Don’t get stuck in 2006: Follow the path of Revolution and Liberation
This is the time of the year when we reflect and take stock of our lives. What have I accomplished? What am I planning to do differently next year? What were some of my difficult times, and how did I respond? This is what millions of people worldwide will contemplate. We will labor over this for a brief moment as that sad song echoes in the background (http://wilstar.com/xmas/auldlangsyne.htm). We all know that song. At the completion of those few minutes a new year will be upon us, and it is that moment in time that will be critical.
Will we actually hold steadfast and true to our resolutions? Is the question we should ask ourselves. Making a resolution or commitment is pointless if we cannot do things differently than we did the previous year. Therefore, saying you will go to the gym three times a week is a wasted comment and will be a lie if you are not mentally prepared to workout before or after work. If you are not ready to get sweaty while in the gym please do not resolute to lose weight. This all sounds so simple. Nonetheless, we continue to have the same year we had the year before. The cycle does not change. Sh%t stays the same, and we get older while at the same time our lives become common place and typical.
Red Foxx in an episode of Sanford and Son said, “Us old grey dudes ain’t what we use to be.” This statement implies that there has been some level of change. It indicates that we are not in the place we were previously. Something has occurred that moved us from one point to another. Fred Sanford was referring to his age. He wanted to convey to Grady, Skillet, Leroy, and Bubba (his aging friends) that they are getting old and life is slowly, but surely coming to an end.
On Christmas day this year I was reminded by two of my best friends, Eric Johnson and Patrick Medley that we are aging and the one thing we can count on is imminent: Death. All three of us are a few years away from the big Four Zero. It was at that moment that I began to think about my life, again. You know when we look back over our lives there are instances in that time of thinking that we smile, tear-up, and/or push our chest out. Also, during this time we think about CHANGE.
There is always an opportunity for change. Most of us do not like it. We run from it and we put up barriers to prevent change, but most intelligent people understand that change is inevitable. It is bound to occur. It is those unintelligent and stubborn persons who cannot conceptualize that change is right around the corner. These are also the people who refuse to commit to a resolution. I was one of these people up until December 25, 2006 who never believed in making resolutions. However, it was something about that day that changed my mind. My impressions of resolutions were altered. Eric and Patrick know in detail what occurred. They are living witnesses of me being “moved”. Something church has been unable to do for years.
On December 31st at 11:59pm this year please think about making a change. A change for the better. If it is reading more. Do it. If it is volunteering more. Do it. If it is getting another job or opening up a new business. Do it! Just do what is necessary to receive change with open arms because A Change is Gonna Come http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/american.studies.s98/a.change.is.gonna.come.html. God has made that promise to us. He told the prophet Jesus to revolutionize the world. We all know with revolution comes liberation. After liberation comes change. Resolve to liberate yourself in 2007. If you don’t someone else will become the millionaire. Someone else will sculpture a sexy looking body. Someone else will read more books. Someone else will spend more time with your children. Someone else will create a personal relationship with God while you are stuck in 2006.
Written by Muata. Inspired by that one thing we can depend on: DEATH.
Inspired by that song written and recorded by Sam Cooke http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3673.
Holla at ya boy in 07!!
4 comments:
Response from Reader:
Great message!!!
I believe that if you don’t change you are already dead. Dead in the mind, spirit and body. Although, this year has been full of revelations, pain and unhappy discoveries about myself, I refuse to stay the same. I refuse to revisit the same situations that kept me in bondage and kept me from growing. I refuse to associate with the same old people talking the same old stuff but are unwilling to make changes.
As Muata stated, you must make a commitment and follow through with it. If not you will wake up one day very old with nothing to show for it. Change is painful but necessary for growth. Don’t abort the process of change; that is definitely the easy way out.
Muata, thanks for sharing. This is a very timely message, since some people only reflect on 12/31. We should be in reflection mode daily. Why wait until the next year to start making changes?
-TM
Reader Response:
Thank you for your inspiring and encouraging words.
I understand your message and I will be one of those people that will make some changes this year. These changes are changes I should have made years ago.
-RM
Reader Response and Muata Responds:
Muata-
Positive word. Something in the dialogue caught my attention very strongly. Who is the “prophet Jesus” you refer to in the dialogue below? I know the Muslims believe He was a prophet. But as a Christian, I recognize Him as the Christ child – Lord & Savior.
Who/What do you call Him?
-JA
JA-
I have been a Muslim. A Fruit of Islam Brother. I was born to be a Christian. I called myself a Christian for years, and then I began to call myself what God create: A Man. I do not subscribe to a religion any longer. I have not for years. I am a believer in God and God alone. My faith is in Him. To call myself a “Christ like” title means that I am a FULL believer in all the tenets of Christianity. I am not. Therefore, the title of Christian does not fit into my belief system.
A call Jesus: A Great Man. A man who changed the world at that time! A man who I consider a Revolutionary. A Liberator! I can’t call him my savior because I have not identified what I have been saved from. We are still here fighting the temptations of sin and living in a God awful world. And, we fail all the time. Death and Destruction is in this world. So, we have not been saved from anything because we (humans) continue to cause the HELL we experience daily. But, JA I am a believer. My faith is strong. It is just not a faith that is attached to Christianity.
-Muata
Muata-
I was pondering if I should leave a response or not. As I read your final posting for the year 2006, I had to reply.
As I took stock of my life up to this point, this year in particular has been extra special for me. It has been special because I met you. Your Spirit has enlarged my territory. My mind has expanded from the truths you brought to the table this year. Some truths harder to swallow than others, nevertheless they were true.
You are a very special and intelligent young man with so much to offer to the world. You will move and shape this world just as Jesus did in his time. You too have the gift to start a revolution and liberate minds.
Actually, you have started a revolution through your commentaries and sermons. You have liberated many minds and set free many captives by the God driven force within you. Just ask any of your readers they ALL will tell you that your words have inspired, changed, challenged, silenced, and made them take a deeper look at self and the world in which we all live.
Your broadcast has shined the light on many dark and scary places folks were scared to talk about, but needed very much to discuss. Issues that males and females both could relate to and learn from each other.
Do not worry about ending up alone; you will not. God did not create Man to live alone. He will send the right person for you and they will love and accept you just as you are right now. We all have flaws.
I just want to take time to Thank You. Thank you for touching my life and helping me see some thangs more clearly. I had not met a person up to this point besides my Mother that had touched my life in such a powerful way as you.
The Trinity is always with me, but a human form of the Trinity has been displayed through you to me. I just had to tell you that you are Appreciated. I know writing is a gift that you have and as a reader, I want you to know that your writings are needed and very much Appreciated.
Keep up the great work, expand, and grow. I know you will be an International Inspirational Writer and Speaker, touching lives all around the world. “Protect your Dreams”.
Go ahead and do yo thang. Ain’t no stopping you now! You are on the Move!!!
For 2007, it is on and poppin’ babe!
May God continue to Bless You and Your Family.--Freedom
-Your Number One Fan
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