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    jackieholness

    Posted on

    Post Thanksgiving Ruminations…

    Check the huge red glasses and the white shoes...such a geek...My grandma, who is now deceased, and my aunt in the background...

    Hello World,

    I know that according to Wal-Mart and other chain super retailers, we are now officially in the Christmas season…but for me, the Christian season doesn’t actually begin until Dec. 1.

    So what’s to do in those days that follow Thanksgiving leading up til the big day? Well, I decided to clean my refrigerator…I’m ashamed to say I found various sauces, condiments, salt fish, chicken etc. that probably have been there since 2008…As I type, I know my ability-to-be-a-wife quotient is probably lessening with each word…And let me add for emphasis, the reason that I finally decided to clean out my fridge is that I started to smell the fumes of something that even the nearly air tight doors could no longer keep in…(If my mom, who is super neat, read this post, she would not be happy…oh well)

    So back to my gross fridge, as I was emptying the contents of my fridge into several trash bags, I decided to watch a movie…I happened upon the movie “Little Miss Sunshine.” I’ve seen it before, but it’s worth watching again…Of all of the funny yet poignant things that happened in the movie, this quote stands out…indulge me and read it…I swear I’m going somewhere…

    Dwayne: I wish I could just sleep until I was eighteen and skip all this crap-high school and everything-just skip it.
    Frank: Do you know who Marcel Proust is?
    Dwayne: He’s the guy you teach.
    Frank: Yeah. French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he’s also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he uh… he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, ’cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn’t learn a thing. So, if you sleep until you’re 18… Ah, think of the suffering you’re gonna miss. I mean high school? High school-those are your prime suffering years. You don’t get better suffering than that.

    This is a conversation between the angst-ridden high schooler who discovers he’s color blind thereby obliterating his dream to go to flight school and his gay uncle who survived a suicide attempt. By the way, Steve Carrell plays the uncle…he is perhaps the funniest white guy ever…next to Jim Carrey…

    So my question for this post is: What has suffering taught you? What are some things that pain taught you that may have not learned otherwise?  I know, I know, somewhat of a morose post after eating yummy food, reconnecting with the fam and thanking God from whom all blessings flow and what not…

    Since high school suffering was mentioned in the movie, I gotta say most of the people that were hella popular in high school probably should have suffered just a little bit…it would have given them something to aim for…as it stands now, a majority of the people that seemed to be on top then don’t seem to be too interesting now…and some of them look practically ancient…guess if you start clubbin’, boozin’ and wilin’ out at 15, you’re bound to look old in your mid ’30s. 

    High school Jackie went through some suffering…She couldn’t go to parties…She wore big red classes that covered more than half of her face…She could date when she was 16, but wasn’t asked out until she was 17…She was not asked to be in any of the cliques…She frequently spent time an inch away from the mirror analyzing her eyebrows…She was accused of smelling like fish because she had a penchant for eating salmon croquettes before football games…and on and on…

    (Yes, I was referring to myself in the third person…) Truthfully, I was in the low B maybe High C crowd…definitely not an A lister. Well, what did it all teach me? Well for one, I wasn’t drinkin’ and clubbin’.  I’m sure that my youthful glow is due, in part, to my delayed entry into the club scene…Also, I was forced to develop friendships with people based on personality rather than popularity…And as result, some of those people are still my friends today…And it made me yearn for something better…i.e. college…I was convinced I was going to be The Truth just beyond the “insipidia” (made up word) commonly referred to as high school… Sidebar: I must say though many of the rappers that hail from the A or their wives graced the halls of Benjamin E. Banneker High School, and many of them were kinda popular even back then…oh well…but I do believe they are the exception rather than the rule…

    Since I decided to become a Christian, I have suffered through trials due to my stance on certain issues…It has not been pretty. As people say, Jesus won’t bear the cross by Himself. If you believe in Him, at some point, you have to suffer…no I have not been persecuted like what is described in the Bible, but I have been ridiculed by people for my beliefs…I wrote an article on “The Prayer of Jabez” frenzy…remember that…So I met the author of the book, Bruce Wilkinson, at a rally, and I wrote about him and the rally…So my editor had to read the article before it was published…Below is a snippet of the conversation that took place during the editing process…

    Ogre boss reclines in her easy chair. Her office door is ajar so she can conveniently bark orders at random to cringing staff in the newsroom.

    Ogre boss: Hey Jackie!

    Jackie: (Holding her arms around herself to somehow visibly shield herself from the verbal assault sure to ignite…) Yes…

    Ogre boss: When you pray “The Prayer of Jabez,” do you pray for a new boss?

    She cackles and snorts similar to the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz.”

    I say nothing…what was there to say…I know what I felt like saying…I won’t say because some of y’all think it’s not appropriate for Christians to curse…(Good thing, you’re not with me 24/7.)

    Six months later, she fired me…Good riddance I say….And I moved on to a better situation in every way…suffering taught me that God can protect me – even from people who don’t like me because I’m a Christian, cuter, younger and even more talented – bitter, you say?…naw…really though, it’s all good…

    And the truth is, the best writers have suffered through some thing…. How else can you write something that moves people? I could go on, but eh, I don’t feel like it…

    So what has suffering taught you? Marinate on that…AND post comments on that..please…

    I will add this…my absolute fave verse in the Bible…

    All things (GOOD & BAD things that happen) work together for GOOD for THOSE who love Him and are called according to HIS purpose. Romans 8:28

    God can bring good out of suffering…

    P.S. I’m sure that Nelson Mandela suffered terribly while he was in jail for 27 years, but I’m sure that the same internal fortitude he developed in jail as a result led him to being the first elected president of South Africa…Yes, I plan to see the new movie “Invictus.”

    Posted on

    Random Ramblings part deaux


    Hello World!!!

    I don’t have much to say today, but I did want to highlight a few random thoughts that have been roaming in my head…

    1. Congratulations to President Obama for championing health care reform legislation that has been passed in the House and is now an issue for the Senate…I have made health care a matter of nearly daily prayer as I think that every U.S. citizen should have access to affordable health care…And I still thank God that within my lifetime, I have literally seen a black president of this great country with my own eyes… (Shout to my inauguration travel crew!!! I can’t believe we did that nearly a year ago…) To God be the glory, great things He has done…

    2. Perseverance is …. taking the written exam for a driver’s license 950 times!!! A woman in South Korea has been taking the written exam nearly daily since April 2005 to get her license…She spent more than $4200 in application fees to take the test…Apparently, she needs the license for her vegetable-selling business…Her next goal is to actually pass the driving test…God bless her and her perseverance!!!

    3. Why do I find myself a bit skeptical about Rihanna having a “tell-all” interview with Diane Sawyer about the now infamous incident with Chris Brown? Maybe it’s the fact that she is releasing an album soon that has me thinking this is part of some sort of “marketing and promotion” plan or maybe it’s her new rooster- like hairstyle that has me agitated…Ahh, I know that’s not nice, but….

    4. What do you think of Ms. O’s decision to remove Bebe Winans from the lineup on her upcoming “karaoke challenge” show? Apparently, she removed him from the show after bloggers and Bebe’s ex-wife spoke out on what appeared to be a double standard by Oprah. She took a strong stance against domestic violence when the Rihanna Chris Brown incident erupted, but Bebe has also been accused of domestic violence…He will appear in court regarding this allegation on Jan. 20.

    5. Have you read “Act Like Lady, Think Like A Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment” by Steve Harvey yet? I think I mentioned this book in a previous post, but several of my friends have told me this book has managed to cross their path without even searching for the book… (Even one of my white girlfriends has talked about the book.) One of the ladies at my church put a copy of the book right in my hands…I liked the book, but many bloggers have criticized Harvey because they don’t think a man who has been married and divorced several times should have much to say about romantic relationships….At any rate, he has been able to parlay the book’s success into a regular spot on “Good Morning America.” Also, Steve and his wife Majorie are featured on the December issue of ESSENCE magazine…I intend to buy a copy…

    6. And what’s up with the black serial killer in Cleveland? For all of the challenges that we have faced in this country from slavery to driving while black, black people haven’t been the ones to commit mass murders…First the D.C. sniper and now this…things are changing and it’s not looking good…

    7. And finally, am I the only one who is feeling a little sad about losing that extra hour of daylight at the end of the day…Seasonal affective disorder is real…

    Any thoughts?

    Posted on

    Who created Cain’s wife and other questions the Bible does not answer…

    kinda funny depiction of Adam & Eve...

    Hello World!!!

    As I said in a previous post, my Bible study class is reading the book of Genesis and apparently, we will go through the entire Bible over the course of several months…

    Since I grew up in church, I have read passages in probably most of the books of the Bible over the course of my lifetime, but I’ve never gone through the Bible from start to finish. I’m sure that I will learn volumes although my parents made sure that I had a solid Biblical education along with my academic education.  But I must admit, there are some lingering questions that I’ve had over the years that never seemed to be answered to my satisfaction.

    And now that my class is going through the entire Bible, I’m sure those questions will resurface. One of those questions resurfaced during a telephone conversation I had over the weekend. And I had to admit, I didn’t have the answer. It is clearly stated in Genesis that Adam and Eve were created by God. The couple had two sons, Cain and Abel. It is also mentioned that Cain had a wife….well, who created that wife if only Adam and Eve were created by God? Hmmm…something to think about, huh?

    Also during the telephone conversation, I was asked why Jesus Christ was called Jesus Christ when the letter J was not existent at the time Jesus Christ lived on earth….I asked my Bible study leader the answer to that question last night, and he said, I think,  that Jesus’ name was originally Yeshua and was translated to Jesus by the Greeks…I plan to ask him to explain that answer in more detail when I go to Bible Study tonight, God willing…

    The ages of people in the Old Testament has also puzzled me. In Genesis 5, it is stated that Methuselah, a descendent of Adam, lived to be 969 years old. Shoot, Adam lived to be 930 years old. I didn’t attend Bible College so I pose this question to Bible scholars – Were years determined differently than they are today? If not, it is very hard to believe people lived for hundreds of years when in modern time, humans are blessed to live for even 80 years….

    I’m sure more questions will be raised as I continue to study the text and discuss it with the people in my life. But the truth of the matter is that belief in the Bible itself, no matter what the passage, is an exercise in faith…I mean if some random man came up to me on the street today and said, he is the saviour of the world, I would gingerly back away from him and hope he did not chase me down the street. And if one of my girls told me she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit although she was a virgin, I would talk about her behind her back to my other girls. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen… I know what that sick boy’s father meant when he said to Jesus, “Lord I do believe. Help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) And Jesus healed his son right then. And this Bible verse below also applies to the situation.

    “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

    Because God is God and we are finite creatures, I imagine there will be questions that will not be answered while we are here on Earth, but I do believe that God will answer those who earnestly seek answers. Aside from all of that, I believe in Jesus Christ, Yeshua, Jehovah, the Prince of Peace, the only Begotten Son, Messiah, the Great Shepherd, the Amen, the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and the Omega and on and on because I’m seen Him at work in my life and in the lives of those around me…

    How can I explain the answers to countless prayers…I cannot except I have in faith in God…And how is it anyway that I can get down on my knees and say words out loud in the air or inside of my head and God hears and answers…And how is that sometimes as I sit in church I can feel this joy that wells up inside of me so much that it spills out of my eyes in the form of tears…I cannot except I have in faith in God…and how is it that I’ve known people healed of all sorts of addictions and disorders that threatened to kill them…I cannot except I have faith in God…

    I cannot explain the Holy Wars or why people in the name of Jesus have managed to commit crimes against humanity. I cannot explain why some church folk are more judgmental and nasty than the average person walking down the street on any given day. I cannot explain why people have used the Bible to enslave others. I cannot explain why a pastor would flashy a phony badge intending to impersonate an officer when he was stopped for speeding. Ridiculous! Human beings are fallible , Jesus Christ isn’t…

    Any thoughts?