MODERATION

MODERATION IS MASTERY I don't care much for folks who don't care much for me. I care about folks who care about me. Therein is a balanced synchrony. This concession-confession may not conform to someone's tenets. That is no concern of mine at all. I derive my notion of synchronized balance, naturally, as it feels good internally. I have reaffirmed it recently from three sources: one is Euclid's Elements; one is Ayi Kwei Armah's "The Eloquence of the Scribes;" one is Booker T. Washington's "Character Building." Naturally undergirding them all is the Biblical injunction for us to be moderate all things, whatsoever. Such moderation includes people. 1 Cor. 9:25 says: "The man who strives for the mastery is temperate [or moderate] in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible ." "Euclid's Elements," Book 5, Proposition 14, says and proves: "If a first magnitude have to a second the same ration as a third has to a fourth, and the first be greater than the third, the second will also be greater than the fourth; if equal, equal; if less, less." "Consciousness of the situation," as Ayi Kwei Armah writes, is first and foremost. My "achievement of consciousness of the situation" as a black man includes the fact that: "Given that the colonial enterprise required as its intellectual basis the proto-Nazi Hegelian contention that Africans were a part of nature quite apart from humanity, the recognition of the artistic genius of any African writer or thinker would have strained the self-regarding worldview of any educated European beyond tolerance." P.164. In his chapter, "Two Sides of Life," in his book, CHARACTER BUILDING, Booker T. Washington, fabled founder of Tuskegee University, writes: "Now it is not wise to go too far in either direction. The person who schools himself to see the dark side of life is likely to make a mistake, and the person who schools himself to look only upon the bright side of life, forgetting all else, also is apt to make a mistake. "Notwithstanding this, I think I am right in saying that 'persons who accomplish the most in the world,' those to whom on account of their helpfulness the world looks most for service -- who are most useful in every way-- 'are those who are constantly seeing and appreciating the bright side as well as the dark side of life.'" Moderation promotes mastery ! 

AGGREGATORS

AGGREGATORS AND AGGREGATES Aggregate is a grouping of things, persons, ideas, etc. Aggregators are those who liaise aggregations, those whose efforts effect union. Aggregators are envied, mocked, persecuted, exiled, killed. There is grave danger in daring to consider aggregating. Yet, impulsively, men step forth into the breech to do so , repeatedly. Women aggregate too, usually in default of men, as a goad to men, as a challenge to the men, history has shown. So too have, do children, whether students or non-students, aggregated, as in street gangs and juvenile delinquents or as in SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) in the old 1960s civil rights movement days. There are also rewards, tangible and intangible for aggregators, even as there are grave risks. Such rewards may partially explain why aggregators continually emerge. Then, again, rewards alone are not enough to explain the entire notion, the entire template of aggregation. Something else on the inside thrust outside, while that on the outside pulls unto itself that "metal" meant to aggregate upon, around, into it. We are born into aggregates called families, raised in aggregate churches, attended aggregate schools, work in aggregate work sites, live in aggregate communities, pay taxes and pledge allegiance to aggregate nations. Even now, the mere act of reading this article online is itself evidence of aggregation, as it appears on someone's page, on some entity's or company's particular domain within the infinitude of the electromagnetic spectrum. In short, we are already aggregated at birth, before birth, prior to any" beginning," by God's grace.

TEACHING TEDDY TO READ

TEACHING TEDDY TO READ Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Monday, January 30, 2017 (updated) By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman “Larry, wait for me at my desk,” whispered Ms. Lydia Brooks, our no-nonsense 6th grade teacher at almost-all-black James Milton Turner Elementary School located in almost-all-black Meacham Park, Missouri, in the spring of 1963. “What?” I asked, slightly befuddled by such a sudden, strange request. “Wait for me at my desk.” She repeated, as she turned and strode away. Obediently, I got up and did as requested, all the while, shunting off curious glances from my classmates. My mind raced. What had I done? Or said? The desk was the place where, among other things, disciplinary paddling had been publicly administered. I had been an occasional recipient of such discipline . That possibility heightened my apprehension, as my mind continued to race. A few weeks earlier some white lady had visited our classroom to talk about books and reading. She had marveled that I had read children’s author Walter Farley’s series on “The Black” Arabian stallion. She’d mentioned just having attended a conference with him in Florida. Our exchange had apparently pleased and impressed Ms. Brooks. She had been smiling. So, it couldn’t be related to that, I surmised. But, what was it? My mind drew a blank. Turning slighting upon reaching her desk, and peering out the corner of my eye, I saw her speaking to Teddy on the back row of the classroom. He glanced up at me; rose from his seat; then, followed her to the front. Now, I was really confused, and slightly concerned, too. Teddy was the notorious school-yard, and occasional class-room, “toughie,” though he was not exactly a bully. I was no saint, myself. But, I was nowhere near being either a toughie or a bully. An eerie foreboding swept over me. Ms. Brooks, her black heels clicking sharply to a stop, glanced back over her left shoulder at the classroom and said authoritatively, “You are supposed to be working. Heads down, not a sound.” Then, she pivoted and beckoned us to follow her into the hallway. There we entered an adjacent storage room, which she had unlocked. It contained boxes, a filing cabinet, one table and two chairs. Rather Spartan. “Larry,” she said “I want you to help Teddy with his reading.” She stated. “ He is making good progress, but school is almost out. So, we must quicken the pace. Do you hear me?” I hesitated. “Yes Ma’am,” I replied. But inwardly my soul screamed “Why me, especially if he’s making ‘good progress’?” Being alone with Teddy: oh boy, in that isolated, Spartan chamber did not exactly appeal to me!! Helping him with his reading? Yikes! She was the teacher, right? “What books do I use,” I stammered, pleadingly, noticing the symmetrical lining of Teddy’s Quo Vadis hair- cut and slightly flared nostrils. We all sported similar hair-cuts, close-cropped, and lined, furnished by licensed and unlicensed barbers that dotted the community. Teddy’s flared nostrils, though, suggested scent, akin to a wild Arabian stallion’s when the wind carried vital information. “Use any books you like,” Lydia Brooks replied. Then, smartly turning, she left us in the room, leaving the door ajar. “What about using my comic books?” Teddy asked. “Anything you like” she repeated, heels echoing faintly on the polished linoleum. “Teachers used to use the Bible, newspapers, anything available to teach reading.” She conceded. Teddy beamed with delight. Teachers had ears and eyes in the back of their heads, especially at Turner School. They seemed to be intuitive especially Ms. Brooks, who had also had us in 5th grade. Turner was still segregated in 1963, so teachers undoubtedly had greater freedoms, later lost with integration’s quirky dynamics. Turner had the occasional white student, but they were rare, and Meacham Park had white residents whose children were, at their option, bussed to white schools. These larger societal issues did not matter to us students. We were quite happy in our so-called cultural isolation. “Go get’m, man,” I said to Teddy, following up on his inspired suggestion about comic books. “Go get’m.” Teddy lit out with alacrity. Blessed with that cat-like quickness and deftness that easily distinguished him from lesser athletes like me, this is one athlete that Nipher Jr. High, and Kirkwood High School will be glad to see, I thought to myself, as he fairly romped to retrieve his books. Not so with me. My family was about to move to archrival, Webster Groves School District, 5 miles east, at the end of that semester, having bought a house there. Normally, Ms. Brooks had discouraged, indeed, banned comic books and other ephemera including chewing gum from class. Of course, that didn’t stop anybody from smuggling it in, especially Teddy. But, today, for whatever reason, her focus was purely on the bottom line: teaching Teddy to read better, by any means necessary—including me! I smiled and exhaled, slightly. This might be fun, after all! Teddy was back so quickly, with his comic books, I was slightly startled to see him. But, I repressed a nervous shudder. At least he was eager, rearing to go. That would help! It was time now for me to “man-up, to get her done.” If I showed fear or weakness, I would fail, exactly as those too-timid horse-tamers seeking to tame “The Black.” Fear would cause failure. I could not risk that. Failure to teach Teddy to read might lead to a fight. That might lead to an ass-whipping by Teddy to boot, a prospect I did not relish! Lion tamers: I now understood! They too engaged in a deadly game of power and peril , while in proximity to death or injury with stoic purposefulness and pretense. Game on! “OK, let’s see what you’ve got,” I said reaching for the comics in his hand. “Here, let’s sit down. ” I said, He handed me the comics. “Can you read any of these?” I asked shuffling through copies of “Superman”, “Batman” and “The Green Lantern.” “A little bit.” He said. “But, mainly I just look at the pictures.” Lowering his head, he said “The pictures tell the whole story anyway.” Pictures help, but rarely tell the whole story, I thought to myself “Alright”, I said, “look at the pictures. And then tell me what’s going on.” Teddy nodded. “Then, I’ll read that same page, after that. OK? Then, we can see what was missed from just looking pictures. We’ll work only on that, OK?” “Bet!” he responded, meaning “yes.” Teddy was terse. Laconic and direct: a man of action, Teddy was. Like when it came to tickling your ears: Teddy had an ear fetish. He would wiggle or tickle somebody’s ears on the playground, every day, practically. It didn’t hurt. It was just bothersome, annoying, and sometimes humiliating habit of his that we had learned to tolerate and accept. That ear-tickling prospect was ever present. But, his interest was on reading, not ears, fortunately. His spirit exuded his desire to learn. And, so we began. Over the net several days that Teddy and I worked together, we made steady progress. Phonetics were the key. His outer ear fetish revealed his inner ear relish for nuances of sound. Sounds, the comic books were full up. "Pow!" "Zap" "Oh no!" One sound led to another sound, as one word led to another word. So, Teddy learned to read better. Many years later, after a long hiatus, I saw Teddy, again. We were at a Meacham Park Homecoming. He was there with his wife and dressed in the white accouterments of a chef. "Teddy, you a chef, man?" I asked. "Yep," he happily replied. Walking away, I silently mused that chefs read recipes, and smiled. #30

RAISE YOUR OWN BABIES

RAISE YOUR OWN BABIES. RAISE THEM UP RIGHT. DON'T WAIT ON, OR PASS THEM OFF, TO OTHERS TO RAISE: BE THEY FRIEND, RELATIVE, OR FOE; SCHOOL, CHURCH, OR COMMUNITY CENTER. . THEY ARE YOURS. YOUR FLESH, YOUR BONE, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. TALK TO THEM, SING TO THEM, PLAY WITH THEM, READ TO THEM, WRITE WITH THEM, DRAW WITH THEM, COUNT WITH THEM, BUILD WITH THEM. TEACH AND LOVE THEM, UNSTINTINGLY.CARRY THEM WITH YOU, THEN,; THEY GROW AS YOU GROW; THEY SEE WHAT YOU SEE; THEY HEAR WHAT YOU HEAR; FEEL WHAT YOU FEEL; TASTE WHAT YOU TASTE; ALL THE WHILE THEY ARE LEARNING SUBLIMINALLY, INTUITIVELY., CONTINUOUSLY. AS YOU CARRY THEM, SO MUST THEY CARRY YOU, SOMEDAY. MUCH SOONER THAN YOU KNOW. RAISE THEM!

IRONIES OF DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT

IRONIES OF DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT Life is fraught with irony. It was ironic that Dred Scott lost. Previous freedom suits in St. Louis with slaves as plaintiffs, who had prevailed in jury trials by using the same "freedom by residence" theory as Scott, had won. But not Scott. Newly elected judges of the Missouri Supreme Court, rather than the old system of appointed judges, reversed the "freedom by residence" prior precedent of its own court, taking away Scott 's victory. He sued in federal court. It became a blot on American history. The reversal of victory was ironic, to be sure , but did not end there. After the United States Supreme Court 's 1857 defeat of Scott and of all blacks, whether slave or free: "[John F.A.] Sanford triumphed, though he had gone mad, was confined to a sanitarium, and may never have realized his victory, if he even cared. The decision led to the embarrassment of Mrs. Emerson-Chaffee and Calvin Chaffee, her new husband , seated in Congress as a Free Soil Republican from Massachusetts. The national press discovered that the most famous slave in America was owned by a Massachusetts congressman. Ownership was hastily transferred to someone residing in Missouri. (Only a Missouri resident could legally manumit a slave in Missouri). So the son of one of Dred Scott's former owners filed the papers manumitting the Scotts before the same judge who had twice presided over their trials and heard their redemption song." P.209-210, REDEMPTION SONGS: SUING FOR FREEDOM BEFORE DRED SCOTT by Lea Vandervelde (2014) Right back where they had started from, the Scotts ended up; but this time the blessed boon of freedom!

GOING OUT OF HERE FULL-BORE

GOING OUT OF HERE FULL-BORE Why cut your cord at all? Why ever disconnect from almighty essence? Einstein died drafting a beautiful equation. Twain died pen in hand . Preachers fall dead in the pulpits, and farmers upon their sown lands. Elijah left here translated riding a fiery, death-defying chariot aloft . Left here in a whirl wind, did he ! http://biblehub.com/2_kings/2-11.htm Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey of the Universal Negro Improvement (UNIA) Assn. used to say: "Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm !" In other words, leave out of here on full-bore, doing whatever you were sent here by God, purposefully, specially, particularly, to do in life.

TRUMP, HOT DAMN!

HOT DAMN TRUMP! Wouldn't that be something ironic! If President Donald Trump had to hire,to train, to pay legal prevailing wages to many thousands of illegal immigrants to build the very wall he would otherwise use to keep their kind out, due to the national labor shortage of skilled construction workers, craftsmen, the very work many of them now due so cheaply! I must confess to being shocked, however, by President Donald Trump's proposed 20% tariff on all imported Mexican goods as a means to get them to pay for his wall! When I recalled that all I bought was beer and taco shells, I said "Okay! We'll survive." But, when researching it I found Mexico to be our second largest trading partner, with hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, I thought: "If they did the same thing to us? Woe Nelly!" Now watching the fall-out, three words come to mind: HOT DAMN TRUMP!

GRADE SCHOOL "CUTE"

IN GRADE SCHOOL, IN THE 1950S-60S, SOME GIRLS USED TO COMPLAIN THAT ANOTHER GIRL "THOUGHT SHE WAS CUTE." INEVITABLY THIS WOULD LEAD TO CONFRONTATION, IF NOT A FIGHT. "DON'T YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE CUTE, TOO? WHY NOT?" MIGHT BE ONE WAY DEFTLY TO DIFFUSE SUCH A COMPLAINT. NOW THAT FIGHTING IS A "FELONY" EVEN IN GRADE SCHOOL IN MISSOURI, IT IS WELL THAT PARENTS PRESCHOOL KIDS!

arguing is vain

ARGUING IS VAIN Arguing is ignorance. What one knows, need not be argued. What one does not know, can be found. "Ignorance," is used here in that broader moral sense of the word, not simply its intellectual sense. Those who argue are crying for a help that no one else can render.

PHARAONIC PERIOD --OBENGA

"So the topic of the anteriority of black civilization, championed by Cheikh Anta Diop (pharaonic Egypt, Africa as the cradle of humanity etc.) , had long before been raised and discussed, in ancient times, by the Phoenicians and the Greeks, specifically by Plato in 'Phaedrus,' 'Timaeus,' 'Critias,' 'The Laws,' etc., and by Aristotle in 'Metaphysics,' 'On The Heavens,' 'On Meteorology,' etc. These ancient sources consistently and unanimously emphasized Egypt 's civilizing role in the Mediterranean. Western scholarship, however, no longer mentions these eyewitness accounts from the Phoenicians and the Greeks. The reasons are obvious.... "The new sciences taught to Greek students (Orpheus, Homer, Solon , Plato, Thales of Miletus , Pythagoras, Oenodipus, Eudoxus and others) included geometry, astronomy, theology, philosophy, and an initiation into the pure 'esoteric tradition ' of pharaonic Egypt, the discipline of sacerdotal practice.... "From that perspective , then , as a result of historical shuttling between Europe and Africa, African students who today read Plato and Aristotle as part of their training in philosophy have, in various ways, to contemplate the fact that these Greek philosophers themselves learned from ancient Egypt, intrinsically a black African society." P.266-267, AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY : THE PHARAONIC PERIOD, 2780-330 BC by Theophile Obenga (2004) 

DIFFERENCES

DIFFERENCES Mankind's making of God in the image and likeness of mankind, itself, did not end with the mere external appearances--like color, gender, hair texture--but, rather man's casting and portrayal of God reached inside to the spiritual, the emotional character of God as well. God was given man's emotional make-up. Joy, sadness, anger, jealousy, regret, were among many human attributes, and emotional characteristics, that have been given to God by mankind's faiths. In Genesis 6:6, for example, we see that : "The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." "Regret" is as human as "heart," as is "he had made"; human attributes are all three: regret, heart, and he had made. God is outside time or space. Yet, mankind personalized God, then he later personified God! "My ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts," says the word. But, we often differ ! https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3Fsearch%3DIsaiah%2B55%253A7-8%26version%3DKJV%26interface%3Damp?client=safari

AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY, THEOPHILE OBENGA

AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY: THE PHARAONIC PERIOD, 2780 B.C.-330 B.C. by Theophile Obenga “Scientifically speaking, the objective facts are as follows: “The cuneiform (nail-shaped) writings of Mesopotamia left no progeny. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics have had an entirely different history, being the source of the Phoenician alphabet. The Bible of Sanchoniathan, which, luckily for us, is a Phoenician book, explicitly acknowledges the fact that writing was invented by the Egyptians, and was later handed down to the Phoenicians. Equally well known is the fact that the Phoenician alphabet was the source of the Greek alphabet. All this is beyond real controversy. In turn, still in antiquity, the Greek alphabet engendered writing systems used by several non-Hellenistic languages: Carian, Lydian, Lycian; as well as the Italic, Gothic, and Slavic alphabets, the oldest of which is called Glagolithic, before the development of the more recent so-called Cyrillic alphabet. The modern Russian alphabet, incidentally, is the result of two simplifications of Cyrillic, the first implemented on Czar Peter the Great’s order in the late 18th century. Rome gave the world the Italic alphabet we use now, but that alphabet was derived from Greek. “We know, moreover, that the Phoenician script, as derived from Egyptian writing, was adopted by the Aramaeans as early as the 11th century B.C. The square-shaped Hebrew alphabet, now resurrected by Zionism, derives from the Aramaic alphabet, the writing scripts used for Biblical texts inscribed on copper scrolls, discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea. The Phoenician, Greek, Italian, Cyrillic, modern Russian, Aramaic and Hebrew scripts, along with several other writing systems can all be traced back to the Egyptian writing system. That Egyptian writing was the source is a historical fact, acknowledged by the scholarly community as a whole, and never challenged by any specialist. “The fact is that writing was an extraordinary human invention. Not only did writing give permanent form to speech, it also opened up the way to the universe of ideas across time and space. Writing is the basic social and intellectual process subtending our entire modern civilization. For that reason, the history of writing is identified with the narrative of human intellectual progress. Against that background, and on the precise issue of the history of human civilization, we can assess the full measure of the important role played by the black African people of ancient Egypt.” p. 257-258, “Egypt’s Civilizing Role.”

STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED

It is curious to me that so-called "think tanks" continue to study black people, as though they were virulent laboratory specimens whose resistance to attempts to eliminate or to degrade them defy wonder. I marvel that they would yet continue to marvel. Our demise as a race, our extinction was confidently predicted at the end of slavery. We are still here. "We don't die, we multiply." Sister Henrietta Lacks' immortal hela cells are emblematic of our persistence, resistance. So, after quite comfortably--thank you very much--surviving the end of chattel slavery, their Civil War, (our "Freedom War"), we next set our sights on getting own and and education. Starting from nothing; no reparations, no free land distributions; no seed, no money, our forefathers proceeded to acquire one-third of the South's farmland by 1915 (the year Booker T. Washington died) and became literate. Such intrepidity frightened white supremacy, so they created "Jim Crow" laws. These excluded us from public and private places or discriminated against us, and segregated upon us on the basis of race, in vain attempts: to try to break our spirits, to wear us down. Foiled again! Persistence, resistance defeated "Jim Crow," too. But, they were not through. They came with "law and order," under Nixon, but he had to quit, split, remit; had to ace, skate, and donate. Later, Reagan also came with a more sardonic game, but he lost his mind in his second term, it is whispered, leaving Nancy Reagan in charge. Mass incarceration came under Bill Clinton, who ended "welfare as we know it," while wearing sun-glasses, blowing a saxophone, and being heralded as "the first black President," by popular black female novelist,Toni Morrison. Barack Obama's election blasted that tinsel title of "first black" to smithereens, as he--being half-Kenyan, was truly black, like his wife, Michelle, from Chicago, "Southside. " We yet have issues, black President or not. But, we shall triumph without a doubt over them all. We are the primal people, the source of living humanity, they now know, too late. We get the last breaths, should last their ever be, since we also drew the first breaths of man

TADPOLES

FEELING FROGGY? GET SOME MONEY! Tadpoles have yoke sacs. Like tadpoles, freedom fighters, had better have, surely would want to have, in addition to donations or charity, or grants, regular sources of financial assets, to feed them, to supply them, to protect them, to advise, to assist, to spy for them, in order to reorder society. This lesson I draw from experience and from studying. Money is the greatest recruitment tool of them all. For, unless one can sustain oneself, one can hardly sustain any body else, nor anything else either. This was the principle failure of the movement of the 1960s-1980s, the inability to monetize our struggle. May future aspirants take note and act accordingly to secure this flank! Secure regular sources of money, before even thinking 'bout change! 

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH IN GOD?

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH IN GOD? More capacity, more capabilities than we realize, humans possess. Yet, till such are tested by stress of necessity or whetted by prospects of opportunity, remain constrained. Adrenaline, a human enzyme, is notorious for supplying short bursts of energy and power to enable unbelievably difficult feats. Over longer, far more dangerous terms, even greater feats have also been executed by simple persons, possessing little more than faith. Faith is long term as adrenaline is short term in mankind, evidently. I draw this conclusion from reading of the heroic escapades of slaves later written in their narratives, or that were recorded by others who helped them along their way North. Faith is not only found in the Bible, but faith is also found in tales of our fellow men and women whose lives, our legacy, are faith dramas. As I write these few lines, Donald Trump has recently been elected and inaugurated the 45th President of the United States of America. The fact that he was elected with no electoral experience anywhere, at anytime, has discombobulated many people, especially the blacks. Black bewilderment is based as much upon the exit of Barack and Michelle Obama, as on President Donald Trump. Now, all of blacks' barely repressed racial fears have resurged to cause them to tremble. The way out of fear is to recall and to reflect that each and every one of you is a divine lineal descendant of former slaves, and of freedmen, who, did more with less under far worse conditions, to produce you! Pick up your bed and walk, black folks! Where is your faith in God? https://youtu.be/3wl4ogb0ZbQ?t=511

"FAKE NEWS" IS NOT NEW HERE

"FAKE NEWS" IS NOT NEW HERE Fake news is not new at all. Neither are other fakes that are commonly taught to American children. For example: 0. Santa Claus 0. The tooth fairy 0. George Washington 's cherry tree 0. Innate "white" supremacy 0. Innate "black" inferiority 0. "Indians" and "Mexicans" are uncivilized 0. "Good Indian" is a dead Indian 0. IQ tests measure intelligence There are many more examples. But, these few, short-hand, fake mythologies, pedagogies, make my point. They do great harm to our children and to national character. They are false programming that leads to the production of mass: ignorance; hysteria; murderers; sadists; xenophobists; racists; fascists; militarists; nihilists; anarchists; atheists; avarice; obstructionists. Fake whatever explains much that is wrong in America today, in many respects, if not in every respect.

GERMANY AND DONALD TRUMP

Germans, generally, are mostly known as the progenitors of Adolph Hitler of WWII infamy, and as being somehow implicated in WW I history. They were African imperialists in Namibia, in Tanganyika, Malawi. They were the "Hessians," or British mercenaries in the American Revolution. They were immigrants to America after their own 1849 revolution; once here many sided with the Union in our own Civil War. Their nationalist meme is that of martial, martinet, rigid, yet flummoxed.Their schools were world-renown in the 19th century for the rigor, including the likes of Albert Einstein, Goethe.. As I meditate on Germany and Germans, broadly, I do so without regard to those few who are/were known to me, who were convivial. I meditate on "Deutschland" to attempt to assimilate Donald Trump, a descendant of a German immigrant to the United States in the 1870s who is as alien to me as a man from Mars, yet is my President, too.

MOUNT VERNON, THE FIRST AMERICAN, "WHITE HOUSE"

WHILE IN D.C. IN JULY 2016, WE SOUGHT "WHITE HOUSE" TOUR TICKETS, BUT WERE DENIED. UNDAUNTED, WE TOURED THE MOUNT VERNON HOME OF PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON, IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, INSTEAD, ON THE POTOMAC RIVER. THIS WE ENJOYED VERY MUCH. IT IS, AFTER ALL, THE NATION'S FIRST WHITE HOUSE! http://www.mountvernon.org/

NOT FINITE. BUT INFINITE.

NOT FINITE. BUT INFINITE. Finite. Illusions of finiteness disillusion many; making them believe that there is only so much of anything; to believe that everything is limited. So, people grip, grab, grope, cheat, lie, steal, exploit, enslave, conquer, hustle, kill to acquire their share of "finite" resources, riches, fame. We deem those "rich" who acquire much, whether resources, riches, fame, even deigning them to be praiseworthy for their acquisitions. Finite spiritual conceptions cause confusion about all sundry things. Ideas determine concepts. Finite is illusion, a delusional idea. Here is a proof that it is not the finite anything, but is the infinite everything, that is real, that exists. Of infinity all subsist, all consist. The infinity of space being the most perceptible example of this. The infinity of time, numbers, energy, matter are other examples. The infinity of the spirit of God is the prime example, being forever . Since space, time, numbers , energy, matter, and the spirit of infinite God, comprise everything. All that has ever existed is infinite. Life is therefore infinite. As are we. Physicists say that matter is never destroyed, merely changes forms. Preachers say that God predates beginnings, being God forever, as in from everlasting to everlasting. That is proof: physics and religion; all flow in the vast idea of eternity. Not finite. But infinite.

ENOUGH

"ENOUGH" Enough. Critical mass is enough. The tipping point. Point of no return. Straw that broke the camel's back. Rainfall . Snowfall. Enough. Critical mass is enough. Enough is a mysteriously mystical mean between being or not being. Conception. Delivery. Birth. Life. Death: All stages of our enough. When enough is enough, it is in a finished phase of transition. Done. Enough is a metric not "known" in the classical sense but sensed by intuition, instinct, nature, or time. Enough. 

wanting not knowing

Wanting something is one thing, but knowing what to do with it, is another!

LOSS OF RACIAL INTEGRITY

LOSS OF RACIAL INTEGRITY After 1968, during the chaos that followed the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the later riots--funeral pyres of grief--that burned in 100 communities, in the resulting vacuum of effectual black leadership, amid the prevalence of what facially seemed valorous, though certainly less-than-virtuous, alternatives, that gained our people's pride, and attention, we discarded our integrity. We lost that racial integrity, which had sustained us in tougher times, in the terrible times. We drifted away from self and God. Worst yet, we drifted away from those invaluable history lessons, traditions, that were by us learned in the South over centuries. The sequel for us, since 1968, although deceitfully dotted with amazing individual triumphs, in certain families who retained a residue of racial integrity, has nevertheless been tragic for those many blacks who lost it all, trusting in mammon, who abandoned any pretense of racial integrity in the hot cauldrons of concupiscence. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3Fsearch%3DJob%2B2%253A9-10%26version%3DKJV%26interface%3Damp?client=safari These are they who fill the jails, the morgues, prematurely, violently. These are those who did not fight for freedom, for our rights, but who coasted along, nibbling at the bits thrown their way or simply stolen . Stated directly: we black people are people of faith, of destiny, of beauty , power, virtue, who are scions of our planet's first people. We are "the blameless Ethiopians," of whom the ancient Greeks sang. This period of trial in the Americas is also one of training, of transition, of restoration of the waste places. Through all of our many trials and tribulations, however, it was vital, essential that we retain our sense of self, our personal integrity, the values we had when we first met God. The righteousness of Job, the glory of Job, is our black historical story. It was written in prophetic metaphor. So too ours are the sufferings of Job, the tragedies of Job; the mocking of Job. Ours too is the integrity of Job, the constancy of Job, the revival of Job, the restoration of Job's family, fortunes, integrity! This also is us. The allegory of Job has long been with us and has been in us. Job's story must renew us, as in, "If a man dies, shall he live, again?" As well as its riposte, "All my appointed days will I wait until my change comes." Job 14:14. if we are to avoid irreligious doom, the looming vale of destruction, the abomination of desolation that is our reward, that is the naturally inevitable consequence of having lost self-love, integrity, knowledge of who we are, whose we are, and our virtues.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S "FAREWELL ADDRESS"

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp I HAD NEVER READ WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, UNTIL NOW, TODAY, THIS VERY INSTANT. READ ALONG, IF YOU LIKE.

CIRCUMFERENCES

http://m.wikihow.com/Calculate-the-Circumference-of-a-Circle The circumference of mankind's understanding is greater than its radius of knowledge, because of Pi. Pi is the cosmological reckoner that reconciles the divine and mathematics.

PROVENANCE OF POPULAR IDEAS

Popular ideas do not always make sense, despite having some emotional appeal. Where do they come from? And how/why do they become popular? A few examples may suffice : Sagging pants; ripped blue jeans costing more than whole jeans; ball caps or clothes still sporting price tags; $300+ branded gym shoes and cellphones; "don't snitch;" not reading any fact-books; refusing to study ; talking "white" critics; and many more, known and unknown. Where do they come from and how and why do they grow popular? Are they part of the "Zeitgeist" or spirit of the times, or are these implanted purposefully for profit or politics? None are legitimated by popularity. In fact, their popularity is atrocious! Included in this curious category of popular ideas that are of unknown origin and intendment is the notion of not watching the Donald Trump Inauguration on television. If Hillary Clinton is attending the inaugural events, with her husband , former President Bill Clinton, and she is the one who lost the 2016 Presidential election to a billionaire-political novice, who is Donald Trump, their friend and part-time neighbor in Chappaqua NY; what is your excuse? What is your peculiar rationale for not simply watching? Even the Bible says "Be ever watchful!" Explain! Watchfulness is prudence ! http://biblehub.com/luke/21-36.htm 

TEA LEAVES

"[T]heir prodigality required new plunder, and through the East-India article TEA they hoped to transfer their rapine from that quarter of the world to this.--Every designed quarrel has its pretense ; and the same barbarian avarice accompanied the PLANT to America, which ruined the country that produced it. "That men never turn rogues without turning fools, is a maxim, sooner or later, universally true." P. 129, "The American Crisis III," THOMAS PAINE: WRITINGS (1955)

FIRST THINGS

Putting "first things first" is in fact a continuous process of engagement of mental, physical, social, ethical, legal challenges that often, in us all, will  compete, contend for supremacy.

"THE FUTURE"

"To the man in the tower the world below him is likely to look very small. Men look like ants and all the bustle and stir of their hurrying lives seems pitifully confused and aimless. But the man in the street who is looking and striving upward is in a different situation. However poor his present plight, the thing he aims at and is striving toward stands out clear and distinct above him, inspiring him with hope and ambition in his struggle upward. For the man who is down there is always something to hope for, always something to be gained. The man who is down, looking up, may catch a glimpse now and then of heaven, but the man who is so situated that he can only look down is pretty likely to see another and quite different place. P.389-390, "The Future," THE MAN FARTHEST DOWN: A RECORD OF OBSERVATION AND STUDY IN EUROPE by Booker T. Washington and Robert E. Park (1912)

ON FIRST PRINCIPLES by Origen

"When these, therefore, and other similar princes of this world, each having his own individual wisdom and formulating his own doctrines and peculiar opinions, saw our Lord and Savior promising and proclaiming that that he had come into the world for the purpose of destroying all the doctrines, whatever they might be, of the 'knowledge falsely so called ' (1 Tm 6:20), they immediately laid snares for him, not knowing who was concealed within him. For 'the kings of the earth stood up , and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ' (Ps.2:2). But their snares became known and the plots which they had contrived against the Son of God were understood when they 'crucified the Lord of glory.' Therefore the Apostle says, 'We speak a wisdom among the perfect; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world , which are coming to naught,...a knowledge which none of the rulers of this world knew. For has they known it, they never would have crucified the Lord of glory' (1 Cor. 2:6-8). "The question indeed arises whether these varieties of wisdom which belonged to the rulers of the world and with which they strive to indoctrinate men are introduced into our minds by the opposing powers with the desire of ensnaring and injuring us, or whether they are offered to us simply in consequence of an error, that is, not with a view to injuring men, but because the rulers of the world themselves think their wisdom to be true and are therefore anxious to teach others what in their opinion is the truth. The latter is, I think, more likely. For example, just as the Greek authors or the leaders of the various heresies have themselves first accepted a false doctrine for the truth and decided in their own mind that it was the truth, and then afterwards have tried to persuade others to accept this same doctrine which they have determined is the true one, so we must suppose the rulers of the world also to have acted, those beings, namely, that are called by this title because they are spiritual powers who have been appointed to rule over certain definite nations in this world." P. 293-294, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES by Origen (2013)

MIND YOUR OWN MIND

MIND YOUR OWN MIND Life is intelligent. All life. Any life. Plant, animal, bird, fish, man. Microbe. Intelligence endues life. Intelligence is connected to the Giver, sustainer, retriever of life. Rhythms, patterns, dimensions of life are ascribed by life's guardians. These guardians are innumerable as the star-strewn heavenly orbs. As men we are blessed with the facility, the ability, to imagine, to sense, to perceive, to conceive even our own creation and lives. Perhaps we are not unique in that respect nor in any other respects, in the infinities of time, space, life. Whatever the case may be, we are connected to unfathomable infinity. Thus infinity is accessible to you and to me, to everybody man or no. As infinity is accessible, there are no limits to anything desirable, or admirable, in the eternal realm of imagination, much less on earth! Coveting what others have denies the divinity in you for that or more. In your life resides all those things required to secure your own zone. Mind, therefore, the wonder, glory, splendor in one life by sharing your discoveries with others, thereby as one fist fashioning a renewed hope. Gods, or Guardians, are as vast, or as narrow, as your mind allows, as your heart allows: as small begets small; large begets large; so infinite begets infinite, each its own kind. Minding one's own mind makes all of the difference to your sojourn on earth, in time and space. MIND it! 

HOWARD U! HERE I COME!

HOWARD U! HERE I COME ! I first stepped onto the campus of Howard University in May 1969, for a visit, prior to my August enrollment. I was assigned to an escort. That middle-aged man took me around to see a few sights and was quite personable. He did, however, seem to be unduly nervous. He was ever looking about , as though he was expecting something. He was also walking rapidly, mildly ill at ease. I felt his anxiety, but did not know what its cause might be. Eventually, he deposited me at the School of Human Ecology with its Dean, Dr. Flemmie Kittrell, and hurried away. She was calm, warm and effusive. She showed me lovely wall rugs and creative works made by her students and collected from her travels. I was intrigued for awhile, momentarily. But, as I had come from St. Louis earlier that day, and returning that night, I really wanted to see and feel the students' pulse. She understood. She led me to the building exit near Founders Library and Tubman Quadrangle. Looking about , I walked across to Douglass Hall, where some students were gathered. I soon learned that a student demonstration was to take place that very day. Indeed , at that very moment, the doors of Alain Locke Hall, across the way, were chained from the inside, and the windows papered over , as part of the protest. But, no students were inside! It was all a ruse to deceive . I smiled seductively. Seems like my kind of place; full of clever student activists, like my high school raps! I sat down on the steps of Douglass Hall, basking in the company of my new friends. But quickly time flew . I was walked down to 4th Street to hail a taxi. Standing opposite the imposing Harriet Tubman Quadrangle, the girls' dormitory, actually 4 dorms combined. Being a brother, I could not help but notice their luminescent beauty in the evening sun. With muffled sigh, I entered a cab and was gone! Landing later on in St. Louis , I was surprised to learn, from my waiting parents, that those very sisters at the "Quad" had set a D.C. fire truck ablaze, as a consequence of some protest, according to news reports. "Howard U! Here I come!" I stayed at Howard 7 glorious years, where I earned two degrees; one in journalism; another in law school.

THOUGHT SYMBOLS ARE REAL

THOUGHT SYMBOLS ARE REAL  Symbols, in a variety of genres, virtual and actual, tend to simulate concepts of reality, by stimulating analogous suggestions to that substrate of reality, by substituting private thought for public action. Symbols are therefore not merely abstractions any more than our thoughts are merely abstractions. Symbols cause us to conceive, to perceive; therefore to sense, to intuit, and thus to know, vicariously. Symbols, in short, sublimate. Thought, although "abstract," is matter, including its progenitor, as well as all of our thoughts' progeny.

TRUMP V. LEWIS

Attacking mothers on Mother's Day, Veterans on Memorial Day, Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, are somewhat comparable to attacking Rep. John Lewis, and the City of Atlanta, Georgia, on Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as President -Elect Donald Trump has done this past January 2017 weekend! Disgraceful! WHERE IS BOXING PROMOTER, DON KING, STANDING ON THIS MATCH-UP?

WHAT HAPPENS HERE STAYS HERE

WHAT HAPPENS HERE, STAYS HERE! Because life is not solely linear nor solely isometric, but is multilinear and "omnimetric", the good or evil that men do will be repaid; either: directly, indirectly, instantly, distantly, in-kind, out-of kind; but just as surely, definitely, distinctly; to the doers or to those in privity, continuity, consanguinuity, with the doers. The proof is in our atmosphere, which recirculates wind, water, dust, air, and, in our earth, which does the same with all that walks, crawls, creeps, flies, swims, lives. It is hard to penetrate the earth's atmosphere from above as it is to escape its gravity from below. Thus what happens on earth stays here, and is recycled, indefinitely!

MARK TWAIN, MONO LAKE AND ME

MONO LAKE, MARK TWAIN & ME "Thirst augments fast as soon as it is apparent that one has no means at hand of quenching it." Fish do too!-- I might add! As I read the harrowing adventures of Mark Twain and his friend, Higbee, in salty lake, "Mono Lake, sometimes called the 'Dead Sea of California,'" in their row boat, as a storm approached, while they were fifteen miles from shore, my mind rolled back to Longview Lake, and my own, over twenty years ago. I had rented a motor boat at the dock, had bought some bait, and set out alone across that big lake in Jackson County, Missouri, to better explore my fishing prospects in its remote inlets. The sun was shining brightly, when I left. The wind was fair, lake calm. Fishing however was abysmal. I had not caught anything. Worse, I had lost quite a few minnows and worms to unknown aquatic pilferers below, whom I had "fed" freely. The hours passed by. Clouds rolled in. Winds gusted. Rain threatened. A few drops fell. Just then, when I was thinking about getting back to the dock, I got a bite on my reel! While I was tugging that one in, I got a bite on the other reel. Two reels working at one time! Rags to riches ! Rain was now pelting, drenching me ! Overwhelmed, I laid one down to concentrate on the other reel! Then something big pulled that laden reel violently out of the now-bewildered motor boat! Something also said "Better get your behind outta here, while you still can!" I cut my line! See you fish! Started the engine. Vrr! Vrr! Heading back across the main leg of the lake, the prow of the boat lifted up into the air. "Lord! Don't let me capsize," I prayed . Eventually, it leveled out, as I reduced speed on the throttle in that choppy water . When I saw the wooden dock in the distance, I rejoiced! Hope was at hand. It is evident that I survived this experience. Mark Twain stirs up my best, fondest recollections ! P. 722, 727, ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain (1984)

MARS HILL AND PLANET MARS

MORE PRUDENT, MORE PROFITABLE, IS IT TO "SEEK THE GOD" OF "MARS HILL" THAN TO SEEK VAIN GLORY ON PLANET MARS. "27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and [b]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’" ACTS 17:

MARS HILL AND THE APOSTLE PAUL

http://www.biblelandhistory.com/greece/areopagus-athens.html MARS HILL OR AREOPAGUS ("HILL OF ARES")OF THE BIBLE, VISITED BY APOSTLE PAUL, IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, IS GEOGRAPHICALLY LOCATED IN ATHENS, GREECE. IT IS PICTURED HERE. Acts 17:22-31New American Standard Bible (NASB) Sermon on Mars Hill 22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [a]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and [b]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge [c]the world in righteousness [d]through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men [e]by raising Him from the dead.” ACTS 17: 22-31

IN PART YIELDS TO PERFECT

8Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:

"GUT INSTINCTS"

"GUT INSTINCTS " Fortunately, fortuitously, in this life, our bodies act independently of our cognitive minds, of conscious awareness, being guided by "laws," that we do not know, cannot know. Life on earth being both body and mind to us. Thus, body and mind obey secret, intuitive instructions within each of our cells, in the trillions and quadrillions each micro-moment of our earthly lives, stretching all the way back into before life began, as we know it. Hence, only a few decisions do we have to make, are we permitted to make ever, fortunately, fortuitously. Therefore, when any "gut-instincts" deign to speak to us, at all, whether by instinct, intuition, otherwise, it behooves us to heed such parietal importuning from the Creator; not to do so may be hazardous to life. Thus thanks for reading this article.

CONFRONTING TRUMP FEARS

CONFRONTING TRUMP FEARS Fear is vanquished by power and love and a sound mind. "Power" means to possess the capacity to destroy. "Love" means to express empathy. "Sound mind" means wisdom and discretion in the exercise of these. Absence of them all spawns fear. But "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3Fsearch%3D2%2BTimothy%2B1%253A7%26version%3DKJV%26interface%3Damp?client=safari If not God, then, whence fear? Ask yourself this question as our unwarranted hysteria of President-Elect Donald Trump darkens our senses, plugs our ears, numbs our feelings, neuters our taste buds, stifles our scents and impairs our intuitions, with January 20, 2017, looming but days away from now. Gut check! Fear check! History check! Abnormal fear defies faith. Hold on to your God-given power, love, especially to sound minds!

WELL DONE, OBAMA!

United States Presidential legacies cannot be assessed in a vacuum. They must be compared to others' legacies. It would seem that Obama's gay marriage and Obamacare triumphs distinguish him from Bill Clinton's "Don't Ask Don't Tell." win and health care failure. In comparison to the Bushes' jingoism in Iraq and Afghanistan, and failed attempt to kill Osama ben Laden, Obama killed ben Laden; but, failed to completely withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan and saw Syria, ignite, Qadaffi fall in Libya, and ISIS/ISIL/DAESH, emerge dramatically. Domestically, no black person was appointed to the Supreme Court by Obama, although Justice Sotomayor has blossomed. His cabinet appointments and federal judgeships have been reasonably fair when compared to his predecessors'. But, Obama's biggest achievement was rescuing the economy from 2008's mortgage meltdown scandals, brought on by baby-Bush's regulatory fiascos . But, despite Obama having had two black attorneys general, no one went to jail from among that lily-white executive-claque who caused the crash, So, family symbolism and rhetorical eloquence apart, he was a President with a good heart, more liberal than 'black," more collegial than ascerbic, who was not the President of nor for black America, but of all America, as he has said, even of those who hate his Africanity. But, adding back in his family symbolism, rhetorical eloquence, and historical singularity, he is unprecedentedly best!

BLACK PEOPLE AND DIVINITY

UNTIL ENOUGH BLACK PEOPLE KNOW, SENSE, EMBODY, THAT INNER DIVINITY THAT IS INNATE WITHIN THEMSELVES, OUTSIDE OF THEMSELVES, IN EVERY WALK OF LIFE, THEN ALL OF THE BLACK HISTORY, HOLIDAYS, AND MUSEUMS, ARE FOR NAUGHT. DIVINITY PRECEDES HISTORY, HOLIDAYS, MUSEUMS, AND LIFE.

CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC TRADITION LEGITIMATES AFRICAN ORAL TRADITION

Is not "the apostolic tradition" itself an oral tradition , exemplary of those yet extant in Africa, beside their written transcriptions? YES! http://www.bible.ca/sola-scriptura-tradition-5-types-2-oral.htm A. The Bible texts that support oral revelation as tradition: "Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Jeremiah 1:9. This is a classic Bible verse on oral inspiration, even though Jeremiah also wrote a book. Like the Apostles, even though Jeremiah had an oral tradition, all we know of his work, is what scripture records. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. 1 Corinthians 11:2. Paul delivered these traditions (the gospel) on his second missionary journey in Acts 18:1. This was before any books of the Bible were written so it must refer exclusively to oral tradition. "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us." 2 Thessalonians 2:15. Both oral and scripture are called traditions. "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us." 2 Thessalonians 3:6. This verse likely includes both oral and scripture tradition as a summary of 2 Thess 2:15. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2. Here we have the famous 4 generation discipleship passage: 1. Paul 2. Timothy 3. Faithful men 4. Others. However that which is taught is identical with scripture, even if it was revealed originally as an oral tradition. What was taught within these four generations may have included oral revelation, but this oral doctrine was also taught in scripture. For Roman Catholic and Orthodox defenders who see the succession of Bishops or the Pope, look elsewhere! First, the one's who were to be entrusted were, "faithful", not Bishops. Timothy was not a Bishop, was he to chose the next bishops to entrust the oral tradition to them? Second, the office of one bishop over the presbytery, did not exist until after 150 AD. Diocesan bishops, where one bishop was over another did not exist until 250. (Click here for proof.) So to suggest this passage teaches succession in any Catholic or Orthodox way, is vacuous. "You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them" 2 Timothy 3:14. This verse would likely refer to oral revelation from Paul's inspired mouth to Timothy. "I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute", Luke 21:12-15 is proves that oral tradition was the norm for the first 20 years of the church. The "with many other words" in Acts 2:40 represent inspired oral traditions that are lost forever. Yet for some time these specific words were likely remembered by many who heard them. There are literally thousands of inspired sermons that the Holy Spirit. "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching". (Acts 2:42) Although we do not know specifically what the apostles taught at this time, we can be sure it did not differ from what we have in scripture."

VOTING

People who knowingly vote against their own self-interests are suicidal or insane. Worse are they who do neither: know nor vote.

SESHAT AND THOTH: FEMALE AND MALE: WISDOM, WRITING, MATHEMATICS, ASTRONOMY

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seshat# Meet our primeval "hidden figure," Kemetic Sheshat, consort of Thoth, woman of the South , goddess of writing, mathematics, astronomy, astrology. She preceded THOT in Kemetic (Egyptian) cosmology. They are allied as female and male forces or gods. "The ancient Egyptians credited Jehwty (Thoth) the ibis-headed moon god, also symbolized by a baboon, with the invention of hieroglyphics, 'divine words.' This totemic god was the patron of intellectual life. He was the patron of writers, collectively referred to as his companions. Jehwty was also lord of statistics, responsible for all that needed counting , such as months, years, etc. Lastly, he was the god of magicians....  "Scribes (literally, those who write, the incorporation of all those skilled in the use of the pen), whether they were priests or not, were the pillars of pharaonic society, the foundation of the state system. They shaped Egyptian philosophy , and for three thousand years maintained the moral, intellectual, cultural, spiritual, scientific, and other values of pharaonic society. "That is why the scribes profession was considered superior to other occupations... "Intellectual pursuits were the very fabric of life in pharaonic society." P. 245, "The Intellectual Vocation," AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY THE PHARAONIC PERIOD (2004, Per Ankh) by Theophile Obenga [English translation by Ayi Kwei Armah]

Year 2019 prophesy for black Americans

Core of the 2019 prophesy for black Americans. 1619-2019 Genesis 15:12-14English Standard Version (ESV) 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

"IS GOD DEAD, FREDERICK?:

Over 150 years ago the immortal Sojourner Truth exclaimed from the back of a tensely packed lecture hall from which Frederick Douglass, had just despairingly declaimed, on the eve of the Civil War, "Is God dead, Frederick?" There was no response from the immortal Douglass nor from anyone else, whether learned or unlearned. I ask the same question here. "Is God dead?" On the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump as U. S. President. The question was too preposterous to warrant a response! So too our fears!

NATURE-GEOMETRY-KARMA-FRAUDS

NATURE-GEOMETRY-KARMA-FRAUDS What is planted will grow, usually, whether it be by seed or deed. This natural occurrence supports a host of other truths, postulates, generalizations, in religion, politics, human society, and in common everyday parlance . Just as "you reap what you sow," there are also "tares" that sown secretly among the wheat, resembling the wheat, but lacking the nurture of the wheat, because tares are from fraudulent wheat. Tares, then, are one exception to a "reap what you sow" factotum. Another exception is to have "sown much, but to bring in little," which is a close cohort to you sowing with "others" reaping it all. These "others" might be birds of the air, weeds of the field,drought from no rain just sun, or by men's hands and feet in war or by tax. Thus, the word "usually" is used in the first sentence to contextualize the thrust of its import; to limit it; to recognize, and to acknowledge, that, on Earth, things can and do fall apart. Thus, if in the mere fact of sowing "seeds" in the soil, things can go and do go wrong; that bad things can happen at any stage along seed's development, by natural "blight" of all kinds, regardless of the most carefully laid plans of "mice and men," of "cabbages and kings," still broader truths unfold, are deducible from the foregoing. Karma inscribed in seed is akin to seeds' natural phenomena, expressed in human aphorism or wise teaching. Karma is not Euclid's geometry. Geometry is proven, is demonstrated in logic, in mankind's deeds, philosophies as, resonant in science, music, art. The triumph of geometry is built into the Great Pyramid. That edifice shows that geometry can be, has been, applied to earth, upon Earth, magnificently; that man can access divinity on earth in stone, in math, in love, cosmically in harmony with nature, in time. Karma understood as retribution relies upon human inference, upon mankind's subjective sense of justice and truth set forth in the riddle of the ancient Sphinx, whose karmic nature is in its nose.

WINGS

No one and nothing can normally operate beyond the extent of its understanding or conception. A bird's flight is tied to its wings.

EARTH IS THE LORD'S

SINCE "THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AND THE FULLNESS THEREOF, THE WORLD AND THEY THAT DWELL THEREIN," CAN ANY ONE PLACE, PERSON, PEOPLE, PROVE ANY DIVINE PREFERENCE OVER ANY OTHER PLACE, PERSON, OR PEOPLE, CONSISTENTLY WITH THAT PREMISE?

FACTS AND PHENOMENA

Facts may be abstracted from phenomena as easily as phenomena from facts.

LEAD US IN PRAYER

While I was pastor of a very small AME church in Butler, Missouri, BROOKS CHAPEL, (1995-2004) I once asked a man who had been somewhat regular in attendance to pray . He could not, would not, did not, and thereafter he never returned to worship with us ! I was reminded of this unusual occurrence when reading a similar account involving Dr. W. E. B. DuBois at Wilberforce University in Ohio, which is an AME college. DuBois wrote in DUSK OF DAWN (1940), his autobiography: "Into this situation I landed with the cane and gloves of my German student days; with my rather inflated ideas of what a 'university' ought to be and with a terrible plainness of speech that was continually getting me into difficulty; when, for instance , the student leader of a prayer meeting into which I had wandered casually to look local religion over, suddenly and without warning announced that 'Professor DuBois would lead us in prayer,' I simply answered, 'No, he won't,' and as a result nearly lost my job. It took a great deal of explaining to the board of bishops why a professor at Wilberforce should not be able at all times and sundry to address God in extemporaneous prayer. I was saved only by the fact that my coming to Wilberforce had been widely advertised and I was so willing to do endless work when the work seemed to me worth doing." P.594-595. DUBOIS :WRITINGS (1986)

"SCIENCE AND EMPIRE" IN DUBOIS' "DUSK OF DAWN"

To its peril does science ignore art, literature, philosophy, music in its noble pursuit of the essential origin of all natural law, since all of these also comprise important aspects of natural law's evolving complement . This thought was inspired by my reading of "Science and Empire," in DUSK OF DAWN (1940) by W. E. B. DuBois, wherein he writes: "Herbert Spencer finished his ten volumes of 'Synthetic Philosophy' in 1896. The biological analogy, the vast generalizations were striking, but actual scientific accomplishment lagged. For me an opportunity seemed to present itself.... I determined to pursue science into sociology through a study of the condition and problems of my own group. "I was going to study the facts, and all facts, concerning the American Negro and his plight, and by measurement and comparison and research , work up to any valid generalization which I could. I entered this primarily with the utilitarian object of reform and uplift; but nevertheless, I wanted to do the work with scientific accuracy. Thus, in my own sociology, because of firm belief in a changing racial group, I easily grasped the idea of a changing developing society rather than a fixed social structure." P.590-591, DUBOIS : WRITINGS (1986) The point here is that all of natural laws' infinite aspects whether from science, art, philosophy, literature music, are inseparable from one another each one flowing affluently into the other in synchronous unity. So, to be sure, as noted above by Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, there is ever "evolving," or, one might say, ever evolving a conception of a divine cosmological ecology subsuming science and sociology subtending and extending, all that exists. Yet, none is discrete from any other.