Only hold fast what you have until I come.-Revelation 2:25,ESV
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. -Deuteronomy 4:39, NIV I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. -1 Kings 2:2, NLT My son, I will die: I have to, I cannot cheat the circle of life. Where I will go, you will meet me soon –but please, heed my words. What God has given me is a monumental favor. I do not deserve this, I do not own this, neither do you. You are a servant, an administrator accountable to the people's whims. And no, please don't look at me with that face. I believe in you, I trust in you –only you can finish the job God started in me. Trust me, you are the perfect person...but I cannot let you stray away, not by any chance. Please, remember me. Remember my victories. Remember my failures. Remember my hardships. Remember I was born running, and I will die running –and so you will, too. Remember I was born leading, and I will die leading –and so you will, too. But I must beg of you: learn, grow, improve, do better than what I did, exceed the expectations, go far above and beyond, soar and fly higher than I did. You have your youth; I have my sagging flesh and skin. Be careful when you walk along the halls. The walls have ears, and they will hear even your last breath. Be careful what you do in secret— I have learned this the hard way. Be careful when you make treaties with foreigners or when you run off meeting your future bride; treat everyone with respect, everywhere you go. I see your tears. Don't hold them back. After all the years I had to suck my tears dry in front of the Lord, I can't ask you to be more a human than to be yourself. I've seen you grow up into a strong man, so curious and unafraid of the world. Don't lose the fear I won back on my deathbed. Please, don't lose that sparkle of hope in your eyes...yet don't fall prey to the stupidities you'll face in these horrible days. They will only grow from bad to worse, but that's where you come in. Where God has placed you, that's where He wants you: and only through Him, you'll grow even higher and higher. Tell your children...Oh, they're right here...I love you all very so much. Tell your wife...Oh, she's also there...I am honored to be your second father. Tell your workers and friends...Thank you for the music. And I will say to myself...Thank GOD I am leaving this place! But enough is enough: I have said what I have to say. I will go in peace, I will go in silence. Remember all my advice, and make it your own. And when you make it your own and your children stand before you, you will see your lips move with the Lord's majestic voice. Be a man. Be brave. Be majestic. Be a father. Be a man.
Felicidades. My mother is cinnamon-skinned, and my father is a kind of dirty French vanilla. My sister is a café espresso, while I am something called a jabao'. No, don get it wrong; for us, these aren't derogatory ways that people think we use about race—not that I would know. In fact, they are mostly terms of endearment—at least for me. I may have a light skin, but it's still slightly burned. I may speak fluent English like the next guy, but my Spanish is still peppered with that delightful mixture of Andalusian and Canarian delights people dismiss as vulgar and confusing. Nevertheless, I never admit I'm white: there's still something about the nappy hair and the big nose that throws the illusion away. People may say I'm black or that I speak like a Dominican, but I don't care: God made me like this, and to Him I am indebted.
But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head. He did it even though Ephraim was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head. He did it even though Manasseh was the older son. -Genesis 48:14, NIRV This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. -Colossians 1:26, MSG Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night. –Job 27:20, NIV |
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