I Need You Now

Oh, it's been so long since I've written a song. But, from the recesses of the heart came this one a few days ago.


I Need You Now

Verse 1
Oh God I don't even know where to begin
I could try from where I'm sitting
Beside this rubble of my broken dreams
It's the sum of my life and so many things are missing.
And whatever I say to You now
I've poured out ten times before
How will it be different? What is the point?
I'm not strong enough to do this anymore.

1st Cho
They tell me to keep trusting You
And I'm tryyyyying
But I feel that my faith is getting weak
How much longer do You want me to hold
Without seeing the promised change that I seek
My hands are slipping
My hope is fading
My heart is tearing up inside
I need You now
Only You and You alone
Can help me now.

Verse 2
Oh God my life is in Your loving hands
You are holding my heart and You care
In the core of my being I know better
Than to think that You are not here.
But, there are mornings when I awake Lord
And it still seems like the darkest hour
And I hold Your word to my bosom
You have given me the spirit of power.

Rept. 1st Cho

They tell me to keep trusting You
And I'm tryyyyying
But I feel that my faith is getting weak
How much longer do You want me to hold
Without seeing the promised change that I seek
My hands are slipping
My hope is fading
My heart is tearing up inside
I need You now
Only You and You alone
Can help me now.

Bridge
Oh God, You are my Strength
You are my Song and my Salvation
You will never put me to shame for trusting You
You will never, ever, ever leave nor forsake me
You use the things which are not
To bring to nought the things that are
That no flesh should glory in Your presence!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd Cho
They tell me to keep trusting You
And I'm tryyyyying
Now I feel my faith's no longer weak
It's not much longer that You want me to hold
I can see the change You promised me
My hands are in Your hands
My hope is rising
My heart is mending with Your peace (smiling with your peace)
You are here now
Only You and You alone
Could help me now.


Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

What is the question?

To spay or not to spay.

That is the question.

Trying to decide whether it's the ...right thing (no quotation marks) to do for my indoors-only cat.


Sigh...


Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

When God wants a man

I heard this poem on Charles Price's program, Living Truth, on Sunday. My search of the net yielded the copy below. If you are, or know, the author, I'd be happy to give credit or remove it from my blog, as requested.

In the meantime, here goes something powerful.


WHEN GOD WANTS A MAN
(Anonymous)

"When God wants to drill a man and thrill a man and skill a man...
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart to create so great and bold a man that all the world shall praise...
Watch His methods;
Watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects...
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into frail shapes of clay that only God understands. How his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands...
How he bends but never breaks when His good he undertakes.
How He uses whom He chooses...with every purpose fuses him;
By every art induces him to try His splendour out...
God knows what He's about!

When God wants to take a man and shake a man and wake a man...
When God wants to make a man to do the future’s will;
He tries with all His skill...
When He yearns with all His soul to create him large and whole...
With what cunning He prepares him...
How He goads and never spares him! How He whets him and He frets him and in poverty begets him...
How often He disappoints whom He sacredly anoints!
With what wisdom He will hide him;
Never minding what betide him...
Though his genius sob with slighting and his pride may not forget;
Bids him struggle harder yet!
Makes him lonely so that only God's high messages shall reach him...
So that He may surely teach him what the hierarchy planned;
And though he may not understand...
Gives him passions to command.
How remorselessly He spurs him...
With terrific ardour stirs him
When He poignantly prefers him.

When God wants to name a man and fame a man and tame a man...
When God wants to shame a man to do His Heavenly best;
When He tries the highest test that His reckoning may bring...
When He wants a [god] or king;
How He reins him and restrains him so his body scarce contains him...
While He fires him and inspires him…
Keeps him yearning, ever burning for that tantalizing goal.
Lures and lacerates his soul...
Sets a challenge for his spirit;
Draws it highest then he's near it!
Makes a jungle that he clear it;
Makes a desert that he fear it...and subdue it, if he can -
So doth God make a man!

Then
To test his spirit's wrath
Throw a mountain in his path;
Puts a bitter choice before him and relentlessly stands o'er him...
Climb or perish, so He says...
But, watch His purpose, watch His ways.
God's plan is wondrous kind - could we understand His mind?
Fools are they who call His blind!

When his feet are torn and bleeding;
Yet his spirit mounts unheeding...
Blazing newer paths and finds;
When the Force that is Divine leaps to challenge every failure,
And His ardour still is sweet -
And love and hope are burning in the presence of defeat!

Lo the crisis, Lo the shouts that would call the leader out...
When the people need salvation doth he rise to lead the nation;
Then doth God show His plan...
And the world has found a man!"

***



Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

AI auditions

I like watching the auditions of American Idol because of the intense yet effortless display of the beauty and warmth of the human spirit, as it celebrates and cheers in support of a loved one.

Mist up now and again, I do.


Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

"De-inaugurization". Plus, thoughts on a different race run

Ahh. It's over, right? The inauguration of Barack H. Obama as President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009, marking a truly historic moment, is over.

I coined that word at about 1:30AM on January 21 in order to describe the phenomenon of ridding oneself...make that, myself, of the effects of over-exposure to the inauguration, due to over-coverage by media. They just kept going and going - outlasting the Energizer Bunny, I'm sure - and wouldn't let up! I was like, "CNN, you need to go to bed now, so I can stop watching and tapiiiiiing!! I was all over the place: CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, CBC, BBC, BET, Comedy Central. Ugh! I finally went to bed at 3:20AM, after loading a Monk DVD, hoping it'd be a kind of panacea. (Did I mention that that's my fav show on television? Except that I don't get it here. I used to, when I was living in the US of A. Now, I simply wait until I purchase the latest season on DVD.)

Anyway, that was the effect of the over exposure. I mean, when is enough coverage really enough?

So, President Obama inspires a heck of a lot of hope. And, if you know me, that's a real biggie for me, this hope thing. Yes. Hope is as vital to life as oxygen. Thing is, this hope that is inspired through his accomplishment, should not be misplaced. It shouldn't be placed in President Obama. I believe the President recognizes that it was by the help of God that he accomplished what he did. His and our hope should be built on no other power but God's.

Could you really place your hope in someone whose decision to go from one meeting to the next depended on whether he was having acute diarrhoea? Seriously. My point is that the man is just a man. He seems like a wonderful human being, but, remember, he is just a man.

One of the things that struck me in one of the many still photos of him was just how present he was in that moment in time. Here was the moment for which he had been preparing for a long time, and he was ready. Another thing that struck me was that he looked able. Yes, he was up to the task.

There were previous attempts at Democratic presidential nomination made by civil rights icons. It is not that they were not ready. They might have been ready for that time. History will tell. However, in this particular race (no pun intended), for this particular time, there was a clear need for a certain kind of President. Another African American might have succeeded and done a good job as President. However, the kind of President needed for this time was not one that could simply just do the job of President well. The individual needed to be the kind of President who would takes steps and initiatives, the likes of which had never been seen before, in order to meet the demands of the new world in which we live.

Barack H. Obama's campaign signalled that readiness and the majority of the electorate gave him the opportunity.

I think that had an icon of the civil rights movement run in this election, the tone of the campaign, and the electorate at large, would have been much different. Bad different, too. I can't help but think that theirs would have been a kind of "black come-upance" or "going for the black vote" thing. I look at the distinction between that tone and message and that which was echoed throughout President Obama's campaign. I see his as speaking to the ideals, if you will, of change and hope, to Americans (black and white and in-between) everywhere. Then, oh, by the way, he's black and his assuming the Presidency would be uplifting for African Americans and, by extension, for many black people and other minority groups the world over.

Then, there's the matter of this being a fantastic personal achievement. He must feel good - steering clear of saying proud. And, his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, along with the girls, must be very proud of him.

Kenneth Burke's position on identification with regard to persuasion, remains so poignant and true for me. In essence, identification is the surest form of persuasion. Across race and ethnicity, people identified with him - this man of bi-racial roots and multi-ethnic background; a world citizen with a brilliant mind.

This may be a point of departure for many, however, as a black person from the Caribbean, I am not able to fully empathize with the African American experience of racial prejudice and segregation. I do not know what it is like to be a part of that reality that discriminates against me based on the colour of my skin. When I was struggling with this idea a few years ago, thinking I needed to apologise to somebody for not feeling 'as black as an African American", I got a bit of help from someone - a Jamaican woman who is now a professor at a University in the US of A. She explained, quite simply, that if it had not been for the struggles and victories of the civil rights movement and all the players therein, I would not be able to enjoy the benefits of America, the fruits of their labour, today. So, I thought about it and have come to realize that during the time of racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, a black person was not asked which country she was coming from. Black is black and the rules applied to whomever the melanin fit. Another professor who writes for The Sunday Gleaner in Jamaica made a point a couple years ago, as well. I read this about a year after my 'couch' experience with the professor in the US of A. I don't recall the topic of the column, or even the main issue of that day. However, I do recall him saying something to the effect that even though he had never experienced the racially charged environment of yester-year in the US of A, he is sensitive to the experiences and reactions of the African Americans. And I thought, by George, I think I've got it!

So, I've pretty much summed it up like this. I might not be able to relate. Yes, we have the histories of slavery, but the segregation laws, and having to abide by them, are not a shared staple of the histories both societies. So, I might not be able to, ok, fully relate. However, I am definitely thankful for the struggle and the resilience and the perseverance of those who made the level of inclusiveness that we experience in this day of 2009 US of A possible.

President Obama took advantage of the possibility that arose out of those struggles and victories, readied himself and now, has stepped up to the responsibility as an able individual. I am not surprised that an African American has attained this position. I'm just glad that it is the likes of a President Barack H. Obama.

I am proud of him for achieving this goal. Our hope is placed in God and I continue to pray for the new President and his family.

Congratulations, Mr. President.


Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

The pitfalls of ignorance

Took the title from a comment just overheard on a news story on CBC News Sunday, a moment ago. The question was something like, "What should Ottawa avoid?" in relation to the pending Obama administration. There was some talk about NAFTA; the "dirty, dwindling and dangerous" imports from Alberta... Hey, we shall see what we shall see, eh?

So, I wasn't invited to the inauguration on Tuesday. Go figure. I guess, like the billions who will have to settle for live broadcast, I'll be recording this historic occasion.

(Note to self: Coverage of the Presidential Inauguration of Barack H. Obama will begin on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 11:00AM.)

Btw, tomorrow, January 19, 2009 will be celebrated in the US of A as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The timing could not be any more appropriate; focus has shifted from decades before to a day before.

Got wind of an article in Parade, published January 14, 2009. It's a letter to his daughters from President-elect Barack Obama. Haven't read it yet. S'pose I will.

Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro

Highlights

It's January 8, 2009! Whoo Hoo!

The highlights of my day? Time spent communing with my Maker this morning, lunch with a new acquaintance and peanut cake.

Like the customs officer said when he greeted his friend the other day as I made my way through CLT: "Every day is a good day!"

I had such a wonderful time with my family during the holidays. Met mah niece and she is, well, let's just say she tends to speak her mind (inverted commas omitted intentionally). I really do hope she grows up with tact and diplomacy - she's gonna need 'em.

Oh! Another thing I did today? Painted my nails Aruba Blue (by Essie).



Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro