Poverty of Imagination Is A Sin Against Yourself

Sometimes in life, you have to imagine yourself to where you want to be.  You have to create where you want to be in your life in your mind first, see what no one else can see, and speak, create, and work what only you can imagine into existence.  You especially have to do this when you don't see around you what you aspire to be, see, or do.

The inability to do this is what I would call "poverty of imagination."  I see it all around me.

I even accused a dear friend of mine of suffering from this.  She was taken aback, offended.  I told her that, in imagining all the possible ways a legal conflict could be settled to the benefit of her client, she failed to imagine other options for no other reason than that they had never been done before.

"That, my friend," I declared, "is poverty of imagination."

I then told her the story of my dad and uncle that epitomized  poverty of imagination, as told to me by one of my younger uncles.

When my dad and my uncle, his next oldest brother in age, were young children, they picked cotton alongside my widowed grandmother in the rural South during the 1930's.  My uncle said to my dad, "When we grow up, we're going to be rich, so rich that our mama is going to pick cotton in a SILK dress, not burlap!"  My dad agreed.

Neither of them could imagine the possibility of being so rich that their mother, my grandmother, would not have to pick cotton at all.

Poverty of imagination.  And poverty of imagination is worse than poverty of one's real life situation because the failure to imagine yourself out of your present circumstances will keep you in your present circumstances, no matter what they are.  Even if those circumstances are not dire, if they are not what you want, and what you want doesn't exist, you have to imagine your way out.  Your imagination is the only way out because everything starts with an idea and an intention.

I've seen this with family members who immediately disqualify themselves from a position they're interviewing for because they can't imagine that the hiring powers that be would hire them.  I see this in folks who can't imagine doing anything other than the work they're doing that they hate.  I see it when I sit in meetings and hear coworkers say, "We've just never done it that way before."

Poverty. Of. Imagination.

I believe poverty of imagination is a sin against one's self.  Why?  Who gave you that imagination? GOD!  HE put that ideas in YOU.  HE gives you the ability to imagine something different than your circumstances.  When you don't even try to imagine something different or when you reject something different simply because you've never seen it done before, it's like saying to God, "Nah, I'm good.  What You, Father God, have in store for me?  Nah, I'll pass."

REALLY?  Because what HE has for you is for YOU.  And HE isn't always going to make it appear in the physical realm.  HE puts it in your mind.  It's there for you to imagine, if and only if you are open to it.  If, in the words of The Rock, you are smelling what the Creator is cooking.

Are you?

I'm as guilty as the next person of poverty of imagination.  Right now, there are so many changes happening at my current workplace that I have been asked by coworkers whether I will be staying to see those changes through, whether I have any other plans that would cause me to jump ship, so to speak.  They tell me that the skills and exposure I have gained in my current situation make me extremely marketable as an attorney.  They say these things with what looks like a mixture of curiosity and fear in their eyes.

I told my coworkers that, no, I have no plans to leave until I finish the projects I started.

And then I broke free from my poverty of imagination and spoke my next phase of life into existence by saying this:

"But this is my last legal job."

Suicide, Depression, Forgiveness, and Robin Williams

Robin Williams starred in one of my sister's favorite films, "What Dreams May Come."  In it, he portrays a physician who marries an artist (played by Annabella Sciorra).  They later have two children, a boy and a girl, who are killed in a car accident.  Although the deaths of their children bring them to the brink of divorce, they decide to stay together.  Then the husband dies in a car accident and ascends to Heaven.  Grief-stricken and unable to continue on, the wife kills herself and ends up in Hell, not as punishment, but because the pain that brought on the suicide creates Hell for her in the afterlife.  The husband attempts what had never been achieved: Leaving Heaven to rescue a soul from Hell to bring to Heaven.  He succeeds.

This movie resonates with the African-American Protestant upbringing of my youth to a certain extent:  The idea that suicide on earth equals Hell in the afterlife.  Like many other African-American Protestants, I was taught that suicide was the one unforgivable sin for which you most certainly would be sent to Hell.  "Self-murder," my Baptist mother-in-law called it.  My husband, Black Man Not Blogging (BMNB), tells me he learned in his new membership class at his church that suicide is indeed forgivable.  How can it not be when someone suffering from mental illness commits the act?

Whenever I hear of someone having taken their own life, I wince with the residue of the beliefs of my upbringing.  Now, I question those beliefs.   I can't believe a merciful God is incapable of forgiving someone who is so mentally wounded that he can't bear the pain of another day on this planet.

If suicide is indeed a sin and a forgivable one, I pray that God would forgive Robin Williams.  If suicide is a sin and isn't forgivable, I hope God makes an exception for Robin Williams.

Growing up, I would have put Richard Pryor at the pinnacle of comic genius.  But when you look at the versatility of Robin Williams, tie goes to Robin Williams.  He wasn't like some comedians who were only capable of comedy that appealed to those who shared their race, gender, or class; he made comedy that was funny to everyone.  His mind was so quick, so sharp, so able to bend into different characters, voices, you name it.  And then he could play a dramatic role so moving, such as his roles in "Good Will Hunting" and "The Dead Poets Society," that he reminded you that, yes, he was a top-notch acting student from Julliard.  He gave so much joy to the world and did such good works while he was here.  He deserves divine forgiveness, assuming he needs it.

What should we take away from this tragic loss?  Many things.  You never really know what a person is going through, even if you think you do.  People who are depressed don't always admit it because of shame and stigma.  What looks like addiction to drugs or alcohol may often be self-medication of depression. Depression knows no boundaries -- it strikes the rich and the poor, men and women, and people of all social classes.  Just because someone has all of the makings of success -- wealth, fame, etc. -- doesn't mean they are immune from depression or any other mental illness.

If Robin Williams' soul is in the Hell of my upbringing and of the movie "What Dreams May Come," he's worth some soul in Heaven taking a risk to save him.

Robin Williams, may your soul know the peace that eluded it on earth.

No Weapon Formed Against Ray Lewis Shall Prosper

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

~ Isaiah 54:17 (KJV)

I wouldn't call myself a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan, but I support any California NFL team that makes it to the Super Bowl.

That said, I don't think the 49ers are going to win the Super Bowl this year.  And it's not their fault.

This is Ray Lewis' year, and no weapon formed against him in the pursuit of his final Super Bowl ring will prosper.

I'm not a Ravens fan, either, but you don't have to be to feel the profound love and respect the Ravens have for Lewis.  My husband Black Man Not Blogging (BMNB) always says, "The team that wants it the most always wins."  The desire of the Ravens to bring home that Super Bowl ring for Lewis is palpable.  They've already named it and claimed it in Lewis' name.  Even members of opposing playoff teams have made the pilgrimage across the field or to the Ravens' locker room after losing to the Ravens to pay their respects to Lewis.

Despite Lewis' obvious deep love of God, the game, and his teammates, at least one person of small spirit (a Patriots supporter, no less) has taken the opportunity to attempt to besmirch Lewis, bringing up his murder trial, his children by different women, etc.

Lewis, ever the believer, forgave the woman.  He's content to "let the game take care of the game."

I'm no Bible scholar, either, and whenever I would hear anyone quote Isaiah 54:17, I'd get a little perturbed that they were using it out of context.  God isn't saying that "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" simply because you're you, but because you're aligned with His purpose.  Quoting Isaiah 54:17 to yourself when you're in line to try to snag a pair of Air Jordans, for example, would be a misunderstanding, to say the least.

But maybe, just maybe, it is God's purpose that Ray Lewis win.  God does reward His servants.

That's why, as much as I would love to see the 49ers win, I believe in my spirit that it's Ray Lewis' year, and no weapon formed against him shall prosper.  The best thing the 49ers can do to honor Lewis is to play as a team worthy to take the field with him.

Not of God

The shooting at Fort Hood is sad, puzzling, and disconcerting. What's also sad is that leaders of Muslim communities around the United States had to immediately speak out and distance themselves from the acts of the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, and clarify that his alleged acts did not represent the Muslim community or the Muslim faith.

Was there ever any doubt?

Why is it that when someone of a "marginalized" group goes batshit crazy and does something tragic and fatal, Americans tend to go all Pearl Harbor on the group the crazy person is part of -- whether it's race (Japanese) or religion (in this case, Islam). Don't we know better by now? Don't we know that - or at least I believe that -- there is no faith that would call for or condone the mass slaughter of innocent people? It pains me to know that Muslim places of worship received threatening phone calls within hours of the Fort Hood massacre. Don't we know better by now?

What Major Hasan did, or is alleged to have done, was not of God. Plain and simple. Acts like that are not of God, no matter how many times man or Satan wants to pin evil on God with shouts of "Allah Akbar" (God is Great) or its equivalent. Not of God. Plain and simple.

I would have thought that a so-called "Christian nation" would know that by now.