
Don’t run! I am not going to drop God on you. Well, I know some people don’t want to hear it, and I can’t make you love me.
Turn down the light, then turn down the bed. Turn down these voices inside my head. Lay down with me and tell me no lies. Hold me close and don’t patronize. Because I can’t make you love me - if you don’t. You can’t make your heart feel something that it won’t. And, I can’t make you love me. I am going to close my eyes, then I can’t see the love that’s not in you - and me.
“All you need is the faith of a mustard seed”
Oh boy, we’ve all heard that before. It’s generally used in a biblical context. But let me tell you a little story.
When I was a kid, we lived in the projects. My father told us that one day he was going to buy a house with a basement. In the basement, he was going to build a gym. He did that. Well, it wasn’t a big gym, in fact, it was nothing more than a few items like a bunching bag and small weights, but we loved it. My father screwed in a spring resistance thang in a support beam. It was a used item that my father purchased from the Salvation Army, so there wasn’t much resistance but we made it work. My father said if I stood back far enough and worked that thing long enough, I would eventually see some results. Okay, I had faith in my father’s words, so for days and days, for hours and hours, I pulled on that contraption. One day I noticed a little bump on my arm. It was a muscle! Years later, I had gun boats.
Many more years later, I bought a home, and I had a gym in my basement. To make a long story short, take a look at my son’s arms.

Sometimes, wisdom rolls down hill.
Who likes doing the hard stuff? Who wants to hear the hard stuff? I mean, who likes to be put in check? I don’t like to see or hear, anything about my character flaws. I sure don’t like saying I was wrong. I am also very hesitant to say “I don’t know”. Hell, that hurts. I’ve been known to defend my position even though I knew damn well I was standing on stupid. But I’ve come to believe that a little faith goes a long way. Faith is a big word. Some people say blind-faith. Well, I am going to say it’s a belief in something or someone that is not tangible. You know, like a God that one can’t see, or an idea that one couldn’t conceive on their own.
Today, I was over at RiPPa’s spot http://rippdemup.blogspot.com/2010/02/black-history-month-i-aint-from-africa.html The topic of discussion was Black History Month. I was over there running my mouth, like I always do, and within 1 hour, two people put me in check. I dug in for a battle. But when I cooled my hills and got out of my own way, I knew they were right. Damn that hurt. Everyone didn't agree with them, but what they said made sense. One brother was hot. He said the month long celebration ain't nothing but a sell-out. Check out RiPPa's post.
Anyway, PPR_Scribe http://postpostracial.wordpress.com/ was one of the individuals that kicked me in my behind. She said, "Carey, I'm gonna ignore you and your foolishness. lol". See, Ms. Scribe is an Internet friend, so I let her slide.
I took her foot out of my ass, and Kmasenda @ http://kennymasenda.blogspot.com/ inserted his. He said, "I knew you were a professional instigater, but I had to set you straight. Well, actually, he was cool, so he really said.
"As for quizzing me, I'm gonna be a gentleman about this. Let's try this again". He went on to say (among other things)"No harm done, brother! I've been around the site long enough to know you're the resident fire-starter...hahahahaha. It's all good, homie"
See, I hit him with my "A" shot (well, "B" shot) and he, in turn, killed me softly. I learned a little something.
I know this may be a surprise to many of you, but I am not always right. Yeah, I said it, CareyCarey can be a damn fool... sometimes. But I am trying to be a better man. Listening to the hard stuff is painful. More so, admitting to myself that it could be right, can also be a taunting task. Then, admitting to other individuals that I have erred, is something that makes me very uncomfortable. However, through it all, I've learned that kind of pain soon subsides when I accept the facts, even when they are not want I want to hear. There are serendipitous rewards of having a little faith in other people. They may know more about my needs than I care to address.
In the end, I can't make you love me, and conversely, you can't make me love you. Ultimately, the prize and journey is at my feet. I've noticed that when I've found the courage to say come on, I am truly listening, I've found rewards on the other side. I've found a faith and a belief that everything is gonna be alright in the morning!
Well, how do you spell faith? Is it hard to spell and hard to swallow? Is it B.L.I.N.D, and thus, hard to accept. Is it always your way or no way? I think we only need the faith of a mustard seed. If it's planted in the right soil, I know it will grow.











