Maintaining Peace in the Midst of Madness

There's a lot going on in the world today.  To be honest, there has always been a lot going on.  But at least for me, something is much different about right now.  Maybe I'm more engaged.  Maybe social media is making it easier for me to be in the know.  Maybe it's that the visible effects of systemic racism for my lifetime are at an all time high.  Whatever the case may be, it feels like we're living in the midst of madness.  Evil is lurking around every corner, and it can be overwhelming.  And regardless of what is happening in the world around us, we still have to continue to live.  Like most Americans, I have a family to support.  Regardless of what's happening, every day, my kids have needs that have to be met.  How do we stay politically and socially active and continue to address the needs of our immediate realities, without going insane?  It's like living dual lives (a double, double consciousness?). We see what's happening in the news, but still have to separate ourselves from it in order to function and work.  It feels suffocating at times.

But God ...

I don't know how people without faith make it.  I stand on the word of my Lord and Savior, who helps me to survive.  I know that He will never put more on me than I can bear.  I know that my help comes from Him and from reading His word. I know that the battle is not mine, but His.  I know that I was called to live a life of power, love, and a sound mind, absent of fear.  I know that apart from Him I am nothing.  I know that I have a cross to bear, but I don't have to bear it alone. I know that peace and love emanate from Him. I know that He is omnipotent--knows all things before they happen. I know He has a plan for me.  I know that I don't have all the answers, and it doesn't matter because I don't have to. And these truths bless me with peace, hope, strength, wisdom, and courage that the average person does not understand!

And yet, as I stand on these truths, I also know that faith without works is dead.  I have to do things to help me maintain my sanity. I have been empowered to do so.

So I pray, at minimum 5 times a day.  I start and end each day with prayer. I pray when I enter my car. I even have a prayer app on my phone from Trinity United Church of Christ, with Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, III.  An alarm goes off at 1:00 PM, 4:00, 7:00, and 10:00 PM reminding me it's "Reset Prayer Time."

I read the Bible, daily.  If I'm not reading Our Daily Bread devotional, I'm re-reading the New Testament--studying, centering, and grounding my spirit.

I exercise!  My exercise of choice is running.  Five days a week I run for two miles.  I alternate listening to Gospel music and hip-hop.  It's therapeutic.

I allow myself to cry.  I'm still working on this one.  Growing up as an athlete, surrounded primarily by boys, tears were seen as girly, and girly was equated with weak and bad.  So I developed an aversion to crying and especially crying in public.  Not cool.  As an adult, I'm learning to embrace my tears.  I've cried more in my adult years, especially over this past year, than I probably have my whole life. Tears are an overflow of the feelings from my insides. I love them and how they show my weakness and my strength.

I love.  I love family, friends, helping people, teaching, organizing, and dismantling racism.  I do the things I love, and I do them as often as I can.

So while the world is ever changing, while it disappoints and inspires me, I hold strong to my Lord's unchanging hand and to the powers He has vested in me.

God is ...

#inpurpose #onpurpose