Everyday Black Matters
Beautiful Maya via
Don’t shoot the messenger!
Hey, I’m just the messenger!
A flippant yet poignant phrase, no? The implication that someone is bringing a message of some sort to me from someone else, carrying it like a box of unsteady explosives or a barrel of chocolates. The medium is superfluous, the messenger simply has something to deliver and it’s usually not from them. Either way, a message is sent.
When I think of MY recent messengers, and all the messages sent to my brain folds, a few salient examples come to mind…
|||| The Facebook app, glorious messenger it is, always delivering straight to my brain through a ding and a touch, messages of friendship and reminders of people who love me. Me!?!?!
|||| The Bible. Yesterday, Psalms 118: 5 slayed me. “Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies.” I’m not feeling as brash as this Psalmist yet I got the message from Thee Messenger.
|||| Jesus. Rather, God’s final revelation of how ‘ish should be because of His life. That’s a powerful message. I can hold out for how things are as long as I know how things should be. Then again, Jesus was The Ultimate Messenger. So. He pretty much wins this list.
|||| Friends of mine who know how far I’ve fallen and exactly what I’m battling and mourn with me. More on this later. Messages of hope matter.
|||| A very cute, very simple messenger bag from Target. Who doesn’t need help carrying their load? Ba Doom Ching!
|||| Scandal. The message this show gives me is that humanity is triflin’ and no one can be trusted. Yet, I continue to stare at it like it’s handing me $100 bills per each episode I watch.
|||| Ruby Dee & Maya Angelou. Two POWERFUL black women who brought messages of hope to the masses. Two women whose lives sent shock waves of positivity throughout the black community and beyond. They were here.
All the people on this list who matter send me the message: I was here & I mattered. You be here & you matter. Make your LIFE, not just your words a message.
That’s the kind of messenger I hope am.
I am here.
I am here.
I am here.
///
“On Fridays around these parts we like to write. Not for comments or traffic or anyone else’s agenda. But for pure love of the written word. For joy at the sound of syllables, sentences and paragraphs all strung together by the voice of the speaker.
We love to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For five minutes flat.
Here’s how we do it:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog’s footer}.
3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.
OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt: Messenger.”
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