Today we have a piece that far too many black men can relate to from one of my favorite poets merged with a stunning photographer and artist; The Poet Nightday and Michael Wilson present Tired of Waiting for My Father. I hope you all enjoy!

Tired of waiting for my father

As I sit here on these steps waiting,
Eyes grow weak ,
Weak from tears that flow,
Flow for a perfect image lost.

Looking through a squint
Dreaming of a dead beat ready to become a man,
Fatigued from dreams becoming nightmares,
Drained from thoughts of lost promises.

Weary of lies spoken,
Falsehoods that make traps.
Body bushed from continues emotions stomped on
A rolling stone rolled over his son.

Finally understanding that this is the only option
To let go of the thought of a relationship,
Giving up unable to go on
The hope that was had fell from untamed skies.

Looking through these closed eyes
Closing is my only true escape,
Time to get up and move on
Its dark and I’m tired.

Tired of looking of down these streets
Waiting till the street lights come on
Finally realizing
That I am Tired of waiting for my Father.

You can purchase this book at any one of the following websites.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Man-Possessed/Steven-A-Lewis/e/9781425991562/?itm=1

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Possessed-Steven-Lewis/dp/1425991564/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208818776&sr=8-5

www.Authorhouse.com

To view more artwork from Michael Wilson please click:

Today’s message is simple and sweet, it is one of the more popular messages of the word yet many of us still struggle with it. It’s not that we are not delighting ourselves in the Lord, it is not because we are not using our mouths to spread the words of our creator. No, we struggle or at least I struggle because of my lack of patience. What do you do after you have delighted yourself in the Lord? Often I feel like when I do something wrong I immediately feel the brunt of that mistake, its like my bad karma can’t wait to find me. But when I am in my mind doing the “right” thing sometimes I don’t see the good coming back to me as quickly. So I become impatient with the Lord, but as I am writing this I am reminded of something I told someone about delighting in the “small victories”, so in actuality my good comes back on me everyday that I wake up and I am healthy, everyday that I have a meal to eat, and friends and family to love.

Another scripture tells us to not be weary of well doing for in due season we shall reap. Once again asking us to refine our patience, and when we find that we are not being patient and we ask for patience, what do we get? The Creator then challenges us upon what we have asked, he presents us with situations that test our patience. God works in mysterious ways, something we have heard for years but it didn’t start making sense to me until recently. So if we ask then we shall receive, but when will we receive; I don’t know the answer but I think its when we least expect it, the blessing always comes on time! To delight is to take great pleasure in something, so if we take pleasure in believing in a higher being, our greater purpose, we will be provided with the desires of our hearts. The love of our lives, the job of our dreams, wealth and abundance, whatever your heart desires will be granted, probably not tomorrow but if we are patient I am sure we will receive. Enjoy your day, Peace and Grace be unto you!

However long the night, the dawn will break!

February 28, 2008

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40: 28-31

Everything is subject to its own interpretation! I read the first line this morning in the new international version, and then I grabbed my bible which is the King James version and the difference in word usage gave me a different perspective. Neither is right or wrong but I found it interesting how the Word is so often subject to the interpretation of the interpreter. So from today’s word I felt like the page was talking to me, like someone was hipping me to some new information. Hast thou not known — Have we not heard that our God and creator is amazing, that he doesn’t dwell in worldly problems for he fainteth not. He created this world, I felt like it was someone whispering in my ear and enlightening me to the best kept secret. Then it spoke directly to me and how i feel when I’m DOWN AND OUT. He gives us power, the strength to battle whatever obstacles present themselves. Even when we are at our weakest point, it is then that we are truly being strong. Think about a weight set, you see how strong you are when you pile more weight on. When we pile more stress on, it is then when we push ourselves to the max to achieve, that strength that we let out, that power, it is innate within us because at those moments we are channeling the God within us.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary! That is us, that is the young generation. The young shall utterly fall, is that not what is going on in our communities right now? People have fallen, we are filled with despair because we give to much power to objects and things that cause unhappiness rather than the Lord and finding peace and happiness within ourselves. But those who wait upon the Lord, those who channel the God within, he will renew our strength and we will be as fly as fly can be. No pun intended, but we shall mount up with wings as eagles and soar, be at peace, be plentiful because we walk with the Lord. All this walking with the Lord talk, what does it mean. I don’t know, I am not the Judge, thats your mission, thats our mission. My mother always says there is more than one way to the KINGDOM of HEAVEN. Maybe some of the routes we are thinking are correct are in fact not, that’s why its important that we go now and try to build this relationship with the Lord and move forward and prosper. I hope I am articulating my thoughts because I am not speaking of conventional ways, the Lord has blessed in us creativity and innovativeness. If he has given us such talents and gifts, why not use those same talents to understand him and the relationship that we can have with him. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it!

February 25, 2008

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. II Corinthians 4:17

Good morning, just the words that I needed to start off my day. Light and momentary, telling us that these dilemmas that we face are not that serious. We actually give power to our troubles, more than they were ever meant to have. The word the other day spoke about the unseen, because what we may see now can be hard to bear. But today the word tells us that those troubles are momentary, that they are temporary in nature no matter how big or small and how much they are consuming our lives right now. The sooner we stop stressing and just allow the trouble to manifest itself out of our lives, it will. Stop spending precious time and energy giving something power over you, when all you need is the power to get by. Interestingly enough this verse also speaks to me about the strength that we muster up while in the valley. When times are hard, when we face struggle, God is preparing us, making us stronger. Training us to deal with the complex problems of today, of the world we live in, and preparing us to combat the battles that we may face.

Opposition is needed, it makes us push harder, it strengthens our drive to achieve. Let Go and Let God as the song says and I am sure we will all be the dream that we wish to achieve!

And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gallatians 6:9

This verse was on my mind all last week and it continued into this weekend. The passage preceding it speaks about how we reap what we sow. If we are in the right we shall reap good things, if we are in the habit of doing bad things then that too we shall reap. But what about those of us who try to do the right thing and we keep getting “the jack”. Pardon my terms, but we keep feeling left out no matter how much right we do. And then we start to look at all of those who do bad and get good. We become envious of those who are living the wrong way because it seems that they know something we don’t because they are “achieving”. Well the verse says not to be weary, don’t get down on yourself because what you’re doing is right. And in due season, meaning soon you will reap the benefit of your good deeds, if you faint not. If you faint not, what that means to me is we will get our blessings if we keep doing what is right, if we don’t give up, if we stand as a testament to our faith rather than fleeing from it. If we fall off track and start following in the ways of those who aren’t walking along the right path then we wont receive what’s rightfully ours, the blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon us. I don’t know about the next person but I WANT you to get all of yours because I want all of mine! Peace and Grace be unto you!