Welcome to 2024! Is it me or did the past 12 months seem to fly by? 

As 2024 is now a reality, have you asked yourself (before now) ‘how will I show up in 2024, what will be different this year than in prior ones’?

Here’s a burning question for the ages; Have you discovered your life’s purpose? 

It may or may not be found in what you do or have done for a living. My guess, is that you’ve been living it out for years without knowing it. You may not see it as a purposeful assignment; perhaps you’ve brushed it aside. 

Have you noticed how and where you positively affect things around you? I believe it’s there, maybe not as visible because you do it fluidly without thinking and could relegate it as just part of your human makeup or personality.

Some have discovered their purpose in life but have yet to put it to use. Well, I’m standing here in 2024 to remind you it’s not too late. 

Look for clues: 

What things are improved after your input?
Do you find yourself effortlessly solving problems?
Do you have a knack for being creative? Making something from nothing, or causing something to be more serviceable than before?
Do you communicate in a way where you are heard and understood clearly and others are motivated by what they hear coming from you?
Do you have compassion for the less fortunate and disadvantaged?  

Let me encourage you to take note of things you do excellently with little or no effort, these may be tools for your assignment in the purpose of your life.

If you’re reading this post, there is still time to discover your purpose. Once you identify and acknowledge it, you can begin putting it to good use, regardless of how much time you have left.  

Grant it, some of us need to get on with it more than others because the clock is ticking and we don’t have as many New Year’s left than others, however we have now and we have today. Don’t let what you’ve done already, your age, your status in life whether good or bad define what could be ahead.

I pray you discover your assignment this year. I pray you improve on your assignment this year. I pray you bring a better and more complete YOU to the assignment.

Happy New Year, and Happy New YOU!

Kelvin 

Photo Credit: Brenda Chambliss

As we approach the day known to most of the world as Christmas, I’ll share some thoughts.

Originally, Christmas was designed to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Over the years the focus gradually shifted from the announcement of glad tidings of Jesus’ birth through Christmas carols, gilded houses bearing the nativity scene of baby Jesus with parents Joseph, Mary and wise men in tow to Santa, reindeers and Frosty the Snowman!

 Isn’t it interesting how over time we segue from the original intent of Christmas to sales and marketing and never knew when it actually happened?… I digress.

 The purpose of this post is concerning thoughts I have of those who get lost during the holidays and suffer from what was coined as “Holiday Blues.” 

I thought suicide spiked around this time of year until I came across an article from last year’s December edition of U.S. News; that found in Research from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, that this was a myth. In a poll it was discovered that 56% (including me) believed this was true, while 44% debunked the idea.

 While I’m thrilled to know that the idea of people not cutting their lives short during the holidays isn’t at an all time high based on research and reporting, I still believe there is no better time to remember and appreciate those we care about and love and to be thoughtful to remind them that they are not forgotten all year round.

 Holidays mean different things to various people. This past Thanksgiving, while gathered around an intimate table with my wife Brenda, Dad, Mom and siblings, my mind drifted from the blessing before me to those alone inside a circumstance no making of their own. Death, desertion, divorce can change the landscape of one’s life in just one day. Young people and children who aimlessly meander through times of festive celebration and finding themselves strangers to what’s going on around them because they have no place to call home or family.

Many face challenges daily with no ‘break in the action’ as their responsibilities anchor them to circumstances that give them NO holiday or respite.

 Don’t get me wrong, in every station of life we may find ourselves, there is always something to be grateful for, YES even in the worst cases of life. For God’s merciful eye to locate us in sorrow, loss, grief or pain is a blessing.

 So here is my challenge to us; from now until December 25th and indeed through the rest of this year, let’s take time and think of others and make ourselves the blessing we would like to see. An unanticipated phone call could do it, a house visit, a card, an opportunity to meet a need and show good will.

Isaiah 9:6 says; Unto us a child was born, unto us a Son is given…

Yes, He was a baby in a manger, but grew up to become Savior and King, so let’s continue His wonderful legacy first by ensuring He is OUR Savior and dedication our lives to serving as citizens of His Kingdom.

 Warmest and Best Wishes year round.

The thing that pulled me out from where I was, is the news of a great friend of mine gone missing and it has been a long time now. He called Brenda on her birthday and that was it. Never heard from him since.

I’m writing this to try and capture feelings and emotions in this space. It’s numbing, its grief, it’s sadness, open ended.

My friend lived in Chicago, I met him at the church my father Pastored several years ago, he attended regularly and we connected from there.

He helped me work out with weights and the machine, I loss a teenager (in weight!) and got fit. Yep, “a lean mean fighting machine”, I didn’t fight though, just trained.

My friend taught me about running and finishing strong. I learned how in running to increase in distance incrementally and run through the finish in the end, don’t just stop.

We had different upbringings, different history, but one thing in common, we loved the Lord. We stood together through much pain and grief over the years, each bearing our soul to each other. I will always remember those times. They built us, they grew us up and matured us.

It’s strange without a formal goodbye. It’s weird because  even while not talking for brief periods of time, there was nothing final to it, it was like putting a book mark in a book and picking up where you left off next time. This feels different.

The longer the days go by, the more it seems unlikely to see him again.

This is just another sobering reminder to be conscious of the time spent, and time shared. Had I known that last conversation would find me here, I would’ve said something much different before hanging up.

Truth is, we never know…So, now I’m making adjustments that leave my last talk, my last acknowledgment, more meaningful, more lasting because we never know it may be the last.

anablepsis.

On days when you’re low, feeling down, despondent or even anxious, did you know that 80% of things we worry about never happens?

Life is a cavalcade of episodes and experiences that come to teach us, build us, and to give us knowledge, into becoming mature and established humans.

Hard times usually accomplishes this, disappointment usually achieves it, but the benefits from them aren’t seen initially but over time. How we see circumstances is one thing, what we understand about them and the benefits as a result is another. Some of our ways and practices reach their end, to transition us into a more preferable and fruitful way of being. This change may come voluntarily or involuntarily but it rescues us from the part of ourselves we’re blinded to that may cause harm to ourselves or others and threaten our future.

The detours, change of direction don’t abort the goal but often times ensures it, protects it. This change of direction neither diminishes our value or worth as a person but reveals it over time. To me humility is preferred  more than humiliation, the first is my choice, the second is a result of NOT choosing to do the first.

Let wisdom through the challenges of our time teach us and lead us into a more balanced and improved version of who God has called and designed us to be.

Let God complete the work in progress presently in your life and the positive results He wants to bring to fruition .

anablepsis

Photo Credit: Brenda Chambliss

Hey everybody I needed some time away from writing. But I’m back and will seek to post every three days or so again.

Dear George,

I know you don’t know me but I’m Kelvin, a guy still living in the world you occupied for 46yrs of your abbreviated life.

Just wanted you to know how interestingly different things have been here in America since you’ve been gone just 12 days ago.

Many more people know your name than before and are saying it as though they knew you personally. You would be amazed. Your name is being memorialized even in other cities in America.

Yep, your name has even gone beyond the borders of America, would you have imagined that?

Your daughter was even quoted as saying; ‘Daddy changed the world.’

When you got up that Monday morning May 25th 2020, I’m sure you didn’t realize it would be your last day of life, there would have been no reason for you to believe that.

Like too many of your African American unarmed deceased predecessors, dying in the hands of people without the power to give life, you came across one such person dressed in a Minneapolis Minnesota police officer’s uniform that felt you seeing your 47th Birthday was totally out of the question.

George, what could you have done so bad? What could you have said so harmful, that in the company of witnesses and phone video, angering this former police officer to place his knee on your neck and apply pressure on it while you pleaded for your life?

What could you have done so bad that onlookers who pleaded for the officer to stop, went unheeded? What did you do to garner so much anger against you that when you said; ‘I can’t breathe’, your plea went ignored?

You called out for your deceased mother, did you see her in your final moments coming to get you?

George, you were robbed as a citizen of your due process in court here, the person that took your life, felt he would be judge, jury and god over your fate in that moment. It was so easy for him to take your life.

What sin did you commit so worthy of any plea to release you from the grip of death imposed on you to be ignored?

Your cheek to the concrete blood coming from your nose the horror of being unable to breathe, unable to move, what did you do so violently that your end was met with such violence?

It was a horror to watch (and in retrospect) may have been a sin, but must have certainly been unimaginable to experience.

Did you know that you’ve grown famous in your absence here? Your name has been spoken by the president, news personalities and folks who took exception to what happened to you.

All colors, all, nationalities are galvanized together in your memory, in fact, you replaced COVID-19 with opening news for several days.

But look at what it cost…it cost your life. It seemed more easy to take your life than to protect your right as a citizen. “Miranda rights.”

The store owner regrets their employee calling the police on you now, after seeing their handling of you. The store has changed their policy because of what happened to you, imagine that, but it cost you to change it. It cost your family too.

You’re not here to see what your murder did to the country. Your death breached the conciseness of what many who saw with their eyes, and decided in their heart that this must end, and my action must be apart of bringing it about.

Your death brought people out of their homes into the street to peacefully protest, some people were overcome with emotion and in their protesting fought against police this wasn’t wise, others wrongfully took the platform to loot and steal from stores set police cars on fire, this was uncalled for and NOT in the spirit you would have stood for. I believe that.

Yes, George Floyd you have a Wikipedia about you, your picture and all the information about the events that led to your demise. Your public permanent obituary, what happened to you has now become a part of American history.

But it cost. It cost your daughter who will not have her father around to guide, and love her, I think about the times as she grows up that she will really need you.

I pray your brother and other family members will see after your baby girl now, and this will hopefully inspire other men to be present fathers and fatherly examples to those in need.

So George Floyd, for people who want to criticize you personally, this isn’t about you being perfect and any personal problems you may have had, many of us have problems also and many still have them.Your critics have them, your supporters have have them as well. We’re human.

But for now a nation has been gripped by your murder in cold blood under the knee of a man in uniform going beyond his job requirement to make it personal, to make a point for all to see.

You’re gone, but not without an echo of your name, memory and life still ringing throughout this country.

It saddens me that your fame only came about as a result of your loss, the loss of your life.

I pray that the memory of your death will not dissipate over time the protesting certainly will but I trust that the spirit of the protest wont.

This issue of police brutality against African Americans is too serial for comfort, too common, too caviler until your death.

It shouldn’t have been that easy to lose you George. I would rather you still be here and not have known your name, than an “absent celebrity”, reminding us of how far we’ve come, but yet how far we have to go in this country.

Sincerely,

Kelvin

anablepsis

I often find myself saying this, but it’s true. This pandemic has surfaced a lot of things.

Photo Credit: Brenda Chambliss

My conscience obligates me to do this post. George Floyd an African American man in Minneapolis Minnesota lost his life to a now former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Chauvin a Caucasian male, while on duty was seen in a video recording with his knee placed on the neck of the handcuffed George Floyd for a reportedly 4-6 minutes until Floyd expired, officer Chauvin’s knee was still on the lifeless Floyd’s neck for an additional 2-3 minutes.

It was reported that Floyd called on his mother (who is deceased) before dying as he pleaded for mercy as he stated that he couldn’t breathe.

There has been outrage over this incident, several cities in America rising up in peaceful protest demonstrating their pain and anguish for the gruesome death in broad daylight of an American citizen.

I am not here to take political sides. I’m not here to make this a racial issue because if it is one, I couldn’t stop it from being one anyway. I’m not here to make Mr. Floyd a devil of a saint. I’m not here to do either of the same to Mr. Chauvin, however I’m not here to ignore the elephant in the room either.

There is a problem, a systemic problem in America, that makes the African American male in some places in this country an endangered species. This endangerment is on two fronts, neither will I address in detail in this post, as I have another aim here.

One critical threat is being killed by another race, the second, is being killed by his own kind also known as (Black on Black crime.)

Let me tell you as an African American man in this country, I have been in a similar position to George Floyd by ending up in police custody in the back of a police car.

In the mid eighties in a suburb of Chicago Illinois, after walking into a local department store to pay a bill, I made a phone call using a payphone just outside the store, a few feet away from the main entrance.

About a minute into my call, 3 police squad cars descended upon me, an officer jumped out of one of the cars and ordered me to drop the phone, and put my hands up against the wall and spread my legs apart. I obeyed the order. A man they believed who matched my description robbed a store at the other end of the parking lot at a completely different store.

I looked to my left over at the phone still dangling off the hook from the cord, wondering what was the person on the other line thinking as a result of my abrupt removal from the phone physically, and what they were hearing in the background. My next thought was; ‘man, I sure hope no one drives by from my Sunday School class seeing this, as I was being patted down by the officer.

I looked to my right and saw an officer approaching me who looked at me as he was walking up, shaking his head he uttered; “that’s not him.” The guy they were looking for was a black male (that was the term back then) around 5 foot 8 inches, I’m black 6 feet 2 inches. I was questioned and I told the officer, I had just left the department store from paying my bill, and was making a phone call.

Although one officer said that I didn’t match the description, nevertheless I was handcuffed placed in the backseat of a squad car taken to the other end of the parking lot where the large department store was robbed. While being parked out front and after what seemed like an eternity FINALLY, two gentlemen came out of the store, a Caucasian gentleman and an African American gentleman, they both looked in the backseat of the car at me, I saw both shake their heads no. The officer asked them if they were sure…they responded yes, they were sure, as though I was there for the taking if trying to find the robber was too much trouble.

I was taken back to my car, uncuffed and let go without apology. That ordeal shook me up. I’ll NEVER forget that day, being innocent and detained as a suspect, humiliated as a human, mortified as a man.

While I appreciate your patience, that’s not what I wanted to broach in this post.

Since the death of George Floyd, there have been peaceful protesters, demonstrating and utilizing their right to peacefully assemble and protest their grievances. Many of them angry, upset over what they felt was the wrongful death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police department particularly one of their own officers who committed murder in cold blood with a badge.

In my May 13th post entitled “Revist Review Amend,” I raised the issue of the murder of another African American male Ahmaud Arbery, killed while jogging in Georgia last February with his murders being apprehended only a few short weeks ago.

Here’s my point in all this. Am I angry, you bet I am, especially when it becomes so easy to kill unarmed African American men without serious repercussions for the perpetrators.

This problem didn’t just start, it’s been going on for years, decades, and longer depending on who you ask, some caught on video, others unfortunately not.

In George Floyd’s death there are serious issues to be raised but there is an impediment to doing so when looters, infiltrate themselves with protestors. When the looters burn police cars, setting stores and businesses on fire, it smothers the true conversation and purpose, the villains are now culprits who in the name of George Floyd proclaim they are doing that in his memory… STOP IT!

There is nothing more sinister than criminals attaching themselves to a cause to besmirch the cause and sabotage it with criminal acts and violence, provoking police to incite more violence against citizens and peaceful protestors. This is wickedness at its core.

Not all African American men are a problem, troublemakers, lazy, void of handling responsibilities as advertised by some. On the flip side not all police officers are hateful evil killers haters of African American men.

What truly separates a person is not the color of their skin, not their job description, not their money, but the quality or grade of their heart.

So as for Derek Chauvin George Floyd’s killer with a badge. Under the badge was was uniform and under the uniform was “ white” skin… but none of the above was ever the problem, not any of these things killed George Floyd, but what was under the “white” skin which could be found under anyone’s skin. A cold, dark, miserable, hate filled, angry murderous heart. THAT’S the culprit, the HEART. That’s what motivates action or harnesses it. So if we are going to fix the society we need a heart transplant for people with evil heart problems.

A few days ago Derek Chauvin’s heart convinced him that he was God over George Floyd so he put his knee on his neck until the cocktail of hatred in his heart intoxicated him into taking the life God gave George Floyd, because whatever he did, whatever he said, or maybe just how he looked…in Chauvin’s heart and mind Floyd was worthy of death to him, it’s just that easy.

anablepsis.

Brenda and I were at one of the Restaurants  near Fayetteville Arkansas we frequented several years ago.

While sitting there and enjoying our meal, there was an abrupt crash of dishes breaking.

Now where I’m from people would erupt into unsolicited applause, I’m glad none of those people were present this day.

With most of the attention drawn to the part of the dining room where the accident took place, emerged the hard working waitress.
What happened next was deeply disturbing. She began a public verbal assault on herself. “I’m so stupid!” “I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” were the barrage of attacks on herself. “I can’t do anything right!” “I’m so clumsy!”
This went on for about a minute which was an eternity for what I was experiencing just listening to her scolding herself repeatedly.

I called her to our table as Brenda I tried to settle her down. We began to explain to her that it was a mistake.

I couldn’t help in that moment but to think, that this probably wasn’t the waitress’s first mistake. She’s human, I’m human, we’re all human. One of the trademarks of being human is that we all WILL, sooner or later make a mistake…guaranteed.

If you’re remotely similar to me, you have made quite a few in your life, and a very high likelihood that we’ll make more.

With our friend the waitress my concern was if this wasn’t her first mistake, how was she treated previously?
Was she representing, someone who ridiculed her in that manner before who wasn’t present then? Was she trying to “beat an onlooker to the punch” meaning; if I can tear myself down before you do, you won’t have to, and I can be spared the embarrassment of you criticizing me publicly.

Our friend’s response that day to her simple mistake spoke more to us about her previous experiences than she may not have realized.

I don’t like making mistakes. I’d rather not, however it’s the management and understanding surrounding them that I believe is important here.

When I make a mistake my identity is still protected. My identity is who I am, NOT my mistake, so if I make a mistake, I understand that I made one but I’m NOT one.

The waitress had a fractured identity. It’s like looking at her image in a shattered mirror. The waitress’s image wasn’t shattered physically, but what she was looking through as a result of past experiences, may have reinforced that negative image of herself in her mind.

It is important we make these distinctions. It’s vital that we differentiate what was said or done to us, versus who we truly are, independent of the opinions, views, negative words of others, including ourselves, ESPECIALLY ourselves!

Brenda and I spoke with the woman and shared with her how we saw her and tried our best to comfort her. While it may have helped her that day, and we were grateful to do so, she would need additional reinforcement.

There must be a foundation in the heart of every life that is clear about who they are in God’s eyes, that informs them of who they are from a personal perspective.

Identity will buttress and anchor us like few things could ever do. Identity latches on to purpose, purpose latches on to vision, and vision latches on to eternity and eternity is found in God where we originate…

Not, that THAT shattered mirror image!

anablepsis