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   
TODAY'S WORDS - INTERSECTION OF LIFE 

     Be your true self. Because if you're not, there are consequences to be paid. Your actions are not in a vacuum. They impact other people. We always see abhorrent behavior and say why, but then we get mad when somebody tries to answer. One of the great things my grandparents and parents taught me was, there are those who don't have your best interests at heart. My dad prepared me for the worst of times while also enabling me to succeed in the best. He taught me to confront the insidiousness of racism head on, no matter what the ramification, so it will not fester. Defeat it and get past it. That was The Talk. Nothing scared me after that. In our house, my dad had a chair. It was a Barcalounger, big and comfortable. If we missed him or wanted comfort when he wasn't home, we'd just climb into the chair and let it envelop us.
          Our thoughts are to the individual as our art is to the community as a whole. That's where you reflect on who you are, who you hope to be, what you've gone through, and where you hope to go. People forget that art is not just a piece of entertainment. It is the place where we collectively declare our values and then act on them. That's one of the most powerful things we have as a community: our culture and our art. And it's the intersection between life and how people deal with life. It's the most important thing we do.
     I have so much love for art. The whole idea of jazz came about as the interpretation of the human dialogue, trading fours. When someone's soloing and someone picks up the solo and plays it back at 'em, it was the imitation of the human dialogue. It was how people spoke, through music. And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on. 
     Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It's how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture. Culture is the intersection between people and dealing with the journey of life itself. How to deal with life, how a people deals with life is literally manifested in its culture, in its food, in its music, in its art, in the way you dance, the way you communicate. 

Wendell Pierce

Kenneth Davis

IMAGES FROM THE ARCHIVES

OF

THE MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL

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   
TODAY'S WORDS -  ENDURE DISAPPOINTMENTS

     Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it. Proof is boring. Proof is tiresome. Proof is an irrelevance. People would far rather be handed an easy lie than search for a difficult truth, especially if it suits their own purposes.  I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn, to stop making them. You should laugh every moment you live, for you'll find it decidedly difficult afterwards. That's what courage is. Taking your disappointments and your failures, your guilt and your shame, all the wounds received and inflicted, and sinking them in the past. Starting again. Damning yesterday and facing tomorrow with your head held high. Times change. It's those that see it coming, and plan for it, and change themselves to suit, that prosper.
     Things aren't what they used to be' is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave. Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back. You have to learn to love the small things in life, like a hot bath. You have to love the small things, when you have nothing else. It's hard to stay calm when you're terrified, helpless, alone, at the mercy of men with no mercy at all.
     There was no such thing as luck. Luck was a word idiots used to explain the consequences of their own rashness, and selfishness, and stupidity. More often than not, bad luck meant bad plans. All your life spent getting ready for the next thing. I climbed a lot of hills now. I crossed a lot of rivers. Crossed the sea even, left everything I knew and came to Styria Austria. But there I was, waiting for me at the docks when I got off the boat, same man, same life. Next valley ain't no different from this one. No better anyway. Reckon I've learned ... just to stick in the place I'm at. Just to be the man I am. Truly, life is the misery we endure between disappointments. The fool strikes. The wise man smiles, and watches, and learns. Then strikes.

     Joseph Edward Abercrombie (born 31 December 1974) is a British fantasy writer and film editor. He is the author of The First Law trilogy, as well as other fantasy books in the same setting and a trilogy of young adult novels. His novel Half a King won the 2015 Locus Award for best young adult book.

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 
FRIDAYS

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

My Purpose by Thomas Dekker

To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face;

To greet the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains;

To approach my work with a clean mind;

To hold ever before me, even in the doing of little thing, the Ultimate Purpose toward which I am working;

To meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart;

To be gentle, kind and courteous through all the hours;

To approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep, and the joy that comes from work well done—

This is how I desire to waste wisely my days.

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 
TODAY'S WORDS - SET YOUR HEART 

     Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do. I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all. One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own. People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction. The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it. We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it.
     There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now. You've got to tell the world how to treat you. If the world tells you how you are going to be treated, you are in trouble. To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage. Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
     Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity. People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned. People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception. I think that the inability to love is the central problem, because that inability masks a certain terror, and that terror is the terror of being touched. And if you can't be touched, you can't be changed. And if you can't be changed, you can't be alive.
     Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know. Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in. It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror. Be careful what you set your heart upon - for it will surely be yours. The universe, which is not merely the stars and the moon and the planets, flowers, grass and trees, but other people, has evolved no terms for your existence, has made no room for you, and if love will not swing wide the gates, no other power will or can. And if one despairs-- as who has not?-- of human love, God's love alone is left.

James A. Baldwin  

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
 DORIS DAVENPORT BRINKLEY

& 
AMELIA GRIFFIN BANKS

     Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.

Robert Updegraff

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     July 7, 2024: Pay attention and watch for valuable insights that will prepare you and facilitate your spiritual development. You are ready to proceed and take the next step in a series of actions and understanding necessary to this vital process of spiritual growth. I have called you to a closer walk with Me, and that will require that you leave behind the hindrances that keep you from intimacy with Me, says the Lord. Proverbs 4:12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - SPIRITUAL GROWTH

     Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. The feeling of being valuable is a cornerstone of self-discipline because when you consider yourself valuable you will take care of yourself- including things like using your time well. In this way, self-discipline is self-caring. Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
     The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. It is in the whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn.
     Life is complex. Each one of us must make his own path through life. There are no self-help manuals, no formulas, no easy answers. The right road for one is the wrong road for another...The journey of life is not paved in blacktop; it is not brightly lit, and it has no road signs. It is a rocky path through the wilderness. God creates each soul differently, so that when all the mud is finally cleared away, His light will shine through it in a beautiful, colorful, totally new pattern. The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one.
     Genuine love not only respects the individuality of the other but actually cultivates it, even at the risk of separation or loss. The ultimate goal of life remains the spiritual growth of the individual, the solitary journey to peaks that can be climbed only alone. Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will -- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love. The will to grow is, in essence, the same phenomenon as love. Genuinely loving people are, by definition, growing people. We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.

     Morgan Scott Peck (1936–2005) was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote the book The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.

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  
TODAY'S WORDS - MENTAL HEALTH

     My grandmother was born in 1900, and she would regale me with tales I call 'Little House on the Prairie' tales, but they were tales of segregated and racist America growing up in Alabama and Mississippi, where she came from. My father contracted polio on a troop train in Korea. I grew up in a home and in a world in which you can do anything. We were all expected to go to college. My father was a doctor. When I was a kid, I wanted to walk with my dad's limp - my dad was my hero - but that infuriated him, and he would make me walk back and forth in the living room until I walked without it.
     Every little kid has always wanted to be a race car driver. I couldn't wait to be, you know, a Black Panther. Of course they wouldn't let me join. I started acting at the University of Michigan in my sophomore year. A friend of mine had his own theater company, and he jumped me in like I was in a gang. And once I came in, it was just that simple. For the first time in my life, I felt, 'This is a career, this is a life that I think I can grow old doing.' It was love at first sight. I loved being on stage and reading these plays. It was great. I wanted something where I could have the clearest and most unfiltered artistic and creative voice. I never wanted to lose out on an acting job and wonder if I hadn't been trained enough. I wanted to be a leading man - the black lawyer, the black doctor, the black policeman.
     I've tried actively to define myself and redefine myself, and not be pigeonholed. As I get older, my sense of humor is my biggest asset. Don't let anyone try to tell you who you are. Define yourself. Be talented enough to make it and stupid enough to keep trying. America is grappling with cultural diversity, and I just want to put a show on that represents the world in which I live. I, myself, identify myself as a heathen. I try to make my bed every day for mental health. Coming home to an unmade bed or a room with clothes all over will depress me.

David Alan Grier

(ADULT ADVISORY - PROFANITY INCLUDED)

Kenneth Davis

JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Just once I would like to read a medication label that says:

Warning, may cause permanent weight loss, remove wrinkles and increased energy!

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     July 9, 2024: The key phrase for this time in your life will be patient continuance. Do your best to stay on track and seek to always be in the flow of My Spirit, says the Lord. Life will not be without challenges, but neither will you be without solutions. I will give you the strength and ability to overcome every obstacle. Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - PATIENT CONTINUANCE
  

     You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run. God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to your honor and glory. 

     Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue. The reward of patience Is patience. Let us sing a new song, not with our lips, but with our lives. Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow. Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence. We count on God's mercy for our past mistakes, on God's love for our present needs, on God's sovereignty for our future. The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer. Go forth on your path, as it exists only through your walking. Patience is the companion of wisdom. Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.

Saint Augustine

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

The first general rule for friendship is to be a friend, to be open, natural, interested; the second rule is to take time for friendship. Friendship, after all, is what life is finally about. 

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  
TODAY'S WORDS - FEAR OF FAILURE 

     Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit. Enthusiasm is natural; it is being alive, taking the initiative, seeing the importance of what you do, giving it dignity and making what you do important to yourself and to others. The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed. Nothing came easy. I suffered evils, but without allowing them to rob me of the freedom to expand. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work, I became devoted to my restlessness.
     I suffered first as a child from discrimination, poverty ... So I think it was a natural follow from that, that I should use my camera to speak for people who are unable to speak for themselves. I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty. I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did... most of whom were murdered or put in prison... but I chose not to go that way. I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognize me by, and thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so.
     Success can be wracking and reproachful, to you and those close to you. It can entangle you with legends that are consuming and all but impossible to live up to. Many times I wondered whether my achievement was worth the loneliness I experienced, but now I realize the price was small. I've been asked if I think there will ever come a time when all people come together. I would like to think there will. All we can do is hope and dream and work toward that end. And that's what I've tried to do all my life. There's another horizon out there, one more horizon that you have to make for yourself and let other people discover it, and someone else will take it further on, you know. At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it. If a man can reach the latter days of his life with his soul intact, he has mastered life.

Gordon Parks

Kenneth Davis

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

'I'm a Cardiologist, and This Is the Type of Fish I Eat

Every Week for Heart Health'
Story by Jessica Sager 
https://parade.com/

     Chances are you already know the importance of heart health: 647,000 Americans die from heart disease and cardiovascular conditions every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. While that number is pretty harrowing on its face, thankfully, many of these conditions can be prevented or at least managed with a healthy lifestyle: Exercise, stress management, avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol, and enjoying a healthy, balanced diet that's low in cholesterol, trans fats, saturated fats, sugar and sodium. The general contents of a heart-healthy diet are pretty basic: Leafy greens, legumes, nuts, olive oil, berries and fish.
     "Fish consumption is part of the well-known, famous and globally adopted traditional Mediterranean-style diet," Dr. Mustali Dohadwala, MD, cardiologist and medical director of Heartsafe, a cardiology-focused private practice in Boston, says. "It's been shown in several observational studies that this diet's adoption is associated with lower cardiovascular mortality as well as overall mortality." But there's one fish that stands out from the school in terms of its heart-health benefits, according to cardiologists—many of whom make it a weekly staple in their own diets. Find out what it is and why it the answer is not quite as simple as you might think.
What Type of Fish Do You Eat Most Often for Heart Health?
     Cardiologists were basically unanimous in saying that salmon is the most heart-healthy fish thanks to its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Even then, though, not all salmon is created equal. Dr. Mary Greene, MD, a cardiologist at Manhattan Cardiology and contributor to Lab Finder, recommends opting for wild-caught salmon over farm-raised salmon, as wild-caught fish tend to be leaner and more flavorful.
What Are the Biggest Health Benefits of Salmon?
     That would be the omega-3 fatty acids. According to Bradley Serwer, MD, FACC, FSCAI, cardiologist and chief medical officer at Vital Solution, "Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to lower triglyceride levels, reduce vascular inflammation and reduce the risk of arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms)." Additionally, Dr. Dohadwala says, "Research has shown that consuming fish four times per week or more can decrease the incidence of acute myocardial infarction. Even consuming two servings a week can lower the incidence of a major cardiovascular event and death among people who have an established diagnosis of cardiovascular disease."
What Are the Healthiest Ways to Prepare Salmon?
     Like anything else, if not prepared properly or with heart-conscious recipes, salmon can vary in how healthy it actually is. Dr. Greene recommends raw salmon if you can crack it—sushi or sashimi, anyone? "If you can safely eat the fish raw, that is a great way to retain all of the natural nutrients in their bioavailable form," she advises. "If this is not possible, then cooking at a very low temperature is the healthiest option, like baking or grilling over low heat. Deep frying and other high heat methods are not recommended as it will destroy a lot of the nutritional benefits in the process."
     According to Dr. Dohadwala, steaming salmon can also be a healthy and tasty option for your meal. Dr. Serwer has another tip to make your heart-healthy dinner pleasant for your taste buds, too: "Adding herbs, spices and juices may enhance the flavors. I recommend avoiding high salt seasoning, as this may be too much sodium for a heart-healthy diet." Thankfully, salmon is flavorful enough to not need much to make it both healthy and delicious, and there are a ton of tasty options when it comes to this specific fish.
What Are Other Heart-Healthy Types of Seafood?
     Like salmon, the heart health benefits of other seafood varieties can depend on its preparation: For example, fried clams or other fried seafood probably aren't the healthiest option (lots of breading, calories and fat), and shrimp and lobster can have high cholesterol, Dr. Serwer points out. That said, cardiologists each have some personal favorites if you want a break from weeks and weeks of bright pink entrees. "Other fish which are high in omega-3 fatty acids include sardines, trout, mackerel and herring," Dr. Serwer recommends. "These fish also are high in other nutrients such as vitamin D, which can lower triglyceride levels, reduce vascular inflammation and have also been shown to reduce the risk of arrhythmias."
     There is some other seafood to eschew, however, and not for caloric reasons, Dr. Dohadwala notes: "People should avoid seafood or fish that is high in mercury content such as swordfish, marlin and shark." If you're not a fan of fish but still want the health benefits, you're not out of luck, either. Dr. Greene says a heart-healthy option for those who don't necessarily want to make a meal out of fish is to use cod liver oil as a supplement. Dr. Dohadwala says you can also get similar health benefits from adding green leafy vegetables, walnuts or chia seeds to your diet.

     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  
TODAY'S WORDS - ELEMINATE THE NEGATIVE

     Some people drift through their entire life. They do it one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time. It happens so gradually they are unaware of how their lives are slipping away until it's too late. Don't let the negatives of life control you. Rise above them. Use them as your steppingstones to go higher than you ever dreamed possible. Every achievement, big or small, begins in your mind. No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important. Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.
     There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice. You can decide which type of person you want to be. Your attitude determines your altitude. It really is true that If you think you can, you can; and if you think you can’t – you’re right. For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. Everyone has obstacles to overcome, but those with great faith can conquer whatever stands in the way. Before you ever receive the wonderful treasures of a happy life, you must first give. Give of yourself. Be of service to others. What's interesting about subscribing to a life of giving is that you become addicted. Only what you give can be multiplied back into your own life.
     Hope is wishing for something to come true. Faith is belief that it will come true. Believe that for every problem God gives you, He will also provide you with a solution. God does not ask your ability Or your inability. He asks only your availability. God didn't have time to make a nobody, only a somebody. I believe that each of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition. The greatest pollution problem we face today is negativity. Eliminate the negative attitude and believe you can do anything. Replace 'if I can, I hope, maybe' with 'I can, I will, I must. Most of us die with our music underplayed...We should try to step out of our comfort zones and do the things we're capable of.

     Entrepreneur Mary Kay, founder of Mary Kay Inc., built a profitable business from scratch that created new opportunities for women to achieve financial success.

Kenneth Davis

 TIME FOR ANOTHER 
THROWBACK
 THURSDAY

Joycelyn Lacy (Somerville)

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO
 MARZIE GATES THOMAS
 & 
GEORGE PORTER
  

     Everyday create your history, every path you take you're leaving your legacy. Feel good about yourself. You have been blessed and you might not have even realized it. Look deep within yourself, and you'll find something amazing. Be humble, believe in yourself, and have the love of the world in your heart.

Michael Jackson

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   
TODAY'S WORDS - WISDOM AND DIRECTION

     This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life. The years in your life are less important than the life in your years.
     Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
     Don't choose the better person, choose the person who makes a better you. The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship. For each thorn, there's a rosebud... For each twilight - a dawn... For each trial - the strength to carry on, For each storm cloud - a rainbow... For each shadow - the sun... For each parting - sweet memories when sorrow is done.
     The learned and the studious of thought have no monopoly of wisdom. Their violence of direction in some degree disqualifies them to think truly. I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives. Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude. Live well, learn plenty, laugh often, love much. Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 
FRIDAYS

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

God’s Communications

It is a mistake to assume God’s communications to us are limited to speech, whether of the written or the spoken word. Even our friends who walk by our side have many languages other than words. They speak to us with gestures, in the glow or gloom of their faces, in a touch of the hand, in a token secretly left where we shall find it. Often, their most meaningful communication is silence.

God speaks to us in the multitudinous of voices of nature, the blessings of his providence, the turning of an event. Our entire environment is vocal with his goodness, and those voiceless promptings from the silence of our soul are the fleet messengers of his will.