A Life Giving Moment: The Courage To [Go Alone]

I’ll go if I have to go by myself (have to go by myself)/I’ll go if I have to go by myself (have to go by myself)/If my mother (won’t go)/If my father (won’t go)/If my sister or my brother (won’t go)/I’ll go if I have to go by myself (have to go by myself)

I’ll sing if I have to sing by myself (have to sing by myself)/ I’ll sing if I have to sing by myself (have to sing by myself)/ If my mother (don’t sing)/If my father (don’t sing)/If my sister or my brother (don’t sing)/I’ll sing if I have to sing by myself (have to sing by myself)

I’ll serve if I have to serve by myself (have to serve by myself)/ I’ll serve if I have to serve by myself (have to serve by myself)/ If my mother (won’t serve)/If my father (won’t serve)/If my sister or my brother (won’t serve)/I’ll serve if I have to serve by myself (have to serve by myself)

I’ll pray if I have to pray by myself (have to pray myself)/ I’ll pray if I have to pray by myself (have to pray myself)/ If my mother (won’t pray)/If my father (won’t pray)/If my sister or my brother (won’t pray)/I’ll pray if I have to pray by myself (have to pray by myself)

This morning, as I worshipped, I was reminded of the song above, led by The Stiggers Sisters back in the 90’s at Pilgrim Baptist Church. This call and response selection took root in me in ways my teenage-self did not have the vision to see at the time.

Sojourner, there are purpose induced steps you must take alone. There are multiple seasons wherein you will find yourself seemingly surrounded with people but internally you know that isolation has happened upon you. DreamSeed, do not fret. You know how to live, to move, and to have your being…alone. In fact, as an interdependent creature, you already have within you the intuition, wisdom, and tools necessary to co-partner with God and to [re]birth yourself.

Going forth alone, without past comfort zones, enablers, and certified crutches, requires courage. For the past three years, the word COURAGE has greeted me every morning. The sticker is adhered to the mirror in my vanity area. I literally cannot see my eyes. All I can see is COURAGE. This sticker was a part of the commemorative USPS stamps for Rosa Parks. I have since used all the stamps and the COURAGE sticker remains as a daily call for me to rise, to be, and to do.

Do not despise the days filled with more 'you + God time' than your prefer. These days are shifting and sifting you so that when the assignments come you will have wisdom and balance similar to that of our Elder and Exemplar of Faith, Jesus. He chose to walk in love without conditions and without ever edifying himself above another (as a god) or below another (as one lacking self-love and a healthy self-definition). Jesus was always defining himself as God’s chosen-beloved and the son of man in spite of folk’s responses to him.

I appreciate John’s Jesus, who after displaying great power, embodied an even greater wisdom and restraint. When he discerned the folks he served desired to make him their king, he fled away from them into isolation. “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:16 RSV). The power to navigate external pressures and the willingness to refuse idolatrous worship comes only through seasons of going it alone. You + God…

Sojourner, go forth courageously withholding nothing!!!

WithLove-InPeace-ThroughGrace

#AREYOUCONNECTED #Dreamer #Birther #Creator #DreamersUnite

"In the grand scheme of things, your life, regardless of pain and difficulty, is an unfolding miracle. Your life is the coming of a dream. Your life is the co-creative component of the Divine birthing process that happens within human consciousness and lived experiences [...]" -Kanisha Billingsley