|
My
Relationship with "The
God of My Heart"
" God
is the Friend Who Comes in When the World Goes Out
"
I
owe you my lord, God of my heart, everything that
I am,
and everything I hope to be. You have always
been the friend
that comes in when the world goes out. I
have always been able
to count on you to remind me when I lose my way.
It is you who gave
me the talent to be able to sing a
song & led me to Leola Carter,
the couch of my youth. Leola heard me
sing in the New York
apartment of my mother when I was only12.
Leola spoke with my
mom one day & told her I had great pipes,
believing in me, she told
my mom she would coach me for free because as she said, this girl has
to sing. Leola was responsible for my first Vegas
job when I was
16 years old & I needed a special sheriffs
card to work Las Vegas.
While I had studied with Yolanda Oberdine of
the Metropolitan
Opera from the age of 9, Leola knew my heart
was yearning to sing
the blues. That is what she heard that day so long
ago, a
12 year old
"Singing the Blues". She would tell me during our
time together, that while
I may sing songs with lyrics that I had not
yet lived, one day having lived,
I would know what singing with soul, what singing
the blues was all about.
How wise and how right Leola was.
I must share this with my readers as it is
important, in the sense
that color can, and should be blind. Leola
was a Black American
and one of the most wonderful and proud
human beings
I have ever had the honor to meet.
But
it is you my lord, who brought Leola into my
life,
and to you goes the glory. I have had many a
wonderful experience
singing my songs and feeling the connection with
my audiences.
For that I am grateful to you for your gift of
song & Leola.
Lord of my heart I
am sharing this with whomever may read this,
so that they may have a brief glimpse of the Dare To Dream
Founder and her
relationship with her faith, and her God.
I
love God as a child who loves and relies on their
parents.
Even when we leave the fold, we are forever tied
to our Mother
and Father. I am forever tied to you my
Lord.
I'm
a sinner Lord and I know what that means.
You gifted me with a free will , and those of us
who are not fooling ourselves, knows exactly what
that means. We also know the responsibilities that
go
with that precious gift.
A free will sets you free, that is real freedom!
My
relationship with you, as it should be, is
different
then anyone else's in the entire world. I am
not saying it's
better or more important, I'm just saying that it's
different,
and that's as it should be. I cannot imagine what
it would be like
to not have been blessed with a free will.
How boring life would be.
My
free will allows me to embrace all of your
children.
All the faiths, the exciting cultures of planet
Earth,
this beautiful world which
you created for all your creation.
How you must have loved us to give us this
beautiful home.
I am free to hate, but hate hurts and serves only
the willful.
I find it an ugly emotion with no redeeming value.
My
free will "Dares
To Dream";
Like Martin Luther King, JR,
I too dream of one day getting to the top of
the mountain.
I encourage all my brothers and sisters of the
world to strive
to make that wondrous pilgrimage as well.
Hate takes so much
energy; Love, on the other hand, gives
everlasting profound
energy! I have been told by some that my faith is unrealistic in
today's
world. I can only answer this way;
Man may Plant a Tree,
but
God Created the Trees.
I
'm a Christian, I say this because I believe in
the Christ!
But I believe somewhat different then some who
claim to be
Christian. You see my Christ was gentle, my
Christ taught
love and tolerance.
Not search and destroy! My Christ
wasn't a hypocrite nor a liar, nor a deceiver of
men!
My Christ would not approve of the way his name
is being thrown around and abused these days.
My Christ would clean out the temple of most
institutions
of today much like he did in Jerusalem, all those
years ago.
Christ warned us as does the book of Revelation
of these events that are unfolding before us,
and God help us, at an alarming rate.
There are deceivers in every
corner of the world.
It is the best of times and the worst of times.
Believers understand what I am saying.
Don't
misread my words, I am not judging anyone, I
cannot,
since I'm a sinner and I fall short.
But I am a believer,
not out of fear but out of love. I have
experienced my God
in so many ways and in so many places that I
cannot deny
Gods Existence, it would be like denying my own.
Do
I believe that if you are pure of heart yet knell to Buddha,
follow Mohammed, Pray to Krishna, or are a Jew
that you
are not loved cherished and valued by the
one and
only God?
Of course not! I believe
Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*
Once the Prophet was asked,
"Who are the chosen people of God?"
He replied, "The truthful and the pure-hearted."
"O Prophet of Allah," they said, "truthful we understand,
but who are the pure-hearted?"
"Those who neither fall into sin, nor transgress,
who
neither deceive nor bear malice.
Such are the pure of heart." *
-Hadith reported by Abd'Allah bin Amr
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blessed
are the meek for they shall inherit the earth!
I believe that god gave us a free will in order
to make choices.
Like the Christ, I choose to strive for
love, compassion and a
generous heart. You cannot profess to know my
Lord,
the Christ, if you are selfish, cruel, vengeful,
greedy or
prejudice against your brothers and sisters of
the world.
The Lord God tells us that Judgment is his.
*
Christ
did not
Teach Search and
Destroy *
*
Nor
glorify Shock
and Awe *
*
Killing
Innocents
*
That is the Devils
Domain
*
So
I, like you, am a seeker! A sinner who
loves God
and strives each & every day to serve with
Empathy!
Those
who see all creatures in themselves And themselves
in all creatures know no fear. Those who see all
creatures
in themselves And themselves in all creatures
knows no grief. How can the multiplicity of life
Delude the one who sees its unity?
Hindu Wisdom-Isha Upanishad
~~~~~~~~~~~
|
