Rest for the Mind, Hopefully!

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
Isaiah 26:3 KJV


It's 12:07a.m. EST and I'm writing on about my first two days of my last semester at Millersville University. It's been a hectic two days. I had to register for six courses in order to meet my December graduation goal. The Bursar's Office sent the refund check (the money left over from semester bill) to my home address so my mother and her friend's son came to Millersville to drop it off. They ended up in another town two stops after Lancaster. I called a friend to come pick them up from Mount Joy, PA. It was irritating for three people to spend the night in a small room, but that's what happened. My mother rested well (snoring that would wake the dead). I bought all my books and other supplies Tuesday. I still have to do more shopping for two classes. I'm so excited about next Friday. I'm going to visit the French Culinary Institute in New York.

For the past few days I have been hitting up blogs and posting comments. It have be tedious expressing opinions to people you don't know, you can't see and may won't meet ever in your life. It can be a bit impersonal. I wonder how people would interact with someone whom they don't concur. It would be something special to experience.

I have to stay up and study for my Electronic systems course. I have that class at 12:45p.m. I'm going to have a very busy semester. Studying and working on projects. It will take up my time. I also have to oversee Bible Campus Ministries until December. I have to maintain my focus. By God, that Bachelor's degree shall be mine!

I haven't been sleeping good for the past two days. I was so anxious late Sunday evening that I stayed up the whole night lying down in bed. Then when my mom and Anthony came, I didn't sleep. I guess I will go to sleep and wake up later this morning at 6:30a.m. I'll be rested. I'll have some breakfast afterwards then I'll be ready for the day. Hallelujah!

The Wisdom of Listening and Reading... Carefully: My view of Michael Eric Dyson
Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." King James Version, emphasis mine

I have decided to engage in the practice of listening and reading (I'm addicted to reading) to understand a person's worldview that is totally different from my own. Both listening and "active" reading is about understanding the Other. One such Other I'm learning about is the Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. Dyson seems to be the most popular black public intellectual in America these days. A prolific scholar and teacher, an ordained Baptist minister and philosopher, Dyson wrote over fourteen books dealing with issues relevant to the nation and the African-American community. He's quick, sharp; a rhetorical genius as some praisers would acclaim. Critics say he is a swindler and a fast-talker whose irrelevant. Well with New-York times bestselling books, America seems to be noticing Dr. Dyson's body of work.

When I first heard of him in high school, I didn't get know what he was about. I first heard Dyson speak in February 2002 on a Saturday. Dyson joined other African-American public intellectuals at a Post-9/11 Black America Colloquium organized by famed political commentators and TV and radio talk show hosts Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner. The colloquium was hosted at Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia. My mother and I went and sat among over two thousand in attendance. The moderator was Harvard Law School's Charles J. Ogletree. I sat there in the crowd to listen to acclaimed speakers like Iyanla Vanzant, Elder Bernice King, Sonia Sanchez, scholar/writer/activist Cornel West (Dyson's mentor), Al Sharpton among others. Dyson sat among his colleagues. I heard his views on poverty, black issues, the impending war in Afghanistan, homophobia, sexism, racism, black church. He was sharp; he was bold; he was eloquent; he was poised; he responded to Ogletree's questions with passion and zeal and with an informed mind- he knew his stuff! The people who were mostly black ate him up! I didn't really know what to feel or how to process what he said. Later I learned that Dyson's views are pretty leftist politically, socially, and theologically but my youth and ignorance couldn't sort out his worldview. The next day the pastor of Sharon, Rev. Dr. Keith W. Reed, Sr. invited Dyson to preach that Sunday at the 11:00a.m. I think Dyson preached from a text in first or second Chronicles. His sermon was... well, I don't know if I could call it a sermon. It seemed like a lecture of his ideas rather than the preaching of God's Word. I think I remember telling my cousin, "Is that a sermon? He didn't say anything!"

I wanted to understand this man's views of the world. On day during the summer of 2004 I went to my favorite place on earth (Border's Books) to buy some good reads. I happened to go to the African-American studies section and saw The Michael Eric Dyson Reader, a collection of Dyson's essays, transcripts of debates, and excerpts from books and published articles throughout his rather illustrious professional writing career. It's a thick book. It had some rave reviews on the back cover. I jovially purchased his work among other books and magazines and took it home to start reading.

When I got home and settled opened up to read the book I looked some of the chapters title's like Chapther 4's "The Liberal Theory of Race", Chapter 11's "Giving Whiteness a Black Eye". There were others that really stuck out like Chapter 19's "Homotextualities: The Bible, Sexual Ethics, and the Theology of Homoeroticism."

I immediately raced to the 19th chapter. What I read completely disturbed me...big time! It was a transcript of an interview of Dyson conducted by gay activist Khevon LaGrone. In the introductory paragraph before the interview, Dyson writes:

The issue of homosexuality has reaped a whirlwind of controversy and acrimonious debate in most Christian communities. I believe that one of the explanations for black homophobia is the realization that if heterosexuality-the supposed "normal" sexuality- has been demonized in the West for centuries, then surely black homosexuality will only up the ante of black oppression. Thus, ironically enough, blacks identify with mainstream sexual values- the very mainstream that has censored and castigated black heterosexuality- when they practice homophobia. I am not arguing that homophobia allows blacks to forge solidarity with a culture that has excluded them. Thus one form of bigotry is traded for the another. In this interview... I argue that lesbians, bisexuals, gays, transgender, and all other-sexed people have a right to the "tree of life," and that they can find theological and biblical support for their religious and sexual existence (238).

When I skimmed through this interview reading Dyson's words about how biblical writers may have gotten stuff wrong and may have mistaken and were biased, infusing their own personal ideologies in the text, saying that conservative or "fundamental" Christians practice bibliolatry, the worship of the Bible because we don't treat it like any other text in the world, I wanted to cry. I put it down and didn't pick the book up for months. At times I tried to pick up to read more, but the more I read, the more I'd get angry.

Now as I get older, I'm realizing that I can never fully be a witness for Jesus, even to self-professed Christians who actually preach "another" gospel (or in Dyson's mind "social" gospel is the gospel) if I don't carefully study, listen, analyze the paradigm or worldview or worldviews from a person stands. I must learn how to minister grace to the hearers as the Lord Jesus did to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Michael Eric Dyson's life is filled with complexity as are all of ours. His views were shaped from his experiences which he has written in the book. I understand the hardships he experienced as a young man. I don't agree with him on everything that's for sure. His views of God, Christ, and the faith called Christianity is different than my own. I must admit I learned to respect him for his honesty even if I believe he is deceived on many things. I'm learning not to hate Dr. Dyson, but loving him is something I'm working on daily.

But this time I will really read what this man is saying to a dying world. Dyson claims in the last chapter to stand in a "prophetic" tradition as many public intellectuals in this age. However, Dyson is very different from the biblical prophets. As Dyson speaks his mind concerning the world pulling from the various philosophical and religious traditions he has embraced in his life's experience, the prophets do not speak their minds. To do so would cost them their lives. The prophets spoke God Word via the power of the Spirit though not divorcing the holy men and women from their minds, their languages, and from within their contexts. Diverse over time, but still God's Word.

Dyson believes that it is the duty of black public intellectuals to use their minds to shed light on the issues that threaten the well being of blacks and American democracy. I believe as a future minister of the Gospel it is the duty of the saints to yield our whole being to the will of the Father to shine the light of Christ on a dying world so through Him as according to Revelation 22:14,

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

"Minor" Adjustments

I am in my new room in Gilbert Hall at MU. I didn't know it would be hard to adjust. It seems I'm closer to graduation with every passing day. It makes be feel a bit down to just think about it. The funny thing is that the fall semester hasn't started yet. I'm no longer a Resident Assistant, which provided a nice stream of income for me. I'm glad that I found some great friends in my former colleagues. Liz, Joan, Josh, and Ben are great!! Melissa is a good person, too. This week we'll find some time this week to spend together since they are all in training.

I plan to set up a calender for this semester. I have deadlines to meet both personally and academically. I have to reorganize some of the books for Bible Campus Ministries, the organization of which I'm apart. I also have to purchase round-trip tickets to NYC. My mother and I are visiting the French Culinary Institute on 462 Broadway Avenue. I also have to study and plan for the GRE exam. And I cannot forget the graduate school applications!

I had a wonderful talk with my older brother Brandon today. We were talking about biblical topics like tithes and firstfruits as well as his plans to earn a Ph.D. in theology or in a related field. I visited Joan this afternoon and allowed her to burn some of my CDs on her computer. Some of them included music by CeCe Winans, Kirk Franklin, and Kathy Troccoli.

Overall God has been good to me. He's been keeping me alive thus far. He wakes me up in the morning even when I'd rather stay asleep. This reminds that the lazy love sleep... or the bored which I can be a bit of both sometimes. It's good be in the land of the living. God is greatly to be praised!

A New Season is Coming...

Today was the start of a refreshingly new season. I'm moving out of my current dorm into another one on Monday. Over the past year I've collected nearly one hundred scholarly articles and papers! Today I purged myself from every single one of them. I recycled, of course! I thank God that I did it in peace. I usually get very emotionally attached to something like scholarly articles. Yes, I'm a nerd! Most of the articles pertained to the recent research in Pentecostal and Evangelical Theologies. I also collected articles on preaching, ethics, and sexuality from a Christian perspective.

Since it's almost time to move on with my life I know I have make some important decisions. I will have decide whether or not to keep my books from college since I'm moving to culinary school then graduate school. Yep, after December I'll be enrolling in a culinary school for six months. Bon Apetit. I've been cooking since I was seven years old and I have a passion for the culinary arts! Food network is my favorite cable channel. then off to Regent University for about four years.

After earning my masters degrees in divinity and cinema-television producing, I'm off New York City, the Big Apple. Hallelujah! Please keep me in your prayers. Peace.

Summer Reading: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

I have recently finished a wonderful book written by acclaimed journalist and jazz musician James McBride. It is a gripping about his mother, Ruth McBride Jordan who reveals her son her mysterious past. Its book which deals with the volatile topics of race, religion, identity, and family. It is an emotionally gripping, triumphant piece. I would recommend to anyone. Be blessed!