Sunday Reflection: Trinity United Church of Christ Chicago

I didn’t get the memo: today must be Africa Day or International Day, I thought to myself as I entered the Trinity United Church of Christ sanctuary Sunday morning.


What a beautiful sight. The entire choir, of about 100 people, was robed in various traditional West African attire.


I took a quick picture. This was President Obama’s church and after the youtube incident, their policies on recording or taking pictures have tightened.

Anywho, I couldn’t find my folks. I thought it would be fairly easy to spot them, with the mindset that this is an African American church so all I have to do is look for the people with outstanding headties and colorful cloths.


The occasion: my little cousin’s baby dedication. Funny enough, all of us 16 deep, wore English attire, save my mom, aunt and a friend with a blendable Ankara skirt under an English top - a style many of the Generation-Y have adopted. However, almost EVERYONE else, the choir, the pastor, the assistants, had on traditional attire. 


I went downstairs and decided I'd better get a seat because the church was filling quickly. I ended up walking in behind two of my friends.  Judy, I didn't know today was African Day.  "They wear this every Sunday."


I sat in awe and amazement. I couldn’t help but to think about how life would be had there not been slavery. Seeing that my analysis could go further, thinking “well, they supposedly brought Christianity to Africa,” I let that go and continued focusing on the choir. There was even a man shaking a shekere. We have one at home. I go to a “Nigerian” church and we don’t even use that.

This was so amazing to me.  At brunch, someone in our group said “I felt more African in this church than in my own church!” Sounds like a conversation with the Pastor is forthcoming.  Although, I will say at our church, traditional attire is encouraged every first Sunday, Thanksgiving Sunday.

I really liked the emphasis on turning the hearts of the father to the children and the children to the father. There were about 8 children dedicated to the Lord yesterday, each wearing white.  The assistant pastor read the parents vows.  Then, the pastor came up to each group. One parent would say the first name, the other parent would say the second name, and the rest of the group was tasked with saying the surname. 


Funny enough, my cousin was the only “African” name, which caused the Pastor to pause to ensure accurate pronunciation.  The pastor dedicated the children each individually, in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.  Then the mother would place a bracelet around the child's wrist.  After that the father’s take their children up to the pulpit. An assistant comes in and places salt, vinegar and honey in each child’s mouth via q-tip. Then the father’s hold up their children in unison, facing east, north, west, and south with a very powerful Lion King-esque style music playing in the background. It was so beautiful!

I wish my eyes could take pictures. I wish I could take pictures with my eyes.

Love keeps no record of wrongs for me

Earlier this week, I thought to myself: it’s a good thing Love keeps no record of wrong because if Love kept a record of wrongs, some people would be really screwed," for lack of a better word.

As I thought about this aspect of love, certain instances and certain people I have observed came to mind.  I would easily place these people in the "fickle" category.  Apparently, whenever they are ready to return to the status quo, they will, regardless of whatever may have transpired during the last encounter. 

I wondered what could possibly be going on in their mind for them to think everything is just okay, whenever they like, without so much as a clarification, explanation, caramel apple, something.  Did they single-handedly delete that part of history? Or independently resolve any qualms the night before, while I was sleeping, no less.  I guess so.  My only justification was that: this particular section of the oft-quoted and inscribed "Love is" scripture reference must be one of their favorite passages, because they are surely taking advantage of it!

How pious of me! As if I have done not anything worthy of being recorded as wrong. As if I am not guilty of the same offense and even worse. As if.

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3

Daily I do things, to others and God, that would leave me speechless and without sensible explanation at the judgment seat.  For example, anytime I doubt the Lord’s leadership and miraculous power, it’s sin because anything done without faith is sin. See Romans 14:23.  Additionally, if all my thoughts were transcribed, well, God please have mercy.

By God’s grace, these wrongs, that would otherwise be recorded if not for love, will decrease.  Meanwhile, I need to change my perspective in my everyday analysis of what or who is really wrong.  When considering what someone else does "wrong," I must weigh my faults greater.  There’s always a plank in my eye and a speck in the other person’s eye, all the time, every time.

The "love keeps no record of wrongs" isn’t for “them,” it’s for me.

What does it mean to be successful?

In this day and age, our Western society has painted the picture that you’re not successful until . . .

Until you finish school.

It doesn’t stop there; you must go past undergraduate; go to graduate school, get your doctorate too; the more letters, the better.

Then, once you graduate, you must pass your board exams . . .

And then, you must get a really good job with a six figure salary, (But if you’re making six figures, you may be too busy to enjoy it, that’s okay, just make the money anyway)

Then are you successful yet? Not yet.

You must also get married, right away, (because you can just go to the market and pick out a good one, like strawberries - yum). Apparently, the quality of the marriage is not given as much value.

Then you must have kids, many kids, like 9 months after the wedding day, both genders too.

Then, are you successful?

Not yet, you must climb up the socio-economic ladder.

In order to fulfill that, all you have to do is own your own house, one to four cars, and live at or above your means; because even if you aren’t “successful” you will look “successful.”

Then, your kids must be healthy and well mannered, accomplishing several achievements and accolades.

And then will you be successful?

Almost, you’re children must go to school, get married, and so on and so on; keep pressing repeat.

Hmmm, so, sounds like you’re successful once your last grandchild graduates, gets married and if the LORD gives you more years, your grandchildren have children too = People over 75 are successful.

This might sound a little cynical or a tad bit facetious, and thankfully does not represent my family's views or pressures. But it's unfortunately the reality and therefore aspiration for several people that view the world through this lens and the get rich or die trying mentality.

How about this:

I am a lover of the Lord, I am loved by the Lord, and therefore, I am successful.

In other words, I love the Lord, He loves me; I’m successful. #TRUTH

Youthful loyalty: ride or die love.

Sunday morning, three couples were called up to the pulpit for an announcement. I asked my cousin which couple she thought was the most recently wedded of the three. She selected the young couple on the right. Jokingly, I indicated it was actually the elder couple, standing in the middle. I actually lacked knowledge of the accuracy of this information. Based on our brief visual observation, we settled on the same couple.

Of the three couples, the couple we selected was joined at the hip. They held hands throughout the announcement and their hands were interlocked. Also, the wife had a huge smile on her face and the husband looked happy as well.

Another couple was seated near us and my cousin said: “they’re newlyweds” and I immediately agreed.

One thing I usually pray for newlyweds is that their love for each other would continue to grow stronger than the day before. I don’t believe the honeymoon phase should apply to Christ-centered marriages.

The honeymoon phase is part of a Psychology theory identifying different stages of love. The honeymoon phase lasts for X amount of time and once the honeymoon phase wears off, your love begins to fade, beginning a cycle of weaker stages and some sprouts of rekindled love.

I admire families where the spouses have been married for years and their love is so strong that it also transfers to their children. For example, there is a particular family I have in mind, if you just watch for a few seconds you will see what cannot really be expressed in words; from the infant daughter to the eldest son. After listening to the father speak a couple times, I understood how they make it work.

“When you’re really in love no one has to tell you how to act; it just comes naturally.” ¬-JBP

Take these two popular love song statements: “Don’t you remember you told me you loved me, baby?” and “I will always love you.” Try to imagine your spouse saying that to you after years of marriage. Try to imagine the LORD saying that to you.

During the 4pm intercession, Wednesday, the director ministered from Jeremiah 2:2-3 for communion.

“I remember your youthful loyalty, our love as newlyweds. You stayed with me through the wilderness years, stuck with me through all the hard places. Israel was God's holy choice, the pick of the crop. Anyone who laid a hand on her would soon wish he hadn't!'" God's Decree. (The Message)

Everyone has an individual Book of Remembrance that is currently being transcribed as we live out our lives with our free will and voluntary obedience. There are days that the LORD is going to mark, remembering our loyal devotion to Him. The days where we loved him loyally in our wilderness, like the love newlyweds have for each other. The days where we were “ride or die” with Him.

Ride or die is urban vernacular referring to a lover, usually of your youth, who was with you through it all, before you attained any level of success. Likewise, if you lost everything they would still be with you, faithfully.

There are some people who may be going through a wilderness season, but as long as they are faithful in their love, loyalty and devotion, the Lord sees it all. It is during some of your seasons in the wilderness where the LORD remembers the way you loved Him just as He marked the way the Israelites loved Him in the wilderness.

I don’t want to be a compromise Christian, when it comes to the perceived seasons of wilderness or uncertainty. I don’t want my love to be dull or my loyalty to fade. I don’t want to be a borderline Christian, a borderline lover of Christ. The border is too close to unbelief, doubt and wickedness. The borderline is lukewarm.

I want my love to be stronger than the day before. I want my loyalty to be God-fearing like that of Job, knowing that I am not my own, and without Him I can do nothing. I want my devotion to be steadfast like David constantly searching after my Father’s heart. I want my Father to remember my love for Him, similar to the way the Israelites loved Him in the wilderness. I want to possess a youthful loyalty worthy of being marked in my Book of Remembrance.

“I want to love You well, in this betrothal, until we meet again, may I spend my time wisely.” – Caleb Andrews

Taking the "Saul out of David"

So I’ve been asking for wisdom and revelation . . .

Last summer, I was placed in a living situation, for my internship, and I realized I could have handled the situation better towards the end of the summer, a little too late. This summer, I’ve been placed in another living situation, similar in some respects and very different in other respects.

During the first week, we had a class called Encountering Jesus. The pastor preached on an issue he experienced, which in hindsight prepared him for a coming controversy. Before he could progress though, the Lord had to take the “Saul out of David.” The Lord intentionally allowed David to go through his different trials with Saul to prepare David for leadership with a character that was absent all the character traits of Saul. We learned that God used the earlier occurrence to prepare him for the second occurrence. This later bigger issue would be his time to execute sound leadership in a way he learned through overcoming the first issue.

I had an interesting first half of my second week apart from the prayer room and classes. In short, in my biased opinion, I feel like I was the “most different” amongst the Pursuit interns. I reminded myself of my agenda and purposes for coming to the internship. Highlighting my differences, comparatively, in a group was not one of my initial purposes, on its face. Yet learning to love better unconditionally is something I asked the Lord for last summer, that could always be improved, and I’m still learning it.

I shared my interesting experience, in confidence, with a few others, outside of the internship, that I could relate to. By vocalizing my experience, with my justifications, I was able to reflect on what I said as well as the responses I was given.

I was in the prayer room on Thursday afternoon and I was reminded of last summer. I realized I was basically resorting to handle the current situation similar to the manner which I handled my living situation towards the end of last summer; do my own thing and keep out of harm’s way to prevent any conflict and subsequently reduce interaction.

I immediately saw the trap I could be falling into once again. Meanwhile, I feel the Lord is teaching me to be a better Christina through even this. It is a lesson and preparation on adaptability and adjusting to new environments where it is likely that I may be, once again, the “most different.”

It’d be less convincing to a stranger that I’m adaptable and flexible if I didn’t have recent and relevant references of me venturing out of my comfort zone. Moreover, I don’t generally believe we were made to be comfortable. If I always gravitate towards people who accept me, I’m in effect, making myself comfortable. By staying in my comfort zone, I would not see the areas the Lord is trying to work on in me to prepare me for what is to come.

As I pray Ephesians 1:17-19, I perceive three dangers of maintaining dim eyes to this understanding. One, the Lord may determine that I currently lack the qualifications to be placed in a new setting. Two, I could remain stagnant, missing my kairos opportunity due to my own disobedience. Or three, I would end up learning and realizing that in later less appropriate setting because I decided to do things the comfortable way.

As long as change is constant, it is foreseeable that I will be in these situations in the months and years to come as I enter new beginnings. I would have no excuse not to improve that ("that" essentially being: unconditional love, humility, and meekness) in this setting, not only because one of the safest environments to do so in but it is a test of what I began learning last summer.

I’ve been divinely checked; revelation.

what does love look like?

is the question I've been pondering . . .
 

I started a tumblr. (iLike it - like 11 posts in 24 hours type like)

So, I'm learning what Love is (what it really is) and my tumblr basically highlights what I'm learning - honestly.

Arms Wide Open.

The Cross.

John 15:13.

But this song is the bomb dot com, so I shared it here too; listen to every word.

By the way, she will be one of the ministers at the OneThing conference in December. If you want to go (from the Chicago area) let me know, we've got a group so far. Kansas City or bust! *clicks red heels*

teach me how to (agape) love

“Teach me how to love, show me the way to surrender my heart.” – Musiq

Recently, every now and then, that song, mainly that hook, found its way on my heart, and in my mind. It became more frequent over the last few days. I don’t know where it came from, I have not knowingly listened to that song in months, years possibly. This weekend I understood why.

Every message I received this past week centered on agape love. A very timely and relevant message I needed to receive.

God is Love and I was made for love. In order for me to progress and grow, to know the power and the anointing, and the promised ability to do all things, I need to be rooted and grounded in love. Without roots completely in the love of God “everything is just a religious display.” – Dr. Creflo Dollar

I need to attend to my roots. True story.

Earlier this summer, I almost missed an opportunity for development; developing unconditional love. I didn’t realize I was actually running away from it. Loving what is already lovely was easy, everyone likes good people; I do. When it came to the unlovely, I was being conditional.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – Carl Gustav Jung

Mistakenly, I believed I was consciously avoiding negativity and I was content with the status quo of this situation. These were basically conditional justifications, no less, of why I felt I did not have to love in this instance. Consequently, these conditions were placing hindrances on my development.

Walking in conditional love is not an option. I need to walk in unconditional, supernatural, agape love, All. The. Time; it’s mandated. I cannot choose when I will walk in love; it has to be everybody and anybody, whoever He places before me. I need to love what (who) is not as lovely, unconditionally. To love people in their weakness, because He unconditionally loves me, the way I am, undeserving and in my weakness.

“You get the richest measure of His Divine Presence on your life when you’re rooted and grounded in Love. And you become a body holy filled and flooded with God, Himself. Because when you’re rooted and grounded in love and you’re developing that love, you’re rooted and grounded in God and you’re developing in God.

And the more of that love you walk in, the more the Presence of God is going to be there. Because you can’t separate this love from God, because God is love. So Grow in Love. Grow in God. Grow in His Presence. Grow in His Anointing. Grow in His Blessings. Everything is going to start with the roots!” – Dr. Creflo Dollar

If I was made for love, I need my roots to be grounded in love, in order to make this love.

Please teach me how to love, like You do, Abba Father. Show me the way to surrender my love, unconditionally.