Notes From A Broken Heart

Often beneath the level of consciousness, we take on things that become burdens, that weigh us down like a sackful of picked cotton.  In truth, nobody forces us to undertake much of what we end up doing. Granted, sometimes circumstances propel us into making decisions that tend to hang on long after the "crisis" has passed.  Sometimes if we just wait a minute, things work themselves out, become manageable or  malleable, until equilibrium returns.  The sun's going to rise in the East and set in the West, no matter what time zone you're in.  I'm not saying, though, that only frivolous situations or circumstances get blown out of proportion and into burden-land  Serious things, worthy of burdens, do happen. We may or may not be equipped or ready to take unforeseen situations on; typically we try, primarily because we're a nation of Helpers.  It's that "Can Do" spirit embedded in us through culture and history. However, Kenny Rogers sang, &qu

What Do You Do When You Don't Know What to Do? Erykah Badu's answer in song was, "You'd better call Tyrone!" Who's Tyrone? In song, he's Erykah's male friend's "best bud."  (I always feel uncomfortable using "boyfriend" as a descriptor of a woman's paramour.  First and foremost, if you're a "boy," I feel you're too young to have an adult relationship. Plus, the term has certainly changed in the 21st century, when users of language attempt to be more precise.  As well, it could be a consequence of the "Politically Correct" mania that dominated behaviors the last two decades of the 20th century. Parenthetically, we're suffering its backlash now. So, what do you call a man who's in a relationship with a woman? Man-friend? Special person? Lover? My Dude?  Honey? I really don't know and probably won't when I get one! And I did say when. ) Anyway, Erykah's Friend  would be

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12 (I chose this title, not out of bombast or conceit, but simply because I love words and the sound of them.  To borrow a phrase,they represent the "Sound of Music.")  The underlying question, though, seeks to distinguish between the spirit, as in the Holy Spirit, and the flesh, signifying the world. Simply, I ask, who is my enemy and to whom do I direct my energy? What might be the nexus between my rather esoteric Post title and St. Paul's teachings to the Church at Ephesus? First and foremost, I believe he was in the Office of Teacher, drawing a direct line between who we sometimes think we war against and the real  enemy.  That's probably because we either do not know who or what the enemy i

"I know I been changed" Growing up, I remember hearing converts who had “graduated” from the Mourner’s Bench being led in the singing of an old Negro spiritual that went, “I know I been changed,  O I know I been changed. Yes, I know I been changed because the angels in heaven done signed my name!” It was a song of conviction and triumph, I had no doubt. The mourners ranged in age from early teens, many forced by a parent or grandparent to that Bench at the  front of the Church, to “This may be my last time” older people, who had been flirting with “Giving their hearts to God” for years. Pastor had presented a Palm Sunday message of love that centered on Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a colt “on which no one has yet sat” (Luke 19: 28-40).  A teaching Pastor, her exegesis instructed, challenged, and inspired. As is the custom that closes a Sunday service, Pastor invites all who choose, to come forward for prayer.  She explains that we