Where Have All The Brothers Gone?

Now that I am back in Boston, I see the glaring social differences from my life in South Florida. One difference in particular is the lack of non-white minorities in the corporate arena. Specifically, brown men. Clearly, part of the reason is that there are more brown males per-capital in Broward Country (including Fort Lauderdale) than Suffolk County (including Boston).

Also, the cost of living is much higher in Boston than in Fort Lauderdale. In addition, there is much more basic service sector employment down in Fort Lauderdale than Boston.

Still, it's sad not to see as many brown faces as I used to in the work place in Florida. I think the result is that non-minorities are more comfortable in Fort Lauderdale than they are in Boston with minorities because they interact with them more often in their daily lives. There is nowhere for the non-minority to hide. Because of their increased exposure, more tolerace and acceptance is possible.

I have hope for Boston. With the Latin and Black populations increasing at the largest rates, soon non-minority Bostonian will have nowhere to hide.

Filling The Gap

I was on the train earlier this week and feeling a bit of despair over the goodness of my fellow American residents. Not inherent goodness, but the simpler stuff. Random acts of kindness!!! During this period of lent, both my pastor entreated their congregations to pray during the time for what they really wanted from Jesus.

After some thought and prayer I decided that what I wanted from Jesus was a ray of hope about the goodness of man. Hope as in Ezekiel for (22:30) someone to “stand in...the gap on behalf of the land.”

Later that night my wife and I were at Dunkin Donuts waiting on some relatives to arrive. We just planned to sit, however my wife decided she wanted some munchkins, just a couple. She was about the pay the cashier when he promptly bagged the munchkins, smiled, and told her to just take them. When my cousin-in-law arrived about ten minutes later, he did the same thing.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen such a random act of kindness. As I write this, I realized that such acts reside in each of us, waiting to come out. It’s doesn’t take money, and it doesn’t take fame. It’s just take faith and courage that each of us can be part of those who will stand in the gap.

Walking The Line

I don’t go to the movies as much as I used to or would like to. In general ,the return on investment is not as good as it used to be. Fortunately for Hollywood, my wife is an avid movie lover and has rekindled my love for small and independent theaters. My wife, being a Reese Witherspoon, and myself a long time Joaquim Phoenix fan, Walk The Line was an easy choice. Plus, the closest theater was the cheapest.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, despite my motley musical taste, I could only name one Johnny Cash song off the top of my head. Similar to Ray Charles, Cash had lost a brother in his youth, and then struggled with internal and external demons as he rose to fame.

After seeing the movie, I came to appreciate the title.Ultimately, we all have to walk the line. We all have to stick to the path God put us on regardless of the things of this world that will try to misdirect us. The good news is that if we are faithful to that line, God will provide us a way to stay on the line, and even better, provide us a way back to the line if we should veer off it.

Running Your Own Race

Working in technology has its advantages. One has access and information that keeps one informed on the latest trends and tools to “make life easier”. It also has its drawbacks. There’s always someone who has a newer gadget, cooler website, or just plain better information than you do.

Too much of this indulgence can cause one to become discouraged, especially when time is such a premium as one ages. It’s easier to tell yourself, well why bother doing “X” if so-and-so has a better “X”. This I believe is a side-effect of capitalism. Why have a mediocre “X”, when you can have a cooler “X” for a little more, or better yet, the same price. It makes sense.

Then while listening to a podcast sermon, I was reminded that we each have our calling according to who we are, and how God has blessed us. In other words, there are things that only you can do because you are meant to do those things. Furthermore there are some things can you can only do in tandem with others.

It is easy to be envious of someone who is where we want to be, or who has achieved what we are struggling to (keeping up with the Joneses, if you will). In the end, we will never have time to do all the things we want to do, to the extend we want to do those things.

What I find that helps, is to do what we are called to do, to the level of ability we have to do it, and to the extent that we can, every day.