Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
It is the end of the week and many, myself included, are looking forward to the weekend. If you happen to look back on the week, I am sure that there were highs and lows. Maybe there was something that made you so happy that you have still not come off the f the high and maybe something interrupted that happiness to plunge you into despair. Or maybe nothing really happened and the gains you hoped to make did not materialize. Maybe, even though it is the end of the week – and pay day – you just have nothing to celebrate. Or so you think. Life is about the highs and the lows and there is so way of avoiding them; they will come with or without your say so. However, when they do we have to take them in stride carry on.
If we experience mostly lows for a time, we carry on because we know that just around the corner are moments of highs that will make the lows worthwhile. We always hope for the rainbow at the end of the storm. So let’s hope that wherever we find ourselves at the end of another week will be based on the hope of better things to come…
“I had an inheritance from my father, It was the moon and the sun. And though I roam all over the world, The spending of it’s never done.”
― Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Land
Imagine a place where the diversity is so great that there are 150 plant species, 101 endemic to that place; and, an array of delicate but strong orchids that speak to our humanity but iron will to survive . Imagine if your imagination is so expansive, Over 500 variety of the same but no the same ferns – if you know what I mean. They all form a warm rainbow of a blanket to remind us that God is still with us. Not to be outdone are arthropods of all kind, birds and other animals too numerous to name – those that sit high and look low and those that sit low and look high.
Black-Billed Parrot
As the backdrop are rivers of pure, crystal clear water, that swell with life and which are life giving. Water that not only supply its occupants and those around, but also a nation. They all co-exit, they are all interdependent, they are all connected by this place that they have been created in. They have all managed to eke out a small space for themselves and have all managed to thrive despite years of change and upheavals taking place on their doorsteps.
The History
This bit of paradise has been the scene of epic wars, that led to a state within a state; a testimony of the strength of people who stood their ground in great adversities. A place that proved to be a haven, a home from the cruelty of slavery for many men, women and children. A place that carries the heartbeat of a people; where the echoes of the Abeng still sound. It is a place that has been forgotten, like any place that has been forgotten, for its value by many. By many too busy trying to survive the barrenness left by empty promises and unfulfilled dreams. By those who have been disappointed, or, by those who think they have managed without it, surviving on their own genius. This Monday, October 21, 2019, we celebrate some of the men and women who have played their part in shaping a land that provides a space for freedoms of all kind. Let us remember that with the freedom we enjoy, should be a responsible to protect and appreciate the little bit of paradise we still have. Let that be one legacy left for others who travel this way.
“It is, however, the will of my Heavenly Father that I should thus suffer in obeying His command to relieve the poor and needy and to protect, as far as I was able, the oppressed.”
George William Gordon 1865 (Jamaican National Hero)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
I recently had a conversation with my other about the importance of planning – even God has plans people (Jeremiah 29:11). This was something I never really placed much importance on. I always hated the question, “where do you see yourself in the next 5 or 10 years from now?”. I mean, give me a chance to make it through today, let tomorrow worry about itself! Well this was how I felt; planning is for persons who have their ish together – another position that has shifted a lot. Although I wish I could find a great argument against it, the saying is actually true, in ALL circumstances, when you fail to plan you are planning to fail.
Sadly, there are still some of us who can only learn this the hard way. But when we do we need to make sure that we take the bull by the horn and take the right course. The failure to plan can sometimes mean jumping into what you believe is a deep pool and finding out after the act that is was less than five feet! Should not be attempted at home, you will kill yourself! You have to do some investigation to know what you could be committing to and the likely consequences of doing so. Many times we have experiences that were never planned and they turned out great! However, our lives are NOT a never ending bounty of pleasant surprises; some surprises are nasty! And whether good or bad, even when unexpected things come up, we have to decide what we will do.
Or we may have a dream to do or be something, what’s the point of wanting to achieve something without having a plan for how you will get there? There are those who are happy to make others decide for them so they don’t flip the boat, but at the end of the day, we have our lives to live and no one can do it for us. While there is a higher power at work, we need to know how we will be the person we are suppose to be and operate with intention, in the right circumstances, instead of in blind compulsion- mode all the time.
“And since today’s all there is for now, that’s everything. Who knows if I’ll be dead the day after tomorrow? If I’m dead the day after tomorrow, the thunderstorm day after tomorrow Will be another thunderstorm than if I hadn’t died. Of course I know thunderstorms don’t fall because I see them, But if I weren’t in the world, The world would be different — There would be me the less — And the thunderstorm would fall on a different world and would be another thunderstorm. No matter what happens, what’s falling is what’ll be falling when it falls.”
(7/10/1930)
― Alberto Caeiro, The Collected Poems of Alberto Caeiro
Last night I dreamed that I witnessed a major accident and there was nothing I could do but make sure I did not see the carnage after. In the dream I controlled what I could – myself. Today is Friday, the end of the week and after a difficult one, all you’re left to do is throw up your hands and say, “come what may!” Really when all your plans have failed spectacularly, you realize that some things are out of your control and all you can do is just live your life hoping for the best. Because really what else can you do?
Things do not always go the way you imagined them to go, but when you are unexpectedly faced with a totally different outcome, it’s better to wait before you go in a corner and bawl your eyes out. Crying is not going to cause things to go your way and sometimes no matter how you try there is nothing you can do to fix what gets broken – whatever will be will be. It may seem that you are giving up, but I’d like to think of it as having faith in a source greater than you. Knowing that we have limits to how much we can control in our world, will always keep us humble. When you learn this lesson, it’s better not to be bitter and try and fight it. It never turns out well for the student who does.
So, when your plans fall through, make another one and see if that one works. When the people you depend on don’t turn up when you need them to, accept that they may be somewhere wishing you could through for them too. They just haven’t told you about it, because you have been a little louder with your distress. Be kind in how you think and treat people and things that do not work in the way you want them to work. We are all trying to feel our way around with limited resources and insight, at times. Instead, a positive attitude about the things you cannot change, will make you a whole lot happier and sane. It’s good to plan but be prepared to change course when the wind blows in another direction. If you believe in a higher power – whether God or destiny – gather all you’ve got and toss it up in the air, come what may.
“In the spring and summer I watched my plants flower, but it was, perhaps, in winter that I loved them best, when their skeletons were exposed. Then I felt they had more to say to me, were not simply dressing themselves for the crowds. Stripped of their leaves, their identities showed forth stark, essential.”
― Pamela Erens, The Understory
I was reminded the other day that we all have some serious issues. I was placed in a situation where I saw someone in a new light, which made me look at myself and consider if I was being completely honest about what I have think I know about myself. Sometimes you can change without realizing you have. When you are constantly around negative energy and negative people you somehow become more defensive and mean-spirited, even though that is not the person you want to be.
Before you know it you are the mongoose in the hen house. You develop these little habits and thoughts that seem harmless and before you know it, they have totally transformed you into what you DID NOT intend to be.
No one wants to be seen in a negative light – even if it’s obvious that there is no other way to see you! We all would like to think that we are innocent of all charges and are fair-minded. But the reality is that we cause problems for other people and sometimes we mean to. We feel justified because they are bad and we are good, they are wrong and we are right. And because we want to be right we forget that life is much more complicated. We are much more complicated. And there are layers to who we are that make us problematic on different levels. Some of ;us know deep down that we are problematic but we refuse to acknowledge or peel back those problematic layers, to confront our idiosyncrasies that conflict with how we want people to see us.
It is a struggle to accept all of who you are, especially when you give a damn care what others think of you. It’s a process; but there is time for us to peel back those layers and acknowledge that after all, we are only human. It’s not the destination that counts, but the journey.
I recently came across a video – out of nowhere – after I had written the post on the lotto. And though I could have written about this topic, I thought it would be good to hear from another perspective. So below is a video that had me questioning my priorities and whether I had an abundance mindset or a scarcity mentality. It’s easy to be sucked into the never-ending desire to have plenty. We sometimes don’t realize when we sacrifice people who are really in need to protect what we have, while we wait to get more. Put that way it really sounds selfish. Do we know when we have become too discriminating to the point of being inconsiderate to the needs of others? Maybe we need to step back and ask ourselves this question.
“To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one-another, and to preserve and cherish that Pale Blue Dot: The only home we’ve ever known.”
Professor Carl Edward Sagan
Music, no matter where it comes from has the power to heal and bring comfort. Sometimes it reminds us how strong we need to be. When we feel ourselves slipping too far down the rabbit hole, let us brace ourselves and hold on. We cannot retreat into the unknown because that is not where we were meant to be. For each of us we must find our way, but we can take heart because along the way the right people will be there to make the journey easier. There will also be sweet music to replace your sorrows. And if we listen closely, a comforting voice to remind you that we will make it…
The Road of the Dread
That dey road no pave like any other black-face road it no have no definite color and it fence two side with live barbwire.
And no look fi no milepost fi measure yu walking and no tek no stone as dead or familiar
for sometime you pass a ting you know as . . . call it stone again and is a snake ready fi squeeze yu kill yu or is a dead man tek him possessions tease yu. Then the place dem yu feel is resting place because time before that yu welcome like rain, go dey again? bad dawg, bad face tun fi drive yu underground wey yu no have no light fi walk and yu find sey that many yu meet who sey them understand is only from dem mout dem talk. One good ting though, that same treatment mek yu walk untold distance for to continue yu have fe walk far away from the wicked.
Pan dis same road ya sista sometime yu drink yu salt sweat fi water for yu sure sey at least dat no pisen, and bread? yu picture it and chew it accordingly and some time yu surprise fi know how dat full man belly.
Some day no have no definite color no beginning and no ending, it just name day or night as how yu feel fi call it.
Den why I tread it brother? well mek I tell yu bout the day dem when the father send some little bird that swallow flute fi trill me and when him instruct the sun fi smile pan me first. And the sky calm like sea when it sleep and a breeze like a laugh follow mi. Or the man find a stream that pure like baby mind and the water ease down yu throat and quiet yu inside.
And better still when yu meet another traveler who have flour and yu have water and man and man make bread together. And dem time dey the road run straight and sure like a young horse that cant tire and yu catch a glimpse of the end through the water in yu eye I wont tell yu what I spy but is fi dat alone I tread this road.
Lorna Goodison, Selected Poems, University of Michigan Press, 1993.
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