Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORD - VICTORY

     I've had my share of doing things that I really wish I hadn't done. I have been to hell and back. I have seen the edge. I have seen the dark side of life. I had to make peace with my past because I can't change it. God surrounded me with people of faith, people of strong faith, people of power, spiritual power, and I saw little miracles happen in their lives. By it happening in their lives, I started believing it could happen to me. We had some wonderful people raising us, but they still weren't our parents. As you get older, it gets distorted and convoluted, complicated, and, of course, you start looking for attention, affection, affinity in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways.
     When you have put all your faith in man and continue to be disappointed, don't you hope there is something out of there that is not of human element? I don't think that my parents even imagined that I would be exposed to drugs. In those days, for some reason, it was not talked about, just like sex was not talked about. It's remarkable what a new kidney does to your life. I have no complaints... I'm pretty amazed. I have been working on my stamina.
     I was pretty bad. When I first was diagnosed with kidney failure, my function - the function of my kidney was less than 8 percent. I already had high blood pressure. I have hypertension. And I think the chemo was just too much for my kidneys. And they went into failure. The medication I had to take was a form of chemotherapy. You feel like death every day. No appetite. No energy. But the treatment worked. It cured my liver 80 per cent but compromised my kidneys. I couldn't breathe. I - I went into - literally, my kidneys stopped functioning. They stopped, you know, processing the fluid that was starting to build up in my body. If you don't have dialysis, absolutely, you will die. Dialysis is actually keeping me alive. I'm just really, really thankful. I'm thankful to the doctors; I'm thankful to the family that donated the kidney. I've always been an extremist. Some of us have very addictive personalities, and for some of us, that mechanism gets tripped up. Mine certainly did. I'm not cured. You never are. The recovery is a day-to-day process.
     We used to have to arrange things around the dialysis. I would have to plan where to play so I could be back in time, and couldn't go too far. Life is such a gift, I just say thank you all day. I think that I am a walking testimony to you can have scars. You can go through turbulent times and still have victory in your life. I know that God has had my back, even when I was screwing up. I never got to make that transition from little girl to young woman... and that really screws you up. I'm an ordinary person under extraordinary circumstances. I'm a born-again Christian. I was raised Episcopalian - I've always been of a Christian faith, but I became much more active in it when I married my first husband, Marvin. I changed from Episcopalian to Baptist.

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS 
TO 
ROBERT GHOLSON

     There are no shortcuts to genuine friendship. Relationships are built over time. 

~Rachel Simmons~

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

AIN'T NOTHING BUT THE BLUES!

Kenneth Davis

  SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     March 17, 2024: You are about to shift from what you deemed important, or even vital, to a value system that reflects spiritual reality more completely. The shift will be subtle enough that you might not be aware of it until some time passes. You are receiving spiritual training through the things you suffer. Do not lose your balance in this time, says the Lord. Hebrews 5:8 Though He was a Son, het He learned obedience by the things which He suffered

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORDS - SPIRITUAL REALITY 

     The search for God begins at the point of need. God is the only one who can make the valley of trouble a door of hope. Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all. God insists that we ask, not because He needs to know our situation, but because we need the spiritual discipline of asking. Often God has to shut a door in our face, so that He can subsequently open the door through which He wants us to go.
     When the dream in our heart is one that God has planted there, a strange happiness flowers into us. At that moment all of the spiritual resources of the universe are released to help us. Our praying is then at one with the will of God and becomes a channel for the Creator's always joyous, triumphant purposes for us and our world. The purpose of all prayer is to find God's will and to make that our prayer. One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying. Our prayers must not be efforts to bend God to our will but to yield ourselves to His. Once we recognize our need for Jesus, then the building of our faith begins. It is a daily, moment-by-moment life of absolute dependence upon Him for everything.
     If your every human plan and calculation has miscarried, if, one by one, human props have been knocked out, and doors have shut in your face, take heart. God is trying to get a message through to you, and the message is: "Stop depending on inadequate human resources. Let me handle the matter." God's way of dealing with us is to throw us into situations over our depth, then supply us with the necessary ability to swim. Lord, what are you trying to teach me? The only time I ever find my dealings with God less than clear-cut is when I'm not being honest with Him. The fuzziness is always on my side, not His.
     I experienced the reality of the spiritual body and learned that it has every faculty of the physical body, though with greater sensitivity and some dimensions added... There will be nothing shocking in the transition, only a continuation of who I am now. One can believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and feel no personal loyalty to Him at all - indeed, pay no attention whatever to His commandments and His will for one's life. So many people never pause long enough to make up their minds about basic issues of life and death. It's quite possible to go through your whole life, making the mechanical motions of living, adopting as your own sets of ideas you've come to any conclusion for yourself as to what life is all about.

     Catherine Sarah Wood Marshall LeSourd (September 27, 1914 – March 18, 1983) was an American author of nonfiction, inspirational, and fiction works. She was the wife of well-known minister Peter Marshall. Marshall was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Ambrose Wood and Leonora Whitaker Wood. From the age of nine until her graduation from high school, Marshall was raised in Keyser, West Virginia, where her father served as pastor of a Presbyterian church from 1924 to 1942.

Kenneth Davis

     Final arrangements for Calvin Harper, have been received from Dr. Charlotte Harper, Calvin's daughter and Alvin Howlett, his "Best Friend". Charlotte thanks you for your continual prayers and support during this time. 

Obituary of Mr. Calvin Pete Harper
IN THE CARE OF
M. J. Edwards Stage Road Chapel
Mr. Calvin Pete Harper, age 72, of Memphis, Tennessee passed away on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Wake: Friday, March 22, 2024 4:00pm -7:00pm
  MJ Edwards 4445 Stage Road

Viewing: Saturday, March 23, 2024
 Brown Baptist 7200 Swinnea Road-South Campus

 12:00-12:55pm 

Funeral services: Saturday, March 23, 2024 1:00pm
Brown Baptist Church 7200 Swinnea Road-South Campus 

Burial: Forest Hill Memorial Park South 2545 E Holmes Rd

 Repass: Southbrook Town Center 1254 E Shelby Dr.

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - EXAMINE YOURSELF 

     Sometimes you have to do what you don't like to get to where you want to be. My fear is greater than my faith, but I walk the missionary way. You know that saying, bad things don't happen to good people? That's a lie. Things go wrong all the time; you can't be precious about it. In life, sometimes everything falls into place, and sometimes everything just falls to pieces. The key is to begin creating with these fallen pieces. By improvising, you'll create something magical that might be the best thing you've ever accomplished. Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it. I think you have to know who you are. Get to know the monster that lives in your soul, dive deep into your soul and explore it.
     Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes. Our generation has an incredible amount of realism, yet at the same time it loves to complain and not really change. Because, if it does change, then it won't have anything to complain about. Some people are afraid of what they might find if they try to analyze themselves too much, but you have to crawl into your wounds to discover where your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing can begin. Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again. Life is fleeting. It is to be enjoyed. As the sun sets, we've all had those nights where you question your choices and where your life is going. There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like somebody else, then there isn't.
     We can all choose to become our potential, not just talk about it or dream about it. But daily, make a shift whereby we begin living and being our potential. With each day, that potential can expand because we are open to learning something every day. Let's be honest. You let yourself be pulled in because it felt good to be wanted, needed. But then it went too far, as projected images always do. If it's not a real image, but one that has been projected on to you, then you can keep up the masquerade for only so long before the mask cracks and the paint on the mask peels away. Sometimes you need to take a departure from what you do to something that's slightly different in order to get inspiration.
     There is a time and a place for things. Sometimes one needs to put a filter on oneself. That can be a good thing. I am finding that vulnerability gives me great strength, because you're not hiding anymore. It's really about being a pioneer for myself, going into the places where I am not being taught. I have to teach myself. Women shouldn’t deny their dark side. Sometimes those demons are frightening and sometimes they’re beautiful. You’ll have to approach them. Drink a glass of wine with them, take them for a walk on the beach, examine yourself. If you really want a challenge, just deal with yourself. I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmare. There are ways to stimulate being prolific, and part of that is making pilgrimages, and being open to listening, changing up the routine.

     Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. 

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Kenneth Davis

DORIS DAVENPORT BRINKLEY

Hello Doris,
     On behalf of our class and your website administrators, I graciously welcome you to our website. As you search through the pages, hopefully you'll be entertained, encouraged and inspired to contact your classmates with a post or by the message center. A Class Reunion committee is presently planning our 55th Class Reunion. We've developed a questionnaire to determine the degree of those interested in attending. There's a link listed on our website to complete the form. Should you see the need for specific questions or corrections, please let us know, by your remarks on the last line of questioning. Press "Submit" upon your completion. Here's the link: https://forms.gle/x17jZYWs3G6sMZ8d9 

    If you run into problems, or need additional information about the website, please contact Estella Wright, Joycelyn Lacy or me. Contact me directly at btwco1970@gmail.com or through the website.

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     March 19, 2024: Take stock of what has transpired so that you can perceive the breakthrough you are now experiencing. Breaking through is not necessarily a one-time event; it is the process of moving forward triumphantly and perceiving your progress, whether great or small. James 1:12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - THE PROCESS

     Give light and people will find the way. You didn't see me on television, you didn't see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes. Remember, we are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit a larger freedom that encompasses all mankind. Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother's sons, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens.
     I have always thought that what is needed is the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership in others. I had known, number one, that there would never be any role for me in the leadership capacity with SCLC. Why? First, I'm a woman. Also, I'm not a minister. And second, I am a person that feels that I have to maintain some degree of personal integrity and be my own barometer of what is important and what is not. 

     Both my parents came from North Carolina, in Warren County. My mother had a feeling that there was greater culture in North Carolina than obtained in Norfolk, Virginia, plus the fact she just didn't like the lowland-lying climate there. I was born in Norfolk, Virginia. I began school there, the first year of public school. When I was 7, the family shifted back to North Carolina. I grew up in North Carolina; had my schooling through the college level in North Carolina. I went to what is known as, and was at that time, too, Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In fact, because of the lack of public-school facilities, I began there. I began boarding school at the high school level, in fact, a year below the high school level. One of the stories that dominates our family literature was the fact that my maternal grandfather contracted for - I don't know under what terms - but, for a large section of the old slave plantation. He established himself - sisters and brothers, cousins, etc. on fifty- and sixty-acre plots.

     Oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for what it is, and move to transform it. In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed... It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system. I have always felt it was a handicap for oppressed peoples to depend so largely upon a leader, because unfortunately in our culture, the charismatic leader usually becomes a leader because he has found a spot in the public limelight. I had been friendly with people who were in the Communist party and all the rest of the Left forces, which were oriented in the direction of mass action.

     During the Depression years, I began to identify to some extent with the unemployed, the organization for the unemployed at that period. When I came out of the Depression, I came out of it with a different point of view as to what constituted success. And that was even just even personal success. I, perhaps, at that stage, had the kind of ambition that others may have had; you know, namely based on the concept that if you were trained the world was out there waiting for you to provide a certain kind of leadership and give you an opportunity. 

     But with the Depression, I began to see that there were certain social forces over which the individual had very little control. I guess the best way to describe that would be to connect with the fact that I came out of college just before the big Depression, and I came to New York. One of the things that has to be faced is the process of waiting to change the system, how much we have got to do to find out who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.

     Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an African American civil rights and human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned more than five decades. In New York City and the South, she worked alongside some of the most noted civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, and Martin Luther King Jr. She also mentored many emerging activists, such as Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, and Bob Moses, as leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Patricia White (Watson)

Hello everyone. I haven't been on the site for a while. Please send me the link again for the survey. 

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - BE REMINDED 

     Grief is characterized much more by waves of feeling that lessen and reoccur, it's less like stages and more like different states of feeling. Grief is a bad moon, a sleeper wave. It's like having an inner combatant, a saboteur who, at the slightest change in the sunlight, or at the first notes of a jingle for a dog food commercial, will flick the memory switch, bringing tears to your eyes. This is part of the complexity of grief: A piece of you recognizes it is an extreme state, an altered state, yet a large part of you is entirely subject to its demands. If the condition of grief is nearly universal, its transactions are exquisitely personal.
     A death from a long illness is very different from a sudden death. It gives you time to say goodbye and time to adjust to the idea that the beloved will not be with you anymore. I wasn't prepared for the fact that grief is so unpredictable. It wasn't just sadness, and it wasn't linear. Somehow, I'd thought that the first days would be the worst and then it would get steadily better - like getting over the flu. That's not how it was. The truth is, I need to experience my mother's presence in the world around me and not just in my head.   
     Nothing prepared me for the loss of my mother. Even knowing that she would die did not prepare me. A mother, after all, is your entry into the world. She is the shell in which you divide and become a life. Waking up in a world without her is like waking up in a world without sky: unimaginable. Loss is so paradoxical: It is at once enormous and tiny. Loss doesn't feel redeemable. But for me one consoling aspect is the recognition that, in this at least, none of us is different from anyone else: We all lose loved ones; we all face our own death.
     To mourn is to wonder at the strangeness that grief is not written all over your face in bruised hieroglyphics. And it's also to feel, quite powerfully, that you're not allowed to descend into the deepest fathom of your grief - that to do so would be taboo somehow. I believe in the importance of individuality, but in the midst of grief I also find myself wanting connection - wanting to be reminded that the sadness I feel is not just mine but ours. Grief is at once a public and a private experience. One's inner, inexpressible disruption cannot be fully realized in one's public persona. My mother never liked Mother's Day. She thought it was a fake holiday dreamed up by Hallmark to commodify deep sentiments that couldn't be expressed with a card.

     O'Rourke was born January 26, 1976, in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother was a longtime teacher and administrator at Saint Ann's, an elite independent school in Brooklyn, and later headmaster of the Pierrepont School in Westport, Connecticut. Her father, a classicist and Egyptologist, also taught at Saint Ann's and Pierrepont. O'Rourke attended St. Ann's through high school. She earned a bachelor's of arts degree in English language and literature from Yale University in 1997 and a master of fine arts degree in poetry from Warren Wilson College in 2005.

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

If You Eat This One Breakfast, 

You’ll Keep Burning Calories All Day Long
Brooke NelsonBrooke Nelson
https://www.shefinds.com/collections/low-carb-breakfast-speed-up-metabolism/#slide-1

     The most important meal of the day has a most important food, too. By now, it goes without saying that breakfast is indisputably the most important meal of the day. Research shows that fueling your body before you head out the door can make you more productive, curb your cravings, and even help you lose weight. But beware: your breakfast choices could be making you fat. Reaching for a chocolate chip muffin or sugar-loaded cereal can wreak havoc on your waistline. Make sure you’re not making any of these unhealthy breakfast mistakes, either.
     In reality, you need a “filling and delicious” carb to really keep you going. Not all carbs are created equal, though. While simple carbs, like bagels, quickly raise and crash your blood sugar levels—which leads to cravings later on—fiber-rich carbs will keep you feeling satisfied (and burning calories!) all day long. Dr. Jennifer Stagg, a naturopathic physician and author of Unzip Your Genes: 5 Choices to Reveal a Radically Radiant You, recommends steel-cut oatmeal as anyone’s go-to breakfast staple. One bowl is filled with healthy protein and fiber, and its chewy texture forces you to eat slowly, which makes you feel full faster. As your body converts those good carbs into energy, your metabolism runs at full capacity, burning calories along the way. Hello, trim waistline!
     And that’s not all. “People who eat good carbs like oatmeal have more energy, reduced sugar cravings, lose more weight and even have more regular bowel movements,” Dr. Stagg told SheFinds.com. Pair a bowl of unflavored steel-cut oatmeal with fresh fruit, nuts, or quinoa for an extra punch of nutrient-rich goodness. 

This is for information purpose only and should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. These are opinions from an external panel of individual doctors. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns.

Kenneth Davis

        T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - GROW AND BREATHE
 

         No one is ever quite as strong or as weak as you'd think. A lot of life is just surviving what happens. One of the hardest tasks as a human being is knowing when to keep an open mind, and when not to. Love can come when you're already who you are, when you're filled with you. Not when you look to someone else to fill the empty space. You have ordinary moments and ordinary moments and more ordinary moments, and then, suddenly, there is something monumental right there. You have past and future colliding in the present, your own personal Big Bang, and nothing will ever be the same. Sometimes love is a surprise, an instant of recognition, a sudden gift at a sudden moment that makes everything different from then on. Some people will say that's not love, that you can't really love someone you don't know. But I'm not so sure. Love doesn't seem to follow a plan; it's not a series of steps. It can hit with the force of nature--an earthquake, a tidal wave, a storm of wild relentless energy that is beyond your simple attempts at control.
     We can get so wrapped up in our own misconceptions that we miss the simple beauty of the truth. Maybe we all just wanted someone to believe in. That's all each of us wanted, and it should be so simple, but it never was simple. The loneliness you feel with another person, the wrong person, is the loneliest of all. Funny the only two times we use the phrase "seeing someone" are when we are referring to being in a a relationship or getting psychological help. I shouldn't have to be a liar to make someone love me. I shouldn't be so afraid of losing someone that I'll do anything to make them stay. To an untrained eye, need and love were as easily mistaken for each other as the real master's painting and a forgery. You take care of the people you love, but it’s true, too, that you take care of the things you own. That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable. Rejection, though--it could make the loss of someone you weren't even that crazy about feel gut wrenching and world ending.
     What is more like love than the ocean? You can play in it, drown in it...it can be clear and bright enough to hurt your eyes, or covered in fog, hidden behind a curve of roads and then suddenly there in full glory. Its waves come like breaths, in and out, body stretched to forever in its possibilities, and yet its heart lies deep, not fully knowable, inconceivably majestic. Love must be more about power than we think, if even in its most intimate moment of expression we think about not being the one who risks the most. Sometimes you build up these walls, you build, and you build and you build up these walls and you think they’re so strong, but then someone can come along and tip them over with only his fingers, or the weight of his breath. Love seems to be something to approach with caution, as if you'd come across a wrapped box in the middle of the street and have no idea what it contains.
     Unconditional love is like a country of two with no laws and no government. Which is all fine if everyone is peaceful and law abiding. In the wrong hands, though, you got looting and crime sprees, and let me tell you, the people who demand unconditional love are usually the ones who will rob and pillage and then blame you because you left your door unlocked. Love is ease, love is comfort, love is support and respect. Love is not punishing or controlling. Love lets you grow and breathe. Love's passion is only good passion -- swirling-leaves-on-a-fall-day passion, a-sky-full-of-magnificent-stars passion -- not angst and anxiety. Love is not hurt and harm. Love is never unsafe. Love is sleeping like puzzle pieces. It's your own garden you protect; it's a field of wildflowers you move about in both freely and together. Too often in my life, love has been defined as "humiliation with occasional roses".

     Deb Caletti (born June 16, 1963) is an American writer of young adult and adult fiction. Caletti is a National Book Award finalist, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist, as well as the recipient of other numerous awards including the PEN USA finalist award, the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and SLJ Best Book award. Caletti's books feature the Pacific Northwest, and her young adult work is popular for tackling difficult issues typically reserved for adult fiction.

IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER

The Pyramid - AKA - The Tomb of Doom - AKA Bass Pro Shops
My children are now 41 and 42 respectively......

     Memphis Memorial Stadium, later to be named Liberty Bowl, rises out of the ground at the Mid-South Fairgrounds in 1964. It opened in 1965 at a cost of $3.7 million. The Commercial Appeal Files

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORD - PROCRASTINATION

     God, make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing, I fear. The greatest gift is not being afraid to question. You can't be all you are meant to be if you think you are better than others, and you can't be all you are meant to be if you think you are less than others, either. I think all human beings have a godlike, divine power, only most of us don't tap into it. The world has improved mostly because unorthodox people did unorthodox things. Not surprisingly, they had the courage and daring to think they could make a difference.
     We don't realize how much racism has tainted our self-image as human beings. Black women have to know the historical and everyday struggles of black men, and our men have to know the struggles of black women in America. It's getting increasingly difficult to be a dreamer under any circumstances. Paradise is to be the ultimate instrument, fulfilling God's desperate intent that we love each other. I pray with my whole soul that the divide-and-conquerors among us will not triumph over us. We need each other in this world so desperately. I think I have something unique that I'd like to share. I don't want to have my children have to get dressed up to go out to say good morning and deserve to live among some other people. I want to be able to be free and take for granted that my neighbors like me and I like them.
     Racism is a very insidious thing. It's dangerous to the psyche, to mind and body. It erodes the self-confidence. And I don't know how we get through it. You should always be prepared to win. But as much as I tell myself that, I've accepted another kind of role. Racism undercuts expectation, something like that. I'm not saying that to excuse myself from anything, but I've lived all this time, and things don't happen. You meet all kinds of people that help put life in perspective and turn the horror into some kind of lesson or avenue of awakening that lives with you all your days. That's what being young is all about. You have the courage and the daring to think that you can make a difference. You're not prone to measure your energies in time. You're not likely to live by equations.
     I really don't believe in retiring as long as you can breathe. You just try to do everything that comes up. Get up an hour earlier, stay up an hour later, make the time. Then you look back and say, ‘Well, that was a neat piece of juggling there -- school, marriage, babies, career.’ The enthusiasms took me through the action, not the measuring of it or the reasonableness. There is a place for people 65 and older that no other age group can fit. We have nothing to lose. Some of us have a couple pennies. We can go out now and really be revolutionaries. My constant battle is putting aside time wasters, and I have to watch out for procrastination. Staying on the path of something you're trying to create has much to do with having confidence in yourself and in your capacity to realize the things you want out of life. The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity.

 
Ruby Dee

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 
FRIDAYS

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

GREETINGS 
TO 
WILLIAM ARNOLD

     I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don't believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn't want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn't know how to return the treatment.
Malcolm X

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Patricia White (Watson)

Happy Birthday William. And many moooore. 

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

A Salute to March Warriors

Warriors born during in March typically look on the bright side of things. Guided more by intuition than by structure, they tend to be compassionate and have an open heart that forgives and forgets easily. They have the ability to tap into the feelings of their loved ones, and be empathetic, which is a plus in moments of conflict.

Known as super creative and imaginative, March Warriors enjoy getting lost in their own thoughts and are content to spend time alone.

It is often difficult to find someone a loyal as a Warrior born in March. They often set the example for friendship. Apart from being loyal, they are very careful about relationships they hold.

Columbia University did a study that figured out certain birth months coincided with an increase in risks for certain diseases. The study concluded that not only are March babies not at an increased risk of respiratory, reproductive, cardiovascular or neurological illnesses, they were associated with decreased disease risk. Enjoy this news in good health, March Warriors!

Notables born in March include Queen Latifa, Shaquille O’Neal, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Irvin, Wanda Sykes, Method Man, Reggie Bush and K. Michelle.

The birthstone for March, the aquamarine gem, is a luxurious blue in color. While it is not considered a precious stone, is often associated with not only good health and hope, but a feeling of calm, trust, and fearlessness.

Daffodils, sometimes called jonquils or narcissus, are the birth flowers for March. Because they often bloom in early spring, they symbolize new birth, beginnings, happiness and joy.

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Kenneth Davis

T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAYS WORD - CONSOLATION    

     Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
     Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. You will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn. Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
     Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained. Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness. What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

HELEN KELLER

Kenneth Davis

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TODAYS WORD - TRANSFORM

     I'm inherently a chameleon... to not evolve is to not live. I've been blessed with so many opportunities and so many amazing things throughout this process. But all the while, I remember that the reason that I'm here and the reason that I do music and tell these stories is that people come to know the love, the God that I know. I've always wanted to be a woman who isn't afraid to tell her story. What I wear onstage is so stylized and bold. If it looks like your grandma's bedsheets, I'll put it on my body. I search for items that have history, like vintage finds - I love fur kitten-heel house slippers from the 1950s - and pieces from fashion houses that have been around for a long time, like Chanel and Dior.
     My style icons are Lucille Ball for her bouffant hair and all the updos, James Dean for his rockabilly style - the denim and rolled-up T-shirt thing. And I am also inspired by Dita Von Teese and Gwen Stefani. Their style is retro, but it's still very feminine at the same time. I gleaned different style ideas over the years. In Southern California, there is a big rockabilly sub-culture. So when I would go to car shows, I would see women dressed like this. I had a teacher in high school that always had her Bette Paige bangs. I style my hair so frequently that I need a really good conditioner to keep it moisturized. I play with doing a forehead bun a lot, just a bantu knot right in front of the forehead and keep it in with a clip. And I like doing real pinup styles but based on my natural hair. I always felt more comfortable with a full face of makeup. I want people to know my truth. Unconditional love of God and each other.
     No matter how dark or precarious it may seem, continue to pursue your truth. I want people to... not be afraid of their truth. I do devotion in the morning. I pray and I read the word. My faith was eventually what helped me face myself, tell the truth about everything I had done, face criticism, cope with guilt, pain, and grow from all of it. I tell people all the time - I'm a very spiritual person, so I pray over everything that I do including creating music, a new song. Soul music is true to its name. It's music that connects to your soul, your spirit. When music resonates with people's spirit like that, when people can emotionally connect with something or it helps to heal them, transform them, that never goes out of style. People will always need something to relate to. I think gratitude is a big thing. It puts you in a place where you're humble.

ANDRA DAY

Kenneth Davis

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TODAYS WORD - CORRECTIONS

     I was born, have lived, and will die free. We grow old more through indolence, than through age. To some people everything is permitted. There is a star above us which unites souls of the first order, though worlds and ages separate them. Life is too short to be able to love as one should. Ignorance is not innocence.
     Dignity is like a perfume; those who use it are scarcely conscious of it. You should be more afraid of a stupid man than of an evil one. I love men, not because they are men, but because they are not women. Every man is his own worst enemy. God has neither form nor shape under which we can know Him; when he speaks of Himself in metaphors and similes, He is adapting Himself to our foolishness, our limited capacity. We read for instruction, for correction, and for consolation. It would not be difficult to be a better ruler than I was: for I admit that I ruled badly; and even if I was fortunate enough to satisfy my subjects, I was not fortunate enough to satisfy myself.

Christina, Queen of Sweden

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

     The other day I got carded at the liquor store. While I was taking out my ID, my old Blockbuster card fell out. The clerk shook his head, said, “Never mind,” and rang me up. —Andrea Price

     “This is your great-grandma and great grandpa,” I told my grandson as I handed him a photo of my parents. “Do you think I look like them?” He shook his head. “Not yet.”

     One of the shortest wills ever written: “Being of sound mind, I spent all the money.” —Submitted by Arthur Bland 

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     March 26, 2024: Take each day as it comes and refuse to allow your thoughts to dwell on the future and what could or might happen. Anything you come up with will only be conjecture and not useful to you or anyone else. Spend your energy on where you are and what you have been given to do today and put your faith and trust in Me to be with you every step of the way, says the Lord. Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - FAITH AND TRUST
 

     Everything you need God already is. Now is the time to know that God is able. To connect your current reality with God's present ability. We often don’t realize that where God puts us is the very place we need to be to receive what He wants to give us. Today's difficulties are often a result of yesterday's disobedience. Yesterday's partial obedience creates staggering consequences in today's experiences. Only God's presence can change people's lives. God has gone before us so we can walk in the future He has for us. Give your hands to Him for His work, your feet to walk His path, and your ears to hear Him speak.

     The spirit of complaint is born out of an unwillingness to trust God with today. Like the Israelites, it means you are spending your time looking back toward Egypt or wishing for the future all the while missing what God is doing right now. We can see hope in the midst of hopelessness. We can see peace in the midst of chaos. We have a hope that the world does not have. We can see clearly that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. We serve a God who is waiting to hear from you, and He can't wait to respond.

     We can see hope in the midst of hopelessness. We can see peace in the midst of chaos. We have a hope that the world does not have. We can see clearly that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. Every decision you need to make, every task you need to accomplish, every relationship you need to navigate, every element of daily life you need to traverse, God has already perfectly matched up with an equivalent-to-overflowing supply of His grace. If you don’t agree with that, then you either lack a proper appreciation for what you have, or you are doing things that you’re not supposed to be participating in right now.

     When you face two options and each seems to please God, consider the one that displays God's glory, power and strength. This makes room for God to reveal Himself to you and show Himself through you. Don't be fearful about the hard road he may ask you to take He desires to show Himself strong in you and will encourage you to do things that require trust and faith. Fervent prayer keeps your true identity in focus. Most of our days are filled with routine duties required for life to continue with any sort of sanity. But if we take the time look closely, we might discover that God is using these normal activities to prepare us for future tasks, each duty pointing to His blessing in our lives.

PRISCILLA SHIRER

    Priscilla Shirer is the founder and leader of Going Beyond Ministries, a ministry that teaches the uncompromising truths of the Word of God and His Power. Going Beyond Ministries is focused on the expository teaching of the Word of God. We are committed to teaching the uncompromising truths of His Word. Our desire is not only for all to understand His written Word but for all to experience His Power!