Preservatives

This past weekend while recuperating from a grueling week of work and traveling and teaching and rehearsing and . . . I watched one of my favorite movies again: “Bulletproof Monk” starring one of my favorite Asian actors Chow Yun-Fat. Of course he doesn’t know he’s one of my favorites, neither does ignorance of that fact prevent him from getting paid for doing what he does – act. As a matter of fact he’s banking on (pun intended) folk like me to continue making sure he gets paid. Hmmm, we seem to be going right in the direction I want to go and I didn’t know it. He’s keeping me happy and I’m keeping him happy and we’ve never ever met. Imagine that.

In the movie he is the next monk to protect the sacred scroll from evil people for the scroll has special powers. The monk before him protected it for 60 years but never aged a day over 25. When he passed on the scroll to Chow (I don’t think he minds me calling him by his first name) he said “I’m now going to do something I’ve not done in over 60 years. Take a vacation.” But he was killed instead by foreign enemies who wanted the scroll. As Chow fought and then “died” in the first 15 minutes of the movie, he took with him the sacred scroll which no one could find. Many years later he appeared in the United States where we learned (yes, I was there too.) that he had hidden the scroll on his body. He too did not look a day over 25 years old, even though he died.

As the story continues we learn from Chow that the power of the scroll is preservation. The person who preserves and protects the scroll is also preserved and protected by the scroll. The scroll made him bulletproof so he healed quickly and always survived a bullet wound, or a death fall, like in the first 15 minutes. This one particular line that he shared with fellow actor Seann William Scott, let me paraphrase it as I recall it, “he who protects the scroll is protected by the scroll” is the one that excited me. I was like “wow” yeah!!! Who wouldn’t want to protect and preserve something that’s going to reciprocate in kind like that? Then immediately another person came to my mind.

I thought about a man who lived a very long time ago on another continent and who died at a very young age, but he accomplished so much – more in three years than most of us do in a lifetime. The deeds He did and the Words He spoke changed the world forever, and continues to do so. His Words were so powerful and are powerful that people would be (and are) healed even though he didn’t touch them, even if he was in a different city! People suffering from violent multiple personality disorders which caused them to isolate themselves from society would be relieved of their mental and emotional torment with just one sentence from His scroll, I mean His mouth.

Even before that, before He was born His Father started it all just by speaking His thoughts and His Words became reality. Light, sunshine, moon, stars, water, etc. If you can name it, it’s because He said it first. But what I recall reading about Him, from His autobiography if you will, is that He said His Words are “life”. Then He said, well one of his followers, John by name, said it about Him for us: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Humph. Imagine that. Then He spoke His Word into the earth to accomplish certain things, which means He spoke Himself into the earth so He could DO certain things. Hmmmm. Inside His Words are power – power to GIVE life and power to SUSTAIN life. Power to PRESERVE life and power to RESURRECT life. Power to RESTORE life and power to ENERGIZE life. Power to START life and power to END life. Now that’s some power. In words. That’s what was on the monk’s torso in the movie that sustained and preserved his life for over 60 years – words. What’s tattooed on my torso – my heart? What words are preserving me?

I guess you know by now, or maybe you don’t, but just in case, for those who don’t know, I am talking about God Almighty, the Creator of the Universe, and His Son Jesus the Christ, the One Who said “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Hmmmm. Four m’s that time, again. He also said “If you abide in (live in) ME (talking about Himself) and My Words abide in (remain in) you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:8. Now He means more than just writing His Words on our bodies. He means for His Word to become such an important part of our lives, our very beings, who we are and what we do, how we believe and what we say, where we go and with whom, etc. that the things we ask for from Him would be the things He would also desire and would ask for from His Father, for us and if He were in our shoes. Again.

If we follow closely in His footsteps we see and hear that most of the time He requested “life” for everyone with whom He came in contact. Life for their bodies if they died (remember he raised Lazarus, and two other un-named teenagers from the dead, male and female.); life for their health when they were sick – the Centurion’s servant and the Syrophenician woman’s daughter, and both of them from a distance. He never made it to their houses. Just to name a few. Everything Jesus asked for from His Father He received, except one thing, because everything He asked for was what the Father wanted to do in the first place. Jesus carried not just ON His body, but inside Himself – He WAS and is the scroll on which God wrote His love letter to the world.

Those very Words preserved Him because He preserved those Words. He didn’t add to them neither did He take away from them. Read the promise and the warning in Revelation 22: 18-19. The promise He gives us is we will be kept by the very words we keep. We are what we say because what we say is usually what we believe, or what we will eventually believe if we continue saying it long enough. Another scripture says we are “snared by the words of our mouths.” Proverbs 6:2. On the positive side then we are Preserved and reserved, sustained and constrained, and restrained and . . . by the words of our mouths.

“Thy Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against Thee”. So I won’t miss You, the mark and plans you’ve set for me, my life, my destiny. But one of my mostest (I just love this incorrect word) favorite scriptures is the one where the writer says to God “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written (words) before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:16. This means God said something about us, me before I was ever born. He wrote it down so He wouldn't forget it. (gheesh, I'm truly my Father's daughter.) The Old Testament also tells us that the priests were instructed to wear the names of each of the tribes of Israel on their clothing every time they went into the Holy Place to burn incense in the presence of God. Why? To keep their names and His promises to them ever before Him. He made a promise to Abraham in Genesis about the children of Israel before they were ever born, before he ever had one son and long after Abraham died, the priests continued to remind God of what He said about his offspring. God’s Words to Abraham about his offspring preserved them as they also in turn struggled to preserve God’s Word within themselves.

Around France, and maybe even other parts of Europe there are these machines on walls in different places much like soda machines, snack machines, newspaper machines, but they’re called “Preservatives”. When I first saw one I of course was confused because I thought of chemicals we put into foods and other things with shelf lives to prolong their lives on the shelf. So of course I had to have a closer look and of course I learned something new that day. As a woman, I could be offended because to me it implied that having unprotected sex with a woman is dangerous and a man needs to “preserve” himself while using her to satisfy himself. But of course, it is supposed to work both ways, when it is working properly. An equal opportunity product. Preservative is the French word for condom. It’s designed of course to protect both partners, thus prolonging their shelf lives. J No offense taken.

When you read the ingredients on some food products you will see the phrase “no preservatives added” which means the shelf life is normal, and shorter than those with preservatives, and they’re supposed to be all natural too, like fresh fruit and veggies. You must consume them very soon. Frankly, I don’t think we could live very well without preservatives because living in today's society is fast and expensive. We need all the help we can get to prolong the life of everything we acquire.

Jesus is the Great Preservative – Preserver of Life. When we receive Him into our lives and in turn give our lives to Him, He enters our hearts and souls and the preserving or preservation begins. The more we honor Him and allow His Words, which represent Who He is, to transform our thoughts, desires, emotions, will, intentions, intellect, deeds, actions, and words the more we are preserved in every part of our lives. And yes we can live longer because His Words are health to our bones too, not just our spirits and minds. “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24. Words that preserve I’m convinced must be pleasant and sweet. So the next time you get on an all-natural health food kick, and you find yourself scrutinizing all the ingredients on every label of every product you buy, and you see the words “preservatives added”, remember to ask yourself, what would life be like without them? Especially without the Great Preservative.

Peace.

Pretty in Pink

Not too long ago I witnessed first and second hand what seems to be a common phenomenon, if I can call it that. Give me a minute, okay a few minutes to explain and paint this pretty and then not so pretty picture. Once upon a time there IS this beautiful young lady. Wow, she was (and is) gorgeous and everybody knew it. (I know I keep switching tenses on you. Please forgive me for this is a real time story with a past tense reality.) (Now did that make sense at all?) Anyhooo, all the men and women who see her cannot stop looking at her because of her beauty. She also is down to earth, approachable which makes her even more beautiful and desirable. She also had a beautiful little baby by a beautiful and handsome man. They were, to all our eyes, the picture perfect family, but they were not married. So they got married. The wedding was beautiful – I didn’t go, but I saw the photos. Which evoked another “wow”! Anyhooo, the marriage lasted a good five months and then he was gone. To say we were surprised is the greatest understatement of this decade. Were we ever!

Each time I looked at her and her beautiful child I wondered “why in the world would he leave her?” Well, the more time I spent in her presence the more I realized that she was full of herself and her beauty, and that she uses it to draw and attract men to herself – the way she dresses, walks, stands etc., whether or not they’re married to other women. She doesn’t care. All she knows is she is beautiful and she needs someone to continue stroking her ego. Then something happened. I was just a few steps away from witnessing first hand this unknown-by-many incident, which was told to me just moments afterwards. She said something that was so negative, so seemingly out of character which revealed the true state of her mind and character, I was floored. It would take too long to tell you the story for I would have to build the entire edifice for you to understand its context, but suffice it to say, the words which come from our mouths, and not just isolated words, but the statements which describe our beliefs, emotions, etc. reveal the depth, or lack of depth of our character. When I learned this about her, my question was answered: this is why he left her. She had nothing inside of her character to offer him. She was/is empty inside of hope and life. She was/is pessimistic and depressed, and thus depressing. He was drawn by her outer beauty long enough, and to the point of making a child with her, but when he married her and spent “defenses down” time with her, he found out what was beneath all that pink. Not much. :-)

Now, I know better than to make a judgment like that without knowing both sides of the story, but it’s not possible because I’m not intimate friends with this former couple. Nevertheless, you and I know there is another side to this story and that the man who left was not all right, nor always squeaky clean. I’ve no doubt, the few times I saw him that he too suffered from the “I know I am beautiful” syndrome that she has. It may be contagious among “beautiful” people. They may have had civil wars over mirror time, and other men and women looking at them too long. That pink is starting to look a little dusty and dingy now. Dusty rose pink? Maybe she (and he) was “empty” inside because of many disappointments in life that drained her of hope, and/or maybe she’s afraid to believe for better because she is empty inside. Is that a conundrum? So she uses her outer beauty, something she knows she has for sure, because people keep telling her she does, but something she’s really not CONVINCED of because she misuses it unnecessarily, and in a negative-for-others way. Suddenly that pink doesn’t look pretty anymore. Or is it the one IN pink that’s losing her luster?

I have a book called Understanding the Dreams You Dream, by Ira Milligan, in which he gives the significance of certain colors, and he says the color pink signifies: Flesh – sensual; sensuous (as in “hot pink bikini”); immoral; moral (as in “a heart of flesh”); chaste; a female infant. Now maybe you agree or disagree with some of these descriptions of this color, and surely that’s your prerogative (thanks Bobby Brown), but this space is not the place for us to debate our opinions. I however, agree with the “flesh” description, and “chaste” and “female infant” significance, for when most people know they’re going to have a baby girl, pink seems to be the most popular color chosen for clothing and walls, and toys etc. When I see a woman in light powder pink, I think of someone who is calm, relaxed, quiet, observant, peaceful, nice. When I see a lady in hot pink I think of someone who is firey or spirited, exciting and excited, hot, on the move, a fighter. I try not to think of men in pink. :-)

Recently I saw a woman of color, my color as a matter of fact, on the RER and she was wearing not hot pink, and not powder pink, but a pink somewhere in between. Her hair was platinum blond and cropped short to her scalp and her makeup was so great. I found myself staring at her to see if she was real. I thought “I could do that.” LOL!! Anyhooo, I also wondered, “is her personality as pretty as she is in pink, or is she a devil on two feet?” You see, we can use all the tools of the trade at our fingertips to create a certain look (“You Got the Look” I know I do MJ! Thanks for reminding me.) that turns the heads of men, women, children, bullfrogs, cows, dogs, cats, and snails, but what about when we have to take it all off? What about when we’re not wearing pink? What about when we’re wearing other colors on the spectrum? Are we still pretty, or do we become someone/someTHING else? Are we still that chaste person, a human being with needs, desires, mistakes? Or do we become something inhuman that needs to be caged?

I’m not just talking about women here, but men too. We all must be careful about the “colors” folks are wearing when we meet them, for they may not be true representatives of the person inside. What do I mean by “colors” this time? Well in my last topic we used it to focus on race and ethnicity, but this time I’m referring to character and personality. See, I’m a visual (and visible, LOL!!) person. When I sing, listen to music, and hear other voices I see lines, images and colors. When I see people’s characters and personalities through their voices and words, I see colors. Most of us have heard phrases like “green with envy”, “black sheep of the family”, “green with jealousy”, “blue blood” (what does that mean?), “red hot mama”. Okay I think you get my drift. When I see and think of a rainbow I think of life and second chances, the sunshine after the rain, Noah’s Ark, and Dorothy and Toto trying to get back to Kansas. Too bad all those animals couldn’t just click their hooves and skip the flood. LOL!!

What kind of person am I when I’m wearing black or red, brown, electric blue, gold, green, white or pink? One thing I’ve learned through studying Psychology is that colors affect our moods, and thus sometimes it’s best to not wear certain colors when going for an important job interview, for instance. Not only do colors affect our moods, but they also speak volumes to those we meet, even saying things we’re not intending. Hmmmm. Many times we make assumptions about people based on the color(s) the person is wearing, until we hear them speak. Then our illusions are dashed. Or maybe confirmed. LoL!! All isn’t necessarily bleak though. (Dorothy and Toto do make it home safely in one piece.)

Psychology, the Bible and the Holy Spirit also helped me realize that humans are multi-dimensional beings: we are Spirit, soul and body and thus we may appear to have multiple personalities from time to time depending on the weather (SAD: Seasonal Attention Deficit, for example), hunger, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, etc. And I’ve learned that some people do have multiple personalities, and this is real life for them, not another Sybil movie. Our characters are shaped and our personalities created by and through our life’s experiences, whether our needs are being met or not, how long we’ve had to make do with what we’ve never had, just trying to survive life, and so on. Many people change with the seasons, others change with the days, while still others change by the hour, with the speed of a pendulum. Hang on if this is you, or if you have to often deal with people like this. Nevertheless, underneath all this drama and dust is the true person’s color, which sometimes comes up for air. Sometimes we may find ourselves talking about someone who just rubs everyone the wrong way, but in a footnote we will say that “He/she has a great heart, a big heart, he will give you the shirt off his back.” That’s who the real person is, the one the world would like to see more of and more often. (Not naked of course, but you know what I mean.) Remember the long ago television game show, “What’s My Line?” Each contestant would be asked something about themselves, a series of questions, and the one asking the questions had to decide which of the three hidden persons with whom he or she wanted to take a chance. “What’s my line”? is another way of asking “who am I really”? What is my true color?

One more real life phenomenon, if you will indulge me. Have you ever taken notice of the colors of the walls and logos of restaurants? Most of their colors are oranges, browns, and reds. Studies have proven that humans are affected subliminally by colors and these specific colors evoke the need and desire to eat. Could this be one of the reasons that fast-food customers eat more (the longer they sit inside the restaurant) and thus are usually larger than those who usually prepare their meals at home (or buy at the drive-thru)? Just a question, you can answer on your own time. This is not a test! :-) Also, has it ever happened to you that you can eat a large meal before going to the movies and still find room for popcorn? It’s not just because of the aroma, but also because of the colors in the lobby and theatre before the lights are turned down. About myself I’ve noticed that whenever I’m wearing white for instance, I desire yellow, red and brown colored foods, so I end up eating a hotdog or hamburger and French fries (not German or Italian or American Freedom fries. Just French.) to get the yellow mustard and red ketchup, and the chili and or beans. How do I know this about myself? Because it’s inevitable that I usually drip some mustard and ketchup on my white top, and it’s not easy to get it out. I have the stains to prove it. :-()

Pretty in Pink. Hmmm, most females are truly pretty in pink when they wear it well, but of course we cannot judge a personality by the person’s clothing and makeup. It could just be a mood swing, so it’s safer to wait for the statements that come from within before deciding how pretty she or he may or may not be. And by the way, I know men can wear pink – ties, shirts, sweaters, but I truly prefer a real man to leave pink for the ladies. That’s just my personality. ;-0

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.