Exit Stage Left

I guess this absolutely needs to be the end.

I’ve been writing in one capacity or another over the course of most of my life, and while there have been some complimentary phrases such as “I love your work” or “Your truth comes from a place I’ve never imagined” or of course, the stuff I’ve read in Messenger that only deserved a “May God bless you” response. Putting righthanded scribbles to lined paper, MS Word or that blue hardbacked journal from Nature’s Classroom fifteen years ago has been quite the solace for wherever my mind has taken me - but at which point, when do I get out of my own head?

I’ve survived a monstrosity of things that should have killed me if not outright curtailed my own path.

Sometimes being the most loquacious wordsmith in the room has led me down some irrepressible rabbit holes, and sometimes it implies that the weapon I have selected most frequently during this lifetime either wants another chance for a nostalgia a bit rosier or has come to grips that the original road seemingly less traveled was truly rife with brambles, stickers, and jagged rocks along the way too painful to drive upon. Apparently, the latter has become the case for me, and as they say, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger:  That six-pack is hidden under a gut full of tasty barbecue, Golden Grahams, and more cold beer than I would care to admit drinking over the past twenty years.  

Then there is the fact I surrendered my twenties chasing a dollar bill that seemed to outrun me just by a smidge on a weekly basis instead of making memories to have numerous tales to regale my little one or reminisce with friends one day. You know, the price of being poor is very expensive.

You're almost there! pic.twitter.com/C6VjqKORdn

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) June 5, 2021

Yet, that trusty pen and pad became more than a necessity:  it was the vessel that solidly pulled the most banal thoughts out of my head into a format worth reading about in a later venue and through the untold editing days which occasionally became weeks if not months. Once an idea met paper or in this case, MS Word, it would often vacillate between becoming something noteworthy or due for File 13. Somehow my writing process decided if I needed to advance subject matter by conducting research (again, I never rely on solely the stuff in my head – and that insatiable quest for knowledge periodically has gotten me into some trouble).

During the life of AD&AD, I think the longest time I went without posting was six weeks. In addition to running out of content, I messed around and decided that sanctifying my family’s privacy by any means necessary was paramount to almost anything else going on in my life whether it be working up new sauce recipes for DSB; the never-ending drama surrounding the church that deserves its own reality show; or the realization that the dead-end of working for a conglomerate several states away that only knows me when things go sideways onsite is clearer by the minute.

Everything has a season, and for the incubation, nurturing, and carefully pruning of each phase for better or for worse, the time for release eventually manifests itself to no longer modify the wheel.

I will still be around albeit not in the same familiar capacities many of you recognize me.

My pen and wayward thoughts need a vacation from each other, so…I bid adieu.

In the most ACedA way I have said:  God bless, I’m out.

US History Has Always Been Selective. Think About Why.

From someone who teaches AP US History: 

If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:

Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?

A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."

Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?

A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.

Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?

A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property. 

Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?

A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever. 

Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?

A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green

Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?

A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American. 

Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?

A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights. 

Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process? 

A: No clue.

Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?

A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy. 

It’s no accident that: 

You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois

You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington. 

You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves. 

You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street. 

You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”

You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals. 

You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race. 

You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession. 

Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts. 

Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality. 

You have a choice. - Jim Golden”

Is This Your King?

The finesse is strong in the church.

I've had time to really study the Gospel. How have you used your moments since the coronavirus pandemic hit?

Perhaps it always has been, but we are witnesses in a season that curtains have been opened exposing the good, the bad, and the indifferent; while the good will be justly rewarded, the bad and indifferent do deserve the whippings due them both physically and spiritually - and those are beatings undesired. Seventeen months after coronavirus, what have we learned? Does anything go as long as the coffers are full and the optics of a visible leadership team take priority good health be damned? How is the Gospel shared to a sin sick world that is seeking something greater beyond the norm?

You leaders accept bribes for dishonest decisions. You priests and prophets teach and preach, but only for money. Then you say, “The Lord is on our side. No harm will come to us.” Micah 3:11 

Tell me. #IsThisYourKing pic.twitter.com/LTSM46BUMb

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) February 7, 2021

In 1 Samuel 8-15, the Israelites knew that Samuel had been an effective king and as he aged, the elders acknowledged that his sons failed to follow his blueprint for leading Israel fairly, so they began to wander with their little eyes and ask for a king like the surrounding nations. Samuel knew this was a bad idea because a king could take them through things far worse than they ever anticipated, so he reluctantly accepted their request. Check out 1 Samuel 8:4-22 for an introduction - consider that the people have been backsliding for centuries and bellyaching since shortly after crossing the Red Sea. 

One day the nation's leaders came to Samuel at Ramah and said, “You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven't followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!”  Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. The Lord answered: Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.  Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the Lord had said:  If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot.  Some of them will be officers in charge of 1,000 soldiers, and others will be in charge of 50. Still others will have to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, or make weapons and parts for his chariots. Your daughters will have to make perfume or do his cooking and baking.  The king will take your best fields, as well as your vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his own officials. He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and officials.  The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king's slaves, and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won't answer your prayers.  The people would not listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”  Samuel listened to them and then told the Lord exactly what they had said. “Do what they want,” the Lord answered. “Give them a king.” Samuel told the people to go back to their homes.

1 Samuel 8:4‭-‬22

Having a physical figurehead is more important than the God who has kept them all this time meaning that God is truly the one they are rejecting. His people have turned from him at every turn to worship idols, follow the other nations in leading hedonistic lifestyles (see The Curious Case of Lot and the Five Cities), and now they want a different direction than what Samuel has guided. Samuel's words:  Be careful of what you ask for. 

I love y'all but this is one ticket I will decline. #IsThisYourKing pic.twitter.com/s43aUMhybf

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) February 7, 2021

The people continued to demand a king as they were being ruled by the King, and soon they would suffer the consequences. In a foretelling act, Samuel details a tyrant, a bully who will force the sons into joining his army; some of those young men will get to ride in chariots, some will get to serve in the calvary, and the rest will be foot soldiers running ahead of the chariots. For those who have not studied the history of wars prior to the Vietnam War, conflicts were typically head-to-head events which the lesser privileged were served on a platter as collateral damage for the "heroes" in the back to arise and save the day - or retreat, depending on how the battle went. Among that group of young men, some would become generals and lead platoons of a thousand men while others led groups of fifty men. In addition, some men were left behind to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, and maintain the chariots and other battle weapons. 

But you want a king. 

Let's move further in the text.

Those beautiful daughters will be reduced to servitude making perfume, cooking and baking for his Highness if not outright harems. The king will also take your best fields, crops, and talents and pass on your hard work to his officers and other officials to do whatever they please. He'll also possess dominion over the best young men and donkeys, and enslave them. Eventually, you'll realize the error of your ways and cry out to God to be rescued from this bully but, guess what? God won't answer your prayers. As you suffer from the consequences of your actions, the nation gets further splintered to an unrecognizable shell of itself. 

Does this happen today in the modern church? Yes. It. Does.

Whose fault is this? 

Ours. 

I'm not abdicating my obligations in ensuring a smooth sailing ship yet when we find ourselves falling in love with a few sermons that are pleasing to our ears or otherwise let our egos get in the way of Kingdom building, then we are at fault. As some of us obsess over optics, analytics, and the finances, we inevitably miss out on the work in the fields because we want to play church instead of being the church. 

But you wanted a king.

OK.

Is this your king? In addition, are his officers the types of people who are desired, or do they gladly flex with a title alone? 

I've seen too much in my own church as well as today's Black church in general, and the pandemic has opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of the leadership & willful congregation ignorance.

Ex. New Testament plus Malachi 3:10 because we like your money.

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) January 19, 2021

God has told us that the penalty for scattering the flock is great:  Would you want a piece of that whupping? Are the bag and clout worth it? 

Once again, let me reiterate that since I've largely stepped away from the rote and routine portions of Sunday morning at 11 am worship, I have taken my own person-to-person relationship and evaluated it more critically than I perhaps would have. This is finding my way closer to what this saith the Lord in converse to keeping up a facade. In spite of it all and the cattiness abounding, I do truly love my fellow congregants and mostly cherish the eight years we've been together. If this paragraph gets me dismissed, then so be it.

What has happened is in a quest to be like everyone else, the congregation sometimes misses the point or notices across the landscape that every church surrounding them has a a pastor, musician, etc., and as a result, the group becomes a bit envious of said outward appearance. Does that occur everywhere? No; however, as we fixate upon the ideal outcome, we may find ourselves in such a pickle that we lose our way. Because of comfort, some may revert to spiritual babies while others seize an opportunity to dominate all aspects of the localized praise and worship experience with ill regard of the larger group and most certainly the sick and shut-in members. THAT is why I have asked throughout the post Is this your king?

Tell me.

Maybe going it alone for a while is best for all of us, but I'm going to mind my own Black business as people who hang on to coattails looking for the next best thing when they have not received the bare necessities for survival struggle to comprehend that the church has always been inside of them. Maybe in the midst of four or five pretty sermons over time have diminished a desire to continue learning likely because the initiative to study independently has never occurred to those fully satisfied with running about the aisles or boasting of a financial offering as outreach still needs to happen beyond the physical and mental four walls.

What shall we do when those tears stream down our faces with no one to comfort us? Worse, what will come of us if God turns His back from us?