opening section, with the bells. Given my state, for that reason I intentionally delayed playing it.
When I couldn’t bear the pain any more, I put it on, and was at once transported from the pit of despair into a place of perfect peace. I count this as a case of divine intervention: by means of that young man and that music, God saved my life.
Continue reading * A short route to agony
“Why do roses have thorns?” — Additional tags
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Why do roses have thorns?
Tags:
– Blessings
– Folk religion
– Racism
– Religion of the ‘hood
– Resentment
– Resentments
– Roses
– Self-love
– Steven Seagal
– Theft
– Thieves
– Twelve Steps
“Dez Bryant, love and responsibility” — Additional tags
If you have arrived here, most likely you’ve done so by searching on one of the below tags. All pertain to this post:
Dez Bryant, love and responsibility
Continue reading “Dez Bryant, love and responsibility” — Additional tags
The Homeless Blogger 