faithMile

by Katryna Starks

I stayed away from the Antoine Dodson circus until someone posted the video on my Facebook page. People have said that reporters chose this man to speak to because he is stereotypical, that he exploited himself by speaking into the camera, that the song was a mockery and that his BET Awards performance only furthered it. In essence, Antoine Dodson is seen as a negative portrayal of black men.

Now that I’ve familiarized myself with the story, I think people are letting their own stereotypes get in the way of what actually happened. In the process, they are missing several points.

The Interview: As someone with a degree in Communications, i don’t think he was ill-chosen at all. In cases involving sex crimes, reporters usually don’t put the actual victim on camera. In this case, the woman wasn’t actually raped but the reporter may still have hesitated to identify her. The person in the home who was closest to her and was also an eyewitness was the brother who ran the would-be rapist out of the house. That was Antoine. He wasn’t interviewed for or despite his demeanor and appearance, but because of his actual relevance to the story. With that understanding, there was no foolishness in the initial choice for him as an interviewee.

The Camera: As for him speaking directly into the camera to the criminal, parents of kidnapping victims often do the same thing. They are often pleading for the safe return of family members. Antoine chose to issue a threat instead. Either way, his addressing the camera in order to send a message to the criminal is not new or even unusual.

The Look: As Maurice Dolberry said in this story, Dobson did not seek fame and fortune on his own. His family was the victim of an attempted crime and he was interviewed about it. Right after it happened. Was he supposed to be articulate and well-dressed? Are all crime victims that way? If someone broke into your house and attempted to rape you or your loved one, was chased off and then reporters came to investigate – would you be camera-ready? Would you be concerned about that? Neither was Antoine.

The Song: Again, Antoine did not seek fame. He did not make a song out of his threat. Someone else did. It doesn’t matter why they did. The point is that it went viral and Antoine used the opportunity to move his family out of a dangerous neighborhood. Whether the song is likable or not, he didn’t make it so he can’t be blamed for it. He did, however, make sure that he benefited from someone else swiping his image and using it for their own gain – and that is commendable.

The BET Awards: Let’s face it. What happens every year on the BET awards is that people spend 2-3 hours celebrating some of the most misogynistic music that has ever been created. Music with lyrics that celebrate he sexual prowess of the artist, often referring to women as bitches in the process. Narcissistic music that celebrates the artist’s fame. Self-protective music that threatens the artists rival artists because of some perceived act of disrespect. In the midst of that, Antoine’s song was an oasis. His song celebrated the dignity of women in that they aren’t to be intruded upon and raped. His song was protective of women, suggesting that they were to be hidden away from such intruders. His song was not a narcissistic celebration of himself but a threat to those who would harm others.

Antoine Dodson is not a stereotype that perpetuates a negative image of black men, he is a human being who acted bravely and stood up for others. Seeing him as anything else only reveals the bias of the observer. It doesn’t make or change what Antoine really is. Antoine Dodson is a hero.

by C.L. Mareydt

Seeking knowledge has become a never ending process. Seeking the ultimate formula that will give us the life we want. That perfect set of rules that will provide everything, from prosperity to prayers. Just find that ultimate formula!

Can you picture the Disciples of Jesus Christ sitting around in the evening and talking together? I imagine, as I picture this scenario, that some Disciples might have been brighter and actually smarter than some of the other Disciples. I can also imagine some of the Disciples were more devoted to Jesus and their calling, than some of the others. I know some of their conversations had to be similar to what we even hear in this day and age, among the Disciples of Jesus Christ right now!

There are a few recorded conversations of the Disciples, some with Jesus present, of which we can read about in the Gospels. Often, I hear the remarks of Jesus within certain of these conversations directing the Disciples into a spiritual dicipline of descernment, above the human level of their own knowledge, their own presumptions and human judgements. We can read about how the Disciples were anxious to find out which one of them would be sitting next to Jesus when he would set up his kingdom and throne. Many debates must have touched off some real sparks that inflated their ego’s and pride, discussing who was the best Disciple of Jesus Christ or the most beloved. Arguments of how and when Jesus would crown himself King, how he would overthrow the politics and government of the day, how he would rule and reign, what kind of power platform would he govern from and how he would use each one of them in the process.

They all postively knew Jesus had a special knowledge, that not only, did they not possess, but no one else in that day possessed either! The Disciples did know and personally witness that the knowledge that issued forth from Jesus Christ was beyond there own. Constantly, hearing and seeing Jesus speak and minister from a knowledge that was far removed from any human worldly element; watching as miracles and wonders were demonstrated in simplicity and love toward all mankind.

Each Disciple must have tried to tap into Jesus’s knowlege in their own way. Some by memorizing everything they could, some by experience and trial, some by a rehearsed copying of what they heard. Each trying to duplicate what Jesus was was doing. Trying to tap into that knowledge formula so that they could then minister themselves. But, each found out in their own way, that to make a formula out of the knowledge of Jesus was impossible!

In our present day and age knowledge has increased, just as the Bible foretold. Today we have a society that constantly seeks after knowledge. A knowledge that can be bought and sold in every commercialized arena imagined. Seeking the ultimate formula in knowledge that will put them over the top, be it in business ventures, or in investments and money management, to politics and education, reaching into the mental strategies within our homes and even our religious institutions. The philosophy of self help knowledge at whatever cost has infiltrated our very homefronts and engrossed our society within a monumental consumeristic binge for more knowledge.

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge without a solid and useful purpose, other than to make more money to support more of our indigenous needs, succinctly seems to produces less and less! Knowledge has become its own idol! It is being worshipped by millions everyday. We have more available knowledge within the 21st century than can be successfully used. Yet it seems we are producing only more of the same, but with less people. There is quickly becoming a larger and larger portion of our population that is falling through the cracks of this great cosmos of knowledge. The advancements within our ingenious hybrid society seem to be in the process of purging out the past generations systems in knowledge to make room for the new generations knowledge.

The secular and the religious are both hyped up for business in this arena. Every group within our society today has created their own ultimate formula knowledge bank. Whatever you need can be answered with a knowledge formula. Just follow a formula and watch it produce what you desire. Just follow the formula and all your questions will be answered. Knowledge is the key that opens every door. Is it?

Somehow in the back of my mind I am hearing a warning signal! Somehow deep within my spirit I sense an alarm! There are far too many formulas that knowledge has provided. Not only from a worldly standpoint but from a religious standpoint also. Far too much knowledge that pertains to just having more knowledge, becoming an endless cycle of seeking after more and more knowledge.

Knowledge has become its own formula! If I’m too fat, just follow this formula; if I’m too thin, just follow this formula; if I’m too dumb, just follow this formula; if I’m too poor, just follow this formula; if I’m too rich, just follow this formula; if I’m too countrified, just follow this formula; if I’m too citified, just follow this formula; if I’m too this or that or want to be more of this or that; just follow a formula! Got to have the right knowledge formula, to solve all the problems. Knowledge is the key that opens every door. Is it?

Eventually, the Disciples of Jesus Christ understood that they were following someone that was not going to be crowned as King, nor set upon an earthly throne to rule and reign. They found out, the hard way, that Jesus was not going to use all his wonderful knowledge to establish his own earthly government with them. Instead, they saw Jesus crowned in thorns, his humble clothing striped from him, and then hung on a cross to die the death of a common thief. They mourned and grieved over there lose, believing that all his knowledge was wiped away with his life, now gone. There own lives hung in the balance also. Everything they had been counting on with Jesus, had abruptly been taken away from them. All they seemed to be left with now was their FAITH. And, that was being tested day after day. The life saving knowledge that Jesus had imparted into them, shared with them seemed only to remain in the FAITH they now had to walk in together.

There was not any formula to follow! They couldn’t run to this one or that one, they couldn’t quick go read up on the latest Miracle Manual or buy a quick coarse in Jesus Knowlegdge 101. Instead, they had to wait for His Holy Spirit to be given to them so that they could relate to and from the Kingdom of God the wonderful knowledge that was from Jesus Christ. Because it was not their own. They could not lay claim to any formula of knowledge even from Jesus.

The ultimate formula for the Disciples was not found in more knowlege, but in waiting for His Holy Spirit. Waiting on His Holy Spirit to be quickened in purpose and direction, so that they once again could follow Jesus Christ! NOW, each Disciple was prepared and ready to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And, because of their faithfulness, the Gospel of our Jesus Christ does flourish to this day!

Our Christian ForeFathers did have a Ultimate Formula! They found it in Jesus Christ, thru His Holy Spirit! They have left for us a legacy in belief, faith, love, and an unwavering eternal devotion to Jesus Christ!

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© C.L. Mareydt d23

By Katryna Starks

One day, about 10 years ago, I was in my bathroom getting ready to set about my day. I was trying to style my hair, and thinking about all of the things I needed to do. In the middle of my internal conversation, I thought to myself “I wish I had a bobby pin.” A few minutes later, I glanced at the floor. I had black, brown and beige shagged carpet. I could barely see anything on it (if I ever dropped an earring-back, it was gone.) But this day, as I glanced down, I saw a bobby pin. It was black and should have blended in with the carpet, but I saw it as clear as could be, as if it were floating on top. It was more than just a bobby pin. I felt it was God saying “If I will provide in this small way for you, then surely you can trust me with the big things.” From that day on, bobby pins became a small altar for me. Every time I see one, I remember that God provided, and that He has promised to provide.

The Bible is full of small altars that were built to remember the Lord. In Genesis, there are several mentions of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob stopping to build small altars in order to remember the Lord. In Genesis 12:6, Abraham builds an altar after hearing from God. In Genesis 26: 23-25, Isaac builds an altar when God confirms the family covenant with him. Jacob built an altar when he arrived safely in his own land after encountering Esau (Gen 33: 18-20).

God also used ordinary things as remembrances of Him. In Exodus, God instructed Aaron to save some manna in a jar so that the Israelites would remember how God provided. Later, in the book of Joshua (4:2-3), God commanded Joshua to have 12 men get stones from the dry ground of the Jordan river so that future generations would remember how God delivered Israel by parting the Jordan river.

It’s important that we have small altars – ordinary things we save or use to remind us of God’s protection and provision. These small altars are so prevalent in our lives that if we said a small prayer of thanksgiving every time we saw one, we would “pray without ceasing”(1 Thess 5:17).

When we remember to pray at small altars, God does big, amazing things.