The Devil and Truth

Growing up, after I’d watched a scary movie, I would find it very hard to fall asleep. It was as if every squeak, creek of the floor or even the blow of the wind, was the sound of the devil coming to get me and take me to hell. I swore he was in my closet.  I’d scream and yell for my daddy to come “save me”. He would come, as always, and he would say, “there’s no devil in that closet lil darling”.  And I would cry and say that I heard the sounds and on TV, he was hiding in the closet just waiting for the opportune time to come and take me. I’d picture the devil with red skin, big fangs, two horns and long sharp fingernails. When I told my dad this, he laughed. He said, “the devil isn’t scary-looking, nor is he ugly. Actually, the devil will always be the best looking thang in the room”! I never understood that until I got older.

When you think of all the things, people and places that betrayed you, I am sure all of them were very attractive, or shall I say, appealing to the senses (because attraction varies from person to person). We fall prey to the things that are physically appealing to us, even when we know deep down it is destructive. As I live and learn, I find that the Truth has been the most frightening thing. The Truth can be downright disruptive! And what we fail to recognize is that the Truth was there all along, but because it’s not glamorous, boisterous or flashy, we tend to overlook it when we are enjoying ourselves. We tend to blame the Truth because in a sense, the Truth is God’s Messenger and we all know the old adage of “don’t shoot the messenger”! I’ve always grouped the Spirit and Truth together because whenever the Spirit is present so is the Truth.  And because we are all spiritual beings, the Truth is there all along. But why do we choose to ignore it or get angry when Truth makes an announcement?

I will tell you why, the Truth is convicting. When the Truth speaks, all the wrong thoughts, actions or intentions are called on the carpet and we, as human beings, hate being wrong, let alone called out on our foolishness. That’s where the anger comes into play. We want to throw a rock and hide our hands and not be held accountable when something breaks and that is how the devil operates. The devil will always give you a million explanations or justifications for doing something wrong. The devil will fund your endeavors, hell, he will even find you fans to cheer you on in your foolishness! But when the chips fall, the devil has moved on but the Truth will stare you directly in the eyes without moving a muscle. And when you are wallowing in the mess you created, the Truth is standing over you with a mirror.  

The message I ultimately wanted to convey is, appearances are very misleading. What may look good isn’t really good. Seek that which stirs & calls your Spirit and not things that touch and arouse your senses. And be wary of the beautiful ones aka the devil … for they always break the mirror …

And I Can't Tell You Why ...

It puzzles me how people can move about day to day without a clear direction or understanding of their lives. The society we live in would rather we all become a band of walking zombies so that our actions can be easily influenced by those who know better. When you can influence and control a person’s thoughts; the battle is already won. I have conducted my own independent study of discovering the answer of “why” people do what they do, say what they say or believe what they believe. And although I wasn’t surprised that most people don’t really have a good explanation, I was very shocked at the anger I received once I continued to ask the simple question of why. People seem to get upset when they are asked to validate their claims. I find that most people are really upset with themselves when they “hear” the answer they give. I asked a close friend why she was a Baptist and not Methodist, Catholic, Agnostic or followed Judaism, and the best answer she could give was, “my mama & grandma raised me in a Baptist Church, so that is why”. And I asked her using that exact theory she provided, if a person grows up and smokes crack because their mother and grandmother did, is that okay? She immediately got offensive and said we are talking about God not craziness! I had to calm her down and tell her that I was only testing the theory and the reasoning. If she could base her religious beliefs on that of her ancestors and what she was taught, why couldn’t a crack addict do the same? That is something that makes me go hmmm….start asking yourself why you follow the paths you do people.

The past few weeks during the NBA playoffs, I have read tweets, Facebook statuses and overheard many conversations about who is going to take it all and who is going to be the MVP, etc. I overheard one guy say that he wants Lebron to get a ring, as if he knows Lebron or that Lebron needs a ring to continue living. So I asked him why he wanted to see that? And he said, “because Bron Bron is my dude! He needs to make Cleveland fans mad!” So I asked him what his son would be doing this Summer when school gets out? He said, “I don’t know, his mama handles all that.” So I said, well what would you like to see him do? Have you asked him? He begins to get agitated and told me to “go on somewhere with all that”. I told him that I wasn’t questioning his fatherhood or involvement (of lack thereof) in his son’s life, I just wanted to know why he would want to see a grown man, one he doesn’t know personally accomplish a short term goal, but can’t tell me what he wants to see his son be involved in this summer. He remained very defensive and said that he provides his son with everything he needs and that he knows his dad loves him and that I needed to “stay in my lane”. So I said, well if that’s the case, it’s Erik Spoelstra’s job to guide the Heat to a championship and that he needs to stay in his lane and just be a fan of the sport. He didn’t like that last comment I made, so I moved right along.

It fascinates me that people will much rather follow the masses when it comes to their own thought process. People do so many things based on what others have done and what others may think without thinking for themselves. We need to sit and critically think about why we do the things we do….OFTEN! Are you a creature of habit? If so, why? Do you like surprises? If not, why? I never intend to make people angry when I seek to help them reach a higher level of consciousness, I am just passionate about people KNOWING themselves and having their independent thought process as undiluted as possible.