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September
2001 Page 3 |
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In
the relative calm and security of safe environs, we speak of the power
and might of the God we serve. We
recite the stories of how God gave this power to His son, Jesus.
“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth.” (Mark 9:23)
“…For verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
(Matthew 17:20) “And
he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”
(Mark 4:39) “And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.” (Matthew
28:18) We
know these stories like the back of our hands; and derive great strength
and inspiration from quoting and referencing them.
But our Christian life is not about quoting and reciting
scripture (Oh, that this was all that is required!).
Our belief and trust in Jesus, our Savior, is about converting
these tales of power into power. Our
lives make the words of Christ leap from the pages of our Bibles; our
lives give the words hands and feet; our lives give the words substance
and meaning and significance. Our
lives transform the notions and ideas of life and love in Christ into
the very essence of life and love in Christ.
Paul, the great apostle said, “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7) Use
your power, your love and you sound mind to display the fearlessness of
life in Christ. I
am not suggesting that we volunteer to stand before crazed gunmen, but I
do propose that we use every opportunity to express the power over evil
that God has given us. “And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all men unto me.” ~Take a trip on
public transportation to a mall or to a neighborhood you wouldn’t
normally visit. Discretely take notes on everything you see and hear.
Choose one interesting person and study her. Create a character profile
based on what you see. Note the style of dress, speech pattern,
environment, interaction with others, etc. Make up the answers to those
things as you write. ~Take the notes
from your day trip one step further and look for an interesting,
dramatic situation: two lovers fighting, two lovers kissing, an affair
on the down low, a exchange of packages etc., and write about it. Play
“what if” and twist the situation in every way you can think of and
write that down. ~Write down your
most vivid or most recent dream. If you can’t remember all of it, be
creative and make it up. ~Look at your
favorite magazine. Clip out three to five action photos. Create a story
based on them. ~Clip out the
most outlandish newspaper article and continue writing where the story
ends. Write a story based on the article. The key is to
get some words on the paper or computer screen, then go on from there.
Let your powers of observation help you to do that and you’ll find
that writing will become fun, easier and not such a chore. Nathasha Brooks-Harris is the author of Panache, a contemporary romance novel published by Domhan Books. She is also a freelance journalist for several magazines as well as an in-demand writing workshop teacher, book reviewer and editor. |
The ‘professionalizing’ of the African-American amateur sleuth is consistent with the Third Renaissance of the 1980’s and indicative of the ‘mainstreaming’ of African-American professionals. Further enrichment to this category can be seen through such characters as Denver-based bounty hunter C.J Floyd (Greer, 1996), Ex-New York police officer Mali Anderson (Edwards, 1997), Ivy-League Professor of Economics, Nikki Chase (Graham, 1998), Detroit journalist Taylor James (Bowman, 1998), Los Angeles Obstetrician Dr. Rae Duprey (Cuthbert, 1998), and Washington D.C. lawyer Carole Ann Gibson (Mickelbury, 1998). Lee
Meadows attended Michigan State University where he earned a BA
in Telecommunications, an MA in Counseling and Adult Development and a
Doctorate in Higher Education and Management. The
7th Annual Black Women Taking Stock in The Future conference is coming to
Philadelphia. The conference is sponsored by Onyx Woman magazine, a
career, business and financial magazine for women of color. 
Check out our GREAT site
called www.blackretail.com
. We have music, movies, electronics, books, flowers, sporting goods and
much more. Our site is one of
the largest Black owned shopping sites and was launched on April 15, 2001.
The best part about our site is that 5% of its profits are donated
to charitable causes that support African American communities.
Please help us make this site a success by visiting often and
forwarding our URL to everyone you know.
Also, by just telling three friends about this site you could win a
Digital Camera. Check BlackRetail.com for details. We plan to make our
first donation in July 2001. Your
support is greatly appreciated in making a meaningful first donation. The regular contributors, Reverend
Cornelius R. Wheeler, Lee E. Meadows, Lisa R. Cross, Adam Wilson and I
would like to express our profound appreciation and gratitude for your
readership and interest. I would again like to thank our guests columnists
for their insight and helpful hints. We would like to extend an invitation to
aspiring writers and poets to submit your material for possible
publication in LitLine. LitLine
is a publication to showcase the talent of non-published writers and poets
as well as published writers and poets.
For submission guidelines, please email the publisher/editor. We look forward to your continued
readership and support. God
Bless! |
Our
Sponsors Book
of the Month CD
of the Month Web
Information Question
of the Month Book Reviews: Beginning next month, LitLine will begin a new feature for book reviews. We will feature individual book reviews by our readers. If you would like to submit a book review to LitLine, please submit your review to the publisher/editor at wem777@worldnet.att.net by the 15th day of each month. The book review for next month is "What You Owe Me" by Bebe Moore Campbell. |
