BLACK FRIDAY

The stupid fairies have stung a few folks of late, allow me to explain. There are some in the media and a few folks I know personally that are mumbling "Black Friday" is a racist term. While the color black is generally seen by a certain some as an evil or negative color, the hue has a favorable meaning in accounting, specifically finance. In this field, black is a serious color that literally means business. When an accountant is showing clients that their accounts are "in the black," it means their business is making a profit. The role of an accountant is to assist clients in having as many black numbers on their monthly or yearly statements as possible. In retail, Black Friday is just that, an attempt to turn as many red (negative) numbers from the past year into black (positive) numbers on this awesome shopping day - Black Friday. #GETSOME
On a personal note, I really despise anyone who sees damn near everything as a racist issue. They come across as miserable, jealous, and passionately angry individuals that operate inside a box of despair while attempting to blame these feelings on others. I was born completely color-blind, my world is black, white and gray (literally!), and even I can see all the wonderful hues of life and happiness - even on a rainy day.

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

TWENTY random FACTS about YOURSELF that may surprise people.
1. Do you make your bed everyday? Yes. A masterpiece.
2. What's your favorite number? #1 of course
3. What is your dream job? Being assigned at the Gates of Heaven wIth Peter to welcome everybody.
4. If you could, would you go back to school? Poorly asked question. Go back to school? No. Experience high school again in my youth? Yes. A do over would be cool.
5. Can you parallel park? I’m old school, of course I can.
6. A job you had which people would be surprised to know you did? I did a short gig at a stripper club as an announcer for the dancers. The girls were very nice. It was all professional. No BS!
7. Do you think aliens are real? Yes. God’s creation extends throughout the universe.
8. Can you drive a stick shift? From a Volkswagen to a Deuce Deuce baby!
9. Guilty pleasure? Zumba!
10. Tattoos? Naw.
11. Favorite color? Black (& White)
12. Things people do that drive you crazy? Interrupt while a person is talking.
13. Phobia/fear? Believe it or not – Heights!
14. Favorite childhood game? Monopoly
15. Do you talk to yourself? If praying is consider by some talking to myself,than yes, I do it often.
16. Do you like doing puzzles? Life is a puzzle – I make it look easy.
17. Favorite music? Electronic Dance Music – Deep Trance.
19. First thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up? Lawyer.
20. First car you owned? White Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

A Prayer for Personal Peace

Let us pray -

Lord and Savior, sometimes a my insides feel like a battle zone, where missiles are falling too close to home. Other times I’m caught in an endless storm, with thoughts flying out of control. Confusion reigns, and defeat creeps in to steal my joy. I need peace—the deep-down-in-your-heart kind that stays with me day and night.

Calm my anxious surroundings, Lord; all the attacking "if-onlys" and "what-ifs" and "what abouts" and "did you dos" and "why this and why thats," make them stop filling me with needless worry.

I know that trust is a big part of experiencing Your kind of peace and that fear has no place in my life. Most of the things I worry about or dread don't even happen. So right now I’m declaring my trust in you. I release the reins of my life again and ask you to take control Lord.

I may need to pray this same prayer daily, but I recognize that I am tired of the frenzy of life that leaves my schedule and my thoughts without any margin.

I need more of you, Lord, and less of me and them. I surrender and admit: I can't control people, plans, places, or even all my circumstances, I can yield those things to you, and focus on your goodness.

Thank you today for every good gift You're about to give me, every blessing You'll send, all the forgiveness I do not deserve, and, yes, for every trial You have allowed into my life. You bring good out of every circumstance so long as I let go and believe You.

I know that when I pray each morning, and give thanks instead of worrying, You have promised that I can experience the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding. That's Your kind of peace Lord. And it's the kind I crave.

Whenever I’m stressed, anxious, or afraid, help me remember to run to You. You're the only one that can calm my fears and end my fretful behavior.

Whether its a trivial or heavy matter, I know You will not only give me peace; Lord, you will be my peace. And when I draw close to you—in prayer, in reading your Word, in helping another, in taking my mind off myself — oh yeah... you'll be right there, up close and personal. Hallelujah!!! Jesus Christ, Lord and Prince of Peace, I Love You!

Amen Jesus! Amen. Amen!

WORSHIPPING TOGETHER

Heavenly Father, we come before you to magnify and glorify your name. We, as the body of Christ, give you all the praise and honor you deserve. Help us all to unite and pray together unified in our purpose as men, for we know where two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us, O Lord.

Bless us, O Divine Father, to find unity with each other, to work together to deliver your word. For we know man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

May we be a blessing to others, as we strive to be more like Jesus, Oh Loving Father; kind, caring, compassionate, loving, giving, forgiving and humble.

O Lord, as we work together to build your empire, let us be the light that leads the world to you. God, teach us to be good role models to our families and people around us so that when they see you and your love within us, they would want to know you more and more.
Grant us the patience to work together. Bring us all together as a family. Let us work together with understanding and compassion in our hearts. Let us not be rude or arrogant towards one another, as we light the way to your heavenly kingdom.

We declare in the name of Jesus and according to the power of God at work in us, that we are of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing (with one another), loving (each other as brethren of one household), compassionate and courteous – tenderhearted and humble-minded.

We never return evil for evil or insult for insult, scolding, tongue-lashing, or berating. But, on the contrary, blessing, praying for their welfare, joy, and protection and truly loving one another.

For we know that to this we have been called, that we may ourselves inherit blessings from God, and obtain these blessings as heirs, bringing welfare, joy, and protection to all we encounter.

In Jesus’ most Holy and Precious name,

Amen! Amen! Amen!

MATTHEW 18:20
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Wounded Warriors

I love movies as much as I love music. I can recall a scene from a film for darn near every event in my life. Few have not scene the film Forrest Gump. In recent weeks I have reflected on old Lieutenant Dan and his violent argument with God the Father. Remember the scene? He was fed up. Enough! Up the main mast and into the crow"s nest he went to have it out once and for all with God. Drinching rain, thunder, lightning, cursing, yelling, screaming forth to God. IS THAT ALL YOU GOT! Lt. Dan yells! The crackle of several thunder bursts break through the dark black clouds followed by a multitude of lightning bursts as God responds to His angry child. Dan laughs and yells out rude epithets and flexes profane gestures to the violent night sky. All this ends as the scene shifts to the next day with Dan laying on his back facing a clear sunny morning sky beaming down upon him on a wooden pier. His face gleamed with an expression of total peace and satisfaction.

I do not know of any Christian adult man that cannot honestly describe himself as a wounded warrior similar to Dan. I certainly know I have inflicted more self-induced wounds on my soul than any other mortal being. I tried with no logic to blame others for my pain, even going so far to point to our Father as having no empathy for my poor stubborn self. Like Lt. Dan, I was mad to! But mad at the wrong fault. In hindsight the fault was all mine, and not until I realized this could I truly have it out with God. Yes, an all out yell fest. I found out God can take it. All the crap I was blaming others for, all the self-inflicted damage I caused myself and others, the pain and suffering I endured for so long, yes, I was pissed and I shouted it all out to God!!! It was after midnight on a weeknight, at an empty field near my home, no thunder and lightning only flames of fury from my big mouth!

Felt good! Real good!

It was at this concluding moment I felt a release of frustrations unlike any I had ever felt before. Many of the wounds I'd been carrying around with me for years were healed as a result of this night.

The Lord's Prayer has this phrase it it, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." I am a staunch believer that calling on our Savior Jesus in times of dire need works personal miracles. When the sword of temptation tries to deliver a new wound upon your soul I encourage you to suit up your armor of Christ by calling His name, loud if necessary!

It works! It really does.

Wounded Warriors only remain wounded by choice.

Debating the Truth is Futile

Adopted from a conversation with Allen Sloan

My mother’s generation was not prepared for what we are all going through but they are most certainly at fault. Yes without a doubt the truth is, my parents’ generation is responsible for all this mess. The Great Generation gave birth to what Peter Jennings once called the selfish generation. He called them that because they were the first generation to be "molly coddled. Due to the hardships of the Great Depression and WWII, parents felt bad for their kids and spoiled them a bit in an effort to protect them from those bad times. Being the first spoiled generation, and not just by guilt ridden parents, but by all the modern inventions that were making life easier, they were just a bit... selfish.

Today it's happening on another and ever increasing level of convinience - modern tech has given birth to the rampent believers of nonsense. Without any research many are gullible and believe anything that comes across their smart phone’s screen, without a care to check reliability of information.

My parents were the American Dream generation. They were the keep up with the Joneses generation. They were the max out the credit cards and live beyond your means generation. They were the beginning of the Baby Boom. These people were more about their own immediate self gratification. This was the generation that just allowed things to happen and didn't really care as long as it didn't interfere with the good times. It continues today.

They allowed JFK and MLK to be murdered and accepted shoddy investigationS and ignored all the irregularities in the cases. They allowed Vietnam. The first war fought for corporations. They allowed prayer to be taken out of school. The demonization of the Christianity and Catholic Church. And a load of other things that have contributed to the damage done to this nation.

At any rate, my generation has seen the before and after pictures. I still watch in aw! We see where this nation is heading. And we are the ones putting this right. Because we see some very damaged people behind us. And they've been damaged to the point that they cannot be trusted with the future of this nation - republicans and democrats alike!!!

Our young males seem very much dumbed down mentally as well as physically. And frankly, many aren't very masculine, which is scary. Our generation needs to live long enough to see the fruits of Trump's labor before we can die. lol. In other words, we've got to fix the schools and the family unit and start producing some kids that can take over one day bypassing this brainwashed bunch altogether. Otherwise they'd give all their tights away in the mane of some politically correct nonsense. Bet!

Thanks for visiting.
Thanks for reading.

HIDDEN FIGURES
A Mo’View by Palmer Pinckney II

It’s saying something about 2016 that many of the films that critics and audiences have latched onto are life-affirming celebrations of humanity and spirit — “La La Land,” “Moonlight,” to name two. It a breath of fresh air to see a new Civil Rights film that leaves me happy, feeling enriched, and optimistic about my own beliefs.

The inspiring and heartening “Hidden Figures”is a film your entire family can see together. It is all-age appropriate. It’s a feel-good crowd-pleaser that celebrates the achievements and acknowledges the struggle of the real-life black women who worked at NASA in the 1960s, helping astronauts take flight.


Based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” is directed by Theodore Melfi and adapted by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It’s the story of Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, and their trials and triumphs at NASA during the space race with Russia.

The film is directed in a fast-paced and energetic style that lets the performances shine. This is a film powered by the stratospheric levels of charisma of its three lead actors. In any other film, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae would steal the whole show, and as a trio, their winning charm takes off like a rocket ship, inspiring multiple spontaneous applause breaks throughout.

Henson leads the pack as math genius Katherine, whose prodigious faculty with geometric calculations allows her to move up from the confines of the West Campus to the big leagues, where a host of white men, led by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) are calculating how to send John Glenn into orbit.

The stakes are high because of the U.S. rivalry with Russia, but the most important battles are the ones fought on home turf. These women are striving to succeed, but the finish line keeps getting moved. Mary (Monae) takes her ambition to be an engineer all the way to court, where she petitions to take classes at a segregated school (one of many powerful scenes in the film). Katherine has to contend with extra assignments, little credit and a one-half-mile walk to use the segregated restroom at work.

“Hidden Figures” never shies away from the horrors of racism in Virginia at the time, which is why the personal victories of these enterprising women are that much sweeter. They follow the rules, but see clearly that they’re unfairly restricted because of their race and gender. They understand that unfair rules need to be broken or bent sometimes, whether that’s pilfering a book on computer language from the library or stepping out of the chain of command to urge a higher-up to grant access to critical information (a practice still utilized today.).

These small victories are the ones that make you stand up and cheer — not John Glenn orbiting the globe — because the film is focused so specifically on the experiences and subjectivities of these women. It’s worth noting that this movie exalts not just the women or people of color, but the mathematicians, scientists and scores of people who showed up to work each day to achieve, as a team, this amazing goal of space flight. The dashing white-male astronauts are relegated to side characters while the math nerds become the true heroes. Yes!!!

No doubt this film will (should be) recognized by the film academy for the rock solid and inspiring performances by the cast of professional actors. Henson, Spencer and Monae onscreen performances held everyone’s attention, supporting cast members Kevin Costner, Kristen Dunst, and Jim Parsons held their own too. Subtle scenes in the film like removing a sticker from a coffee pot, displaying respect for a newly promoted co-worker, or placing a fresh cup of coffee on a peer’s desk, added depth to the film and demonstrated the brilliance of the entire assembled cast.

“Hidden Figures” is an unflinching and trenchant analysis of the social constructs of prejudice and racism, but combined with its lighthearted tone and uplifting message, it’s utterly intoxicating and as charming as could be. It’s an assertion of humanity and civil rights that is pure cinematic nourishment for every human’s soul.

Thanks for reading, thanks for visiting.

Copyright © 2016 Palmer Pinckney II