My following thoughts will outrage some and please others. Fortunately,
I am not a high profile person who will have to issue a fake, insincere
apology after I say what I mean. I will stand by what I say because it is what I
mean to say, on purpose. I will write as things come to mind. So the flow won’t
be as if you’re reading an article in the New York Times.
This has to do with how I live in peace. Spiritual peace. Not
worldly peace. This is my feeling. My opinion. This is my person experience. You
may disagree with how I feel, but you cannot disagree that this is how I feel. Catch
my drift?
Some people like to convince themselves that so much has
changed and things are so much better. Those in power simply became more subtle
about their motives, feelings, actions, etc. Do I really have to list the
examples that prove my point? Look out the window. Turn on the tv. Read a
newspaper article. Listen to the radio.
"Can't we just all get along?" NO we cannot. At
least not ALL of us. Man is not perfect and will never be. As long as there is
a single soul with malice in his/her heart and another single soul who can be
influenced, we will never live in worldly peace. Living in worldly peace with
your brothers and sisters means one of two things, we ALL live flawless lives
or we ALL appreciate each other, flaws and all. Neither of these things will
ever happen on a global scale at least, because we're humans born with original
sin. We make mistakes. We feel uncomfortable with the unfamiliar. We have egos.
We judge. We're jealous. We're IGNORANT. We say and do things that are harmful
to ourselves and others.
Living in worldly peace also means feeling safe at ALL
TIMES. Imagine never having to worry about your emotional and physical safety.
Imagine knowing that if you find yourself in harm's way any random and I mean
ANY random, would extend a helping hand or defend you at all costs. Well, if
that were the case, any random wouldn't need to come to your defense because
there wouldn't be anyone out there who would cause you hurt, harm, or danger in
the first place. We'd walk freely without concern that we'd be racially
profiled, mugged, raped, lynched, stoned, spat on, knocked out, yelled at,
kidnapped, murdered. We wouldn't desire money or power. We wouldn't lose loved
ones in wars, car bombings, school shootings. No slavery. No holocaust. No jealousy.
There are people out there who don't want a peaceful world.
Who don't want to relinquish power and level the playing field. Who don’t want to love their neighbors. Who don’t
want to call someone who looks different than they do, their brother or sister.
A quick reminder about power. Being in power does not make
someone better than you. I was never told that I am equal to or as good as my
white counterpart (who typically holds the power). Why, you ask? Well plain and
simply put, white is not what I use as a litmus test (a critical indication of
future success or failure). I strive to be the best Andrea I can be. I do not
want to be like you. I do not what to look like you. I don’t want what you
have. I am happy for you and what you have. What is for you, is not for me and
that is all good. I want you to be happy for me when I achieve any kind of “success.”
I want you to appreciate me. Value me. Hold me in high regard. Don’t ever
tolerate me. Don’t endure or put up with me. I want you to pray for me just as I
pray for you. And believe me when I say I pray for you. I pray for people I’ve
never met, people I will never meet, people I’ve never heard of, people I do
not like.
Understand something. I count myself as human and therefore
filled with flaws. I judge. I gossip. I get on people’s nerves. I yell. I tolerate,
among many things. At the same time, I love the LORD. I believe in Jesus
Christ. This provides me with SPIRITUAL peace. This helps me to see the
positive in people and in myself. There are good folks out there. I choose to
surround myself, when I can, with positive uplifting people who believe in GOD.
GOD is the only peace I can obtain in this world. Through HIM, I have great
friends, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, straight, gay, male, female, educated,
uneducated, rich, poor, powerful, and powerless. I have a loving family. I have
a job and great boss. I have patience, sometimes, when dealing with bigots like
Megyn Kelly, Ann Coulter, and Justine Sacco. I tolerate people like these
women. That’s one of my flaws. I should love them regardless. Really, I should.
One other thing concerning worldly peace. I am so very very
very proud to be BLACK. A woman. An African American woman with natural hair. That
does not mean that I am anti anything not BLACK or anti anything not female or
anti relaxer. I have the ability to be proud of me and appreciate you and how
very different you are from me at the same time. If you do not understand that
my being pro me does not me I am anti you, then we cannot get along. We cannot
live in worldly peace. We cannot avoid war. We cannot share brotherly and
sisterly love.
However, we can ALWAYS choose GOD. We can chose to live in
spiritual peace which brings us closer to worldly peace. Ain’t no way I’d make
it in this world without the grace of GOD. It is because of GOD that I try to
love those who do not like me and pray for those I do not like.
These are my thoughts and my feelings. It may seem like I am
being negative. Quite the contrary. I am telling you how I maintain a peaceful
life in a turbulent world.
That was a long tweet.
