Toni V. Lee

Violence, fear, intimidation and manipulation do not change people.  Choice does.  Folk must choose to change. Stop using those ugly tools to try to chisel folk into who you want them to be. You may eventually get compliance, but not true change. You will also ignite a slow burn resentment that may consume you one day. Bottom line: Treat people the way you want to be treated. If you can't handle that, leave 'em alone. This world would be a better place if we could master the simple command to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. God help us!

Sometimes, words, songs and phrases get stuck deep in our heads.   One word in particular floats up in my thoughts every now and then (actually, more now than then) when hearing/reading political related news. It's not just the word. It's the WAY the word is said by 2 ladies in particular:  Reba Mcentire & Brett Butler. I've lost count of the number of private information gathering sessions that have been peppered with the spontaneous word. It's not nice to call someone this particular word, so that's not something I'd do.  You know...it's better to keep some things behind your teeth. BUT it's definitely an apt description. What is the word?  Picture Reba Mcentire in the sitcom Reba and Brett Butler in Grace Under Fire. No one can say the word moron (MO-ron) like these ladies.

Ever wondered about God's take on the treatment of migrants? Let's go to the Book...   Leviticus 19:33-34 (NKJV) 33 And if a stranger dwells with you in your  land, you shall not mistreat him.  34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. From posts written by some Christians regarding migrants, I'd say they missed these scriptures while they were on their cherry-picking expeditions or maybe their pastors just never preached about them. If you want to see a recent demonstration of these scriptures in action, take a look at the actions of the residents of Martha's Vineyard in response to the unexpected transportation of migrants to their island by Florida's Governor. Remember WWJD - What Would Jesus Do? Well...here it is! Love and compassion demonstrated in overdrive.  In case you didn't know it, Desantis' tactic is not new. ...

Man or woman of God. We are very liberal in placing these labels on folk.   Their lives may be so raggedy nothing is hardly covered anymore and the true state of their relationship with Christ has been exposed. For whatever reason, they still wear the label and still work in ministry like their sinful state hasn't stepped them out from under the umbrella of Grace and separated them from God.  Spiritually, I was raised old school. We couldn't wear our sin with pride and continue to serve in the church. We had to repent and get our souls right with God, THEN we could continue in ministry.  We were pointed to the alter until we had repented and fixed our relationship with the Lord. The "posture" of the alter is lacking today.  Now, it seems everything goes.  Even when sin is exposed, folk continue in ministry and everything is glossed over without a call for repentance. Yet, pastors stand and wring their hands in helplessness when the congregation struggles wi...

They love you...they hate you. They support you, then ignore you. They pray for you, then at you. They help you, then drag you. They talk with you, then about you. They accept you...until they don't. They laugh with you and at you. One of the most difficult hurdles to overcome is people. But, you know what? There's so much peace, clarity, and lightness on the other side. Do you know what helped me? I had to stop expecting folk to treat me the way I treat them--especially some of today's Christians.   Sadly, I had to lower my expectations. Now, I'm OCCASIONALLY, pleasantly surprised. People...

It's not fair! It's the current cry of many folk regarding the Federal government's latest rollout of student loan forgiveness. The majority of my acquaintances are Christians and those are the voices I hear.  My response: I so wish somebody had done this earlier when I was struggling to pay back my 20K plus student loans and LIVE. I could have really used the help. Remember those stimulus checks you thanked God for? We ALL helped build the Federal funds used for those payouts but some of us didn't receive a penny. Yet, you are crying foul when someone else receives assistance from the Federal government in a different form.  Do I have to talk about churches that have become political tree stumps while enjoying tax-exempt status and Federal grants? Those Federal dollars are sourced by church members, folk who don't attend church, don't believe in God, believe in different doctrines, you, and me. Is there REALLY a concern for equity  here?

What's next?  Where are they going with this? A Florida teacher shared the Civics curriculum they now have to teach. The history of slavery in America is being white washed and the atrocities minimized.  Where will it end? Will they eventually wash it completely out of history?  The brutal and inhumane treatment of the people who helped build this nation from its infancy with their blood, sweat, sorrow, and anguished tears...is being white washed and minimized.  And this is ok? For a lot of people, yes, it is. They want it buried. They want to be comfortable in their actions--whatever those actions may be. With the way things are going now, our schools may eventually be teaching something like the following:        * Nobody was forced to come to America, they volunteered.         * They didn't mind being chained and packed into ships like sardines because that made room for more of their family to come with them.   ...