Practice What You Preach

I love listening to Barry White sing his songs. He’s on the ancesteral plane now, but he’s left some memories that will last always. For those of you who were of age in the 1970’s, you already know that if you were with a loved one, and wanted to set a romantic mood, all you had to do was turn down the light and put on some Barry White. Now whether he purposed it or not however, Barry also featured some spiritual analogies in his love songs, and the one I want to focus on iright now is ‘Practice What You Preach’.  Y’all bear with me as I give you a sample of the lyrics. 

‘You keep telling me this and telling me that. You say once I’m with you I’ll never go back. You say there’s a lesson that you want to teach, well here I am baby, practice what you preach’.

Now preaching is usually viewed as a verbal rendition of the subject being discussed. Ministers, orators, and anybody who has something to say, that takes more than two or three minutes to say it, is considered by some to be preaching. As for me, how you carry yourself is also a form of preaching. If you look like you’re doing okay, then that’s what you’re preaching about. On the other hand, If you’re not doing okay, and you’re acting like you are, then you’re not practicing what you preach.

How do we better enable ourselves to practice what we preach? Well, the one thing we can do first is to establish and maintain a spritual connection. There’s an adage taken from the Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous, that I employ, which may be of benefit to you as well. It goes like this. ’What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition’. 

Upon arising in the morning, or anytime we’re experiencing a  degree of discomfort, be it physical, mental, or emotional, we can first acknowledge that it’s time for us to adjust our attitude and/or our subsequent behavior. We can then make a concerted effort, be it through prayer, meditation, music or whatever, to connect to that spiritual foundation which brings us to the place we’d like to be.

If somebody or some thing affects us in a negative way, at anytime during the day, we can take our mind off that person or thing, and remind ourselves that we can do nothing about them or it until we feel better about ourselves. We can then ask ourselves what we need to think and/or do differently that will take us out of the funk we’re in. We might not find immediate comfort, but by making a conscious effort to change our behavioral thoughts, and by acting like we already are where we want to be, we can rest assured that we’re on the path to being of one accord with another. We can then acknowledge that we’re okay, and fully capable of practicing what we preach.

The Maestro, Barry White, inadvertently perhaps, has implored us all to practice what we preach. Amicably co- existing with others, is our reason for being here, and whatever positiveness we can share, is our means for doing so. By altering our own behavior as need be, we no longer have to act like things are alright because they really are. Preaching is no longer our only objective, because practice is also an integral part of who we are and what we do.  

Thanks Maestro for giving us a part of you, and for showing us, what we can do.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Transitions

Ever been at a point in your life where you said… “Stop this train, I wanna get off ?” Then you thought about it and realized, “That means life for me in this realm is over. I really ain’t ready for that, so I’m gonna stay on this thing and ride it till the wheels fall off… at least for now.” 

What about the time when you’re feeling on top of the world. Things are moving so well on your behalf, that you’re saying, “Man, I should probably slow down cause, If it gets any better than this, I might explode.”

Then there’s the scenario where all you want to say is.”Whatever.”  Why? Because you’re trying to make a decision, and it seems that no matter what choice you make things are not really going to get any better.

Well, these are all what I call transitional scenarios. They are those times in your life when  something happens, and the only sensible thing to do is to go with the flow and hope that what’s really going on will become clear after all is said and done. Now that sounds good mind you, but ain’t so easy to do, cause stuff is coming at you all the time. You can’t even finish one thing before something else pops up, and before you can go with the flow you’re experiencing one of the above three scenarios…Ridin that fast train, feeling so good that you’re scared of what might happen next, or giving up on trying cause it seems that things ain’t ever gonna get any better.

I’ve been there, and done all that ya’ll.  As a matter of fact, I’ve experienced all three scenarios in the past three days. It’s happened because my wife Nicole and I have made one of, if not the largest transition of our entire lives. We’ve moved to the city of Irvine in Orange County, California. What’s the big deal you say? White folks is my response. I’ve gone to school with em, worked with em, argued with em, partied with em, fought with em, marched with em, but I ain’t never ever bought a house in their neighborhood. We’re here now though, and as I look back, I’m grateful that my life has been a preparation for a time such as this.

I’m no longer desiring to stop this train I’m on, I’m not nervous about the many unexpected benefits that have come our way, nor am I comfortable with letting whatever happens happen. What I am excited about is dealing with what is happening. 

I’m in an environment that I’ve heard not such good things about, from a racial perspective, and I’m still reeling from the recent attacks on black folks. Conversely, the deal we struck in buying this house might seem too good to be true, but the fact of the matter is that the way we view things now is a result of how we’ve viewed our past situations. By the Grace of God we’ve managed to get through them all, so right now I’m going to view this particular scenario as being exactly as it should be.

Change is gonna come, and you already know that I’m going to keep you posted on how we’re dealing with what’s going on here in Irvine. Till then I’m suggesting that we not stress about what might happen, but spiritually prepare ourselves, on a daily basis, for whatever can happen, cause that ain’t ever gonna stop. But know this, history does repeat itself; and because we made it through the last situation….we’ll get through this one as well.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com