your voice is important

we must speak up with our life-style of rejection. to produce flowers of community and reliance on a god of love.. rejection of a system of oppression. you say we are blessed..blessings founded on what? marching on up in the economic system is not freedom or justice, its giving into another form of slavery.

its a choice. not asking for pitty, but an understanding that we must be liberated from this system to be called under the voice of christ. "thats just the way it is" = an excuse to sacrifice the ways of this world and be hated by others. 

yes. we must sacrifice the ways of this world and be hated. 

this is not an anthem to march to encourage apathy, yet an anthem to encourage activity...to change the world. look at the past, and map how to change. if success means ripping the skin off the backs of those who sing a different song, oppressing the earth and other tribes of families to grow more green in our pockets... things are wrong. this is wrong. 

we must rejoice and sing to a song of justice and freedom.. from a land ruled by slavery. 

whats goin on

its easy to feel less than in this world when your account is negative.
the lost cause in this world of 'success..'
its so beautiful how god invites us to be apart of a loving system outside that of capitalism :)

i left drumming and dance the other day feeling lifted and bright..
peace amidst chaos.
one of the most beautiful moments to breathe in and share.
i want this moment to freeze in my senses..so my mind wont drift to doubt and emptiness.
you tell us not to worry.
how hard it is sometimes..
this way of life is so engrained in our bones
"Everyone who has more, will be give more
but as the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away" -luke 19:26

A friend told me slipping in the ignored sidewalks of kensington:
this place we live in has a normalcy of
death, greed, corruption, injustice, power over the least of these
everything good comes from the one who loves.
a gift.
a glimpse of the yet fulfilled promise.
we shall not worry
trusting that we are loved, humbly taken care of.

it is time to scream on mountaintops
proudly soak in the ashen cross

Every day is a desert to those who chose the journey of seeking wholeness..
trusting for each drop of water to place one foot in front the other

grover cleveland elementary;)

new changes

my walk has been as such:
ironing out the wrinkles..

good but i have to press hard on that iron.

stopped working at circle and on to full time coffee.

here is my leap!
:)

so i write consistently in this journal..collecting stories of philadelphia. i was readin' back and found this dated 5.28.09

Day at gym.
sweaty from running. 250 cal.
Now some leg lifts
Hamp to my left and Bertha right in front

the people are open here at the YMCA.
excited to talk and share with
talk well recieved.
a safe haven...

Hamp: "White people always want to rule!"
Me: "Why you speakin' in absolutes. not all white people are the same"
Bertha: "yep...you betta be careful. she looks mixed"
Me: "yes ma'am."

The conversation went on about 'the only way to end racisim and ill thought of one another is to change thought & educate our children.' Listen to our words we use, you use "dawg, nigga..."
Let us notice our traits of separation and degregation
with a goal to produce life, peace in the eyes of God
God crosses all racial barriers.
Here we go.
now act.
implement.

worship amid suffering

listen

psalm 43:

¹Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation;
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
²For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
³O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
⁵ Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

kayeta

i had dinner at a creole, new orleans style food joint yesterday at the reading terminal market. the food was delicious..and our sweet chef was incredible as well.
his name is kayeta.
he grew up in the ghettos of north philly. there used to be ghettos that were stretch over 10-20 blocks on dauphin-cumberland. the city destoryed everyother block of ghetto and put minisuburb subsidized houses...pushing people, including kayeta, out, making the people weak, less mobilized, and while making the area a more desireable place to live...then kayeta moved where temple campus is now. and experienced being shoved out for the school he will never be able to attend. and then he met a woman (his fathers girlfriends sister) in norristown, married her. and moved to that area. he misses livin in the bulk of the city, so he chooses to work here...making it a daily routine to stop and see his family..where he came from.

kayeta says he is lucky and blessed to live through all these changes, at age 33..many people only get to 25.

a beautiful man. with a rich history.

..compassion

(Compassion is) not a bending toward the underprivilidged from a privilidged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those peopl...e and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there."-Henri Nouwen