Sleep on it...

My 94 year old Grandmother is in her last days on this earth. She has been severly ill for the last 2 weeks and was recently placed in hospice care. She has struggled with memory loss, the loss of a husband (of 50 years plus), and moving to a completely new place where she knew no one but her family. With all of those variables, my Grandmother has lived a great life....

My uncle shared a story with me the other night over the phone. He has been the caretaker of my Grandmother over the last 9 years....he said,

"Mark, you know the thing that Grandma taught me throughout life was that when she was worried or concerned or things didn't seem like they were going well....she would always say, "I am going to pray to God and then I will sleep. God will take care of it in the morning."

I can only hope that I can have the childlike faith that my Grandma Brown has. She is an inspiration to me.....let us rest in God, he will take care of it in the morning.

Confessions

Its been all over the news the last couple of weeks. Another sports icon has been charged with using performance enhancing drugs. I honestly don't know what to think about Roger Clemens and am glad its not my call...I do have to ponder, though...when was the last time you got to confess to a person (or people) that you had screwed up?

Confession should be a part of our daily routine. If we all dedicated ourselves to eating less McSandwiches, going a little easier on the Frappulattes, and truly became confessional people....man, we'd be alot healthier.

And our health is really just the tip of the iceberg. If we really lived our lives as confessional people, we could drop the ball and chain and experience true freedom in our relationships, our families, and even in our alone time.

I for one always dread a true confession at first, because it means that I am admitting I was wrong. This, of course, opens up a whole realm of vulnerability that I do not want to submit myself to. Here is the thing, though - I always feel so released and guilt-free after confession to a trusted brother or sister.

A serious reality remains....our ugly, unconfessed mistakes and wrongdoings...when bottled up...will only fester and toxify our hearts.

"Make this your common practice. Confess your mess-ups to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed." James 5:16

True healing is found in genuine confession.

So, think about it. Is it worth holding on to the guilt and carrying that crap around with you everywhere you go? You know our unconfessed stuff leaks out onto other people.

Healing is possible. By His wounds....

For the kids...

Talk to a kid. No seriously, start up a conversation with a child the next chance you get. I was reflecting on this earlier and have realized that there our few greater joys in life than talking with a child.

Let me explain where I am coming from with this. I am becoming more and more aware that in our quest for success and attaining whatever goals we as adults have set for ourselves....somewhere we left the kids behind. You walk in to any social situation where you mix kids and adults and you will see very little positive interaction between child and adult. This bothers me because it sets kids up to be lacking in social skills, in guidance, and in affirmation as they mature into young men and women.

One other thing that I see as so vital to the development of our children is to talk to them on their level. I get so frustrated when I see people addressing kids like they are dumb or like they don't have anything to add. I have fond memories of adults that addressed me as if was mature before I was well into my teenage years. It is something that affirmed me as a person and made me grow out of my shell and come into my own as a young man.

Talk to a child. Listen to them and hear their creativity. Laugh a little with them and see the benefits of investing in them. Yes, they are our future....but they are also our now.

Honestly

Honesty is hard to come by. There are many social settings that I find myself in where I know that people are "beating around the bush" and would much rather live in the world of ambiguity than just tell it to me like it is. Secondhand criticism is horribly detrimental to any friendship, team, or organization. No one wants to hear the truth from another source. Nobody wants to listen to criticism, especially when it is coming via someone else.

I suppose honesty is fleeting because we struggle to really entrust ourselves to each other. Our pride won't let others in. Perhaps our persona of "too soft" or "too hard" discourage people from approaching us with their honest thoughts, observations, and beefs.

I would hate to look back on my life and say, "I didn't need anybodys honesty. I am my own man!". I feel like thats how I walk around somedays, though. I had a dear friend share with me some real valuable (and honest) info on a fashion faux pas that I had recently committed. I knew it was true before they even finished the third word of their sentence....but I did not want to hear it. The truth hurts....but more importantly, it causes us to change. (By the way, I did recieve a ticket from the fashion police as well...a double whammy....not cool!)

Change is a word being thrown alot these days....but will talk about change for a change tommorow.

But honestly, the hard thing is knowing which comments are to be discarded and which one's should be digested and taken to heart. A good test goes as follows..."is this person looking out for my best interest, or are they just saying it to make themselves look better".

I am trying to be more honest with people for their benefit and not just for myself. Its hard when you know that not everyone is honest....but the only way you can break through that is by showing yourself to be honest and trustworthy. I have believed for quite some time that our character is best modeled in the everyday, mundane....when no one else is watching kind of stuff.

My question to you today though, is.....what is it that keeps you from being honest with people? What causes you to speak less of the truth and more of what you think others want to hear? The worst thing you can do for someone is enable them, or worse yet allow them to continue to go in a certain direction and not do anything about it. Isn't honesty what we all really want anyways?

Editors Note : This is what happens when Mark drinks 3 cups of coffee late on a Wednesday night. Tune in tommorow night when Mark is more linear in his thoughts.

Peace,
MC

Living for the city...

I'll say it first to clear the air...I feel as though I am giving in. For me to write a blog is kind of like Oprah taking a big bite out of a bacon cheeseburger. Blogs were kind of like the "in-thing" and I have always been a person that did all I could to not even have to look at the bandwagon, let alone jump on it. I did not start watching American Idol until last year. I still do not possess an I-pod, a bluetooth, or even a Hollister piece of clothing. I did not drink Starbucks until I got out of college. As far as blogs are concerned, up to this point, I had resisted the urge to "make my voice heard" as many bloggers before me have done for whatever reasons they deemed neccesary. I believe it was not related at all to the "true spirit of the blog" as much as it was a social epidemic that I did not want to fall prone to. So, what in the world am I doing here now?

Well, I will tell you very plain and simple that I miss writing. I also miss experiencing the opportunity to process life and to do it a context where others can also do the same. Open dialogue (not debating) is one of the finest methods of learning known to humankind. It is unfortunate that we as a society are progressively losing the ability to seek the truth and would much rather have people tell us what to think or how to act or even what to believe.

That being said, I know that you will not find all of the answers to life, love, and the pursuit of happiness here in this blog. My prayer, however, is that you will find and seek the right questions that we must be asking ourselves today. It would be great if your participation in this open dialogue would lead you to better understand your life, your relationships, your neighborhood, God, and everything else under the sun.

So now I ask you our first probing question : Which president did you celebrate today?

Peace on yo' head,
MC