It has been quite a while since I got to chat much, and feel the need to catch up a few things. A lot has been happening so my life has been busier recently. But I need to definitely sit out on the proverbial front porch, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy the birds singing and the sunrise once in a while, and that is what I wanted to do today.
I suppose the first thing in order is to talk a little about what has been happening. As some already may know, on March 28 I lost my mother - she had a fatal heart attack after a long convalescence due to a fall back in December, and it finally did her in. It has been a rough few months in many respects too - after COVID, a divorce, the loss of both parents, and so much else happening, I am still trying to adjust to it all. But, it will come together, and this is a new chapter. And, that being said, I want to talk about a little something today that has been on my mind.
I am not much into science fiction, but apparently there is a book series called Heroes of Olympus that has gained tremendous following in recent years, so much so that fans themselves have started creating their own artwork, and some of it is quite good. Recently, due to something else I will share later when the time is appropriate to do so, I came across a piece of this fan art that really got my attention, and to be honest I absolutely fell in love with the picture. It is of two characters in this series - one a White boy and the other an American Indian girl - and whoever drew it really poured some feeling into it. We are taught as Catholics to see truth, beauty, and goodness in creation, and sometimes that takes a unique form. This picture is one of those things. Anyway, let me share it if I could.
I don't know what it is, but there is just something about this picture that really speaks to my soul. It represents true love, and it also represents something else that our society really needs to hear today - love knows no color. I have always been a very big supporter of interracial dating and marriage for a number of reasons. But, there are three things I think are necessary for a beautiful relationship, and here they are:
1. They must be a monogamous couple - one man and one woman
2. They must really love each other - they need to have the right chemistry as any romantic relationship should
3. The romance must be allowed to cultivate and grow, and the intimate physical part - sex - is for marriage only.
If those three things are in place, then the relationship that blossoms from them will be one of the most beautiful and meaningful things. But, having been in a marriage myself with another person of my own race, there are things you learn about any relationship. I am going to now address some of that quickly here.
For one, it is important that when a couple have met and are beginning to get serious about one another, that they do not allow outside pressure to force them into something they are not ready for. Let me tell a little of my and my former wife's story. We started out as the best of friends, and to be honest looking back on that we should have stayed that way for a while. But, at the time we were involved with this rather cultish-like Pentecostal church in Alabama that was hung up on demons and marrying off every single person in their congregation to people of their choosing. Through a supposed "word of prophecy" one night in December 1990 from a church member we were having coffee with at a local eatery, we were told that "God put us together" and that we were destined to be. It was quite a shock for both of us, and only being 21 at the time, I was just excited to have a girlfriend. But, both my now ex-wife and I were younger and not as wise, and we fell into a trap - less than a year and a half later, we would be forced into a circumstance that made us marry before we were ready, and that created issues on the honeymoon and everything else. Then, some of my new in-laws more or less were determined to hate me before they even knew anything about me, and they caused problems. So, on one hand we had a bunch of Pentecostal nuts pushing us into a marriage, and on the other a bunch of judgmental in-laws trying to pull us apart. That created trust issues for us, and it would eventually lead to a divorce. My ex-wife and I do not blame each other for any of this - we were both victims of circumstance. However, I believe that we were robbed of so much and that to this day chafes me a little, and I feel that for both of us. My ex-wife and I are actually still good friends - she is a wonderful person honestly, and I love her still like a big sister and we are fairly close. But, we will never be a couple again romantically because it more than likely either was not supposed to happen in the first place or we went about it wrong. What was perhaps more galling about it though was that one of those crazy church people - the pastor's daughter of all individuals - decided to stick her nose in where it didn't belong after the divorce. I want to address that a moment now.
This woman, mind you, has not talked to us in many years. Yes, we are "friends" on social media and all, but she never really says two words about anything, not even a "howdy." But, somehow she learned that Barbara and I were divorced, and then I get these messages from her with the 500 questions which I refused to answer because it is none of her damned business frankly. And, it wasn't out of legitimate concern either - this woman is a notorious gossip, and often like so many she uses "prayer chains" as gossip networks, and this is a serious issue in many types of congregations that identify as part of the Pentecostal tradition. I have frankly moved beyond that nonsense, as I am no longer part of that denomination and I have no accountability to this woman or anyone else - as a matter of fact, she can honestly take a short dive into a shallow puddle as far as I am concerned. Negative people like that have no place in my life. Nor should they in yours. Anyway, just wanted to share that.
A second issue involves my own family. My step-grandmother is in her 90s now, and she is a different sort of Pentecostal than the crazy nuts in the former church in Alabama. While generally pretty normal in basic beliefs, it is attitude in this case that is her problem. Being about as judgmental and gossipy as the pastor's daughter from Alabama, my step-grandmother has other issues - she is self-righteous, somewhat bigoted, and she also tends to have an inflated sense of her own self-importance. On many occasions she actually said that the Bible condemns interracial relationships. She is VERY wrong of course, but you can't tell her that because she is very stubborn and set in her ways. The Bible itself does not even address the issue, and if you really want to believe what it actually says, you look at Genesis and when God created the first man and woman - every human being on the earth is descended from Adam and Eve. They are not descended from monkeys as racist evolutionists have proposed, nor are there some who are "cursed" by their skin color like some misguided and stupid religious people have said. No - every human being on the planet comes from the same two parents, and so it means we are the same as a people regardless of color of skin or language differences. That means then any man and any woman can freely fall in love and be married to each other, and race is not a factor. As long as it is actually a man and a woman, the love is natural and it is beautiful. So, it is not the interracial couples who need to repent of anything - rather, it is ignorant people like my step-grandmother; and at her age I would be starting to think about that and maybe do some soul searching. And that leads to another issue to address
In our society today, racism is a hot topic, but honestly it loses relevance in the way it is appropriated and politicized. For instance, if you eat a peanut butter sandwich and drink a glass of milk, you are "racist" for being to ethnocentric. But, if you enjoy a taco from a food truck or a plate of chicken chow mein from the local Chinese buffet, then you are "racist" for exploiting other cultures. So, I ask the idiots who came up with this one question - if anything we eat is "racist," then are we supposed to starve? Like that "brilliant" Congresswoman AOC says in all her great universal wisdom, maybe we should throw out cauliflower then and all eat yucca, but the flaw there is if all White people eat yucca, it is cultural appropriation. The insanity never stops with these people, seriously. In reality, most accusations of "racism" today are so baseless that they lose their meaning and are rightfully mocked. I mean, to some of these people, if you fart crossways you are "racist" (maybe eating too much beef - AOC may be onto something!). So, when you hear such terms as "White privilege" or "the patriarchy," laugh them off because they are nothing more than stupid buzzwords of radicals who want to destroy civilization.
Whether in food or in love, there is a constant we need to remember - you love who you are destined to be with, and you eat whatever it is you enjoy. So, if you are a White guy and you fall in love with a Black girl, then may you have the greatest blessings on your relationship. Likewise, if you happen to like tacos, go enjoy them then - it's OK. For those who have issues with these things, you people need a real life because you have too much time on your hands - that goes for meddling relatives, gossipy Pentecostal nuts, or off-the-wall radical politicians. The majority of us - all races, ethnicities, etc. - just want to live our lives productively and in peace without other people intruding into them. That being said, I now want to add a couple of closing thoughts to this.
This is an issue that has really impacted me personally recently due to a good thing that has happened in my life in the past couple of months. I am not at liberty to say what that is, but it is something that I really wanted for a long time and it has really been a boost to me. So, in closing, the bottom line to everything is that there is actually only one race - it is the human race. We come in two different sexes and a variety of shades, but we are still human beings regardless. So yes, the well-worn cliche that "Black Lives Matter" is true - but so do all other lives as well. So, I unashamedly say that "All Lives Matter" and that "True Love Knows No Colors." Have a good day, and thank you for letting me share.
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