I Can’t Breathe

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Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in National Tragedy, Poetry

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asphyxiation, black mothers, capital punishment, chokehold, choking, domestic terrorism, executed, injustices, liberation, sisters and brothers, strangulation, suffocating, systemic racism

but they allow the cares of this life and the seduction of wealth and the desires for other things to crowd out and choke the Word so that it produces nothing. – Mark 4:19, TPT

There will be such an increase of sin and lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold. – Matthew 24:12, TPT

I am suffocating
In America’s excruciating
Capital punishment
Racist environment
Knee on neck violent
Positional asphyxiation;
Modern-day abomination
Has policing technique trending
While black lives keep dwindling.
 
I can’t breathe
Pinned to ground
In lethal chokehold –
Publicly executed.
 
Excessive force
Used in untold cases
Where black lives
Not resisting arrest
Still lost their lives.
 
Can’t breathe black mothers,
Nay, all sisters and brothers
Are waiting to respire
Once injustices backfire,
Triggering an exorcism
Of systemic racism –
Domestic terrorism –
Topped off with a strangulation,
Ensuring black lives’ liberation.
 
 
-      composed June 16, 2020

What a Wall Can’t Do

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in National Tragedy

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"Mending Wall", altruistic, America, Americans, barrier, deportation, dismantle, divide families, dividing wall, fair, generous, good neighbors, helpful, human rights, humane, impartial, loving, Mexicans, Mexico, offend, Republicans, Robert Frost, selfless, suppress, Trump regime, undocumented immigrants, unprejudiced, wall in, wall out

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one newman, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. ~ Ephesians 2:14-16, NASB

Every time Trump and his Republican supporters say they are going to build a great wall, I think about one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. That poem is “Mending Wall.”

There are several lines from this famous dramatic monologue that resonate with me, as well as inspire me to be a better human being, a better communicator, and a better neighbor. Those lines are:

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. ~ ll. 1-4

Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ ~ ll. 21-27

‘Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.’… ~ ll. 32-36a

Frost has conveyed my sentiments, exactly. Indeed, just as the world repeatedly said that there was something about the Berlin Wall—for example—and this “something” wanted it down, then it finally came down, the same will be repeatedly said about any wall that Trump and his Republicans might build between our country and the country of Mexico. Hopefully, it will not have to come down, because it will not be built.

At any rate, before the people on both sides of the Berlin Wall started to dismantle their wall with hammers and picks, and before cranes and bulldozers finally pulled down what was left of that wall, the Berlin Wall NEVER completely stopped people from crossing the border from East to West. I believe the same will be true of any wall that might be built between America and Mexico. It won’t stop Mexicans from illegally crossing the border into America! Where there’s a will, there always is a way!

The bottom line is that the Berlin Wall divided families and neighborhoods and suppressed human rights. A wall between America and Mexico will do the same things. Therefore, if America is going to build a wall, then all Americans need to ask themselves: What and who are we are really “walling in or walling out”? Who will our wall “offend”?

Human nature and Mother Nature being what they are, we can be sure that there always will be ‘someone’ and ‘something’ that won’t like a wall. This truth is why I pray that all of the loving, altruistic, humane, generous, and just Americans not only will speak out against this proposed wall but also will do WHATEVER is necessary to guarantee that this proposed wall never gets built. It will be a tragedy if it is erected. Why?

Building a great wall along the border between America and Mexico—a great wall that will be 1,989 miles long—will be a tragedy because this wall will divide families and suppress the human rights of the undocumented immigrants (in this case, the Mexicans) now living in America who, under a Trump regime, most definitely will get deported—will be sent back to Mexico. For this reason, it is futile to think that said proposed wall will ever be able to “mend” (repair what is broken in) America.

The uncomfortable truth is that not even a “good wall” will make us—Americans and Mexicans—“good neighbors” who are peaceful, loving, caring, fair, unprejudiced, helpful, selfless, and impartial. Only the Holy Spirit of God can develop and perfect these characteristics in us!

Remembering 911 in 2012

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in National Tragedy

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911, benediction, bone of contention, emotional bond, geographical distances, Mizpah, Mizpeh, moralistic differences, physical deaths, presence of God, watchtower

Collection of photos related to the September 11 attacks, meant to be used as the infobox image for that article on Wikipedia.

May this pile be a witness, and may the standing-stone be a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile to you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this standing-stone to me, to cause harm. ~ Genesis 31:52, CJB

No doubt many of us have heard, time and time again, the following benediction: May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent, one from another. Yet, I wonder how many of us know the real meaning of this classic benediction, recited by countless pastors, and other spiritual leaders, at the end of a Saturday or Sunday worship service.

The well-known “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent, one from another” benediction actually comes from the Holy Bible. It is in reference to the Mizpah (Mizpeh) or watchtower—the heap of stones piled up by Jacob and Laban. The first time this Mizpah (Mizpah) is mentioned is in Genesis 31:48-50:

Lavan said, ‘This pile witnesses between me and you today.’ This is why it is called Gal-‘Edand also HaMitzpah [the watchtower], because he said, ‘May Adonai watch between me and you when we are apart from each other. If you cause pain to my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, then, even if no one is there with us, still God is witness between me and you.’ ~ CJB

Now, it is obvious that this Mizpah (Mizpeh) was meant to be both the covenant Jacob and Laban entered into AND a landmark of the boundary between them, these two extremely incompatible and hostile men (cf. Genesis 31:48-54). More important is the fact that Jacob and Laban’s covenant to agree to disagree also means that these potential hotheads needed the Almighty God to watch over them so that they would be sure not to break their covenant. Therefore, it is clear that their Mizpah (Mizpeh) symbolizes the presence of God, which then and now watches over the emotional bond between people who either are separated by moralistic differences, or geographical distances, or physical death.

The abovementioned benediction and its history indeed relate to this day in American history, especially in respect to Americans’ bone of contention, which is the Islamic Terrorists who caused the 911 deaths, emotional and physical pains, and the piles of rubble where the Twin Towers used to be. That is why, on this anniversary of September 11, 2001, as Americans remember the Islamic Terrorists’ senseless plan to take innocent lives, to create trauma and sicknesses, and to leave behind uncalled-for fragments of broken glass and concrete slabs, as well as the pieces of contorted steel, Americans also should remember the Ground Zero Cross that miraculously appeared on September 13, 2001, standing almost upright in the rubble—the demolished World Trade Center 6—that was caused by the landmark Twin Towers’ debris.

From that day until this present day, this intact crossbeam that first appeared in the middle of the crater beneath 6 WTC’s rubble, but now is in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, has been more than pieces of steel coincidentally shaped into an identifiable Christian icon. This Ground Zero Cross also is a symbol of joyous hope, enduring faith, phenomenal healing, and inalienable freedom. Therefore, Americans should let this symbol be a reminder that the Lord indeed is watching “between me and thee, while we are absent, one from another.”

ALL Gave Some, But Some Gave ALL: The 9/11 Ground Zero Cross Story

11 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in National Tragedy

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Christ's Calvary Cross, crater-pit-cavern, dedicated, Ground Zero Cross, honored, identifiable icon, memorialized, National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, pursuit of joy, renewed commitment and faith, renewed resilience and hope, World Trade Center6

…It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ~ President Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. ‘I’ll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I’ll take care of it.’ ~ Romans 12:9-19, MSG

Just like countless people have their own Damascus Road experience, there also are numerous individuals who have their own Ground Zero experience. Just as one Man gave His life so that many could live, there also are hundreds of firefighters, rescue workers, and police officers that gave their lives so that many other men, women and children might live. For this last reason, the Ground Zero Cross is in honor of those individuals who lost their lives trying to save the lives of others, in honor of those lost lives that could not be saved, and in honor of those individuals whose lives were maimed and injured on September 11, 2001.

It is just astonishing how the Ground Zero Cross miraculously appears on September 13, 2001, standing almost upright in the middle of the mysteriously demolished World Trade Center 6’s rubble. This controversial 17-feet tall steel crossbeam, which excavator/rescue worker Frank Silecchia believes fell there from one of the World Trade Center’s two towers, is now on display in The National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

However, from the moment Mr. Silecchia spotted this Ground Zero Cross in the middle of the crater beneath WTC6’s rubble, until this present day, this intact crossbeam has been more than pieces of steel coincidentally shaped into an identifiable Christian icon. Ironically, like Jesus the Christ’s Calvary Cross is THE most recognizable SYMBOL in this world of God’s Love, Hope, Faith, Mercy, Grace, Freedom, Salvation, Forgiveness, Healing, New Life, and Peace, which ONLY can be obtained through His Son’s suffering and death on the Cross; this Ground Zero Cross also is a symbol of joyous hope, enduring faith, phenomenal healing, and inalienable freedom.

To be sure, this Ground Zero Cross is a truly familiar symbol that continues to let people know that God indeed was in the middle of this tragedy. This Ground Zero Cross, thus, unambiguously assures the spared first responders, the attack survivors, and the suffering and traumatized families of the 9/11 dearly departed loved ones and the 9/11 cherished alive relatives that what some individuals meant for pure evil through God nothing but good will come from this tragedy, because in ALL things God truly works together with those who love Him to bring about what is good, which to Him is the saving of many lives (cf. Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28)!

For this last reason, this blogger prayerfully hopes that the tenth-year anniversary of September 11, 2001 will witness a grand opening dedication ceremony at The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which is built at Ground Zero—the site of the World Trade Center. This blogger eagerly wants this opening dedication ceremony to cause the world not only to note but also long remember the volumes that the silence on this day speaks, as well as wants the world NEVER to forget the acts of perfect heroism and altruistic sacrifices, which happened on this site, on that most horrific day (September 11, 2001). Why? The main reason is: The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which is the new name for Ground Zero, definitely is consecrated ground where all gave some, AND some gave ALL!

Lastly, as Americans rejoice with those who rejoice over the completion of this 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and mourn with those who mourn over the nearly three thousand lives, which finally have been put to rest here at the site of the World Trade Center, there can be no doubt what the desires would be of these dead who are dedicated and memorialized, on this tenth-anniversary day (September 11^th). For sure, these honored dead would want the living Americans to engage not only in a solemn remembrance but also in a genuine reflection of the terrorist attacks, to the extent that Americans continuously have renewed resilience and faith, and constantly have renewed commitment and hope for life, freedom, peace, and the pursuit of joy.