Three Yes 3 Days of Free Time & Fun

It has been a Great Three days of Bliss and enjoyment. Mind you I do like my job and I have no complaints regarding my workplace. The atmosphere is good and my bosses are nice people. Yet I really needed those 3 days off. Friday was laundry and relaxation, Saturday my girlfriend turned 61 so myself and another girlfriend went took her out for her 61st Birthday to Dallas BBQ in Manhattan.

We had a great time. They are both private people and out of respect to them I will not share our Celebration photos on my blog. However the baby of our bunch who is 51 introduced us to What’s App I keep calling it What’s Up. Too much Buggs Bunny as a child. That way we can chat and share photos with each other without announcing our private and personal lives to the entire world. Basically unless you have your friends permission and they are comfortable with their photos being shared it’s best not too unless you just don’t value your friends.

Wayside Baptist Church

I also got to attend church today. I rarely go to church. Sometimes even when I do have Sunday’s off I’m so exhausted from work that I don’t have the strength or energy to get out of bed for the service. When I do get to service I go to Wayside Baptist church. It is walking distance from my home and I was raised in the Baptist church so there is a certain level of familiarity and comfort. Retirees. One day maybe I will be able to take some Bible classes.

The Biblical Text was Acts 8:26 to 39. We also discussed the Song of Solomon.

Today was a second graduation ceremony for the Wayside Baptist Bible Institute Graduates. Most of them are Seniors and Retirees. There were 53 students in this graduating class.

Wayside Baptist Church teaches an Afro-centric Gospel which acknowledges the presence of Blacks in the Bible. They openly discuss and teach the African contribution to the Bible. When you research most of the countries mention in the Gospels nearly all of them are African countries. Cush, Ethiopia, Egypt, etc….. Africa.

Those of you African-American Baby Boomers remember growing up back in the day and the white/American/European church teaching that Black people were cursed, deserved to be slaves and be under Jim Crow. Actually that is probably what most of the Southern Bible Belt believes today. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard white preachers refer to Blacks as heathens and savages. Therefore Yes we do need a True Interpretation of the Bible and where most of the Biblical stories take place. Trust me that none of the people in the Bible had blond hair, blue eyes or straight noses. That’s a Euro-centric viewpoint designed to keep Blacks down and in mental slavery. Definitely a strategy that encourages self hate. Those of us of African descent know that America’s standard of beauty does not celebrate those of us with woolly hair, dark skin, wide noses or full lips. But the Bible says different.

Song of Solomon 1: 5-6

I am Black and Comely. Oh you Daughters of Jerusalem. The text uses the word “but” however it should read And. The King James version translated it incorrectly.

The Black church also serves a social function and today I learned that there will be a Senior Housing Rally on October 9th. There was a guest speaker liaison to the Mayor’s office informing us that an 82 year old Senior woman at a Sister church who was paying her $1,300 rent with a Section 8 Voucher on time every month is being evicted because the Landlord wants her out so he can charge $3,000 per month for rent. And Yes these are normal rent prices in New York City. So you can see the effect of gentrification and you can also see why I need to work extra overtime in order to afford a place to live. Now an 82 year old woman is way past her working days. Another thing to consider is that we cannot blame the Republicans as both the New York Mayor and Gov. are both Democrats.

Anyway as of tomorrow it’s back to the real world. I have some 16 hour days ahead of me and I must prepare myself mentally and physically. I will be blasting through October, November and December as these are the busiest months for the museum.

BTW, I’ve learned the Wisdom of writing and schedule Blog Posts for the Future, turning off having the comments come to my email and notifications which is why it takes me forever to answer folks. Truthfully I know with my work schedule my window of opportunity to respond to comments is very narrow. Now if folks get offended well that’s not my aim or my fault.

Palm Sunday~~April 9th 2017

Wayside Baptist Church

1746-60 Broadway

Brooklyn, New York 11207

As I’ve probably mentioned before I’m not much of a church goer but I feel it is very important for me to attend during Holy Week. Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter (Resurrection Sunday) have great significance for me. This was my first time attending Wayside Baptist Church and I did enjoy the service. I was brought up and raised in the Baptist Church so this is where I feel comfortable.

As some of my regular readers may know I’ve been having a very difficult time at work so all the more reason to attend church. I need some inspiration. Something uplifting. I need to be in a place where I’m accepted and consider a human being not just a warm body performing a variety of mindless tasks.

Church is a place where I have value and worth. Big difference from the job. At church I’m reminded that God has not forgotten me despite all my problems. The Sanctuary is where I can release my emotions. It is very common in the traditional Black Church to see people spontaneously cry, shout, dance and praise God. There is no shame. I did cry during the service because my life is so complicated. Jesus is there to comfort those of us who are broken.

One personal reflection and revelation is Matthew 6: 19-21 Reminding me that my treasure is not here on this earth nor is this earth my home. Heaven is my home and that is where I will be going when my time on this earth ends. My earthly struggle will end. I will be reunited with family members or as many in the Black Community say, The person has gone from Labor to Reward. Earth = Labor & Struggle. Reward = Heaven or Paradise.

Matthew 6:19-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Wayside Baptist Church

Fortunately I had already arranged to have this Palm Sunday off specifically so that I could attend church. There is something comforting in the familiar. Even though I’ve attended a variety of churches and explored different belief systems I always come back home. This coming Good Friday is my normal day off so I will try to make the Good Friday service. Wayside Baptist Church is having an Early 9:00 am service for Resurrection Sunday which I will do my best to attend then off to work.

The Responsive Scripture Reading was Matthew 21: 1-11 and the Pastor focused on the Gospel of John Chapter 12. Palm Sunday is Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:1-11

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Triumphal Entry

21 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage,^[a] at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

⁴All^[b] this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

⁵“Tell the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your King is coming to you,

Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.’”^[c]

⁶So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him^[d] on them. ⁸And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’^[e]

Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

https://youtu.be/syMrLWeq-Hc