i had some kind of weekend, sure enough. i traveled up the road a ways toward Kentucky in search of some personal elevation, reformation, and transformation. don't act like you don't know what i'm talking about, because we're ALL in need of those things from time to time. i often get anointed with the cape of superman to some people, but in the end, we're all just trying to bust our butts to live our dreams, right? and in that quest, we face obstacles. those obstacles are merely signs that we are, in fact, on the right path. but they can make us weary nonetheless. and we need rest and rejuvenation. for me, it was sweating.
and boy, did a brotha sweat last night.
i went to the sweat lodge to meditate, to share with friends, loved ones, and newfound acquaintances a highly spiritual experience. sweating is an ancient ritual, known here in the west to the Native people of this co-opted land mass we call America. you go out and build a lodge during the day, then you enter that womb and you sweat until all impurities--physical, mental, emotional, spiritual--are consumed in the fire of the heated rocks and moans that come out when the spirit comes in.
in short, you get renewed. i always do. and i did last night--or was that this morning.
as i sit wiping my head off and being grateful for my life and living, as focused as i've ever found myself at any given time, i'm thinking about friends and loved ones we all know, who haven't made it to the point where they feel comfortable about themselves and what they are doing in life. we all stray from time to time, but i'm talking about those who have no clue. i've found that they can be the number one perpetrators of the crime of dream attack. they'll wear you down telling you stuff YOU can't or shouldn't be doing. it's only because that misery loves--and needs--company. yeah, i'm thinking about them.
i'm also thinking about something a college mentor of mine told me in mixed company the other night. she was talking about her high school graduating class in mississippi of 50 years ago. 47 kids. that's all. but those 47 went on to be CEOs, statesmen, oscar winners, all exceptional. she then said that what made them successful was that their teachers convinced them that they could be anything they wanted to be, and they believed it.
how can we do that right now, today?
we all have our dreams, but especially our children, which is why i press on even through the hardest of times. i can't tell my kid to chase their dreams as they watch me, heck--HELP me--mourn the passing of my own. even when there seems to be no flesh on the bones of our goals and desires, the question still is..."can these bones live?" we often find ourselves in the valley of the dry bones, without hope. but we must remember. bones can come together to form a skeletal foundation.
so gather up the bones you may have thrown away. start putting them together and don't worry about anything else. when the time is right, God will animate them, and you all will be standing on the shoulders of our Ancestors, in whose omnipresent shadow we humbly stand. in the meantime, whoever and wherever you are, i'll be praying for you, and i'll hope you do the same. let us pray that God will continue to lead, and we will continue to follow Him on the path HE has laid out for us.
i'm gonna crash. got a couple of big to-do's tomorrow.
blessings
o
