TALK TO THE DADDY

Hello. Come on in. The daddy writes about current events, literature, music and, once in a while, drops something on you from back in the day to make you pause and ponder, stop and stare, and begin to wonder. Who knows? You may start to pace the floor, shake your head from side to side, then fall down on bended knees in a praying position and cry, "Lawd, have mercy! What is this world coming to?" Check yourself! But this blog is NOT about the daddy. It's about you: your boos, your fam, your hood, your country...our hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow. So let's make a pact: the daddy will put it on the track if you'll chase it down and hit him back. Together, we can definitely take it to another level. Shall we?"

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Lesson 5: You Gotta Have Faith

White ankh cross on a black background

"To believe with all our heart in our people,
our parents, our teachers. our leaders, and the
righteousness and victory of our struggle."
--The Seventh Nguzo Saba principle
"The language of faith is crucial because it
affords human beings the privilege of intimacy
with the ultimate." --Michael Eric Dyson

Listen up. When you're in a crisis, oftentimes you don't act normal. Your mind is going through the mental process of adjusting to the crisis ( lesson 1). Your body feels like every cell is wired, and a spark from one of those cells can set your entire body, house and home ablaze. But as you begin to come out on the other side, you begin to look for positives and not just the negatives (lesson 3), and you begin to gain a greater distance from it all so that you not only better understand and move forward, but indeed become a wiser and, in a way, a better person. This about the time that you are looking at no longer drinking too much alcohol or too many pills; no longer taking risks with your body and life by driving while drinking or having unprotected sex or getting into unnecessary arguments.

It's about this time that you begin to feel that you need to stop thinking only of yourself-- you need something to keep you from venturing farther out into troubled waters, and some value to keep you from going under next time. That something is family and friends (lesson 4), and that value is faith. The daddy says you got to have you some faith.

2

You've heard it said many times: "You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." This saying suggest that you need to believe in something and have faith that it's true. And you've probably heard that you can't live on faith, but, then again, you can't survive too long without it. That's why the daddy likes it when English rocker George Michael gets all into it and sounds so adamant, when he sings "You gotta have faith!"

Faith is nothing more than your conviction that something is true. Some say whether you need to have it is debatable. What is not to debatable is that that having it helps you to better deal with a crisis: that death in the family, the lost job, the lost love, the new-found disease, the unwanted pregnancy, divorce, etc. But Michael wasn't the only one to sing the praises of faith.

3

Mother Theresa taught nuns to "do little things with love" and to have faith that those little things would bare fruit in the end. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.-- despite being stabbed , arrested more than 33 times, beaten by white mobs and police, wiretapped by FBI (who tried to get him to commit suicide), receiving death threats constantly-- never wavered in his faith that the United States would become a just society, nor in his faith in those of us left behind to make his undying faith a living reality for all Americans. Small wonder, then, that he would die in support of striking garbage workers or that he would make this prophetic statement of faith at a church just before he died:

"I may not get there with you. But we, as a people, will get to the promise land."

If Mother Theresa can role model the power of faith by doing the "little things" like washing the feet of the poor in India, if Dr. King can demonstrate the power of faith by dying for garbage workers in Memphis, maybe you can demonstrate the power of faith by standing up family, friends, community, and, above all, yourself. where you live.

Now, the daddy's got a question for you: What do you believe in with all your heart? What do you stand for?

9 comments:

j said...

And you have to keep reminding yourself that you have faith. Sometimes when our efforts seem fruitless, faith is hard to maintain... but also most necessary. Great post, Daddy.

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Judy: Yes, people have to remind themselves to keep the faith and be patient. Right now, we're being tested both in our personal lives and in our country as a whole. Still, we need to keep the faith and be patient. Positive things are beginning to happen on the local level. But the media wants to keep the negative stuff upfront, so it can keep up its ratings. That's why we see those gaming Republicans on all the time.

The media should be talking about how the recovery plan is helping people get jobs or how it's helping people keep their jobs. But I supposed that would be asking too much of them-- to go out and actually report on something. It's easier and more cost efficient to let pundits argue all the time.

I think you'll love the post tomorrow. It's going to be about the therapeutic value of music. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

Anonymous said...

I believe in the GOODNESS OF ALL PEOPLE and that we are on this earth to be with and for one another.....Just as I was reading this post, my friend Tommy called and he was devestated because he just got home from visiting his mother who is on dialysis....only to find that his home had been ransacked and vandalized and ripped off....I can't do much for Tommy but hold him in prayer and be there for him....It's that whole thing...WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO SUCH GOOD PEOPLE? My prayer for him tonight is that he will have the grace to hold onto his faith in the Creator's promise to walk with Tommy through this.....PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM TONIGHT AND TOMORROW....He's barely hanging on.....

Solomon said...

I need to be reminded constantly to keep the faith MacDaddy.

This last year has been very difficult, and many times I think I am recovering from all the loss I have experienced only to find I am still 'in a bad way'.

I have dated a few gals with bi-polar disorder, and now I think I understand where they were coming from with all the ups & downs.

I feel better all the time, but every time I think I'm at a crossraods I find myself swimming in stormy waters again.

Thanks for the positive messages this week, keep 'um coming bro!

Anonymous said...

I believe that good will defeat evil in all its incarnations. For as long as history's been recorded, it's never flipped that script once. If I know I stand on the right side of common sense, I will prevail no matter how bleak things are.

Great post, MacDaddy.

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Nun: As you may recall, I used to work with Tommy. He is a good man and didn't deserve this. I'll be thinking of him and wishing him well.

Solomon: Sorry to hear you're having "ups and downs." I trust that you will learn from these experiences and come out on the other side even wiser than you are now.

Anonymous said...

If I'm feeling "hopeless" about something, I reflect on difficult or "impossible" situations I've overcome in the past and remind myself that I can do it again. I guess you would say I try to have faith in my own ability to rise above crisis. And I trust and HOPE things will improve. And during the crisis it helps to have sleep, the support of good friends, and a sense of humor.

Kentucky Rain said...

These words are filled with Wisdom. I read them several times. Thanks.

♥ CG ♥ said...

How true. Faith is non-negotiable for me.