NewBlackMan (in Exile): Trinity United Pastor Otis Moss III Speaks Back to...

NewBlackMan (in Exile): Trinity United Pastor Otis Moss III Speaks Back to...

NewBlackMan: Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture (part one)

NewBlackMan: Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture (part one): Anderson Cooper details the results of a study commissioned by AC360° to explore children's perception of race. In Part I of the...

Lop-sided Relationships

I was born when the sun was passing through the constellation, Libra. One of the symbols of Libra is the scales, the scales of justice that establish and protect balance.  As a Libran my constitution is one that is drawn, consciously or subconsciously toward balance.  I very often see both sides of an issue, drawn to neither one nor the other but taking value from each.  (This also accounts for the Librans terrible reputation for being indecisive!)

Balance applies to virtually every aspect of life, without balance disorder and chaos would ensue.  Currently the world financial systems are out of balance and this is causing reverberations throughout the world.  Practically every world economy is off balance.  This balance is further thrown off kilter by the growing ferocity in the disparity between rich and poor.

 But let us talk about relationships, shall  we?  Balance also applies to relationships.  When two people find themselves attracted to each other and decide to come together whether for an anonymous hook-up or an extended period of time, they hardly realize their attraction is based on a conception (or lack thereof) of balance.  This primordial phenomenon is based on positive, negative and neutral energy. To some extent we learn about this in chemistry.  But these three currents, positive, negative and neutral move far beyond chemistry.  They apply to almost every aspect of life.  For example, relationships.  Women represent the negative force of life. This is completely unrelated to "negative" connotations.  In this regard, negative means that which receives, nurtures, that which provides all the complicated and necessary attributes that allow things to grow and mature or re-act.  Men on the other hand represent the positive force of life; that which makes, distributes, gets, that which is active and moves outward, that which  acts. 

Both negative and positive aspects have the same work to do, one being as important and vital as the other but they do it in different ways.  The male force or the positive force sends out, the female or negative force receives.  One acts, the other re-acts. The male acts by sending or projecting his seed into the vagina.  The vagina then re-acts by processing  or receiving  and nurturing the seed. In this respect sending is positive, receiving is negative.

So relationships, successful relationships, that is, are based upon and established by balance.  When learn this in chemistry when we mix chemicals together. If there is a balance the potion is successful. If there is no balance or harmony between the chemicals...well that's when accidents and explosions happen.  But what happens when a personal, familial or intimate relationship is out-of-balance, when it is lop-sided (one side is heavier than the other)?  The same thing that happens in chemistry: there are accidents, flare-ups, and explosions!

There are different kinds of lop-sided relationships such as the May-December relationship, the Income or Class relationship, the Inter-racial relationship, the Religious/Political relationship  and the Education relationship, to name a few.  All these relationships contain disparities between the parties, all real, not imagined. When there is disparity that means the balance is thrown off. Very often in lop-sided relationships the balance of power is thrown off, one person has more power than the other and using it over the other.   Understand, power is NOT just about money.  Humans are constructed in such a way that we are able to manipulate power on different levels, so that it can be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.

In a May-December relationship, the disparity is in age: one person is older than another.  There is a disparity of seven months between May and December.  In these relationships one person is significantly older than the other.  Let us set the bar a ten years. When there are ten or more years between the parties in a relationship that is one decade of culture, one decade of knowledge, one decade of experience, one decade of maturity that one of the parties does not have.   And let us face it, the true nature and attraction of May-December relationships is S-E-X! These relationships hardly survive outside the bedroom. 

In a Class or Income relationship one party is makes more money than the other or comes from a "better" class of people than the other.  This is exacerbated if the man is the one making less.  While some form of attraction may draw them together, until "love" is established and firmly planted, differences in class and income can cause significant problems in a relationship.  The way a couple handles money can be an indicator of how healthy or unhealthy the relationship is.  One cannot be a spend-thrift while the other is a penny-pincher. 

I include Inter-racial relationships here because, despite progress in the status of African-Americans in the United States there is still a gross disparity in race relations between Blacks and Whites.  Statistics in virtually every area of American life, bare this out.  I hardly think it possible for this not to affect an inter-racial couple. They can be attracted to each other and in love as they want to be but when society impinges upon  your relationship from the outside, it cannot help but cause problems.  I could be completely wrong here, but I suspect there was some tension in the Loving household, between Richard (white) and Mildred (Black)  (Loving v. Virginia, the landmark civil rights case that determined that barring inter-racial marriage was unconstitutional).

Religious/Political relationships can cause severe intensity particularly where the upbringing of  children are concerned.  These two things, Religion and Politics, were are told, should not be discussed among strangers or in introductory relationship because of the fire and intensity they invoke.  To be in a relationship with this sort of intensity (where it is a dealbreaker) would simply predict an early end.

The Education component here is similiar to the class or income issue.  No one likes to feel stupid or ignorant.  When one party is obviously more intelligent, learned, well-read or educated than the other it can make the other feel  insignificant or even left out.  This  is not a good feeling to nurse. 

I would be intrigued to know the success rate of lop-sided relationships. I would prognosticate the success rate as relatively low, success being ten years or more.  If we look at the media we have a pretty good view of May-December relationships, from Ivana Trump to Demi More to Halle Berry, all (previously) connected to younger men a decade or more younger.  There are a few things that will permit a lop-sided relationship to not only survive, but thrive. They are

1.  Maturity-this only comes with age and/or experience.
2.  The ability to communicate your thoughts, concerns and desires.
3.  Empathy-the ability to connect with,  absorb or experience another's feelings.

These three things will allow any relationship to succeed, even when forces are impinging from the outside.  Romeo and Juliet were ill-fated, so too were Tony and Maria from West Side Story, an adaption of Romeo and Juliet.  Romeo and Juliet were "from two households, both alike in dignity,"  they were from the same class, socially.  Tony and Maria, while they too were from the same "same side fo the tracks", suffered the additional indignity of race between the whites and the puerto ricans.  Romeo and Juliet's families were like the Hatfields and the McCoys.  Each couple's love was not permitted to survive because of forces outside their relationship.  It would be nice to have these stories revisted to see them survive and continue their relationships even in the presence of outside forces beating on them like waves against a craggy shore.  In such an instance I would suspect only removing themselves from the presence of their families and environment would give them succor and allow the love they have to blossom.

Balance contributes to the success of all things:  day and night, good and evil, feast and famine. When things fall out of balance there is a price to be paid for the restoration of balance.  Let us be mature, communicative and empathetic in our relationships, no matter what their nature. Let us keep things, in balance.

The Most Scenic Beaches in the World

I was previously not a beach person (being black and all) but our boss took us on a 9 day cruise in the Carribbean. I have a terrible problem with motion sickness so the cruise was abject misery for me, but the stop in St. Thomas was fantastic.  The island is loaded with delicious duty free shopping opportunities.  We were lucky enough to get a tour guide who took us to a small beach which was sparsely populated.  It was glorious!  The magnificent and stunningly clear azure waters of the Carribbean (yup, we were on the Carribbean side, not the Atlantic) were amazing.  It was sort of a grotto beach, tucked into an inlet.  After lullying around in the salt water, upon exiting I felt like I have just been to a spa.  Now I love the beach, but  I am a beach snob, though.    I abhor beaches with throngs of people crawling around like roaches.  Now I harbor ambitions to visit some of the  most scenic beaches of the world.  Here are some of them:

1.  Anse Source D'Argent, La Digue, Seychelles. Splendidly scenic!  I could die here!

2.  Fernando de Noronho, Brazil (archipelego).  I could build a little hut and be very happy here!

3. The Beaches of Mauritius, Africa.  Now, this is glorious!

4.  Phi-Phon Don Beach, Thailand.  Heaven on Earth!

5.  West Railay  Beach, Thailand.  I can see me walking this beach!

6.  Zakynthos Beach, Greece

7.   Whitehaven Beach, Queensland, Australia.  Ever since I saw "Rabbit Proof Fence", I have no use for Australia.  But this beach is worthy.

And let us not forget the beaches of Aruba!

If the world does not end on December 21, 2012, lol, I'll See ya on the beach!

Let's Go Beat Up A Woman!

Yeah, let's go beat up a woman! Yep, you heard me, let's go beat up a woman.  They are doing it all over the South.  In many states (primarily of the Southern persuasion and who are also among the poorest and least educated in the country) they are beating up women by launching relentless attacks on their reproduction rights and healthcare.   They are feverishly chipping away at Roe v. Wade by attaching all kinds of restrictions on reproductive care such as no late term abortions or abortions after 5 months  (which, I think, is a viable compromise considering the intensity of the issue) to taxing women who take advantage of abortions to forcing them to view the ultrasounds and 24-72 hour waiting periods for abortions and "anti-abortion consutlations".  This is actually rather cunning and clever, qualities usually associations with Republicans.  Rather than attach Roe v. Wade directly they are going in through the back door as it were, using the "rights" of the State to regulate its citizenry, over the

At the same time they throw still more punches at women by preventing them for obtaining insurance and/or insurance through employers (objections coming from...where else but "religious" folk) which cover reproductive health, including contraception.  They also do not want young girls understanding reproductive health or have access to contraception so they block sex education in secondary schools.

This faction apparently prefer their women barefoot and pregnant, at home taking care of the chilin's.  Somehow they did not get the memo that women have come a long way and are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves what they wish to do when they become pregnant.   Anti-abortion folk seem to think when a woman chooses abortion she does so lightly and without any susceptibility to emotional pain or a whit of morality.  For many women there is a grievous amount of emotional pain over terminating a pregnancy, which does not go away with the fetus, but trails them most of their lives.  They make a decision they feel is right for them, a decision they must live with for the rest of their days.  As far as I am concerned that is a sort of purgatory which cannot be escaped.   Just as each of us must one day answer for the way we spent our energy during incarnation, so too must these women account for their decision.  Abortion is between a woman and her God.

For those who believe otherwise, where are they when the child is born?  How much money per month are they contributing to the welfare of the child?  Have they opened or promised  their hearts and homes to these unborn?  What kind of funds have they set aside for the education of the child?  How much and to what degree are they willing to be responsible for the child?  They believe they have the authority to dictate the decision that a woman can make regarding her reproduction health and welfare so why are these people not volunteering to save these unborn by taking them into their charge and care, if they are so concerned?

This issue of pro-life, abstinence only education, no access to contraception can be lumped into the same category as gay rights.  They are judgment calls, efforts by zealots to gain control over the behavior and constitution of their fellow men whom they believe are morality and ethically bankrupt.  The majority of these people come from "The Heartland" of America, vast spaces of the American landscape devoid of culture and personality.  They eschew the "refinements of society" and progress because, in a sense, they consider them a pathway  to  Sodom and Gomorrah.  But were they more astute they would understand progress is the path of life itself.  As Gibran says in The Prophet, "life moves forward, not backward, nor tarries with yesterday."  Progress brought us the printing press, the Enlightenment and the Reformation; progress brought us untold medical and scientific advances; progress has made our government more equitable, just and representative; progress has brought our world closer together (if only from the standpoints of communications;  progress is inevitable and necessary.  Without it we would still be groping around in the Dark Ages. 

Women are fighting back but they need more help, more help from the sane folks in the rest of the country.  The anti-abortion faction wants to wield the power of government when it comes to abortion but they want to deny the power of government when it comes to gun control;  they want to deny the power of government when it comes to government itself  and taxation;  they want to deny the power of government in the life of the individual. So much inconsistency.  But such is the case with insanity.


http://jezebel.com/5889998/your-depressing-digest-of-proposed-state-anti+abortion-laws
anti-abortion proposals by state, be sure to read the comments.

http://news.yahoo.com/impact-state-anti-abortion-laws-hard-gauge-191411739.html
effect of anti-abortion laws in question

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/stop/archives/008301.html
states by anti-abortion, pro-abortion.

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/a/abortion.html
  a brief history of abortion in the

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-07-23-anti-abortion-laws_n.htm 
late terms bans and fetal based on fetal pain assertions

How Insensitive

Billy Crystal told a joke at the latest Annual Academy Awards regarding the Oscar nominated movie, The Help.  He said (and I am paraphrasing) that after he saw the movie, he wanted to go out and hug a black actress but being in Hollywood he had to travel for 45 minutes before he could actually find one. There was, of course, laughter but the laughter was not uniform.  Mixed in was nervous and unconfortable laughter, the kind that makes you wonder if you should actually be laughing after the initial humor wears off and you realize the joke was tainted.

There were black folk, myself included, who felt the joke was in poor taste and badly delivered.  This of course, launched the white folk into their defense mode where they say black folk are being too sensitive.  I always find such a position from white folk curious.  I mean think about it for a moment:  a white person is going to tell a black person they are being too racially sensitive?  Really?  I can see one black person telling another black person they are being too racially senstive.  I can see one Asian person telling another Asian person they are being too racially sensitive. Why is this?  A person who identifies with another must have a common ground or identity with which to identify.  When a woman is experiencing that time of month, her man very often tells her she is being too sensitive.  Yet he has no idea what a period feels like emotionally or physically.  Upon what grounds does he base his authority to tell her she is being too sensitive? 

Now do not misunderstand me.  I will be the first one to admit there are times when black folk are being too sensitive, myself included.  I remember my first car, a jeep grand cherokee, Laredo.  When people would say to me, "that's a nice car," I often said to myself, "what they are really saying is, "that's a nice car for a black person."  When we moved into our new office at work it was rather sparsely decorated.  An employee from another law firm came down to see our new digs.  I happened to mention to her jokingly, that our office looked like a bail bond office.  She said, "I've never been in a bail bond office".  I thought to myself, "bitch, neither have I."  But to clarify matters in our little town, a crop of bail bond offices have popped up on main street and in the business district.  Since I walk and drive around town I see them close up.  They are always sparsely populated with a desk and maybe two chairs. 

At any rate, I often catch myself wondering if there are times when I am being too racially sensitive.  What folks need to understand about racial sensitivity (folks who don't understand it, that is), is that the sensitivity exists for a reason.  It is based upon a history of mistreatment, oppression and exclusion, that sadly, still exists today.  Were racism and prejudice actually a thing of the past, white folk would be on point.  But facts such as Billy Crystal alluded to in his joke are present and potent.  Why people think it is funny that there are few black actresses in Hollywood is where the insolence creeps in.   There are few black actress in Hollywood, few roles for blacks in Hollywood, period.  How many Black filmakers are there?  How many Black senators are there?  How many senior level black executives are there?  How many black partners at law firms are there?  Hell, forget about black folk for a moment and ask the same of any minority, women included!  This question stretches across every aspect of American society.  And yet,  WE are being too sensitive. 

No doubt some of us minority folk are too sensitive.  But whence cometh this sensitivity?  Are we imagining it?  Is racism and prejudice actually a thing of the past?  Are we truly in a post-racial world?  The answer is a flat out No, on all points!  Were this so, the structure and foundation of American society would reflect it.   There are still echelons in American society where you will not see a face of color.     If you are not a minority and claim no empathy or association with one, then what do you know of their sensitivity?  Perhaps it is time for white folk to stop challenging minorities for being too racially sensitive and to ask themselves are they being too insensitive.

The Most Visually Stunning Libraries of the World

With the introduction of the iPad and the Kindle we have witnessed another revolution in the evolution of the printed word.  We should remember that books, as we know them today, only came about in the late Renaissance in the mid 16th century.  Johannes Gutenburg and his Gutenburg Bible made astounding advances for the printed word and its dissemination throughout Europe.  Prior to the introduction of the printing press books had been hand written for centuries on anything from papyrus to linen, which makes such artifacts called incunables (books published before 1501 A.C.E.), priceless and their knowledge the property of an exclusive few. 

Once the printing press took off, though, books were published by the tens of thousands, literacy increased exponentially.  This, no doubt laid the foundation for the Enlightenment, built as it was upon the rights of man and the investigation of knowledge through empiricism, which provided a none-too desired retrenchment from the authority of the church.  Martin Luther and Erasmus were among the most popular authors after the advent of the printing press!

But today, we face the foreseable demise of the book, that delicious and delightful instrument of knowledge, of fancy and entertainment.  I love the feel of a book as you hold it, carry it, turn its pages and absorb the written word.  I work on a computer all day!  The last thing I want to do is read for my own satisfaction on a screen. I will always have books, though I have come to a place where it has become absolutely necessary to start purging my collection because of space.  I want to make tribute to the book and its sacred temple, the library.  I have assembled a list of the most visually stunning libraries in the world, in my humble opinion.  These libraries play to my architectural and interior design sensibilities.  None of the modern libraries are included because I find their austerity unappealing. 

The Royal Library, El Escorial, Spain

Abbey Library of St. Gall, Switzerland

Admont Abbey Library, Austria

Melk Monastery Library, Austria



University of Coibria General Library, Coimbria, Portugal

Library of Queens College, Oxford, England

The Library at Wiblingen Monastery, Ulm, Germany

Canadian Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada

The Library at the University Club, New York, NY

Stiftsbibliotek, Kleusterneuburg, Austria

The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., USA

Some of the most visually stunning libraries in the world are in Austria. I would love to go to Austria just to tour the libraries of the abbeys.  For the longest time monks were the only ones with access to books.  Imagine the unbridled, unfathomable treasures in the Vatican library!  In the 20th century the libraries of the great colleges are what drew many applicants to Harvard and Yale and other prestigious colleges and universities.  Sadly many of these libraries today have become testaments to modernism, celebrating austerity and sleekness. 

God bless the book!  God bless knowledge!  God bless the Library!

Bored of Education

Over the past couple of years it has been brought to the attention of the American public that America is no longer amoung the top ten countries in science and math and reading.  This fact has come to be tied in with the understanding that it is science and math which allow countries to be competitive in the area of production and invention.  As America has lost its coveted place on the top ten, we have been lamenting the fact that this is going to drastically affect our statuts as a world power in the future. 

There are things in this country that we discuss with great fervor but with a particular lack of resolve, two of them affecting children directly, namely education and their health and welfare.  We talk fervently about the state of education in this country.  But what we are really talking about though, is the state of education in minority or underserved communities.  This simple fact accounts for one of the reasons that pretty much nothing will be done, because it involves minorities and underserved communities. Where there are issues in education in predominantly white schools, those issues are taken care of and pretty much never see the light of day.  However, in minority/underserved school districts problems are permitted to linger and fester.  Statistics in education that we are most acquainted with are primarily statistics about how bad a school or district is doing.  This is in keeping with our concept of "news", that it is the bad stuff that gets the attention of the populace.  Those schools or districts are overwhelming minority/underserved in their demography.

Society has a tendency to judge serverely those who are on its lower rungs and to leave their welfare to the fates.  Yet, it is said you can judge a country by the way it treats its poor.  Further, it is a primary tenent of most religions that the poor are to be cared for. We forget that the poor own or possess nothing, therefore they have no "titled" interests.  Without such interests or a possibility of obtaining them the future usually looks pretty bleak.  It is such bleak futures that lead to riot and revolution, which it is the duty of the State to prevent by investing in its infrastructure.  The greatest pilar that underpins the "consent to be ruled" is security and protection of the populace.  The population agrees to abide by and be bound by the rules and regulations of government in return for security and protection.  When the poor are unemployed and unemployable, their lack of security threatens the security and peace of the upper classes.   We saw this with the revolutions in France in 1789 and Russia in 1917.

 People seem not to be able to make the connection that if you secure the foundation (the poor, and in some instances the middle class) you secure that which it is built upon.  The poor are the foundation of any country the same way that the legs are the foundation of the body.  In Hinduism there is the concept of the Body of Brahman.  The Body of Brahman is composed of the head, the arms and shoulders, the torso and the legs and feet.  It is said that each section represents a caste or group of people.  The head represented the priests; the arms and shoulders the nobles or aristocracy; the torso the merchants; and the legs and feet were the poor, servants and laborers.   Ever since I learned this I have believed the Hindus misapprehended the teaching (bold, right?)  If you think about it intelligibly, no one part of the body is more important than another, you need the entire body to function properly.  What good is the body without a head, or the legs without the torso?  I suspect the teaching was supposed to convey that we each are born with a tendency toward something,  a tendency toward study and scholarship, a tendency toward entrepreneurship, a tendency toward the service industries.  I am still trying to figure out the purpose of the nobles!   These tendencies, if we are permitted the freedom to develop as individuals, lead us to our career paths.  Such is the glory of the Western nations, with their underpinnings of democracy.

And let us be clear, there is a difference between investing in your population and throwing money at it to keep the peace.  One leads to a healthy ecomony and healthy population, the other to complacency and indolence.  This can be seen clearly at work in the economies of Germany, China and to a lesser extent Japan (which has stumbled).  Each of these economies invested in its infrastructure and a decade or so later reaped the benefits.  In the US we do not invest in infrastructure, as a nation.  We invest in what is going to give us the quickest, fatest return.  The heart and soul of investment is growth.  What better prospect of growth than an investment in education?  What greater prospect to a better city, state or country that an investment in the people who live and work there?

We need a true Board of Education, one which has as its sole function, the health and welfare of the school district.  This should work in conjunction with a yearly audit of the school system from top to bottom.  Too often the news simply portrays the problems with education as having to do with teachers, but teachers are merely one aspect dictated to by an administration, which is more often that not, top heavy.    The problems in education seem complicated and intricate.  Yet concomittantly they are simple when the focus is put back on education itself.  Once we do this and get back on track, we will no longer be "bored" of education. 

Home Is Where the Heart Is!

When I was 19 years of age, my mother and step-father decided to expel my 1st brother and I from their home; my mother came in to my room one day and said she and my step-father had been talking and they decided we (my brother and I) should be sent to Tennessee to live with her relatives.  The thought of this horrified me and I decided to leave home on my own.  This did not work out for me and I ended up living in the back of a welfare motel for about a week.  The windows did not lock.  Somewhere between being petrified with fear and crying all night, I would fall asleep.   I had gone back home to my parents to ask if I could pay them my hotel money to stay until I found a more permanent solution.  My step-father refused my offer and cast me out into the world.  I had never seen such hatred in a person's eyes as he told me I could not afford to pay him enough money to sleep in his bed, use his bathroom, live in his house.  This episode cut me deeply and I still nurse it deep in the recesses of my being. 

Not too long ago something occurred to me.  I am now living in my fifth space some 25 years later and I have never actually felt like I had a home.  I never actually settled into a place.  I always felt the quarters were temporary, that I would be leaving or would be unexpected ejected.  This feeling was underpinned by a fear of losing everything I had and being out on the streets, just like when my parents cast me out.  I became fiercely independent not asking anyone for anything, even when I needed or deserved help.  These feelings were fears that have haunted me for the past 25 years. 

I have been in my current loft for 2 years now.  There was a confluence of circumstances that got me into this place, so striking that I could not help but understand that I was meant to be here.  This time, though, I am making myself at home!  I can scarcely afford to live here, how I am actually doing it is beyond me.  But as long as I can buy food and gas for my car and go to the movies here and there or purchase some books or freak out on iTunes...I am o.k.  Being a home body helps, I suppose.  I love my home.  It is my spiritual center, the battery that re-charges my life on a daily basis. 




Sometimes I despise people and wonder what cruel, malicious fate has place me on this planet, in this time, in this place.  That's when I lock myself inside my little cavern and nurse my wounds.  Surrounded by my furniture, my artwork, my statues, my books, my piano and objets d'art, I could scarely imagine a better place to nurse myself.  I love beauty and to be surrounded by it is like being nourished on spiritual levels.  You can hardly look anywhere in my space without seeing art. 

None of it has any value whatsoever and this does not bother me in the least.  I do not need an original this or an original that.  I cannot believe the ghastly amounts of money people spend on artwork and furniture.  Many of their purchases could fund entire countries!

I have decided to call this place, my home.  I want to make connections here, have memories here, love here, be here and stop running from a past I fear will overtake and destroy me.  Somewhere I am going to have to find the strength to release my parents from their actions, actions which created a sort of monster in me, but which also gave me the life I have now.  They say that, "living well is the best revenge".  I think I live well.  But I also think it's my turn, now. My turn to live free from the demons of my past so that I can see a brighter future.  It's my turn!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

If I could plan a dinner party with anyone in the world, living or dead, there are only two people I would actually like to dine and talk with.  They are two men, brothers or a sort, really, that hold a special place in my heart.  If I could walk with them and talk with them there would be nothing else left for me in life (well, except go into space). 

These two men symbolize many things, light and life, wisdom and love, East and West.  From the

East comes  Siddharta Gautama,the Lord Buddha.  He is light and wisdom, the effulgence of knowledge known as enlightenment, resting in the mind.  And from the West comes, Jesus, the Christ.  He is life and love, the ultimate sacrifice which generates life on new levels, resting in the heart.  These two great sons of God together form two sides of the same coin, as it were.

I sometimes imagine there would actually be very little to talk about with these two.  Just sitting in their presence and soaking up their energy would be enough for me, particular with Jesus.  I remember the woman in the New Testament, who said to herself, "If I could but touch the hem of his garment, I would be healed."  She didn't need to talk to him or hear words of wisdom, all she believed necessary was just touching the him of his caftan or his robe.  Such is faith, I suppose.  And the Buddha, I have no less than ten representations of him in my home.  I love that serene expression that rests on his face as he experiences Samadhi or Beatitude as the Christian mystic might say.  There is so much to study in that expression.

If I could have something from each of them (not question, for there is little that I would question of these two, their teachings really answer much that human nature struggles to understand), I would ask for the sensation of just a touch of the light, just a bit of the love they experience so that I could hold it in my heart and in my mind as a little nugget, a treasure to recall and nurse.   

On Your Knees!

Falling to your kness is usually a sign of humility before a subject or circumstance.  Such a posture or position generally concludes submission.  But taken in the context of sexuality does it conclude submission or could it be construed as an act of power?  In other words, when you drop to your knees to perform oral sex, either fellatio or cunnilingus, are you being forced to  submit  or do you have the power to force submission?

I suspect that one could conclude the act of submitting or the act of forcing submission depends on the personality or temperament of the actors.  Some folk who perform oral sex on their mate are in perfect control of the situation, having learned what makes their mate submit or knowing the body well enough to understand the most potent errogenous zones.  This is a kind of power or control that women have wielded over men for centuries, the power of seduction and sexual manipulation. 

Then there are those who submit through acts of fellatio or cunnilingus as they are dominated by the other actor.  These folks suffer the humiliation and domination imposed by the other actor in the same way Monica Lewinsky did with President Clinton and for the same reasons, I suspect.  I remember her saying it gave her pleasure to give him pleasure when she was being made a farce of because women thought it was degrading to give a man pleasure without him giving pleasure in return. Ms. Lewinsky's position was that her pleasure was derived from giving the President pleasure.
She submitted to his power. 

Falling on your knees can be an act of humility and submission or it can be an act of power and control in sexual relationships.  I find the psychology of this act intriguing because it determines what you are giving and what you are taking from sex and how your needs are being met during the act.  But I suppose such thoughts are not important during the act, eh?

The Eyes Have It!

Now, I ask you!  Is this fair, is this fair for a man to look like THIS, to be this fine?

Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson was a renaissance man in the truest sense.  A star athlete, opera singer, actor, civil rights activist, Mr. Robeson is one of the brightest lights in the firmament of 20th century Afro-American history.  On occasion I wander over to YouTube just to listen to his voice.  In this brief interview you hear his deep resonate voice talking about Shakespeare's Othello and you can peer into his keen intellect and philosophical temperament.

We Need A...Gladiator

In the movie, Gladiator, Russell Crowe played a Roman general in the service of the Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher Caesar.  He is betrayed by Caesar's son, having his family (his wife and son) murdered and his property vandalized to ruin.  He escapes the same fate, only to be captured and turned into a slave put in the service of entertaining the masses as a gladiator.

In this movie, one of my favorites, I was profoundly struck by the character Crowe brought to the screen.  He was a leader of such unparalleled moral strength, integrity, determination and valor that his men committed their lives to his care without hesitation.  His character so impressed me that I would have gladly given my life over to service under his command!  His men knew their leader would never abandon them, that whatever action he asked of them it was not for ill or a pointless sacrifice, that he would not ask of them anything he himself would not do.  That is the kind of leader that is fit to command men!

I often long for such a leader in today's world, one who would command the allegiance of men based upon the strength of his character and the integrity of his vision. I wish these were characteristics that President Obama were gifted with.  The president (and I hardly follow politics, so take whatever I have to say with a grain of salt) seems to give quarter at every opportunity, scarcely taking the reins of leadership and directing the country.  He seems to capitulate on every issue that is brought before him, the latest being the issue of employees having access to birth control from the insurance provided by their employers. Some of these employers, religious folk being the most vocal, protest providing such care on grounds  that it conflicts with their morality (yeah, I thought that was funny, too!). 

Now, a leader leads.  A leader does not follow.  President Obama, I must confess, has given me a new found respect for George W. Bush!  Yup, I said it.  President Bush, though I cared not for him or his administration, at least led, he did what he wanted and that was it.  President Obama wants to do things but is so disgustingly conciliatory that I believe he is diminishing his value as a leader.  A leader tells you what the plan and the vision is and then bends all resources to that end, whether you like it or not.   You go along or get out of the way.  I worry for President Obama and predicted exactly what he has become:  The David Dinkins of the White House. I  thought it was too early for a black man to appear in the White House and wished he had waited until the country recovered from almost a decade of George W. Bush.  But alas, it was not to be.  I worry about what President Obama's legacy will be precisely because he is a black man and there is so much riding on his presidency as the first black president.

Though, we should stop calling him a black president.  The man is bi-racial.  I sometimes think it a measure of disrespect to his white mother to always call him black instead of bi-racial.    But that is the "one-drop rule" still lurking around in the American consciousness, that if you have even one drop of black blood in your veins you are considered black for all intents and purposes.  This was a law at one time in the early 20th century. Many states passed laws called Racial Integrity Acts, meant to further relegate people of African descent and circumscribe their activity in American society. 

People want to follow a strong leader, they want to know they are in good hands.  If there are sacrifices to be made on his watch, a good leader makes those sacrifices with his subjects, he will not ask of his people what he himself will not do.  Though President Obama has eloquence at his fingertips  (a small accessory to leadership) he needs strength and determination to overcome the obstacles republicans throw his way.  He needs to understand there are times when it is necessary to be unyielding as a leader so the people are able to identify your character and principles.   He does not seem to understand or be in tuned with the people, their needs and prayers, if you will. 

Yes, what we need is NOT a hero, but a Gladiator!

My Bucket List (For Nature)

Ever since the premier of the movie, The Bucket List, folks have been compiling their own lists!  I am no different, but being a typical Libra I have many lists.  This is my Bucket List for Nature, places of unrivaled beauty that would be a feast for my senses: swimming in pristine waters, gazing upon gargantuan mountain ranges towering above verdant valleys, breathing crisp clean air, standing next to magnificent trees that have stood sentinel for centuries on a forest floor.  Nature is astounding in its breadth and I long to see and sample it!

1.  The Valley of the Ten Peaks
     Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Canada is a massive country, much of it unspoiled or unpolluted by the commercial and industrial pursuits of mankind.  This mountain range, the valley of the ten peaks, hovering over this enchanting lake, I have found alluring ever since I first happened upon a picture of it.  I can just imagine the crisp, clean air with a slight chill and the vast pool of shimmering water with hues of blue and turquoise and green!

2.  The Sequoias
     Sequoia National Park, The Sierra Nevada, California

I have always been fascinated by trees.  And the trees in the Sequoia National Park are centuries old and tall beyond imagining.  I think it takes almost two dozen people, holding hands, to surround one.  Imagine standing in solitude for centuries while the world moves around you, being wrapped in the garments of the seasons.

3. The Great Seas of the World

 Often when I watch a movie I pay close attention to the surroundings.  In the remake of the Clash of the Titans and the Pirates of the Carribean series, they visit some of the most sterling waters on the planets.  The seas  of Greece,  the Aegean and Ionian, and  the Carribean never cease to mesmerize me, bound as they are by stunning cliffs and coastlines.

4.  New Zealand

Ever since the Lord of the Rings, I have longed to see this pristine island in the South Pacific with its phenomenal mountain, cradling valleys with clear lakes and springs and fields that go on for miles.

5.  Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders) or Victoria Falls
     Between Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa

Sure there is Niagra Falls in my own back yard but I have always dreamed of Victoria Falls.  While it is "not the highest or widest, it does claim to be the largest" in the world.  I love these falls because of the river that snakes through it.  It looks ferocious and unyielding full of danger with its rocks inconveniently jetting out along the river's path.  I want to hear the thunder of the falls, smell the mist as it rises up from the river and feel the spray of the falls. 

6.  Red Wall Canyon      Death Valley National Park, California

There is something about rivers that snake through canyons of towering rock that my mind cannot seem to wrap itself around.  I have had dreams of places such as this where the two elements, water and earth meet.  These were places of such astonishing beauty that I could understand why I would encounter them in a dream, they were unreal!  But the pictures of Red Wall Canyon that I have seen come pretty close to those scenes in my dreams.

7.  The Grand Canyon

Obviously, a given considering the above.  This natural wonder of the world seems to go on forever.  I would love to explore it via plane (not sure I could withstand a helicopter), boat and mule to take as much of it in as humanly possible, to get some clue as to its the breadth and scope.

That is my bucket list for nature.  I am sure I will see some of them in my life time.  They all seem rather similar, of course.  I could probably kill several birds with one stone simply by going to New Zealand!