Evil is As Evil Does

Mean Spirited People

They’re born everyday!  They walk among us and they seek who the can destroy.  They spiritually feed off misery and the ignorance of others becomes their playground.

Some believe such people come from homes where there is no love and or where hate is taught.  But that is not true!  Mean-spirited people come from all walks of life.  They are born to every race and every gender; and prejudice of any kind makes it harder to discover such people.   For example, I learned in the circle I once traveled that all whites were bad, most if not all white men molested children, white people smell, white people have no color, white people are from the devil, and finally “all white people are rich”.  And even though I know better now by understanding people are people, there are still people (white, black, blue, purple and brown) that buy into racial nonsense.  And that’s the reason I’m blogging about mean people coming from all walks of life.  And had it not been for my encounter this past weekend, as a black woman, with a mean-spirited white man I know I would have not come up with such a blog post; because, like I stated, had I not known about the evils of humanity or understood mean-spirited people I could see where the confrontation could have gotten out of control.

The Simple Truth Is

We are all fearfully and wonderfully made.  We all have the ability to be bad. We all can become sexually deviant.  We all have the capability to smell when we forego bathing.  We all have skin pigmentation. We all have the ability to do the devil’s bidding.  And not all white people are rich! People are people despite race, creed, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.  What make us different spiritually when it comes to our existence are choices.  Really, it’s just that simple.

Choices

People chose to be cruel.  And sadly they use race, gender, sexual preferences, religion, politics and such to carry out their unkind deeds.  They’ve rehearsed role-playing so much in their small minds that they seek the perfect conditions to be spirit exterminators.  It’s never hard to figure out their agenda after cavy encounters.  They’re usually standing/sitting with smirks of satisfactions on their faces.  They are usually braggers that are empty vessels.  And they try to fill their emptiness by insulting people publicly or privately as they exercise the power of choice.

Lesson Learned

Never stoop to their level.  Recognize mean-spirited people for who they are [empty vessels] and remove yourself from their presence [period].

Vocabulary Mondays: gratitude

Photo taken from:  A Conscious Beauty Blog
Photo taken from: A Conscious Beauty Blog

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word:  gratitude

Part of Speech:  ¹noun

Meaning:

  1. the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.²

Word Usage:

He expressed his gratitude to everyone on the staff.³


¹Thesaurus.com./browse/gratitude>
[²][³]Dictionary.reference.com/browse/gratitude

A Beautiful Woman’s Advice on Loving Life

Prayers of Black Women: Amazing Grace by John Newton

John Newton

John Newton is the author of this spiritually enlightenment hymn.  At the age of eleven he became a seaman and later was imprisoned.  After escaping from those that held him captive he found work on a slave-trading ship.  It was then God began to work on his conscience about the cruelties of slavery.  And it was then when he wrote this beautiful hymn as a testament to his transformation from being a slave-ship captain to becoming a Christian.

Most often God takes our wrong to right the wrong of man’s inhumanity to man.  We’re His wonderful creation with the flaw of cruelty attached to our characters.  It is only by God’s amazing grace that saves us from always extending the hand of destruction to our brothers and sisters.

– Prayer –

I pray this day for God’s peace in your life.  I ask God to give you His grace.  For the Bible says, His grace is enough for you and His power is perfect in your weakness as His grace is new every morning.  Have a wonderful day!

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less dys to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

The Prayers of Black Women: Please Bless Us With Common Sense

Artist:  Henry Lee Battle
Artist: Henry Lee Battle

Lord, I have read and heard a lot this week.  Many of those stories made me feel like I was traveling through a portal of stupidity.  Often I found myself asking the following questions:  Lord, is my thinking off track?  Or are people now enjoying conflict?  And why are they enjoying being hoodwinked?  What is making them so gullible?  And why can’t they see they are being invalidated?

Lord, as I sat in bewilderment over the troubles of the world, I asked, yet, another question, “Where is common sense?”  Has it left the world?  Has it found a hiding place?  Is it sad because humankind no longer has a need for it?  Lord, where is common sense?  Because as I see things, who would enjoy heartaches, trials and tribulations?

Nothing I read or heard this week made any sense at all except for:  “Something that sounds correct could be incorrect.” 

— Prayer —

Lord, please bless the world with common sense.  For without it mankind will become void in all their ways.  So, again, please Lord bless the world with common sense.  Amen

 

Inspirational Fridays: Trouble Getting Going?

Family Travel TrailerI just got back from a five-day camping trip.  My family and I decided to join a friend and her family at a local state park.  I knew preparing for the mini-vacation would be a chore; since, I have been emotionally and physically tired for years.  But a vacation of some sort was a high priority.  So, when my friend told me that she and her family was going camping at Boyd Lake State Park, I reserved a camping spot for my family and me to join her and her family.

My friend was too excited to have us come with.  She had made plans for us as a group to do this and that.  She had made her trailer as the command central.  She had even planned several of our meals (without consulting me).  Her efforts were those of a true friend but her services were not totally needed.  As you can see, my dearest and sweetest friend took it upon herself to make plans for everyone without consulting with anybody.  And had the women of both families checked with each other about the trip perhaps hurt feelings could have been avoided.

My friend had failed to see I wanted some me time.  I wanted to escape the demands of my demanding life.  I wanted to sit and or lay in the comforts of cleanliness.  I wanted to enjoy my trailer that has been for years a BIG source of disappointment in some mental capacity.  But, nevertheless [sigh], the trailer belongs to me and mine and we love it despite of all the headaches it has given us.  And we are always overjoyed to use it when it is not in the shop for months at a time because it was poorly made.

However, with all that was going on mentally, I had very little time to freely think about the direction of my life until now.

I got the below YouTube video from a fellow blogger and I thought I would share the powerful message with you:

The Prayer’s of Black Women: Restoring the Heart of America

Photo Source:  www.sodhead.com
Photo Source: http://www.sodhead.com

Well, Lord, I have finally gotten up from the couch.  Mostly because your spirit has urged me to write a pray.

But, Lord, I feel torn about what I should pray.  There are so many life situations that need your help.  So, again, I feel torn about what I should pray about.  However the situation that seems to be heaviest on my heart is the spiritual and cancerous choice of Americans.

The choice to remove you from our country is drowning this wonderful nation in the pool of political correctness; thus, giving birth to spiritual chaos.

We have taken you out of everything!  We have taken you out of our governmental institutions, our business, our schools, our churches, our homes, our children, our families and our daily actions.  And because we have taken you out of everything we are now experiencing the following:  high unemployment, high divorce rates, high rate of children born out-of-wedlock, high rates of child exploitation’s, extreme amounts of mental illness, and people having disregards for life.

Sadly, Lord, as we the American people bicker over small things such as who should or should not get married.  Or should the NRA step in and help make stiffer laws for obtaining firearms!  Or if a black man is making good or bad choices up on Capitol Hill!  Lord, the country that I love is quickly falling into a perilous state.

Lord the catalyst for what is happening in America is our ease in removing you from our lives!  It’s not the black man up on Capitol Hill!  He’s just one man!  It’s not Joe marrying Johnny or Susan marring Sally!  And it’s certainly not mandating tougher gun laws!  It was removing you!

Lord, the American people need to hear from you!  We need to hear from the God that got this American party started.  We’re a young nation.  And we’re making our fair share of mistakes.  But, Lord, the biggest mistake we have made thus far was removing you!

I’m praying for my country.  I’m asking you for your mercy upon me and my country.  I’m asking you God to show us how to repair our relationship with you.  I’m asking you to forgive the arrogance of the American people.  I’m praying that you will do a historical roll call in their minds and in their hearts.  I’m asking Lord that they remember the blood that was shade for our freedoms; and how you fought along the men that were fighting for all to be freed men and women.  I’m asking you to remind them that our ancestors came here to freely worship you.  I’m asking you to remind them this country was born from a divine dream and supported and encouraged by spiritual God.

For George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  And in Numbers 14:26-38 people perished and wondered in the wilderness because they had lost faith in you and your abilities to create a new land for a people of promise.  Lord, help the country that I love.  Heal the heart of this country because America is a land of promise and we are a people of promise.

Your Loving Daughter,
Annette

Inspirational Fridays: Are You A Carrot, Egg, or Coffee Bean?

Are You A Carrot, Egg, or Coffee Bean

(Author Unknown)

Photo taken from: www.revivedkitchen.com
Photo taken from: http://www.revivedkitchen.com

A young woman told her mother about her life and how things were so hard. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She then pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, Mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity — boiling water — but each reacted differently. The carrot went in

Photo taken from:  www.newhealthguide.org
Photo taken from: http://www.newhealthguide.org

strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Photo taken from:  www.treasurecoastcoffeetrader.com
Photo taken from: http://www.treasurecoastcoffeetrader.com

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor of your life. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you bring life, flavor, to them?

SO…..ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

Granny’s Wisdom: Do Not Wear Out Your Welcome

This is my second cousin, Felicia Hayes, and my grandmother, Queen Hayes.
This is my second cousin, Felicia Hayes, and my grandmother, Queen Hayes.

I wonder how many people have heard the phrase “do not wear out your welcome.”  Hum . . . I first heard the expression from my grandmother when I was young.

Back when I was once a kid, and a know-it-all, it seemed my late maternal grandmother would always say those words to my cousins, my siblings and me.  I’m not sure how my family members took her wisdom; but back when I was a child I thought my grandmother was old, uncaring, uneducated, mean-spirited, and truly out of touch with the mental and emotional needs of the young.  [chuckle]

I can remember as if it was yesterday sassing her for this or that.  But nothing stands out more than the time she would not let me go over to my cousin’s house as often as I wanted.   And, sadly, it was late into my adult years before I understood the meaning ‘do not wear out your welcome.’

As I’m looking back on things and reflecting upon how I dismissed her words of caution, I now understand why my life was filled with heartaches.

I hate to admit to myself but I deserved all the bumps I got from being hardheaded; and my self enlightenment really makes me feel foolish about things I had blame on others.

Well, any-who-how . . . It was by divine revelation I found the phrase in the Bible one day.  I was shocked!  It was amazing to read that God gives his children the same warning!

Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house– too much of you, and they will hate you. Proverbs 25:17

The message I get from this passage is:  don’t be so darn clingy!  Get a life!  Explore parts of your life without others.  Enjoy family when can.  And remember a bit of you goes a long ways.

I’m coming to terms with my granny’s wisdom.  My grandmother has passed but her words live on.  And each day that I live I think about her abrasive and unharness wisdom.  I’m learning she was indeed the smartest woman I will ever know and most of all she loved me.

Vocabulary Mondays: surreptitiously

Lilly's Wedding Quilt2Recently, I purchased a new Amish love story by Kelly Long.  She’s a new author for me.  But I needed something to read and enjoy during moments of downtime.  And the title Lilly’s Wedding Quilt intrigued me.  So it was plucked off the shelf and placed into my basket with great anticipation for a romantic adventure.  But my limited vocabulary has made it hard for me to enjoy the book.  As I reflect upon my frustrations in having to stop reading to look for the meanings of words I probably will never use I find my behavior childish.  Honesty, I feel my juvenile outlook during reading this book keeps me stagnant in building my vocabulary.  So to keep me interested in reading what seems to be a great novel I have decided to use the words I do not know on Vocabulary Mondays.

Word:  surreptitiously

Part of Speech:  adjective

Meaning from Dictionary.com:

  1. obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.  
  2. acting in a stealthy way.
  3. obtained by subreption; subreptitious.

Word usage in “Lilly’s Wedding Quilt”:  “She blinked her eyes, licking surreptitiously at a splat of rain that dripped past her mouth, then spoke the first thing that came to her mind.”