the big difference between social work majors & other majors is that we DO alot. it's not really a major you can delve into the books and study for. as opposed to other majors that involve studying and memorization.
it reminds me of the story of when Jesus was at Mary's house & long story short, He said sometimes we just need to sit & study the Master & His work rather than always going out to DO His work. Reflect-- Act-- Reflect. you can't spend too much time in either one because you risk the two extremes-- becoming stagnant in reflection & not doing enough or doing too much. sometimes we get so caught up in doing that we end up being uninformed because we don't take time to learn & study.
p.s. this-- scripture included was apart of our devotion time in social work policy class. that i'm still in right now lol
peace, love & light babies :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
A Prayer Before the Journey
God I know in all that I have going on in my personal life, You have a message for someone. Be it for me or for whomever, I just want to make sure that the people I will inevitably reach, both consciously & indirectly, receive all that You have for them regardless of me. I want to take this time of quiet & reflection, of writing & listening, of hearkening to Your voice, & tune into You & Your people. Help me to see the need, give me the words that someone needs to hear. I pray that my life contributes only in a vessel like manner & that You help me to use my experiences for Your glory & for Your work. But please do not allow me to be distracted by these experiences; make the things in my life a light & not a fog around the vision You have for these pieces I'm about to go in on. Help me to release the issues of my life to You daily & in doing so, know that You have it all under control-- what You have for me is indeed for me. When I am tempted to hide behind my words, help me to be transparent. At the same time, remind me of my ego-- this is for Your glory only, not for my own personal benefit or gain outside of getting free. I pray for understanding & for awareness. Help me to see what You see in spite of my own reality & in doing so encourage others to do the same. I pray for Your constant anointing as I embark on these two projects. Speak through me. Breathe through me. I give myself away so You can use me. Guide my hands, my heart & my mind. I love you.
In Your Son's name I pray,
Amen.
In Your Son's name I pray,
Amen.
Friday, January 14, 2011
what i had learned today #2
so a friend of mine who will remain nameless instigated a learning spree today on the twidder, KNOWING that my attention deficit disorder in combination with my thirst, yeah i said it-- THIRST for knowledge would take me over the edge. & so here is what i had learned today on the topic of egyptian mythology & whatnot.
*in a series of tweets to said instigator & all who follow the kid. in the order in which they occurred.
"thoth was often considered to be the heart & tongue of the sun god, ra." poets are the heart & tongue of the Son/God, Yah.
he was also scribe of the gods. #expletives. you make me learn kid. stop lol
ohhh myyyy geeez. & his wife is the concept of truth. efff.
"others say that Thoth created himself through the power of language." so... he SPOKE himself into existence... cool. #imHooked
"He is also the great counselor and the other gods frequently went to him for advice." #Thoth
"his totem animal is the baboon, a nocturnal animal that goes to sleep only after greeting the new day." #Thoth
"He was considered the heart and tongue of Ra as well as the means by which Ra's will was translated into speech." #Thoth
"He, too, was a measurer and [[recorder of time]], as was Seshat."#Thoth
all forms of writing + the measurement of time... that's what dude was responsible for. that's fuggin epic dawg. #Thoth
"After Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he gave her the words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated...
"... and bring forth Horus." #Thoth
"Similar to God speaking the words to create the heavens and Earth in Judeo-Christian mythology, Thoth, being the god who always speaks...
"the words that fulfill the wishes of Ra, spoke the words that created the heavens and Earth in Egyptian mythology." #Thoth
"Thoth... was also considered to have been the scribe of the underworld..." ... a writer's life is a dark one. #kanyeshrug
the name thoth means "thought" & "time"
THE END
needless to say, i'm really feelin this dude here. i'll probably expound & whatnot later.
*in a series of tweets to said instigator & all who follow the kid. in the order in which they occurred.
"thoth was often considered to be the heart & tongue of the sun god, ra." poets are the heart & tongue of the Son/God, Yah.
he was also scribe of the gods. #expletives. you make me learn kid. stop lol
ohhh myyyy geeez. & his wife is the concept of truth. efff.
"others say that Thoth created himself through the power of language." so... he SPOKE himself into existence... cool. #imHooked
"He is also the great counselor and the other gods frequently went to him for advice." #Thoth
"his totem animal is the baboon, a nocturnal animal that goes to sleep only after greeting the new day." #Thoth
"He was considered the heart and tongue of Ra as well as the means by which Ra's will was translated into speech." #Thoth
"He, too, was a measurer and [[recorder of time]], as was Seshat."#Thoth
all forms of writing + the measurement of time... that's what dude was responsible for. that's fuggin epic dawg. #Thoth
"After Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he gave her the words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated...
"... and bring forth Horus." #Thoth
"Similar to God speaking the words to create the heavens and Earth in Judeo-Christian mythology, Thoth, being the god who always speaks...
"the words that fulfill the wishes of Ra, spoke the words that created the heavens and Earth in Egyptian mythology." #Thoth
"Thoth... was also considered to have been the scribe of the underworld..." ... a writer's life is a dark one. #kanyeshrug
the name thoth means "thought" & "time"
THE END
needless to say, i'm really feelin this dude here. i'll probably expound & whatnot later.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
google Soren Kierkegaard
he was a Danish philosopher who understood us poets very well & is responsible for one of my favorite quotes:
[[A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music... and then people crowd about the poet and say to him: "Sing for us soon again;" that is as much as to say, "May new sufferings torment your soul."]]and also for this quote here:
"God is not like a human being; it is not important for God to have visible evidence so that he can see if his cause has been victorious or not; he sees in secret just as well. Moreover, it is so far from being the case that you should help God to learn anew that it is rather he who will help you to learn anew, so that you are weaned from the worldly point of view that insists on visible evidence. (...) A decision in the external sphere is what Christianity does not want; (...) rather it wants to test the individual’s faith."
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What I Had l Learned #nStuff
mmk so if you don't already know, i'm a social work major. and last semester i had to take a class we call practice I. in this class we learned different skill & thangs to use when working one on one with clients to make them feel comfortable, to make breakthroughs, figure out exactly what they need/ what the problem is & so on & so forth yadda yadda yadda. so anyways, today was our first day in practice II & we were sittin around kickin it eatin animal crackers talking about what we learned/ realized in practice I & something kinda hit me.
i realized i had been using some of the skills somewhat unconsciously, even before i knew what they were. a couple in particular though-- containment & reaching into silences. when one on one with a client, containment is knowing how to conduct yourself should a client begin to cry or break down or anything like that. the heart of a social worker wants to immediately jump in with tissues & hug & wipe tears & things but in all actuality these actions could inhibit the person's breakthrough. a lot of times we want to come in & rescue when really the client just needs us to walk them through that time and actually allow them to break.
in and around this time we also practice reaching into silence. it's asking those still soft questions when it gets quiet. it is deciphering what those silences mean. it is looking for the things that are going unsaid. ain't a whole lot to say about this one lol but tact is very important, silence is something you really have to feel your way around because timing & they way you go about it is everything.
in all this reflection i realized that i had been doing these things before i even knew that they were actual social work skills. i used to do this to my friends all the time, i do it now, i did it last night. & i must say it's lowkey kinda cool because for me it's almost like confirmation that this is what i'm supposed. like this is what's already in me to be. it's crazy to think about it yo.
but yeah. i was just thinking about that today lol random epiphanies just come to me sometimes.
anywho. God is Love,
Rev Run
i realized i had been using some of the skills somewhat unconsciously, even before i knew what they were. a couple in particular though-- containment & reaching into silences. when one on one with a client, containment is knowing how to conduct yourself should a client begin to cry or break down or anything like that. the heart of a social worker wants to immediately jump in with tissues & hug & wipe tears & things but in all actuality these actions could inhibit the person's breakthrough. a lot of times we want to come in & rescue when really the client just needs us to walk them through that time and actually allow them to break.
in and around this time we also practice reaching into silence. it's asking those still soft questions when it gets quiet. it is deciphering what those silences mean. it is looking for the things that are going unsaid. ain't a whole lot to say about this one lol but tact is very important, silence is something you really have to feel your way around because timing & they way you go about it is everything.
in all this reflection i realized that i had been doing these things before i even knew that they were actual social work skills. i used to do this to my friends all the time, i do it now, i did it last night. & i must say it's lowkey kinda cool because for me it's almost like confirmation that this is what i'm supposed. like this is what's already in me to be. it's crazy to think about it yo.
but yeah. i was just thinking about that today lol random epiphanies just come to me sometimes.
anywho. God is Love,
Rev Run
BOOM BYE YOW! whoop there it is
I wonder if they know how beautiful they are in this moment. Through the tears & heart ache & that angry hurt that only manifests itself in hot tears & cool words. When all of life is up against them, this is when they are most beautiful. When they band together in struggle it’s like a brilliant mosaic, a four way intersection of four women, 20 years of life behind them, God knows what ahead of them. All they have is each other, here and now in this moment. This is for my strengths. They guard my heart when the threat of loneliness comes to lay siege to my soul. They carry the weight of their individual worlds on their shoulders like atlas but when we’re together they still manage to shrug a little dirt off. my sisters. You have a way about you that makes me want to tell you everything. I have no line of defense strong enough to keep your love in check & I wouldn’t dare deploy it if I did. We are a paradox of hearts, you gird me up with this vulnerable vigor whenever our paths meet. It is phylicia rashad having coffee with michelle Obama. & asata shakur. It is a mary j & lauryn hill duet . it’s a little willow & sojourner. It is rosa parks & zora neale Hurston & nikki Giovanni & ntozake shange. You are my colored girls. Who turned to loving each other when the world said our thick hair and thicker hips were insufficient and too much but never ever enough. Baby this is for you.
To my pookie. I did not know your cousin. but I saw a reflection of the phenomenal woman she was in your tears. & from what I could see there is so much of her in you still. Your heart is a vice grip, your love a strength that holds your family together. I know being a protector comes so easily but if ever you forget what it feels like to be the held instead of the holder, just come out of your room, hook a left and I’ll be asleep on your couch as usual. Come shake the ish outa me & tell me some story that I’ll laugh my hindparts off about simply because you are the one telling it to me. Pookie don’t you ever let nobody else speak for you. They just eff up the details & they’ll be nowhere near as passionate about your life as you are so keep that pedophile smile that goes perfectly with your kevin hart epiphanies & set up an evening fuh yaself… because you will always be my favorite story teller.
To my mojo. I remember the day you called me crying. I prayed that morning would not catch you mourning this lost love, that the sun would not tease you & come up until you were ready to smile again. I prayed that what was to come would be better than what’s been. you kept telling me to go back to sleep. & I kept telling you no. when I told you I would be there whenever I meant it wholeheartedly. But as broken as you were at the time I could see why you thought I might leave so for the record, I’ll repeat myself. Whenever. You need anything. I will stop everything to be by your side. & I wish I had some good ol country down home Monroe, LA metaphor to seal the deal but sadly I’m just not as cool as you so know this—any time you talmbout goin on a fugg shii up spree my nigga it’s nothing. Food stamps just rolled over today & between the four of us we got 5 jobs—we’ont have to take this shii!
To my boogie. The hardest part about having this music box heart of mine is trying to decide which melody to play. I’m not a musician but I have an ear for good music so when I hear you trying to force a smile from your heart I know something is off key in your life. Baby I promise you, it’s okay to break sometimes. See as far as people go, being broken doesn’t make you any less significant, it just means that maybe your heart’s wealth went unrealized in the past. I respect those cracks & crevices to be battle scars & lessons learned. So remember, whether or not you are worthy of this is not up to you to decipher. you will always be my byungajamonetalysiaharissjoshbennetninaruff poem. So keep these words in your heart in case you ever forget who you are & out of its abundance, let your mouth speak these things into being.
To you all. I pray that God redeems all the time & love, heart & light you ‘ve invested in those that never learned the rules of proper reciprocity & I’m overwhelmed with gratitude to Him for allowing me to be involved in the blessings that are your lives intertwined with mine. I’m sorry if you’ve ever caught me staring but there is an enigmatic splendor that burns through your skin& in an otherwise dull world filled with so many anchorless relations but no steadfast relationship, it’s kinda of hard to ignore. I’m sorry for every time I ever hugged you a little too long, a little too tight. I was just trying to reach inside of your heart & bring its desires to life. Let them take in their first breaths, see I have a naïve faith that just can’t seem to understand why soldiers like you shouldn’t have every good thing you deserve. So I’m sorry for those times, when my love was too hard or too heavy—I was just trying to love the hell out of your lives so forgive me if I have sinned. but I’m thinkin God might let me pass on this one.
So in conclusion, thank you. For letting me hold your tears and your hearts. Thank you. For bringing me in & reading me the stories of your lives reflected in those tears, the life in your blood. Thank you for being my lifelines. My sisters. Thank you for being love to me. & in doing so helping me believe in it again.
Addendum: & to all those who have ever had a problem with my sisters, to those of who you got beef right now at this very moment or are even thinkin about startin drama for any reason… run & get done up kiddo. Step to my sisters in an unwholesome fashion & you will ever so cordially be invited to meet the dysfunctional part of me that still can’t figure out why the hell I’m in social work anyways. I swear that girl hates everybody. Idk about catching a grenade or anything, I’m too quick for that. But if you do happen to qualify for any of the above discrepancies I will gladly ensure that you catch these hands in a timely manner that is most appropriate & expeditiously convenient for both of us. Sincerely, management J
Saturday, January 8, 2011
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