LANDCAUSE.COM

Check out my new Media Page.

Episode Three: Call Upon Your Strength

Prologue:

 

(Mother S. Sayer always has things on her mind. Whether it is the issues her associates are struggling to address in the workplace, or the issues her people must address in their private lives. Mother Sayer never wishes she had less trouble; she wishes for more time to adequately determine who needs her help more. Mother Sayer wishes she could keep at bay anything that would drive her people asunder because she has created her business, ‘The ARC, INC’, not to be a place where people come to do some work and collect a paycheck.

 

Mother Sayer created her business to move humanity away from the pernicious tendencies present in us all. Mother knows that one pronouncement labeling homosexuality destructive to society, leads the less thoughtful among us to lash out foolishly against people who don’t behave like them.

 

Mother knows with means (money and influence) comes responsibility and she emphatically embraces her duty. Let’s enjoy a moment of her life when she had to make a choice over what was right and wrong.)

 

Mother Sayer: (The events of the day and past week have highlighted the fragility of humankind. Many tornadoes in the Midwest and a plane crash have claimed the lives of many people. Families are hurting now and the losses to these units of strength will be hard to restore.)

 

Mother Sayer: (She calls to the Chief of her staff, Ntare Bolder). Ntare, are the preparations ready for Wednesday’s gathering?

 

Ntare Bolder: Mother, the assortment of beverages is set, but the vendor has not set a date to deliver them as of our conversation. The menu and the seating arrangements are per your instructions, and the children’s dining area will be adequately staffed with chaperones.

 

Mother Sayer: Lock down that beverage delivery no later than 1500 on Monday. Everything else is fine as you always perform your duties in excellence Mr. Bolder.

 

(The phone rings and a beautiful teenager on her staff, Eloisa, directs the caller to hold as she tells Mother it is Justus waiting on the line.)

 

Mother Sayer: Justus, what a pleasure it is to hear from you on this fine Saturday afternoon.

 

Justus I. Order: It is good to hear your voice as well Mother. I am sorry to be short, but you wanted an immediate update concerning the project.

 

Mother Sayer: Is it feasible?

 

Justus I. Order: Yes Mother, it is surprisingly adaptable in scale to every plane flying the skies now.

 

Mother Sayer: (Mother smiles with giddiness that people falsely believes children are its’ sole possessors). Good when can we begin to field test a prototype? Oh, let me back up Justus. Did the computer models deploy upon the plane crashing?

 

Justus: It is okay Mother. I am giddy too. If we can’t prevent a plane from falling out of the sky, then we can certainly locate it quickly with this new technology.

 

Mother Sayer: Make sure our engineers understand that the chemical must be lighter than water if the plane crashes at sea.

 

Justus: Yes Mother. The sensors on the device are designed to detect a difference in pressure as it sinks. We’ve set it to deploy at 100 feet below the surface of the water.

 

Mother Sayer: The color?

 

Justus: We are still perfecting the color, as seawater tends to distort light along the ultraviolet spectrum. We will lock it down and match the volatile nature of the conditions to each situation over land or water.

 

Mother Sayer: Good good. Now what about a secondary system to enhance the effective nature of the primary device?

 

Justus: We’ve developed a beacon that activates upon crash with a GPS locator that in the event of water crash it floats in a sonar buoy type platform. The device upon deployment records its’ first position, and as it floats it records it’s trail so there is no doubt where it came from.

 

Mother Sayer: Like Hansel and Gretel leaving breadcrumbs to find their way back home.

 

Justus: Precisely Mother!

 

Mother Sayer: Are you grabbing the magnitude of this project to the aviation industry? We could provide immediate location for rescue operations to begin for fallen aircraft!

 

Justus: Yes Mother. It will bring swift attention and resources to an exact location instead of search and rescue assets being diluted across vast areas along an aircrafts’ last known path.

 

Mother Sayer: I have kept you long enough. Please proceed with the upmost expediency.

 

Justus: Thank you Mother. I will keep you updated.

 

(Mother Sayer takes a moment to relish the accomplishment. She presses the intercom and speaks into it.)

 

Mother Sayer: Ntare, please have the car brought around to the front.

 

(The car is waiting out front as Mother grabs her electronic devices. She will alert her daughter when she is on her way to office.)

 

Mother Sayer: Doyenne, are you close to completion?

 

Daughter Doyenne: Yes Mother, a few more calculations and the press release will be available and at your disposal to be released according to your timetable.

 

Mother Sayer: Good. I will be there shortly.

 

(Mother’s thoughts again fall back to a time when her daughter was obsessed with the approval of people that didn’t mean her any good. Mother remembers her approach to Doyenne as she was confounded and off course was to let her navigate her way back to the right path on her own.

 

Mother knew that Doyenne had to learn these lessons herself. Valuable insight comes from being in the situation and figuring things out in solitude. Mother knew she couldn’t come to the rescue because it would teach her daughter that her Mother would be there to solve all her problems.

 

Mother thinks back now and sees presently that her daughter came through those trials with a few scars. ‘Scars are good if the wearer knows how they got there’. Mother knows that people who ignore their trials will still have the scars, but they will never understand why they wear them.)

 

Mother Sayer: (mumbles under her voice). How did I come out on top? My tour in Afghanistan in 2007 was not without pitfalls or outright traps.

 

(Being a nurse in a warzone was not an easy tour of duty. Being a female assigned to convoy duty that last week of duty was the worse of my life.

 

The images of blood and carnage are still fresh as if it was happening right now. American soldiers along with Afghans were laying everywhere in the road. Mother knew the security situation was tense if not downright a free for all. Work quickly she thought in her head as the Americans and Afghans readied their soldiers for a hasty withdrawal.

 

Mother knew that care was not going to be ‘do no harm’ in that moment. The point was to get everybody inside his or her armored vehicles and get back to the FOB.

 

The FOB she thought. How did I come to yearn for a place so bad in the midst of all this death and sorrow?

 

Mother immediately corralled those thoughts and focused on the situation. She yelled orders to her team as her internal clock was ticking like crazy signaling danger is coming.

 

Mother was almost in her armored vehicle when a round pierced the tricep muscle of her right arm. She did everything in the world to muffle the pain, but her verbal skills failed as she let out a silent scream of shit while she slammed the door of her vehicle.

 

Mother yelled to the driver, go! It wasn’t bad the wound she thought. She was fortunate.)

 

Mother Sayer: Doyenne, meet me downstairs so we can discuss the press release as we head toward the office.

 

Daughter Doyenne: Yes Mother.

 

(Mother Sayer arrives and the greetings with her daughter are brisk but purposeful.)

 

Mother Sayer: Let me see the press release.

 

Daughter Doyenne: (Hands her Mother the paper and waits silently as she reads it.) Is it to your satisfaction Mother?

 

Mother Sayer: Yes, Daughter with a few more action words it will be. Let’s finish upstairs.

 

(As Mother Sayer talks with her daughter and some of her associates, she knows that her company is poised for a major breakthrough in an industry dominated by white men who don’t value diversity as much as they profess they do.

 

That’s a story to be told at a time when it matters to my associates she thinks.)

 

Mother Sayer: Doyenne, I appreciate everything you do here. Do you know that?

 

Daughter Doyenne: Yes, Mother I do.

 

Mother Sayer: Good. Go and enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you Monday.

 

Daughter Doyenne: I’m going to go to dinner with a couple of the ladies on my staff.

 

Mother Sayer: Very good. Don’t stay out too late.

 

Epilogue:

 

(The day ended with promise as many projects were successfully rounded off to their enclosure. Mother is careful not to display many emotions in front of her children, staff or her associates. She prefers to allow her emotions space to roam like air filling up a room. ‘No one cares it’s there, but they all need it to stay alive.’

 

Mother thinks this new invention will bring that emotion back to the families who mourn the unfortunate lives claimed when tragedy strikes with little or no warning.)

Where is it lacking?

Look at this data on this website and follow along to what I’m about to hit really hard because this theory being pushed by the political right is all ‘smoke and mirrors’. The U.S. economy’s Gross Domestic Product year by year can be found at this website, www.bea.gov. The Bureau of Economic Analysis shows you in current-dollar estimates from 1929 to 2011.

 

In 1929 GDP was 103.6 billion. In 1954 GDP was 380.4 billion. In 1979 GDP was 2,562.2 trillion. In 1994 GDP was 7,085.2. In 2004 GDP was 11,853.3 trillion. In 2011 GDP was 15,075.7 trillion.

 

Where is the U.S. economy in its’ great assortment of industries lacking in “enough to go around”? When has this country ever had zero expansion in its’ history? Somebody needs to answer these questions for me right now!

 

Okay, so at no time did the United States of America stop growing its’ economy. Then tell me why do we have a political party on the right whipping up people to fight against each other for a perceived lack of economic opportunity?

 

The numbers do not lie! America has grown over 8 straight decades! Why am I so easily fooled into believing my fellow citizens, legal or not, are taking from me something that the entire country has kept going in spite of its’ exclusionary tactics alive and well today. Everybody has contributed to the vitality of this country!

 

Maybe some of you in the majority have relished your access card (doors opened with little or no effort or qualification but color of skin) too much, seeing that many minorities now possess access cards.

 

Could it be that access is given on merits and abilities and many minorities have honed those skills to high levels because that is what it took most of the time to get a job?

 

Maybe “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

I have said it many times, “progress will take off and leave you standing in a dust cloud if you don’t have the skills necessary to take a seat and ride it to your destination”.

 

Just because you are coughing up all that dust and waiting for a clear view doesn’t mean we should pity you. If you have enjoyed a benefit (access card to the good America has to offer at the expense of others) that you didn’t earn, stop being mad at losing it and humble yourself to care about the troubles of your fellow citizens.

 

Everyone needs to have the same access you’ve enjoying erroneously to the American economy. There is no shortage of resources and certainly there is enough to go around for everybody in this country. Stop being angry with other people and be angry with yourself because you have contributed to the suffering of others when you enjoy a system rigged to oppress everyone that was unfortunately not in the majority in America.

 

There has always been an unbalance to America’s promise, but the arc of the universe seeks balance and it never loses.

Sources of Human Power!

“First I wish to thank all of my people. Everyone that has signed up on LandCause.com. I appreciate your confidence in me and the knowledge, wisdom and experience I’ve acquired and willingly share with each of you. As you continue reading this post, I must caution you (as I’ve stated in prior posts) that this edition will be intense.”

I will only briefly review 7 of the vast number of emotions and state of being (many sources of power are contained in groups) that have kept me charged up throughout my life. Defiance, Compassion, Integrity, Affirmation, Family, Spirituality, and Love. Let’s begin.

The power source that has carried me and even now courses through my veins is Defiance! Defy everything. Many things in your life (yours only) are inappropriate uses of your time and energy. Defy the way things are going for you right now if they are producing negative consequences. Just because someone says a woman can be President of the United States doesn’t make it happen. A woman, Secretary Clinton, a candidate probably more qualified than 30 of the last 44 President of the U.S., has to stand up and take the heat! I will come back to Defiance before I end this post.

Compassion is underrated. It is not wrong to still have compassion for those who have done wrong. It doesn’t mean you agree with the behavior. It only means you demand more from them and by demanding they do better the person usually becomes a better person. It means you will not dismiss or excuse someone doing wrong to others under shield of law or title. Authority is kept in check by looking at something and calling it what it is!

Integrity is power that should be applied when it is suitable to the event that demands it. This power requires a certain knowledge about humanity and what is judged to be right and wrong without projecting false piety. Understanding that fault lies within all of us should help you strive to avoid questionable situations, which would eventually bring you to a state of being that shady circumstances will give you a wide berth as they pass you by.

Affirmation is a power source that gives you an instant boost of energy. Good job or I am fortunate to have you as a friend is very powerful stuff arriving on the ears of its’ intended listener. Man can you see their eyes light up metaphorically it looks like the sparks from a blown transformer. Affirmation is also knowing that you are consistently doing the things necessary to have a better life by seeing the results of your actions. Whether from others or simple self-awareness, affirmation is a boost of energy that has long lasting effects for your life.

Family. When family is going right it is a powerful energy source. When family is going wrong it is a powerful energy source. Sometimes people get caught up in the environment where they’ve found themselves and it confounds them to their destruction. I grew up in a dirt-poor family, but I never allowed the reality of those circumstances to falsely feed my future. I didn’t know how to succeed in life because I did make many errors along the way, but I set my compass to success and struck out on that path after I left my parents home. Family, if you view everyone through clear spectacles, then knowing what you are going to get from them or not is still a powerful source of energy.

Spirituality is mesmerizing sometimes when it is used improperly for and against people. Spirituality is based on servitude. It calms and quiets us when we are fearful. It steadies our hand when we have to accept the things we do wrong and the punishment that comes after. If you find yourself using spirituality by thinking you aren’t caught in a fault that is consuming someone else, let me assure you that your eye is not clear of debris either. Spirituality is to be shared in the meekness of learning with similar persons. Spirituality is natural. Spirituality is not an audition for a part in a movie. Spirituality is not an act so stop it! Spirituality flows naturally and never believe otherwise.

Love is not only physical. Love is showing up everyday for yourself (got to love yourself first) and for anyone you are responsible for as well. Love is manifested in listening to that voice that tells you you’re messing up. Love is understanding when you say you will care for a spouse it is unconditional, but love is not singular in marriage (both must love) because two people have to pull in the same direction. Love in freely lifting the heavy load of a relationship. Love is being present for everything (as much as you can be) like a foundation is the structure that steadies your footing. Love is when you are needed; you change everything to be there. Love is mature and not mischievous. Love is forgiving, but not foolish. Love takes on many properties and variations. Alas, I will come back to love in a later post.

Let’s end this post by discussing more about the power of defiance. Growing up in Alabama I was told I had to watch out or be careful of a lot of dangers in the world. The police were not all serving and protecting so be wary of some of them. You know what. I learned the limitations of their authority as well as what I should do when I encountered them.

I washed my clothes all the time at the Laundromat in my neighborhood years ago. One day the Laundromat didn’t set their alarm and when I opened the door there it sounded. I stayed until the police came and answered their questions, which of course were worded like I was there to rob the place. I showed them my dirty clothes, which didn’t fully convince them, but I guess they relented and moved on.

I defied the notion that I should have left and let the police figure it out. No one is above the law and I knew how to handle a couple of junior detectives anyway. There were two cops that showed up and we all were the same race, which we’re not in the majority. The dial of defiance for me is turned all the way up at all times.

Listen to me carefully. I am not advocating being a reckless idiot fighting against every structure of society because you can. I am defiant against bigotry, hatred, and discrimination, low wages which is a form of oppression actually. I defy anything that hurts my fellow human being.
Let me address the persecution of gays, lesbians and transgender people. History is awash with examples of those in power demonizing or labeling people who don’t act, look and behave like those in power demand. They turn the minds of people to believing their discrimination or hatred against these people is authorized or okay.

If you have to be the only one standing in defiance of this blatant hatred, do the right thing because no one has the right to make you hate anyone. Reject this hatred by the Republican Party! They are not better than anyone else and neither are any of us to include myself.

Defy defy defy this foolishness and let people live their life the way they want. Everyone knows what he or she can and can’t do under legitimate laws.

Don’t expend your power on endeavors that will never make your life better. I will return to this topic in upcoming posts. Thanks for your time.