Daily Thoughts

It is only 14 days into the new year and already we hear of massacres in Africa and in France.  We hear of the Italian Ferry's accident right before the end of the year that claimed the lives of 10 and lost lives on an AirAsia airplane that has fallen from the sky...already we hear of smoke that literally makes it hard for passengers on the Yellow Line Metro Train to breathe...one dead and over 80 hospitalized..already there are terrorist threats...already fear has convered the land and we, it seems, could care less.  What we see before our very eyes is a nation that has lost it's sensitive side...a nation that can look the other way when lives are lost.  What happened in France, horrible.  What happened in Nigeria...horrific yet...our nation, instead of mourning the loss of these innocent lives...looks the other way. Yes there are those who rally and those who march for justice and rights.  There are even those who reach out to d...

So here we are at the end of another year.  Some of us had a year that was full of happy times, joyful reunions and success while others had a year full of disappoinments, tragedy and sorrow.  Whatever the year brought you did it encourage, inspire, motivate, empower?  Did it make you love those around you more and love things...less?  Did it help you appreciate the small things and the forgotten people?  Did you take better care of yourself due to new medications?  Were your failures used as learning tools to get you to the next level?  I could go on and on but what I need to know, and what I need you to recognize is that, this year holds the OLD you.  What will the new year hold? I pray a new you.  I pray a new outlook on life.  I pray a new level of courage and thinking. I pray a closer relationship with the Lord our God.  I pray more love and less hate.  Bad things happen but we cannot change them..we can only learn from ...

Christmas has come again and gone and the memories made with family and friends will be lasting but the one thing you don't want to remember each holiday season...is the loss of a loved one.  Every Memorial Day I remember my mother, Bennie Stevens, who parted this earth and there is always a tear in my eye when that day rolls around.  Now, I have a new memory...my soul brother, my friend, my theater lover and my confidant...Paul Walls...has parted this earth yesterday....my heart cries for his family he has left behind, a brother and little sister and my heart cries for his close friends and associates.  Yes, those are true heart cries but there are other reasons my heart cries. My heart cries because there was soooo much potential inside of him that in some ways got out but in others was put on hold due to his own grief over the loss of his brother in 2006 and his mother in 2013.  Yes he was a director and playwright and directed several of his plays.  He was...

So here we are...at the crest of another Christmas...the stockings are hung by the chimney with care...chestnuts roasting on an open fire...jack frost has certainly been nipping at our noses but everyone is not...Merry.  During the holidays, as well as other seasons of the year, there are those of us who are very sad...very depressed..very discouraged...very lonely and as a society we must recognize that not everyone is having a very Merry Christmas...or even a Happy Holidays as some like to put it.  There are those among us who are dealing with the loss of a loved one...the loss of a job...the loss of companionship...just loss and in that loss, with all of the couples holding hands and families shopping together and gift buying...they are alone.  I know there are some of us who WANT to be left alone so that we may breathe...but there are others of us who wish we had a companion..wish we had children to buy for..wish we had a family to spend the holidays with...and they...

As a child this scripture, which comes from Ephesians 4:26, was just that, scripture.  But as a woman the meaning behind this scripture means so much.  In light of what happened in Ferguson, the decision not to indict Officer Wilson, is stiffling.  Am I angry, yes.  Would I have liked to see a decision to indict Wilson, of course but just because I am angry and upset at our justice system, I cannot and will not use my anger against anyone or anything.  We all have a voice and our voices can be heard clearly if we protest in the spirit of calm and order.  Looting businesses, setting on fire buildings and police cars, stealing and even using our fists will not bring Michael Brown back nor will it prove we should...be heard.  It will only create more violence especially among those who have already set it in their hearts...to do so. So what should we do?  Well for starters, not participate in the looting, shooting, fire setting and fist pumpin...

Today we celebrate Veterans all around the world who have given their lives for the freedom of our country.  For the freedom of us...so that we may live, move and have our very being within the corners of this great nation.  It is because of them who have served and are serving that we can enjoy some basic freedoms.  These men and women gave up their lives, gave up family time, gave up home cooked meals and night outs just so they could protect...us.  Is that not enough to honor them? Were you on the front lines in battle?  Were you lying in a hospital bed from war wounds?  Did you lose limbs...the ability to think clearly...the ability to speak...the ability to run...and for some the ability to see?  Was that you? These brave men and women are to be honored not just today, but everyday.  We live every day as if it were more to come while these men and women live everyday as if it were their last.  THEY DESERVE OUR HONOR AND OUR PRAISE!...

Today is election day and I hope that if you have not already cast your vote...that you will.  It is so important to the success of our country that you, make your voice heard.  I hear so many say, "I won't be voting in this election, it is not the presidential election" or "it doesn't count anyway, why bother?"  WHY BOTHER???  Hummm maybe because of those who came before us who were not able to vote.  Maybe because of their sacrifice, their suffering, their lynching, their beatings...maybe because of Jim Crow..because back then we were not considered among those who "counted" is why we should bother. Every election is important and every person's vote is just as important.  You may not have an immediate need or know of anyone who does, but there is always a need for us to place individuals who are fair minded, who will listen to both sides, who will make sound decisions, who are not swayed by the majority or even minority..those who care abo...