Lies I believed

If my Mom abandoned me, Everyone will

If my Sisters betrayed me, Everyone will

If my Aunts don’t protect me, No one will

If my Uncles ignored me, Everyone will

If my Family doesn’t celebrate me, No one will

If my Family doesn’t include me, No one will

Since my Family doesn’t appreciate me, No one will

Since my Cousins aren’t my friends, I will never have friends

If my whole family is mental, I must be crazy too…

I don’t believe that anymore

What I now know

My Mom abandoned me, But God has always been with me

My Cousins are not my friends, But God has given the angels charge over me

My Family doesn’t appreciate me, But God gave His Only Begotten Son because God loves me

My Family doesn’t appreciate me, But God knew me when I was knit in my Mother’s Womb

My Family doesn’t celebrate me, But I glorify God through my words, deeds, and how I treat others

My Uncles all ignored me, But God sent saints, deacons, sages, priests, nuns, the poor, the rich, and the anointed to pray for me and surround me with blessings and protections

My Sisters are the Ladies who do the Will of God

My Brothers are the Men who do the Will of God

My Family are all around me, My Family are All who Love God with their whole heart, whole mind, and whole spirit.

I know as my life grows older, And mine eyes have clearer sight-

That under each rank wrong, somewhere

There lies the root of Right;

That each sorrow has its purpose,

By the sorrowing oft unguessed,

But as sure as the sun brings the morning,

Whatever is – is best.

I know that each sinful action,

As sure as the night brings shade,

Is somewhere, sometime punished,

Tho’ the hour be long delayed.

I know that the soul is aided

Sometime by the heart’s unrest,

And to grow means often to suffer-

But whatever is – is best.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I long for household voices fond,

For vanished smiles I long

But God hath led my dear ones on,

And He can do no wrong.

I know not what the future hath

Of marvel or surprise,

Assured alone that life and death

His mercy underlies.

And if my heart and flesh are weak

To bear an untried pain,

The bruised reed He will not break,

But strengthen and sustain.

And so beside the Silent Sea

I wait the muffled oar;

No harm from Him can come to me

On ocean and on shore.

I know not where His islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I cannot drift

Beyond God’s love and care.

John Greenleaf Whittier

Declaration: Still.I.Rise.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. Maya Angelou

Inspired by my conversation with Judy this morning…9/11 20th year Anniversary is this coming Saturday…God bless you Judy, I love you, Coletha Albert #TheColorPurple