The Power of an Adversary

Your true calling in life will always be revealed in times of great challenge. The real You hidden within you will always rise to a particular type of challenge, revealing to you who you truly are, as well as what problem you were put on this earth to help solve. Its when faced with your greatest opposition that the genius within you awakens.

My father used to say that adversity makes a boy into a man....We all face challenges and adversity. It's within an adversarial environment that the greatness within you comes to life. When you are so moved by a particular challenge that you cannot keep still about it, that is the challenge you must face. And I said MUST! You must, like David in the Bible, move confidently in the direction of the challenge you hear; relying on the superior force of spirit within yourself to overcome it. Behind that challenge awaits a great reward. A reward so great that you'll live off of it in some form or fashion for the rest of your life.

Mike Murdock says, when Evander Holyfield see's Mike Tyson coming, he doesn't grab his ear; he grabs his checkbook! No friend of Holyfield ever gave him the type of paycheck he got from fighting Tyson. Only a great enemy; an imposing adversary can do that for you. When ignorance is faced head on, it usually gives way to wisdom. Challenging man's greatest illnesses has given us amazing cures for the longevity of health. Trying to solve our greatest issues has given us our greatest discoveries.

What adversary stands in the way of where you're trying to go? Truly, Goliath was never a match for David. David had no real adversary. Goliath was just an inflated balloon, full of hot air. Only David could see him as he really was. That's why at the end of the day, he walked away with the girl, the wealth, and eventually the kingdom.

Handicap people are actually a lot better off than most normal people. They have the opportunity to rely on their true human power: the power of the spirit. We non-handicapped people rely too much on fleshly physical things. That's why we struggle to achieve worthwhile things in life, while many who are so-called handicapped accomplish the seeming impossible. All great things are born of the human spirit, in conjunction with the divine. Nothing great has ever come from flesh alone.

In actuality, its not the 'handicapped' who are actually always the handicapped. Most of the time, its us; the people with full use of their physical faculties, but little knowledge on how to use our inner faculties. Its us; the so-called whole and healthy ones, who have little appreciation for what we do have. We're the ones who can usually be found complaining about what we can't do; while somewhere not far is a person far more physically restricted than we are, who's busy doing that very thing we say can't be done.

Sometimes, I think God allowed handicaps to happen to us to illustrate where our true power lays. Here's a hint: it's not in our physical limbs. Neither is it found in our bank accounts. The truest, purest Source of your power is within you. by use of this power you can take hold of this world, and any physical handicap the worlds hands you, and reshape it into whatever you want it to be. That curse life handed you was given to you for you to shape it into a blessing. You are the master craftsman, the chief sculptor of the happenstances of your life. All adversity, all unfavorable conditions are really just the raw material of far greater blessings and benefits. But it takes your discerning eye and creative insight to see this for yourself.

Someone asked why does God allow bad things to happen to us, if He loves us so much? Maybe this question is best answered by looking at things from a different perspective. His relaxed hand of prevention could well be itself a blessing in disguise. Think about it: if God prevented everything bad from happening, would we ever discover our own powers to do amazing things?

If he never allowed others to do us harm, would we ever know the ability to forgive, or the power of healing and release it brings?
If He didn't allow sickness, could we ever know the pleasure of healing?
If He didn't allow the existence of ignorance, could we ever know the joy of discovering knowledge?

Troubles and trials serve to make us stronger and better. Its the immature child who gets angry when they don't get their way. The adult accepts that life is simply raw material for him/her to shape into whatever is desired or needed. That's the pioneering spirit. Using your adversities as tools for creating a new life.

We need the pioneering attitude towards life again.
                                                                                                                      -Von C.

Who am I as a Black Man?

 This post is dedicated to all of our readers of African Descent.

      During this past week myself and the co-owner of this blog Geoffrey Allison have been to various events. Banquets, Parties and Church. It seems like at each of these events we are posed with the question "Who am I as a Black Man?, and What am i going to do with that responsiblity and power?". See the "Media" has transformed the "Black Man" into a image of negativity and violence. This is far from the truth, you see us Black Men have been doing amazing things since the beginning of time. It's only recently that black men have been virtually transformed from the pillar or cornerstone of the African family.

The infamous "Corner" in every black neighborhood, known for its drugs, liquor stores and all kinds of illegal activities, used to be a place to share knowledge and ideas. The past 40 years have truly been devastating for our communities. I don't understand why drugs are so rampant in the black community. think about it if we can find a bomb overseas, or find a person in Iraq, why can't we find that drug dealer who is terrorizing our communities, why cant we find that gang member who is destroying the lives of our young brothers?.

You see that's what people don't want, They do not want black men to return to our natural place as Thinkers, as entrepreneurs or inventors. In my humble opinion,  it seems like Black men are only viewed as entertainment, as athletes, comedians or music artists. We need to get off of that mindset, we need to get back to being the inventors for humanity. If we can make Pyramids that have lasted for over 3,800 years, design the layout for Washington D.C. and invent, I know we can do much more than jump high, Run fast and hit hard.

As black men it is our responsibility to bring the family dynamic back to our communities. That doesn't just mean being a role model to your children, or relatives. But that means helping out the young man you see standing on the "Corner". That means going to a Inner-City school and telling them about how important a college education is. As a Black man you are one of the most powerful entities in the world because people fear you...Yes fear you. People of other races know that an educated black man has no equals, the only people that don't realize this is ourselves.

All the Black Men out there, If you are going to do something, Do it to the best of your abilities. That means if you are going to school, be the best student you can be. If you are a Janitor work to the best of your abilities. your not only doing it for yourself but you are representing your family, community and the black community as a whole.


And remember  this quote


"Everyday A Lion wakes up knowing it has to chase down the fastest gazelle and if it doesn't it will not survive and everyday a gazelle wakes up knowing it has to outrun the fastest lion in order to survive... Which are you the lion or the Gazelle? either way you should wake up everyday knowing you must live life to the fullest" -Zack Lemelle

                                                                                                                                         -Von C.

Accepting Your Brothers

     Recently me and a group of friends had a little party/get together. The party ended in several disputes which led to a semi-beef between our group. This whole incident got me thinking as to why we have brothers and why we even choose to have friends in the first place. As I journeyed in my mind I began to think many things such as, we have friends because of our fair of loneliness or perhaps we just need someone to talk to about what's on our mind.

   I realized that the main reason most of us have friends is because each one of them reminds us of ourselves in some sort of way. As I sat and talked with my friends about the incident I realized that the more I looked into it they were each a part of who I was as an individual. Upon realizing this I thought to myself about everything that I embodied as an individual and if everyone around me embodied a peice of that.

     Now at times in life all individuals will doubt a certain characteristic of themselves such as a peice of their individual personality or even the way that they look. This is the same way that you look at a friend and get angered by what he/she has done to you in the present. Sometimes we wish we could have handled a certain situation a different way and in doing this we doubt our decision making abilities.

   You chose to hang around your group of friends for a reason, so when you do choose your friends look at their personalities and realize which part of you they actually are. You see their is a reason for them being around you. The reason may be to show you what bad you should fix within your life or to show you what good you can be. All of your friends will not be perfect but each one of them will help you along this journey we know as life. The moral of this story is to accept your brothers and sisters despite their faults. I say this because whether they treat you good or bad in the end you will learn from it.

Are we an Army or are we really alone?

     Once upon a time as males we would embrace eachother. Pick eachother up when we were down, but now things have changed. Times have also changed. For those who do not read the bible or are not followers on a christ related religion Cain had a brother name Abel whom he murder over jealousy. Based on christian religion this is the first recorded murder. So you can say that the first "snake" was Cain.

      In these current times it seems like most brothers have lost sight of brotherhood. We always say "I have your back" but is this really true? The things that take place on a day to day basis are these really acts of brotherhood? Is brotherhood a codename for betrayal?
     Many acts of false brotherhood are beginning to take place. Power hungry individuals lose sight of their brotherhood values. It is okay to fight your brother,however, wouldn't you much rather fight for your brother?These are just a few questions for your mind to ponder on. I believe a brotherhood segment will be started on this blog