When Prayer is Bad - Part II (a)

Growing up in church, I was taught very clearly how I was to interact with God.  I was to:

1.  pray
2.  pray every day
3.  pray as long as possible

And while all of this is true, somehow I missed the truth in it in my attempt to do it.

I tried to pray every day.  I failed miserably cause I could only manage to do it a few to many times a week, never or rarely daily.  I beat myself up over this.  Why couldn't I be faithful? Consistent? What was wrong with me?

This went on for several years, until I realized that my perspective was all wrong:  I was looking at prayer as an item to check off my Christian To Do List.  I knew that it had to be more than that, and I wanted it to feel that way.  So I prayed a simple prayer:  "God, if I miss a day of prayer, can you just help me to feel the loss of not interacting with You, versus the guilt from not interacting with You?"

A few months later, while walking to the water cooler at work, I blurted out, "God, I miss you.  I haven't prayed in two days!"  I stopped in my tracks, remembering my request.  It had happened.  My heart had changed.  Now, prayer felt more like a relational interaction than a mandatory task to be completed.

I came to see prayer as time I got to be with the Creator; the Creator's time to be with me.  Feeling that has made all the difference over the years, whether I pray every day, miss a day (or a few), or pray only for five minutes.

8 Reasons I Love ABC's Black-ish

I'll admit it: I was underwhelmed with the trailer for ABC's Black-ish.  However, I caught the premiere, and I've been hooked ever since.

Here are 8 Reasons Why I Love ABC's Black-ish

1.  It makes us look at race and culture.  In a country that asks us to be color blind, as its problems with race simultaneously corrode her, we need shows that make us look at ourselves.  We need mediums that explore relevant topics, loosen us up, and cause of to laugh,  even if it's at our own expense. Comedy was and will always continue to be one of the easiest ways to access people's hearts.

2.  Anthony Anderson.  He made his splash on the national stage in "Law & Order," but his comedic talent is his greatest strength.  He shines as "Andre 'Dre' Johnson," an upwardly mobile young husband and father who works hard to navigate his identity as a black man plus the cultural identities of his wife and kids.  He's got the "what I say goes" vibe of Dr. Cliff Huxtable (is it okay to say that these days??), mixed with the comedic brashness of Damon Wayans in "My Wife and Kids." Every week, we get to see the big-hearted Dre push his family into some new idea, watch the havoc that ensues, and then see him learn from his mistakes.

3.  It's always good to see black people on TV.  Especially when they aren't robbing anyone.  Or doing drugs.  Or getting killed.  (I could go on, but you get the point.)

4.  Miles Brown.  This kid's acting is just as adorable as his pretty little face.  

5.  Marsai Martin.  Her comedic talents are superb.  She plays the feisty, intellectual twin, and her glasses remind me of me when I was a kid, only I wasn't nearly as cute.

6.  The writing.  Creator Kenya Barris hits the nail on the head each week as he explores some of the situations African Americans experience and struggle with on a daily basis.  No, it's not exhaustive, and no, it's not representative of everyone's individual experiences, but what piece of art is?  The show explores what it can in its allotted time (30 minutes), within its chosen format (comedy).  

7.  Amidst the grand jury verdicts, protests, and feelings of despair and hopelessness, it's good to be able to have a good laugh and feel like I'm still engaged with what's happening around me.

8.  It's funny.  Really funny.  Not funny-ish.

Presidential Matters

Until now, I have remained silent about how the President and his family have been treated by the Republican Party since his historic election, but I must address the recent disrespectful remarks made by a GOP staffer about Obama's two daughters.  If you haven't read it, you can read it here.

I won't muddy the water by hypothesizing the source of this disrespect, so I will simply comment on a few lines:

1)  "Try showing a little class."  To suggest that the President's daughters don't have class because they showed visible disinterest in a White House tradition that carries no weight in the scheme of anything is unmerited and atrociously condescending.

2) "At least respect the part you play." What teenager (or adult for that matter) hasn't been caught rolling their eyes or crossing their arms when being forced to do something they really didn't want to do?  But to suggest that this one moment is representative of the level of respect that they have for what it means to be the first daughters is unfair and hyper-critical.  These young ladies show respect every time they put on a dress that they don't want to because they have to attend some national or international event, every time they smile when they don't want to cause they know that a camera is on, every time they are nice to people even when they are mistreated (cause they know that people are waiting to catch them do one negative thing...), and every moment that they have to share their private family moments with the White House photographer.  So I ain't trippin over some eyes rollin over some White House turkey pardon. (Especially when our country is bleeding due to the unnecessary loss of lives of young black men across the nation as a result of "policing.")

3) "Then again your mother and father don't respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter..."  Say what?!  Did the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher,  a Republican from Tennessee) just say that the President of the United States respects neither the position nor the nation?  Did a woman whose job it is to be diplomatic, politically correct, and non-controversial just show complete disrespect towards not just President Obama, but the Office of the President, plus his teenage daughters?  And did she do this when the President has clearly and repeatedly said that his daughters are to be left out of all public critique and criticism?  

Did she just do that?  And with a tone that was dripping with sarcasm and disdain?  Doesn't her post constitute a thoughtful, deliberate, defiant act against the President, which is the ultimate sign of disrespect?

I'm sorry, but when did it become okay to treat the President like this?  To talk about the President like this?  For decades, it is customary and expected that elected officials (and their staff) show respect to the President because it's synonymous with showing respect to the Office of the President.  That's why you see members of the party that is not in office standing and smiling begrudgingly whenever the current President gives the annual State of the Union address.  They don't have to agree with anything that is being said, but they do have to stand, smile and applaud, and it's always obvious to anyone watching that they are doing it out of respect for the Office, and not because they support what's happening—perhaps similarly to how Sasha and Malia stood and looked?

4)  "Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar."  Um, okay.  So young ladies who dress like most teenage girls in America (and perhaps a little bit more conservatively) don't deserve respect? Okay, so since they don't deserve respect like the girls who wear ankle-length skirts, do they also deserve to be raped?  Because if we read into what this staffer is really saying, the Obama girls are classless teenage girls who don't deserve respect and should be sitting at a bar, obviously waiting to be disrespected by some "low" or "no" class men.  WTH?  Maybe this staffer was confusing these first daughters with two others?

There's more that I can say, but I won't cause my blood pressure is risin and I don't wanna give her post too much more time and thought.  So in conclusion I will say this:

This GOP staffer communicates for a living.  She crafted the tone, words, and images purposefully and skillfully.  I am tempted to call her and her post classless, but that word is just too distasteful and... classless.