The Souls of Our People

The souls of our people
Have always cried to the LORD.
The souls of our people
Have always relied on the LORD.

From the moment the soles of our feet,
Touched the dusty shores of North America,
The souls of our people cried to the LORD.
Our fathers that were born in this strange land,
Who never saw freedom land,
Cried to the LORD.
We mastered our pain,
And In the songs we sang,
our souls were crying to the LORD.

When freedom came by emancipation,
The souls of our people didn’t go on a vacation.
They worked the lands, and died at the hands
Of oppressors, all the while crying out to the LORD.
From the southern backroads, strange fruit dangled from trees.
While the blood of our people ran deep into the earth.
Giving birth, to generations of sharecroppers and freedom marchers.
All of us, in our souls crying out the LORD.

From Jim Crow, our souls cried out to the LORD.
Our pastors and big mommas praying on the hard floors of wooden shacks,
In blistering heat and hard seats.
Dealing with those hard times and humanity’s crimes
That took place when the sun would go down
And set in many small towns.
The souls of our people cried to the LORD.

All the while time marched on,
Our souls filled with sorrow but promise.
We marched and marched,
Bringing the criminality of our oppressors before the world’s eyes.
We watched our leaders die.
Which gave higher decibels to our cry.
Our weeping began with silence,
Then whimpers, and graduated to blood curling screams,
From the hulls of ships on the Atlantic to jails in Birmingham.
The souls our people continued cry to the LORD.

Then our chains changed.
No longer were we held against our will.
Our will was being held by vices.
From alcohol to herion to crack cocaine.
A chain is a chain by any other name.
And the souls of our people continue to cry.
It has been said,
We are a blues people.
Teaching oppressors how to deal with the blues.
After all, 9/11 taught them one thing.
There is no safe.
Now they walk in paranoia,
Scaring themselves into a frenzy of fear.
When our history with them,
Has always been clear.
How did we deal with the slavery, the rapes, the racism, the lynchings, the molestation of our minds for hundreds of years?
The souls of our people simply cried to the LORD.
And we continue to cry and cry out.
We shall always cry to the LORD.
After all this time,
He is really all we have ever really had.
Richard J Wright

Stop looking at the clock

A lot of people are desparate to get married or not be single. Why? What is the rush? Truth of the matter is, many of us are looking at the clock. What is the clock? The clock is that time frame we look at when we are considering our lives currently. Women have a time clock inwardly that tells them, its time to get married or have children. The 30s for rough for single women that want children. It becomes more challenging to have children and be married. Truth is none of us cannot rush it, our future is too precious to get caught up in a time machine.

Look, nothing ever happens when we want it to. So get over it. Relax and live your life. As a man, I cannot make somebody love me. I can have nice clothes, a nice house, or whatever, but I cannot look at someone and be like, "hey, do you want to hurry up!". So many women are convinced they are ready to get married but when you check their resume or status, nothing is further from the truth.

One word of caution. Being single can produce a level of no tolerance. The longer you are single, the more you become settled with yourself. People talk about not settling for people that are inferior potential mates. However, what about those singles who settle for themselves? They have let the time elapse and decided they do not want somebody coming in and disturbing their groove. Now, while I do think we should not pay attention to the time clock or time restraint we put on ourselves. Let us be reminded that we are dating with a purpose and not because we are bored. Some people will be content with just dating somebody. I have a friend who once told me, she just wants a Mister to pay her a visit ever once in a while. Sad, but hey that is what she wants. Either way, live your life and stop looking at the clock you have invented for yourself.

Richard J Wright

A Word to Christian Singles regarding Valentine's Day

In seven days, another Valentine's day will be here. Many of us Christian singles and other singles will see the stuff animals, candy, cards, flowers and most of all, those delightful smiles. We will smile but some of us deep down will be hating. Others will depressed and others will pretend that its just another day. Talk about delusional.

On last night, my spirit was quieted for a moment and the LORD spoke to me. Read Genesis 22. I read the scripture but I didn't know exactly what reason I was reading it. I just heard God say read. Genesis 22 is the chapter in the bible where Abraham is called by God to sacrifice his son. Before Abraham carries out this hard task, God stops him and tells him that He knows that he, meaning Abraham, really loves Him because he didn't spare his own son for Him. As I stated earlier, I didn't understand the significance. However God, spoke in my spirit. We must prepare to sacrifice all. Even if it means our desire to be married or with someone.

There are many married people wishing they were single and many of us singles wish to be married. Yet, we told by the Apostle Paul to remain single. So why do we desire to go against what we know to be a truth Paul wants us to be blessed in? Our appetite for companionship and sex is considerably strong. In fact, Paul makes the concession for our benefit by saying that we should get married if we cannot contain or control ourselves. This Valentine's day coming up, we should seriously consider ourselves or examine ourselves. Do we really want the companionship and what are we willing to do for it? Are you willing to put your desires for marriage on the altar? Will you be melacholy on that day? Will you pray and fast instead of wanting to feed your flesh? Will you slay your desires for one day to show your Father that He is your Valentine and nobody cannot take his place? Or will you sulk in your self pity, wondering if and when God will send you someone?

Abraham was blessed not because God just liked him. He was blessed because he was obedient to the point of losing his child by his own hand because God commanded him to do it. One thing to remember as well, when God stayed Abraham's hand. He still required him to sacrifice. The ram caught in the thicket was provided by God, but only after obedience. So often we think that we are preparing ourselves for marriage by cleaning up our credit, changing our mindset, developing character and integrity. However, none of these are quite possible if we are not focusing on God. God has to be our desire. God isnt fooled by our vain pursuits of marriage. We might approach God with our desire to have a mate but God isnt listening to you because God is a God of authority and He knows that when we take a mate, we handling apart of our lives to someone. We are not just desiring a spouse but someone who will have authority over us as well. Why would God give you someone to be over you in the fear of Him, to only watch us forget His personal authority over us? We all know we can talk ourselves almost into anything. We will marry unbelievers or non believers thinking we can change them. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Paul wanted us to focus on who we are because we can accomplish much in the Kingdom. Single people can do more than those who are married because we have to care for someone.


This Valentine's day. We should not think about the love we do not have or desire one to have. Instead we should think solely about the LOVE of our souls. The one who has redeemed us and whose word is eternal. Sacrifice your thoughts about the one you want for the love you have. Keep the spirit of that revelation alive daily. Perhaps God will bless you with a spouse, however if God doesn't give you that spouse. You will not lose any sleep or agonize over the possibilities of your life without someone. God is our Valentine and He is a jealous God. He doesn't want to compete with someone you don't know or wont even know without His provision.