LIFE & CULTURE
Seeds of Change
Jan 10, 2017
Glory awaits for those who seek for it. For those whose heart are in condition for change. Who receive the truth and allow the truth to penetrate in their lives. As I sit here and stare into space, my notebook candidly lays on my lap. The naked pages untouched. I think about all the things I want to do, should do and have to do. The dream of illuminating my goals cloud my head, directly blinding me from all the things I'm going through. The turbulence of my faith shakes me. It plasters itself between the neurons firing in my brain and in hindsight the image of the invisible God becomes what I fear to know.
In the glory of His presence. I question my very existence and the change I want to see in myself. I barely budge, as I lay in awe of His splendour. I'm shaken of what it exposes of me. How frail I am as a being. It saddens me to know that the change I want to be has raptured me to realize that I'm nothing short of human. Deception hugs me tightly and the journey awakens my soul. In a split second I see the image of tiny seeds gathered, being planted.
A mirrored vision, of a farmer who, joyfully, gathers his seeds becomes what is known; he loosely carries the seeds and is carelessly swayed as the seeds fall along the path he walks on. The intense hunger of the birds unashamedly gathers the seeds of her frail faith and eats it up. The farmer continues to plant and her soul takes a liking to the soil, as it softens her heart, she becomes naive to the whispers of the enemy. Drenched in lies, the seeds of her heart viciously hits the shallow concrete of reality. It stunts her growth. The sun biologically rises but the lack of her root results in her slowly falling away and being destroyed.
The calamity of life gets the best of her, deceitful tongues manipulate her. The lies planted in her heart are hypocritical examples of love and worldly affection. Weakened to the echoes of the estranged, the voice of the GREAT one is faintly tuned out. Crippled by the judgement of others and the persecution of pain, she lays broken and unyoked. As the soil of her heart rejects the truth, it weeds to vain pursuits. Giving up, she blindly patches up her open wounds of vulnerability to the pleasures of the world.
As the farmer continued to plant, some of her seeds fall on good ground and heart become deeply rooted in the soil. She bears the fruit of life and the words received penetrate deeply within her. Rooted, her foundation unshaken, she continued to bear good fruit. In her understanding, the gardner prunes her and cuts off any branch that does not produce fruit. She becomes more fruitful as she relies on the vine, the tender whispers of His word remind her, "Remain in me and I will remain in you "| John 15:4|. Good soil, produces many crops, however "no branch can bear fruit by itself, it must be deeply rooted in the vine " | John 15:4|. Her heart openly receives the truth, as she continues to use the words to bear fruit. In doing so, she grows and change becomes necessary.
In hindsight, I envied the seed that fought through it. She set all her goals to push through, not to give up. She allowed the word of God to be planted in her heart. She lured her mind to cut off the lies, the burdens and to destroy the pleasures, her flesh craved intensely for. I watched her go through the nights where tears rushed vigorously down her face and onto her pillow, but on those nights she silently whispered a prayer to the Lord of lords to help her get it right. She recited and memorized the eloquence of scripture "a righteous man falls seven times but I will rise again " | Proverbs 24: 16|. The power of the saviour redemption for her life reminded her not to give up. Change was necessary, growth was important, however, if she lost the sense of her reality she would remain the same person--she refused to become. From time to time sin knocked on her door but daily grace whispered to her heart, I love you and forgive you, come back to me and be the change you earnestly long for.
The new year puts us in great spirits of setting fresh new goals. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what will stimulate real change in our lives. I used the Parable of the Sower | Matthew 13:19-24|
and personified the seed(s), to give us a sense of the truth in which occurs when we fall and become slaves to the lies and the deceptions of the world. True change occurs when our hearts receive the word of God, and in spite of what comes our way, we allow the word to be the foundation in which we live. Life gets hard, things don't always go as planned. We set goals and sometimes, unfortunately, things occur and we are unable to complete them. I want this post to encourage you to set goals and make new year resolutions, but also to remind you that if things don't work out as you planned; you will diligently be the seed that fell on good soil, who received the word of God and pushed through regardless of what is going on. I prompt you to look to Christ, for in him the change we want to be are the seeds of his word that we plant in our hearts.
Reminder: For his Glory, but for your Good!
for the sake of love,
To Value & Protect
Apr 25, 2016
I have been trying to write about this subject matter for what seems like a hundred years. I write and re-write because on one end, I have to maintain the facts that surround this subject, while at the same time making sure my emotions don’t overwhelm and take away from what I am trying to say. Sexual violence stories have taken quite a prominent role in our news stories, from Bill Cosby to Jian Ghomeshi. Women have been bravely coming forward to expose the violence done to them by these seemingly powerful figures, who generally had the respect and support of the public. What these stories have done has not only revealed how despicable and vile these men’s actions were, but they have also revealed how deeply imbedded patriarchy and misogyny is within ourselves.
I say it is within ourselves because we are society. Our
actions, words, beliefs, values have created the miasma that we live in. We
perpetuate patriarchy in how we talk about women, about men, about our
relationships with each other, with our environment. It’s done subtly and
expertly through movies, music, tv shows, art, fashion etc.
Sexual violence has no basis in any expression of love. When someone commits a sexual assault, they
are not loving, caring, valuing or protecting the person they are assaulting.
Instead, this person (or people) are using force to humiliate and dominate, control
and coerce another human being. Forcing submission.
Sexual assault isn’t contained in our general understanding
of extreme violence. Sexual assault can be forced oral contact (kissing), groping,
fondling, oral-genital contact, vaginal penetration and anal penetration.** When you impose your will upon another human being and you act upon
them without their consent, you are committing an act of violence. When you demean, and devalue, and essentially
kill someone’s spirit, you are committing an act of violence.
And what do we say when a man forces himself on a woman,
drugs her, fondles her, coerces her into sexual activity? Do we rise up in
anger over his actions? No. We look at the survivor of this man’s actions and
we wonder what she could have done to deserve the violence perpetrated against
her. There has to be a reason for this perfectly rational man to humiliate,
dominate, abuse, and exert his control on her body. Perhaps her dress was too
short? She was probably too flirty! She was definitely asking for it, having
her cleavage and ass out like that. It started off consensual and now she is
crying “sexual assault?” Oh, she’s just embarrassed to be labeled a whore! These
and many other phrases are used to justify acts of sexual violence! No one
deserves to be violated. NO ONE DESERVES TO BE VIOLATED.
But patriarchy says it’s ok. Patriarchy forces a silver
lining and says, “If how you behave, dress, and just generally if a man wants
you, he has the authority to exert force on you, uninvited or not.” Patriarchy
says that you can’t possibly sexually assault your spouse, because your spouse
belongs to you. They are your property to do as you please.” Misogyny says
there are times and places and moments where a woman DESERVES the violence she
receives from a man. Patriarchy and misogyny do not require consent. They don’t
respect boundaries. They say that you cannot withdraw consent. That you cannot
stop what you have started. That you are responsible for the sexual violence
perpetrated on you.
And we internalize this. We end up saying “Well, sometimes
girls are too flirty, or are dressed provocatively, so of course it’s going to
turn a guy on and make him want to do something…” Similar statements like these
are protecting and validating acts of sexual violence. Men become animals that
act out based on stimulus. They have no control. How then do we expect to have
healthy, respectful relationships with rabid, uncontrollable animals? How can
you not fear such an animal?
This place where we validate acts of sexual violence rather
than deploring it is killing all of us.
It’s hurting the way we relate to each other. It’s hurting the way we
support each other.
God calls us to be holy as he is holy (1Peter1:16). There is
no room for sexual violence (or any kind of violence) in Christ. Not when you
are single. Not when you have a significant other. Not when you have a spouse.
Using your power to abuse, humiliate, dominate, violate, exploit or coerce
another human being is not Christ-like. God tells us to build each other up (1
Thessalonians 5:11); to love one another (John 13:34). In Christ, we are to value and protect and
protect each other. Holiness is not just for women to clothe themselves in. Men
are to be Holy as well. Because when you start to value human life/ human
bodies, you will find it abhorrent to coerce, violate, humiliate or abuse
another human being.
Everyone has a right to be treated with respect and dignity.
When you use your power to dominate and humiliate, you have stripped away that
person’s Human Right. Furthermore, we must be vigilant in the music, films,
advertising, fashions that we consume that validate misogyny and patriarchy. We
can’t continue to prop up our friends, family, favourite artists, musicians,
fashion labels, producers, directors, teachers, professors, etc when they
perpetuate the very thing that is corroding our society. We cannot continue to
complain about patriarchy and misogyny when we find it entertaining and
harmless, depending on the context that suits us. Hold all these people
accountable. And most of all, let's hold ourselves accountable.
Sexual violence hurts all of us.
We need to STOP protecting people who commit sexual assault/sexual
violence.
The perpetrator is the one who is at fault.
Not the survivor.
For The Sake of His Love,
Chenai.
Bellow is the link to the sexual assault centre:
**https://www.sace.ab.ca/index.php/learn/online-lessons/sexual-assault
Bellow is the link to the sexual assault centre:
**https://www.sace.ab.ca/index.php/learn/online-lessons/sexual-assault
Why I started Youtube ?
Apr 2, 2016
So for all my readers who don't know, I started
a YouTube Channel. Now, I must admit the decision to do YouTube was out of the
blue. I didn't expect to add YouTube as another thing on top of my schedule as
a new years resolution. It was the farthest from my mind to be honest.
Anyways, about 5 years ago I
contemplated doing YouTube and never followed through with it. Eventually, the
desire just slowly faded and was never taken seriously. Friends would always suggest
I should do it, but the will to put myself out there for the world to see was
something that frightened me.
I'm very big on my dreams. Other than his word
I believe that's how God communicates with me. So early on this year I started
having vivid dreams that I was doing YouTube. At first I just thought: man
my mind is playing games with me or
something. So I brushed it off like it was nothing. Not long after that dream I
had a friend of mine randomly messaged me and suggested that I should consider
starting at channel. At this point it was all noise to me. I
had no desire to sit in front of a camera and record anything. With all the
things going on in my life considering
YouTube would be adding more on my plate then I could already handle.
I continued to ignore all the possible signs that
maybe God was telling me something. A few weeks after my friend messaged
me I was having
a conversation with my sister and the topic of YouTube came up AGAIN!!!! Then
again I had a meeting with this girl who I was meeting for the first time, she
mentioned to me that she had read my blog and she thought it would be a good idea to start YouTube.
At this point I"M LIKE HOLD UP JESUS LIKE WHY CAN'T I LIVE ?. It was clear
that Jesus was trying to get my attention, so I took it into prayer. I asked
God that if he really wanted me to do this thing he would show me and the type
of content he wanted me to do it on.
Although I was reluctant about the whole thing
the idea of skin care and talking about my struggles with beauty kept coming
back to me. But I ignored it and wanted to
hear from God himself. Unfortunately after praying about it continuously I got
nothing. I think at this point the Lord was over me. He like
Nana are you deaf or dumb ? lol I'm playing; but you get the point don't you? After
about a month of not hearing from God I just ignored the thought of starting a
channel.
Until one morning my friend Avrielle called me
and told me that she had a dream that I wanted to record a video of me
doing lipsticks swatches on her. Coincidentally, that same night I had a dream
that I was watching myself on YouTube talking about beauty related things.
It was obvious what God was telling me at this
moment. So I obeyed and just started it. While setting up my account God
confirmed it to me again: the description of what my YouTube was about was
already filled in saying " Beauty and "Skin Care". I totally forgot that when I had intended to start my YouTube Channel 5 years ago I wrote that in the description box.
To be honest I'm really not sure why God wants me
to put myself out there. I'm reluctant about what such a platform does to
people and that makes me so fearful of laying out all my flaws out for the
world to see. This was no way a choice I made on my own and although I don't
know what will come out of this, I came across this scripture that gave me so much
peace about what I have chosen to do.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. | Matt 5:13|
I am the salt of this world. The salt that refuses to lose it's taste!
Here is a link to my channel : HERE
Don't forget to like and Subscribe!
for the sake of his love,
NanaOhh.
Hard Truth " Unashamed" : Collaboration with Anita Asante
Mar 13, 2016
I was recently asked by my girl Anita to write a review on her previous post Unashamed. In the post she highlights so many issues that we struggle with as black women. Anita keeps it real and uses her own experiences to outline how society has manipulated our blackness through stereotypes, in doing so sometimes are worth is put into question.
For more of Anita please check out her blog www.thehardtruthsite.wordpress.com
When I was asked to share my thoughts on Anita’s post I was a bit anxious. I wasn’t sure what I was going to write. Not because I was afraid about stepping out and talking about my blackness but afraid that I would be misunderstood. I was unsure if I could express myself and still extend grace on the issue at hand.
I came across this quote the other day:
“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”- ― Blaise Pascal
I learned a very long time ago that truth is a noun that lies in a definition of the unknown. Everyone’s definition of truth is different. Misunderstanding a person’s truth is a product of ignorance. A black person’s ability to express their frustration for justice in movements such as #blacklivesmatter has resulted in the ignorance of greater masses refuting the cause to say that #alllivesmatter. They fail to recognize that what is on the surface of what they see is something that has been deeply rooted within us. I don’t know any white person that has “contemplated changing their skin color to feel accepted by the society around them. But I know many as myself who contemplated manipulating their blackness– the beautiful handiwork of God to fit the image that has been socially profiled as correct.
This quote resonates profoundly with me. It is clear that those who do not love truth have opened themselves up to deception. The reality of being black is hidden to those who haven’t lived it or walked in the shoes of a black woman. The “Unashamed” post highlighted so many struggles and significant matters in our community today. The fact that different shades of our black skin tone is rated on some type of scale to prove self worth or value is disheartening.
Blackness has been defined as ugly to the masses, from saying that our nose is too big to being compared to gorillas—whiteness has established this falsehood, and blackness accepted it. It is problematic because along the way many of us have forgotten to love ourselves by truly embracing our individuality and our uniqueness of being “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14. We have been asked repetitive questions on our hair, our culture and even language. But I believe that many have chosen to not learn about who we are because they don’t care and is simply not important to them.
Birthday Glory| 24 Years Deep!
Mar 10, 2016
As my birthday slowly approached my heart was filled with so
much excitement. I could not help but think that I've come such a long way. No one ever
knows where the journey of life will take them. We just hope that as we unravel
the layers of our life story that we are able to
understand the hidden mysteries along the way. Like everyone else I've had some bad
days, some happy days, some beautiful days and ugly days. I failed at more
things than I've been successful at and although there are times I feel like I
should be in my career by now,
I'm at peace with where God wants me to be. Jeeez I can't believe I typed that
out! I never even thought I would make it to this part in my life... EVER! But
I'm here, alive. I've grown so much; I can actually look at myself in the
mirror and see a beautiful black woman; one with dreams, goals and a crazy
drive to inspire others. If I could go back four years, I would
tell my 20 year old self that
everything is going to be okay and to wait on God’s timing. My young saved soul
had no clue what this walk would be about. I mean, 19 was the turning point but
20, 21 and 23 was the battle ground. I went to war with God, stopped going to
my church, cried my eyes out, beat myself up over my sins and lost friends. But
what did this all teach me? That you keep moving, you don't let the
setbacks limit your growth. So here are some things I've learned and I’m thankful
for:
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. | Psalms 34:1|
2. MY FAMILY: My life line. My parents have had my back in everything, especially
financially. From when I went away to school. I did not
spend a dime on rent. And when I came back home and explained all my plans (something
which was so hard for me to tell them), they loved me with open arms. Every birthday my mother prays with us. It's
like this tradition she has developed for me and my siblings. Her prayer for my
birthday honestly left me speechless. I know that her committing my life in God’s hands and asking him to do all the things she
desires for me will come to pass. My sister and my brother you guys are my
heart. I love my blood!!!
3. My boyfriend: I don't talk much about my relationship
on my blog. But man, ya’ll don't understand how good this man is. Seriously
heaven sent. I used to cry for boys to just look at me and love me. I used to be caught up in the messiest relationships. But
what I prayed for, God give me more than I expected in a man. I
don't doubt that Nate will ever stop his commitment to me because his love for
God shows me that I'm secure in his love.
4. MY FRIENDS: WHEN I SAY I HAVE AMAZING FRIENDS NO ONE
UNDERSTANDS!!! Man, God is so good. I have the most loyal friends a girl could
ask for. I don't question one bit their actions towards me. They have shown
unconditional love in every season that I've been through. Legit, from my booty
popping days at the club (Haha) to changing
over night and becoming a serious Christian. And
currently walking with me in my growth. They stuck around to wipe my tears,
laugh with me, and rock with me. My heart is overwhelmed with love
for every single one of you.
5. My Best friend MARILYNNNNN!!!!!!!: How can someone teach
you how to pray. Listen to me ball my eyes out and teach me to be a better
communicator??? How, tell me how, sway, tell me how ? THIS GIRL MAN I
love you.
6. MY BLOG: WOOOOT WOOOT TURN UP, This blog
has taught me so many things about myself. It has helped me become a
better writer. It has taught me to be patient, consistent and
focused. I remember just crying to God about why he wanted me start writing. I was mad and sad because the task at hand
seemed so much bigger than me. But I'm now seeing the fruit of obedience slowly
come into full effect. Thank you guys for the 10k plus views. I am honestly so,
so thankful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
