Thursday, September 14, 2006

Beyond the Pain: The True Act of Forgiveness

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By LeVoyd L. Carter, II
September 13, 2006
http://www.rrpmedia.blogspot.com
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“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18 (NIV)

There will be times in our lives when we will experience pain at the hands of the ones we love most. That pain may come as a result of poorly thought out decisions or a lack of patience on our part. At other times, the pain may be a result of other people (those we love most) being selfish and too self-absorbed to realize that their decisions and actions impact others significantly.

This type of pain can debilitate its victims physically, mentally and/or spiritually. For example, we have all been there for a close friend or relative after a fresh breakup with a significant other as they experience symptoms of physical illness. Some cry until there are no more tears; others vomit uncontrollably as they attempt to deal with the pain and disappointment; there are those of us who revert to blaming themselves or asking God, “Why me”; there are those who take the pain of relationships to the extreme by isolating themselves and inflicting physical wounds in their flesh and sometimes they may even have thoughts of suicide or revenge.

Regardless of the catalyst that causes the resulting pain, we all have the power to make the best decision(s) under the circumstances. As rational adults, we must sometimes make the decision that is right despite how it may make you feel in the short term (yuck). For example, if you were to find out that your spouse or significant other was or is being unfaithful, how would you react? What if you found out your spouse or significant other impregnated or was impregnated by someone else, how would you react? (PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS and record your answers in the comments section of this message below) Many of us would be led by our anger and a deep sense of betrayal to do things in the heat of passion that could hurt us, our families and potentially land us in jail or the grave.

Some believe in the saying, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” I differ with that opinion. I believe revenge is a dish that is not worth the time, energy or risks necessary to serve it at all. In other words, what do you have to gain from causing another person just as much pain as that person may have caused you to suffer? The honest answer is nothing.

Now, I am not saying if you see harm or danger approaching not to heed the warning signs and move out of the way or defend yourself as necessary – by all constructive means, do so. Nevertheless, I am saying have the where with all to face the pain, recognize it for what it is and summon up the courage to move forward in a positive way. Do so without carrying the negative baggage from the past to continue to inflict pain upon you and others. Exercise “your power” to begin to heal yourself immediately and waste none of the most precious asset you have in life, “time” devising how you will serve a dish that will ultimately leave you unhappy, unfulfilled and wanting.

Further, have the courage to look within yourself to find out what you could have done differently under the circumstances to avoid or minimize the negative results and/or the pain. Were there signs and/or warnings that something was going wrong? Did you have an opportunity to change your behavior and actions (something well within your control) in light of the situation and circumstances that may have resulted in a different outcome? Did you create false expectations regardless of the truth and the facts that rest before you? In other words, ask as many questions of yourself as is necessary to find the truth or the light (positive lessons) from the negative occurrence. Apply the light or good to your life going forward and likewise alleviate the negative characteristics, negative habits and excuses from your life.

Life is a finite gift; do not waste it on foolishness. Face your pain and deal with it in a non-destructive manner. Take your experiences, learn from them (do not stay fixated and/or stagnant in the negative muck and mire) and make better and more informed decisions in the future. The immediate pain will surely subside and pass away for a season and then it will rise up again under different circumstances to test your will and your power to make positive decisions. I trust that you will think of this message when you make those positive decisions no matter what the negative situation and/or circumstance. Peace, Love & Blessings.

(*To the reader, please consider forgiving those who have caused you pain and begin the healing process while you enjoy life. Feel free to write your note of forgiveness in the comments section below.)

LeVoyd’s Special Note of Forgiveness: To all of those who I have hurt by way of my actions whether justified or not, I sincerely apologize and ask for your forgiveness. For those who have hurt me by way of your actions whether justified or not, I forgive you and wish you nothing but the best.

Copyright ©2006 by LeVoyd L. Carter
All Rights Reserved

Sunday, September 10, 2006

What is the Value of Life?

By LeVoyd L. Carter, II
(Originally written July 21, 2006)
http://rrpmedia.blogspot.com
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I feel sad today as I read the newspapers and listen to the morning news broadcasts, which is my normal practice. The reports led me to the blithe reality that life as I have known, experience now and observe is filled with so much unnecessary death and destruction, the conscience lack of compassion and the total void of empathy. What happened to the human spirit that was spoken about when I was a little boy? Have people really changed that much or was I blinded by the innocence of youth and inexperience? I wish I could see and experience life through those blinders again.

Today, I observe people suffering and separated by false barriers - skin color, political affiliation, religious belief systems, fraternities, sororities, education, economic status, sexual orientation and the list goes on. I believe if we all were to take a moment and look into the recesses of our minds, those locked boxes of truth and reality representing our suppressed consciousness and our hidden truths, we can all find something that we know we needs to work on today. Scared, afraid of being found out, afraid to be embarrassed, so you would rather lie to yourself. Is a Muslim worse than a Christian or vice versa in most instances? Is a black man any better or worse than a white man or vice versa? Is a rich woman better than a poor woman or a poor heterosexual better than a rich homosexual or transgender? Is a democrat better than a republican, a president better than a janitor? From my perspective, the answer is no. I will leave that for you to come to your own conclusion.

Last night, the sky was dark and quiet. The darkness was like a blanket over the earth keeping her warm and protected from something that lie beyond. Yet a strange thing was introduced to this black velvet sky. Violent white hot flames erupted from the ends of missiles passing in the vast sky intended to cause havoc on Beirut and Israel respectively. Innocent people, men, women and their children who have not been given the opportunity to live have there lives snuffed out as the hot shrapnel pierces their skin, break their bones and destroy their internal organs, as if they meant nothing and are meat for to scavenger. What sense does this make especially when the same is defended as a way to destroy the enemy and ascertain a peaceful and non-combative existence. Are we so ignorant, arrogant, lazy and/or callous that we believe that any life other than our own or those identified as being a part of our self-selected or affiliated by birth cultures and sub-cultures is not worth preserving?

Intelligent men and women who have been elected, appointed or ascended to honored positions of public service representing the interests of their people as they relate to other people through out the world, cannot seem to think long enough to derive meaningful resolution of conflicts without threats of war, embargos (officially sanctioned starving of innocent individuals) or the arbitrary alienation or isolation of an entire country, nation or people. Without respect of person, political party, religious affiliation or anything else, it seems that man with all the technological advancements, education, modes of communications and etc., is more barbaric and primitive than ever before. Instead of using wooden clubs, bows and arrows, machetes and blow guns with hand made arrows as weapons of survival, so called intelligent human beings waste valuable time, monetary resources and intellect creating mechanisms that will result in nothing but the demise and perhaps annihilation of all forms of life as they currently exist. This collective body of leaders over any given time should come together and focus on improving the human condition for all – not just a few who happen to be born in an area or on a body of land defined by false borders and/or man made walls and fences and is “deemed” a place of distinction.

Children [will] sleeping on streets this night homeless; people are dying from diseases because they cannot afford medicine, while bureaucratic non-sense and corporate greed (profit making) is making the same unavailable as it rots in storage warehouses; rival gang members are killing each other because they compensate for the feeling of being disenfranchised and are viewed as something other than a part of the primary social structure and culture; a mentally diseased child molester just stole a child’s innocence because the parents are more focused on earning money and paying for a show piece overly priced car than spending quality time with their children; and the scenarios go on and on and on. The point I am trying to make is that all life is precious. ALL LIFE!! Afghan, American, African, Jewish, Spanish, English, Dutch, Asian, poor, rich, military, civilian, educated, non-educated, parent, non-parent, slim, obese, black, white, yellow, red, old, young, heterosexual, homosexual, and etc., - ALL LIFE is precious and worth fighting for in a morally sound, dignified and intelligent way to preserve.

In this simplistic message that does not take into account the all too numerous to name obstacles and issues that leaders must face and consider in their decision making processes, I am nevertheless calling upon a heightened level of accountability of analysis, thought and application of all of the resources that are at the disposal of the world’s nations and leaders. Tomorrow will be brighter than today if we all do “OUR” part. Peace, Love and Blessings.

Copyright ©2006 by LeVoyd L. Carter
All Rights Reserved

Race, Religion and Power

Race, Religion and Power - An Introduction
By LeVoyd L. Carter, II
September 10, 2006
http://rrpmedia.blogspot.com


For many years I have wondered how the perception of race could shape the way an entire group of people are viewed and treated socially, politically, economically and intellectually. Native Africans and African Americans, or as we refer to ourselves, Blacks (whether you agree or not) have been subjected to the absolute worse treatment of any people throughout the history of civilized mankind.

How is it that a human being of a different hue or color can unilaterally determine another persons worth based solely on their skin color and/or native language? Why is it that ignorance, racism and prejudice has been recognized and rewarded as genius and visionary - as the forefathers of the United States have been immortalized as heroes despite their obvious racist proclivities?

Self professed Christian men had the vision to draft and adopt the Constitution of the United States and had enough insight to realize that “all” men (male or female/ black or white) are created equal. Yet they allowed racism and chattel slavery to be the ultimate plague of the land as the United States began to prosper and grow as a sovereign nation. Willful blindness is no excuse for the deadly and oppressive conditions that African men, women and children were made to suffer and endure at the hands of the founders of the United States of America.

Yet and still, today this nation remains in denial and does not truly recognize how race has played a tremendous role in shaping the United States and the perception of African Americans worldwide. Despite the oppressive conditions that African Americans endured at the hands of their fellow Americans, we have survived and continue to prosper. One could realistically say that African Americans are superhuman, ultra resilient and invincible, especially after enduring and surviving the middle passage, chattel slavery, jim crow and other forms of systematic racism, prejudice and the latest natural and man made disasters, respectively, Hurricane Katrina and the U.S. Government’s lackadaisical response.

These and many other lapses in human mental capacity have been well documented and do not need to be restated in this brief commentary. However, the psychological damage that has plagued African Americans as a result of chattel slavery and its remnants’, remain pervasive and deadly to this day. So the question I pose is, “What are we to do to remedy the wrong doings of the past, heal the present and promote a healthy and progressive tomorrow without the “cancers” of racism and ignorance?”

As part of this forum, race will be addressed and considered as one of the fundamental elements that continues to impact the very condition that we find ourselves in as Americans and human beings in the new millennium. The discussions and exchanges within this forum will also focus on religion and power and their impact on our lives daily.

For example, as we posture back and forth seeking and claiming ownership of the identity of the God of gods, the Lord of lords and the Prophet of prophets, human beings are lost in the labyrinth, shuffle and transition through and from this world misguided by their faith and belief that human beings with cloaked self-serving motivations coupled with the gift of the spoken word (i.e., ministers, rabies, imams and etc.) will lead them to divine revelation.

In addition, the hope and/or earnest expectation that the after life holds tremendous rewards for the “chosen” few have led to some of the greatest atrocities in the history of mankind. Chattel slavery was a result of Christian men and women misinterpreting the scripture to justify the capture, rape and robbery of millions of African men, women and children. Judaism applied in its extreme, has been alienating and used to justify land grabs and war against people of other religious belief systems, despite the universal belief that all life was created or stems from one source often described as God or Jehovah. Islam has been interpreted and used to wage war against so called infidels (non-Muslims or non-believers of Islam). The followers of these extreme interpretations are willing to strap bombs to their bodies, commit suicide and murder arguably innocent individuals, who like Muslims themselves also claim to be the descendants of Abraham and the beneficiaries and legatees of Abraham’s Covenant with God.

When will we as intelligent and truly faithful individuals realize that race and religious affiliations are not justification for any person to relegate other human beings to subservient positions on the scale of human existence? When does a human being become more than skin color or pigmentation and/or the mastery of various disciplines and/or degrees of education? When will we begin to recognize one another as the greatest creation known to pure intelligence and spiritual awareness? These examples are part the dark side of religion and we want to discuss and analyze the impact of religion in general (both good and bad) on our daily lives and derive meaningful solutions that people of different faiths and belief systems can put into action to improve the human condition one person at a time.

That brings us to the third and arguably the most vital of the principals that have a direct and real impact on human existence, “POWER”. Power is often defined in ways that emphasize its political, financial or religious characteristics and/or nature. Power is found in the recognition of the human spirit that is within each of us. It is also the power to influence our existence and interactions with one another as well as with nature, for good or evil, if you believe such exist. We are all endowed with a certain amount of power. Power was and is the late Tupac Shakur’s ability to mesmerize the youth worldwide despite being marginalized as a black man in America; power is George Bush’s ability to call into action, at will as the Commander and Chief, the most powerful military on the face of the planet; power was Rosa Parks’ ability to change the complexion and focus of the Civil Rights movement by making a decision to sit in a certain seat on the front of a bus in Alabama in the 1960s; it is the love, will and resilience of Carl and Kami Anderson who in the face of their beautiful daughter Aspen transitioning into the after life, worked in unison as faithful and determined parents of dangerously premature triplets with the support of family, friends and hospital staff to preserve the lives of the once fragile and promising siblings of Aspen, Aden and Austin; power is the ability of human beings to consciously disregard race, religion, financial status, affiliations with fraternity and sorority, and etceteras, to pull together in the face of the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and very dangerous conditions to literally dig by hand to save lives; power is the empathy and tremendous amount of giving to the children of Darfur and other impoverished nations that are suffering daily as a result of civil war, corrupt governments, poverty, AIDS and genocide. The human spirit is the very essence of power.

As a result, this Race, Religion and Power bog and/or intellectual and spiritual fusion has been created with the vision of answering the questions that divide us, to hear the voices that have been muted and to move all of us towards the realization of a peaceful co-existence that does not ignore or degrade our differences, but embraces the same as a beautiful and priceless part of our existence and tie that binds us all.

You are welcome to participate, question, disagree with, challenge and add to any position or thought that is presented in this forum. Please forward this site to your friends and family and encourage their participation.

Life is short, so make the most of each day and participate.

Copyright ©2006 by LeVoyd L. Carter, II
All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

WELCOME TO RRP

Greetings on behalf of the staff of RRPMEDIA Group. This blog has been created as a virtual think tank where you can participate and have your voice heard on the ever present impact of Race, Religion and Power ("RRP") on our day to day lives. Please look forward to our first substantive posting coming shortly. We appreciate your interest and look forward to your participation in this exploration and fusion of ideas.

Sincerely,

LeVoyd L. Carter, II
Editor


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