France is an . . . ashtray?

Cough, cough!! Excuse me if I have to clear my throat from time to time during our . . . “conversation”. I seem to be surrounded by smoke and ashes almost everywhere I go these days. I can’t seem to get away from it. While crossing the big four lane street last week, as I waited in the middle section for the traffic to pass, I looked down on the ground and around me there was litter of course, but all of it was cigarette butts. I had not noticed it before but this time there just seemed to be hundreds of them. I imagined that while waiting for the green light, drivers had opened their windows and emptied their ashtrays at that spot. How awful.

What’s worse than that are the numerous parents I see smoking in the faces of their children and infants. Pregnant mothers are advised not to smoke while carrying their babies in their womb, but they see no problem with blowing first and second hand smoke (which they say is more dangerous) into the faces of these same children. What’s the difference? Why not just smoke while you’re pregnant too?

Another problem I see is those of us who choose not to smoke, are forced to do so in the presence of these people when we cannot get away from them. While waiting for the bus one day, I was standing alone and looking in one direction. All of a sudden I was smoking, but I had no cigarette in my hand and I wondered “when did I start smoking?” I turned to my left and there was a frumpy teenager standing right beside me, in my personal space smoking a cigarette, and he didn’t ask me for permission to put the cigarette in my mouth. I was being forced to inhale what he and his cigarette were exhaling, so I moved as far away from him as I could.

All over this country, supposedly the country of “amour” I see hate and hatred, and the people who are being hated are the same ones doing the hating. They are hating themselves. Oh I know what you, and they may be thinking, “how can you say these people hate themselves?” Anytime we continue to inflict upon ourselves a habit we know has been proven to cause life-threatening diseases and death . . . need I say more? How can we say we love ourselves? Love and hate/hatred are not just emotions we feel. They are states of mind. Forget the emotions of hate and deal with the state of mind. Sure we do things out of our emotions, but when we’re not emotional, we perform from our state of mind.

I have met many people in this country who have lost loved ones to cancer and they were smokers. These same people have come to some of us after the funerals of their relatives, crying and then pulling out a cigarette and wanting us to pray for them. All I can do is look at them and they see the expression on my face and realize how ludicrous they sound as they light up their cigarette. I’m not saying they don’t need prayer, for we all do, but to light up the cigarette in my presence and in my face with tears in your eyes over the one you just buried who died because they contracted cancer because they would not stop smoking for several years . . . Need I continue with this never ending sentence which has no comma or semi-colon to designate that I’m taking a breath in the middle of this thought? Inhale. Exhale. Cough. Ahem. Sneeze.

There are so many habits from which we suffer, but we suffer because we do them to ourselves. Habits are not things that others do to us. They are things we do to ourselves and we make excuses for continuing to do them, rather than dealing with the chain of events and reactions that motivate us to continue down these roads. For several years I was grossly overweight. So I read every book I could find to deal with the situation from low-fat to no-fat to carbohydrates to no carbs. Then I did every exercise that I could to break a sweat for I knew if I did not sweat I would not be burning any fat. Well, I was right. LOL!! That was one time I wished I was wrong, but there was too much scientific evidence to prove that I was right. I just wasn’t one of the persons chosen to participate in those studies.

Why was I overweight? I didn’t get there overnight that’s for sure, but over time I was doing something repeatedly that took me to a place I did not want to be. But I did not know what it was for a very long time. So let’s fast forward to that moment of discovery and walk backwards to see what I was doing to myself which prayer alone could not change. Yes, I believe in the power of prayer, but some things require more than prayer alone for lasting change. Weight loss is one of those things, at least for me it is.

While spending much time alone, in prayer (which is what started it all by the way) – conversation with God – Him speaking and me listening and vice versus (for that’s what a conversation is) I would hit emotional highs and lows and quickly walk to the kitchen. When I arrived there I would hear a question inside myself, “why are you here?” I would look around me and realized God was speaking to me. “Is it time to eat?” I would check my watch and say “no”. He would reply, “then get a glass of water and leave this place.” This would happen day after day until I began to see a pattern. When my emotions were topsy-turvy, I would “run for the border!” whether I was hungry or not, whether it was time to eat or not. I needed to find another way to deal with my emotions. I needed to find another way, a better way to “respond” to not only my emotions, but to whatever was triggering my emotions in that manner. This took time. A lot of quiet time. Alone. With God.

I fell in love with water as I drank more and more water rather than eating something, anything to comfort me. So the first thing I learned about myself and habits was that when my emotions were on the Pacific Ocean in the middle of a storm, I would run to food, mainly sugary foods, for comfort. Many of us call those foods “comfort foods” for at the time we’re taking them in, they seem to bring us comfort and calm our nerves. I’ve heard cigarette smokers say the same thing. You can see them calm down with the first inhalation.

The second thing I learned about myself was I leaned heavily upon sugar in all its simple forms. I was not prejudiced or discriminatory against any white sugars. I loved them all the same!! J They were my friends. LOL!! Hmmmm. So sugar had partnered with my emotions, but I was learning that I was the criminal committing the crime against my own self. No one was forcing me to eat sugar. No one held me at knife point or with a gun insisting that I eat that white drug. I did it to myself because of immature coping mechanisms and poor defense mechanisms for dealing with life’s difficulties, real and imagined. So the weight came, again and again along with medical problems. One thing led to another, but the true problem was now buried beneath the medical issues.

Being alone and far, far away from home (and Shrek & Fiona were not around at that time.) I ran out of medications and wondered “what would I do”? But within a matter of weeks, as I continued to listen to and obey the voice of the Lord in my spirit, my body began to change and respond as well. I began to sleep better and more, going to bed when the sun went down and getting up when the sun came up. Resting more. Facing the issues of life and not repressing them, even though some days were better than others. I was learning new habits, first on the spiritual side which helped me on the emotional side, which in turn revealed what I was doing on the physical side to harm myself. Lack of self-love, led to habits to fill in the void to make me feeeeel loved.

When we learn what true love is, that it’s not an emotion, not just a feeling, we then can apply it to ourselves and become happy people. We cannot give what we don’t have. We cannot lead where we won’t go, and we cannot direct where we’ve not been. We cannot teach what we've not learned. We cannot perform what we have not rehearsed; and we must first practice on ourselves. We must first rehearse in the privacy of our own thoughts and feelings about ourselves. I’m not talking about narcissism, but REAL, healthy love. “Love thy neighbor as you love thyself.” So you see, God is not against us loving ourselves for He knows we cannot love others until we first love ourselves. He commands us to love ourselves for He loves us with a perfect love.

We disrespect others because we do not respect ourselves, thus people smoke in their children’s faces, their parents’ faces and the faces of strangers because, well, they smoke first in their own faces. J Didn’t take a rocket scientist for me to figure that one out did it? LOL!! Bad habits can be broken and new ones learned. I’ve had my bout with addictions so I know how strong substances can be, but I also know how much stronger my will is over sugar and things, and I refuse to hand over my life to some THING to control me and use all my resources to practice, and then use all my resources to try to restore what was destroyed, because I continued to do something negative to myself.

When we finally take responsibility for ourselves . . . our words, our thoughts, our actions, our choices and decisions . . . When we really decide that we want to live good quality lives and not lives of always trying to get well and be well . . . When we stop blaming others for what we’re doing to ourselves . . . Look in the mirror the next time you’re smoking that cigarette; look in the mirror the next time you start eating that second pint of ice cream . . . Look in the mirror the next time you smoke, inhale or inject some other natural and unnatural drug(s) and ask yourself “who’s doing this to me?” Whose hands are those? Whose mouth is that? Whose feet are those? Etc. And the next question should be “and why am I doing this to myself?” What’s the purpose? What’s the good on the other side of that cigarette in my mouth? A temporary feeling of calm and tranquility? (And when the smoke clears, the situation is still the same but now your lungs, and ours are full of flames.) We can get calm and tranquility from a hot bath and soft music with candles. We can get that from a good foot soak and massage. We can get that from a good nap and a bunch of laughs from watching a good episode or two of the shows “Mash” and the “Jeffersons” from the 70s. And they won’t pollute our lungs and minds, but just the opposite. We will laugh so much and so hard that the tears will cleanse our eyes and our faces, and the coughing will clear our lungs and shake our stomachs that we might lose a pound or two without exercising, or hard work. And if you’re rolling on the floor laughing, well then you might not have to run the vacuum cleaner. J

France is an . . . ashtray? As long as 95% of the inhabitants continue to empty cigarette smoke and nicotine into their bodies, then yes. This country will only be as sick or as healthy as its residents. Cough. It’s time to clear the air.

Peace.

The Color of France is Changing.

What is a color? When and why did we ever start referring to each other as a color? Who started this anyway? Why did it catch on and then become the bane of society to the detriment of so many who are now no longer with us? I think by now you have a feeling of where I may be going when I say “the color of France is changing”, but it’s not only France. But since I’m here and I’m able to see a few things here and there, and some people have dared to share their stories with me, then I too am daring to make some conclusions of my own. :-) What are you drinking? Coffee, tea, wine? Have a seat.

The mixing of the races is creating another ethnic group (it has created another ethnic group) within this “snow white” man’s world. The attitude and methods of racism are backfiring on this country and what was meant for evil, yes God is turning around for good. PeopleS of color have been some of the most patient and long-suffering people in the world. To endure atrocities for decades until change either eventually comes, or someone like Toussaint rises up and leads a revolt for change, reveals the, on the one hand, people who seemingly have no vision or hope, yet on the other hand possess the power to endure, dexterity, temerity, determination, and yes patience. For the sun always shines again after the rain, and it shines again to usher in a new day, signaling another opportunity to do something more, or something different towards bringing about change.

So what am I referring to when I say the color of France is changing? I’m talking about the continued attitude within this culture to not only see, but to treat and create laws that oppress people of color from other countries and nations who have “chosen” (or who have needed) to make France their home, or temporary place of refuge. Yes, we are thankful that France has opened it arms to so many of the poorest of the poor, the unwanted, and untouchables. In light of this, France has become what the Bible calls in the Old Testament book of Leviticus “a city of refuge” and I believe this is one of the main reasons God’s heart for France is so large, that he desires change for not only her survival, but what I call her “thrival”. :-) (BTW, I’m writing another dictionary of words that have never been created. Still not sure what I will call it, possibly “Webster’s ALLNTHEJEANS words of the 21^st Century” or something like that.) Also her "surthrival". I'm on a roll!!!

I have met several interracial couples in France where an African married and had children with a White French person, and then the marriage ended in divorce with the White French taking custody of the children. This blog topic is not the place for me to express my strong feelings about these situations, but to open our eyes to yes, the injustice of the system against the Africans (and other non-white French speaking peoples), and to the hope on the other side.

The French system is still white-washed, like tombstones in a grave yard = pretty, clean and bright on the outside, but full of death on the inside. Death to what? To the family, and eventually to their own race. You see, when we create something designed to cause the fall or destruction of another, we end up being the fall guy (just had to use that phrase somewhere Lee Majors.) or the fallen. Psalms 7:15 tells it to us this way: “He made a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made [before the trap was completed].” (Amplified Bible) Whew!! And that’s from the book from where songs are created. Can you do the waltz or salsa or lambada to that verse? And by the way, who is “HE”? Well, you have to read verse 14 to find that out. It says “Behold, [the wicked man]. . .” hmmmmm. Five m’s that time. You can ask Miriam Webster what “wicked” means okay, and I’m sure you really don’t need a dictionary for that one.

But lest those of us who don’t rob banks, murder, rape, and pillage think we can get off scott free (Scott gets all the breaks), to be wicked is to have less than stellar motives. It starts within us, our hearts and souls. Period. I guess that just about covers everybody then at some time in life. Until a change comes. ;-) But back to my topic.

France either wants the dark-skinned peoples under their feet doing the menial work and jobs they don’t want to do, for pennies; unseen, in the kitchens and toilets (don’t forget to use the back door too); taking care of their children for them while they roam other lands, then return home and start a greve (a workers’ strike) (and change one letter and it becomes “grave”, and add another letter and it becomes “grieve”. Is anyone paying attention here?) for more money because they spent all their cash and savings on vacations. Or they want to evict the colored peoples back to their own lands so they can have their precious country back, all to themselves.

But if all the non-white French people would leave France, within one or two years, then the following year the economy of France would begin to fail faster and harder than the repression we currently find ourselves in internationally. Sure there would be many jobs available and many vacant apartments and buildings where businesses operate, but there wouldn’t be enough people to fill them, and the income generated through them would disappear with the exodus. This is what the Pharaoh realized when the Israelites left his realm that wonderful day called “The Great Exodus,” and thus he chased them in the wilderness right into the middle of the Red Sea, and guess what? His economy still crumbled. He saw dollar bills and euros and pounds and yens and whatever, marching through the desert away from Egypt, because God said (the God of the universe) 400 years of oppression and slavery was enough and He wanted His people free. (Were any of the Hebrews, not recorded in the Bible, named “Scott?”) I believe in due time God will say the same to France about the other ethnic groups residing in this nation. Enough!!

A few weeks ago I was perusing through an advertisement (publicite en Francais) for clothing in one of the papers that frequent our mailboxes, and I noticed not one of the models in the 10-15 page paper was a person of color. All were white French. Yes I knew that colored people would be the ones buying the products because somewhere somebody brainwashed them to think that “white is ALL right” and that’s just not true. Yes, (I’m pretty positive in this one aren’t I with all the “yeses”. LOL!!) there are some situations where white is all you want to see, like when it snows and you decide you want to play in the snow, make angels in the snow, and even make snow cones or ice cream with the snow. Then yes white is ALL right. No other colors will be desired or acceptable. :-)

When you wash your white clothing and they come out smelling all nice, ALL white is what you want to see. The last lather when washing your hair, you want all the suds to be ALL white. By now you get my snow drift, and I’m sure you have some even better examples than mine. Write them, on YOUR blog. :-) I’ll read it and give you a thumbs up too because it will be ALL right!!

How long Lord must your people endure the white-washing of the races? This winter I was watching a report from one of the Asian countries (I won’t name any because I’m not sure if it’s Korea or China. LOL!! Just joking.) on one of the international news channels (maybe CNN) where the people pay beaucoup monies (dollars too, not just their own currency) to change their yellow skin to white. Why? To get the better jobs, to be prettier, etc. and the men are doing it too!!! Why does everyone want to be white? What’s up with that? I told you about the “Fair and White” stores and products on the streets of Paris that the Africans use trying to be lighter, and the African clerk in the store told me some do it so they can keep their husbands and boyfriends, because in this European country, they desire to be with white women and lighter skinned women. It’s as though we’re saying to God, “You made me the wrong color” or “I can do better”.

White is right and all right for those things and people who are supposed to be white, but Black is ALL right too, and Red is ALL right, and Brown is ALL right, and Yellow is ALL right, and etc. Come on people!! We must do better than this. We have to get a grip on our self-esteem and learn to see ourselves the way our Creator sees us. Yes, some of us are strange, but we’re all strange to strangers. LOL!! Period. We’re supposed to be.

I try to spend as much time as possible on a daily basis, with our Heavenly Father because the more time I spend with Him the more I learn not only Who He is and how much He loves and cares for me, but I learn who I AM. (Pun intended 180 degrees!) Yes, there I said it. The Great I AM lives inside of my heart and I’ve given myself to Him too, and it is He Who knows who and what I AM. The more time I spend with imperfect people like myself, the less of Jesus I see, because most of us don’t know Him very well, or at all. The more time I spend with people who don’t love Him and have not received His love, the more unloving I become. The more time I spend with impatient and mean people, the more impatient and mean I become. You see what’s happening here? Bad apples don’t make no apples good (spell check and my English prof said “any apples” but I prefer “no”). They all just turn bad. Jesus is the Good Apple (The Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE . . .) and He has the power to make us all good. If we let Him.

The more time I spend with Him, the more I see my heavenly Father with a twinkle in His eyes and a smile on His face, and I know He’s got a Jeremiah 29:11 plan going on in that eternity-of-eternities brain of His, and He responds to my question of “How long . . .?” with “NOT long, but long enough. Be patient and stay with Me.” When He talks like that I experience great peace and know the ball is in play, hope is in each day, and help and change are on the way. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (NKJV)

What color is France changing to? Hmmmm, I don’t know, but red is my favorite. ;-)

Peace.