MENDING THE BROKEN
For several years, I have question the things that tend to be pervasive, prevalent and continually persistent in our communities. Our communities tend to rank at the bottom of all of the positive outcomes that are measured, and our communities tend to rank at the top of all of the negative outcomes that are measured.
Sadly, when you go to most Black communities all across the country, you find that the outcomes are very similar – the people in those communities tend to be at the bottom of the positive lists and at the top of the negative lists.
It would be easy to conclude, as some have, that Black people are inherently bad, evil and negative people. It would be easy to conclude, as some have, that Black people will never have anything good, will never accomplish anything worthwhile and will never make a significant contribution to humanity.
While it may be easy for some to draw those conclusions, I do not desire to do so nor do I believe that those are the appropriate conclusions to be drawn. While I never offered excuses, I have always believed that there are factors that have contributed to the undesired outcomes that have defined our communities. Therefore, I have prayed and meditated for years for revelation of the key factors to be addressed and how best to address them.
The answer that God recently gave to me was “Brokenness”. Consider the following:
§ Many of us have hear the phrase, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” However, if that hand is broken, it cannot sufficiently rock the cradle and provide the nurturing that is needed to feel the love, appreciation, affirmation and value that is necessary to be whole and well.
§ “A bird with a broken wing cannot fly. Neither can it teach a younger bird how to fly.” If I live in an environment where no one else is flying, I will begin to believe that flying is impossible for people who live in my environment. Even worse, I will begin to internalize the inaccurate belief that people in my environment were never meant to fly. Of course, if I am not flying, those around me will never fly as well.
§ In North American slavery, the goal was to break the will and spirit of the slave to ultimately render him/her void of the power necessary to fight. If the slaves’ will and spirit were broken, the masters would never have to worry about the slaves rising up and fighting for their freedom.
Therefore, for 2018, I pray that each one of us begins the prayerful process of inviting God to assist us in doing the following two things:
1. ACKNOWLEDGE AND MEND OUR OWN BROKENNESS
2. ASSIST OTHERS IN MENDING THEIR BROKENNESS
Each month, I will provide a Memory Verse and a Meditation Quote to assist us in looking at and within ourselves, and drawing on the power that we already possess to begin the process of mending our brokenness.
