NBCU Who?!

When your spirit recognizes a special calling...

“What time is it?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Why are you interrupting me?”
“Cause I want to see you!”
“Who are you?”
“You know it’s me again.” (And the conversation carried on after the door was opened)...

Yes Lord I’m listening. #Thankful #MoBetter

That Same Sky, Same Moon, Same Stars...

Celebrity Lights

Celestial Lights

I remember watching Tom Hanks in his role as Chuck Noland in Castaway, and thinking, "how brilliant is this man?!" He was in survival mode the entire time of his tragedy, he didn't panic, he was well educated, he took control and responsibility of the situation the whole time he was stranded. As an actor Mr. Hanks was brilliant, and to perfection, portrayed the role of a brilliant businessman that simply refused to give up. We should all be so inspired in our daily lives to live and love in the same manner. Never give up! 

Love fueled his desire to live. He looked for every resource that he could find that was natural, and he looked through the resources he had from the wreckage that would help him survive, and enable him to return to his love. 

Mr. Noland was a desperate man towards he end, he was in an all or nothing frame of mind. I won't spoil the ending for you in case you haven't seen the movie, but I'll introduce you to a scene that helped change my outlook on life. 

Mr Noland decided that it was do or die time. So rather than wait to be rescued, he built a raft, one that he felt would endure the breakers, and see him afloat off in the deep blue sea. He again utilized his resources, and began navigation by calculating his direction based on the tools provided by God in our solar system, the sun, and the stars. He was an extraordinary mind. This scene in the movie led me to do some critical thinking of my own while on a missions trip. What if my plane were to have gone down in the vast deep? What if I were just told by the people on the island that I couldn't return home? Even though I now swim like a fish, would I be brave enough to overcome my atavistic fear of sharks and water? Would I be intelligent enough to utilize my resources and find my way home if I were? Or would I be like Djimon Hounsou in his role as the captured slave "Cinque" in another powerful performance and movie, "Amistad?" Cinque wanted to get home as well. However, even as great as his love for his home and family were he did not have the privilege in his camp to obtain the knowledge of the skies like Mr. Noland had. Cinque would need help. Love is a powerful drug. 

Have you ever sat underneath the midnight sky and wandered in your minds eye to ask the question, "I wonder if my loved one is thinking of me right now?" "I wonder if he/she is looking at that same big, full moon that I am right now?" "I wonder if he/she is wishing on that star, like I am, praying that soon, very soon, I'll be reunited with the one(s), I love?" 

What would you do, what have you done, or endured for love? If credit cards could buy love, my company's slogan would be, "What's in your heartbeat?!" Tell the people you love that you love them. Now... yes, right now! This blog is over, go tell that love what they mean to you... go on, get ta gettin'! 

Peace, blessings, and joy... that real PB&J

The Ghost of Missus Past

Just Like A Woman

Her father told her story first. Her love tells it most. Her Heavenly Father, and First love tells it truest, and has the last say. She loves her earthly father, but she was never good enough in her own eyes based on what her father told her growing up. She was never good enough and could have done things differently according to her recollection of daddy. What she failed to understand was that he only wanted to be her harshest critic because he loved her enough not to settle for mediocrity. Great fathers don't want great things for their daughters, they want what's best for them. That's the best dad anyone could ever have. Unfortunately, she learned to do just that, to settle for mediocrity because she didn't see what daddy saw, she saw what her pain led her to see. Her pain led her to see that it was most fitting to settle. Settling helps find an ease in the pain, a quick remedy to the pain. Which led her to settle all her life, to avoid the pain at all costs, to settle for allowing the ghost of her past to haunt her. 

If she's not good enough for daddy, perhaps she can find a father figure that will make her forget she's not good enough by having him tell her that nothing outside of him (the father figure) is good enough? He's smart enough to temporarily tickle her ears, so he has to be the smartest man she knows. How will she handle the lies? When will she see the truth? The lies of... the money is not good enough, the affection is not good enough, the physical relationship is not good enough. He needs more from more, more money (more theft), more affection (more women), more for the flesh (more substances/addictions). She is so used to the lies that she feels as though she has to stay trapped inside that tiny earthly body, and still figure out a way to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders. Then when she tries to take on the weight of the world, she experiences the weight of the universe, and it is there that she has an encounter with God. A feminine, Job, why me moment.

"Lord, I've been telling You ("telling" is often confused as prayer), I want one of these play things, (a man that she can manipulate like an older sibling blackmailing the younger sibling to get out of more choice situations, or get into situations they really don't want to be a part of), so I'm gonna rub Your bottle (Bible or imaginary subconscious bottle), You play genie, give me what I want, and I promise to be a good girl," she demands! 

He replies, "Two questions for you little woman, dear little sweet child of mine, Why start now, what are you really praying for? You've continually taken matters into your own hands, why stop now?" Why do we start prayer, and why should we end disobedience, and making vain request? To receive our blessings, to do the right thing, to get out of His way, and let Him be life, love, and the joy in us, through us, and for us.

Even though He doesn't have to, God still hears, so when will we? I've been praying for someone just like you!!! Did you hear you, or did you hear God? Did God say, "I've heard your prayers, and now the answer is in you. Seek Me in him, and you will get closer to him as you get closer to Me. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all this things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV). Yes all these things, the man, the diamond on the finger, the nice home (not just a house), and all! You were almost a wife, don't let satan still anymore of your joy. Don't seek the desire you want in a man, it's temporal, don't stay focused on the pain of a past man, this too should, and shall pass as you let it!!! Instead seek the God in him that was created for you, and find the love of a lifetime.

Peace, Blessings, and Joy... that real PB&J

White Lives Matter, Where Are You Now?

Where are they now? 

Photo courtesy of USA TODAY (Trevor Hughes) 

A picture is worth a thousand words, so goes the old adage. However, silence is oft times louder than the words screamed by an angry protestor, or is it possible that silence is so loud it screams what the anti-protestor has been saying all along? "We are who we say we aren't!" Is it possible that some just don't know how truly racist they are? Possibility vs. Probability, where's your money?

So where are they now? The fine folks that were so tore up over the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) movement. Again, to clarify the #BLM wasn't an acronym for forget the White, Red, Orange, or other. As one participant of the movement has been quoted by many now, "Save the whales doesn't mean screw the shrimp!" So, where are you now, anti-protestor? Now that there are "White Lives Matter," movements taking place, why haven't you comeback with the cry of "All Lives Matter," while they're gaining national attention? Christians first. Jesus proved 2,ooo years ago that all lives matter, but He also proved that not everyone felt that way, it would seem that ONLY He felt that way. I think He's proving it again in 2017.

For months no one could watch an NFL football game comfortably due to the bickering of certain players kneeling during the anthem. First it was the Colin Kaepernick show, then it blossomed into "the ones kneeling," and finally the harvest of protest yielded the fruit of NFL players being given the permission to begin the "My Cleats, My Cause," campaign, and there was in the end somewhat of a hush. I will go on record to say that I was not in favor of kneeling during the anthem. I have uncles that were Marines, my grandfather was a Ranger in the US Army, and I have a host of other family and friends considered my extended family that served during times of war, and in times of non war, in various branches of service, not to mention the fact that I am a proud American that has overcome the adversity of racism in every form, due to men and women who have fought in various forms so that I have the privileges that I enjoy to this day. So I am not a fan of kneeling during the anthem, I am however, a fan of taking a stand, #even_if it means taking a controversial one. It was controversial that Rosa Parks was accused of civil disobedience, and arrested for sitting in the front a transit bus. It was more shocking than controversial that the arrest and conviction were overturned by the highest court in the land after coming to the conclusion that her being arrested for sitting where she chose was unconstitutional. Her "civil resistance" exploited an uncivilized portion of our population that woke up the rest of this great nation. A nation that is not looking to be "great again," but to be even greater as one. A nation where all lives are seen as lives that matter, and that life is to be treasured among all as one. God bless America, and all who make her great.

#BlackLivesMatter vs #AllLivesMatter Part III

What are your intentions? 

Social media, and its betrayal of society. How does social media and most news reports project a matter? 

How is discrimination delivered? Is it merely in fleshy tones and hues?
"Your son is an excellent soccer player," says a parent to the coach who is not Caucasian! 

"Thanks, but that's not my son," replies coach, then points to his daughter who's features and skin tone do not fit the "Black stereotype."

The stereotype (even in a positive light) may be based on skin tone.

Is it merely flesh tones, and hues?

"She just jumped in and locked her kid out of her Mercedes when my husband walked by their condo," says the Caucasian wife, concerning her brown skinned husband with Latino and African ancestry, walking past their Caucasian neighbors condo!

"Mommy, why'd you lock me out," asks the child of approximately 5 years?
"Just be quiet and get in the house," the embarrassed mother replies!
"Rude, sad, and contradictorily enough, hilarious all in the same breath," says the wife's aunt!

Sometimes it's all about the skin.

Sometimes it's the origin you're in, and not the skin you're in that matters...

"He may steal from us!"

"Not all kids (even Black/Brown), are thieves Mary Helen!"

A fair skinned girl in an school with the culture stemming predominately from African ancestry is referred to as "the pretty one." How Black does she look? She doesn't. She has full lips, but very fair skin, and without being prompted to see her parents, most would not know that her parents were American with African heritage. 

Trayvon wasn't shot by an officer. He was no saint, but did he deserve to die because of that?

The Johnson's introduced Black Entertainment Television (BET), and the "Black," Brown, or American's with African heritage embraced it. Does that mean that they tried to do away with all other networks, or channels? Ask a Brotha if he only wants BET when the Super Bowl is on, or the NCAA Mens National Basketball Championship is on. But for a second focus on the more affluent, and more ignorant community that was also introduced to BET. Even though BET was not designed to take away from ANY other shows, or networks there are those that treat it as if it were. "Why don't we have a station, or network (Michael Eric Dyson, Tears We Cannot Stop, 2016)? Maybe because WET just doesn't fit? Or... why make yourself inferior when you have everything anyway?

I am not saying that I agree with ignorance, that I promote it, or that this viewpoint is law, and that all have to agree with it. However, you have to admit, it'll get the juices flowing, and make you think. What if it is true, or what if there's more? How bout this:

"To a Christian," #AllSoulsMatter! ~ Wiseman Woods

To Jesus, #AllLivesMatter #AllSoulsMatter

His going to the Cross evidenced how much they matter to Him, and unfortunately, it also proves how that's the farthest thing from the truth for others.

Why in the NFL would you say that?!

Photo Courtesy of: GoTravvy (IG: wynstagrams_power2thepixel), the Carolina Panthers, and the NFL (Not intended for sale or reproduction)

The NFL in my way of seeing it...

Way down South.

Why would I say that it's easier to win the Southern Division in the NFC than a Wildcard spot? Because any team can go 8 - 8 in the South and be champs! Also, because history has a way of repeating itself. Quinn is a hard nosed coach, but Riverboat Ron hasn't won 3 straight divisional titles for no reason. He utilizes talent that he doesn't even have to win games! The Cats still have an outside shot of finishing 5 - 2 in the last seven, while Atlanta with a struggle outside of the conference could crumble and finish a dismal 3 - 4, or possibly even 2 - 5 down the stretch. I'm just saying... ca-razier things have happened, and they could happen again.

To close out the rest of the division... the Saints have already come marching in, and are marching on their way out. They will make more changes after this season, I am sure.

The young Bucs are just that, young and growing. Under the leadership of their new QB, Jameis Winston (which is not bad, but certainly not that of Dak Prescott), they have done well. They are not yet ready to dethrone anyone, or step up and claim a prize that will not go unclaimed, however. Which leads us to the East.

"To the East my brotha to the East..."

Dethroning their arch nemesis, the Redskins has come to fruition for the bad guys this year. Barring a miracle (come on miracle), the Cowboys will win the East walking away. Painfully said, enough said.

The Frozen Tundra.

Unless you're a Bear anything is possible in the NFC North. If you're a Bear it's time to den, and no you can't share the one that the Lions are occupying. The healing Pack with experience will ultimately take charge and win the North by a clipped wing and a prayer.

How the West was won.

We thought the new Sheriff in town was from LA, but an ex-collegiate con from LA will have stolen the show again this year with a whole host of Badgers led by Mr. Wilson in the Pacific northwest. Whew, that was a mouthful! With that said, unless the red bird of the desert shows up like the menace, then the water fowl should prevail. Regardless, they'll all taste like chicken when the post Thanksgiving portion of the season gives way to the new year.

The AFC...

East.

Almost as painful as coughing up blood... the Pats (again), have the East sealed.

The not so Great North.

Does anyone care? Just kidding Ravens, and Steeler fam. Bengal and Browns... The Bengals haven't had much to talk about since the days of the flying squirrel, "Boomer" Esiason, and Mr. Woods, not Tiger of course, although it is ironic enough that he played for a team with a tiger for a mascot. I would have been more accepting of being called Tiger rather than being called, Ickey. It must have been the dance that earned Mr. Woods such a title? Which is the only "cold cut" I have for him today. Then there's Cleveland, who according to Drew Carey, "Rocks!" Cleveland according to the NFL, "Got rocked!" Again!!! Can we talk Jim Brown out of retirement? I'm taking the Ravens winning the North by a little, with the Steelers looking for a Wildcard.

Way down South, Part II.

Everything is bigger in Texas, losing included. Losing will reshape the football state again, but so will winning. They will always be second in Texas. There will be more changes, but especially if the Titans take the crown. A Texans loss to the Raiders in Mexico City could make that momentum change, and personnel change very likely.

How the West was won, Part II.

#JustWinBaby #JustWIN ... Nuff said.

In case you don't understand the hashtags above, or don't know the late Al Davis, and his philosophies... it's the Raiders division to lose. Now you know.

What's Real, and What's Fantasy?

What's real, and what's fantasy?

What's real:
Abortion clinics are very real.
George Bush was really president.

What's fantasy:
Fantasy was voting for a George H., and/or W. Bush, and thinking that abortions would decrease or abortion clinics would disappear. They never went away, they still exist.

What's real:
Firearms.
They still sale real assault rifles, and handguns.

What's fantasy:
Fantasy is voting for Hillary Clinton and thinking that firearms will go away, and that people shouldn't take responsibility for what happens with their firearms.

What's real:
There was relationships of all kinds before the US Constitution was written, and turned into the US CONstitution, and two Middle Eastern cities are still under water after being exposed Biblically about their sin nature.

What's fantasy:
No other cities have been destroyed by divine power, and no one has stopped the fact that some women will want relations with women, and some men will want relations with men.

Who you vote for may not change any of the above, who you pray for may.
Who you point fingers at, or talk about may not hear you, God will.
Who you point fingers at, or talk about may not care, you should.
Who you point at may need to be self, take a minute to think about what makes you want to be so right, all the time. May be, that just maybe, you may be the one in need of changing...