Lao-Tzu Says

Follow diligently the Way in your own heart, but make no display of it to the world. Keep behind, and you shall be put in front; keep out, and you shall be kept in. Goodness strives not, and therefore it is not rebuked. He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. He that bends shall be made straight. He that is empty shall be filled. He that is worn out shall be renewed.

-- Lao-Tzu

Humming a Yiddish Tune

The song "Nature Boy," made popular in 1948 by Nat King Cole, is one of those songs that has been bouncing around in my head recently. I just started humming it out of the blue. It's a really difficult song to sing, but I was able to hum all of the notes in the song, without remembering most of the words. These are the words that I remembered: "Nature boy," "enchanted boy," who learned that the greatest thing "was to love and be loved in return."

The song writer's story is quite intriguing. A beatnik poet who was born in Brooklyn, eden ahbez, convinced Nat King Cole's manager to bring his tune "Nature Boy" to Cole's attention. (ahbez chose to spell his name with lowercase letters because only God’s name is worthy of capitalization, he said.)

Cole immediately took to the tune and included it in his repertoire. He wanted to record the well-received song but had trouble finding its writer to get the publishing rights. Nat and his manager finally found ahbez—-he was camped out beneath the famous “Hollywood” sign in California. Cole’s version of "Nature Boy" made it to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1948 for eight weeks straight.

Yiddish composer Herman Yablakoff--who claimed that the melody from one of his songs, "Sveig Mein Hartz" (Be Still My Heart), was also the melody for "Nature Boy"--sued Ahbez. The song does, indeed, have that klezmer feel to it. The case was eventually settled out of court.

According to a Web site called Song Facts, Ahbez wanted to correct the tag line of the song. He decided that "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return," was not really what he wanted to say at all, since "to be loved in return" has nothing to do with love, he said. He wanted the last line to be, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love, just to love, and be loved."

Nature Boy
Words and Music by eden ahbez

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Healing Prayers from Africa

Thank you Marilyn for suggesting that I purchase and read the book, Prayers for Healing: 365 Blessings, Poems, & Meditations from Around the World early in my time of distress. There are some gems in there that I'm still discovering.

As Dr. Larry Dossey said in the foreward to Prayers for Healing, "Prayer helps us contact sources of inspiration and wisdom that transcend the rational, analytical side of the mind. Prayer provides a sense of hope and meaning--the certainty that we are part of a pattern that is purposeful and intelligent. Without this awareness, life is not just unsatisfying, in can be unendurable." (Prayer is supernatural).

Here are two of my favorites from the book:

Dinka Prayer

Now that the sun has set,
I sit and rest, and think of you.
Give my weary body peace.
Let my legs and arms stop aching.
Let my nose stop [bleeding],
Let my head stop thinking.
Let me sleep in your arms.

African Prayer

I have no other helper than you, no other father, I pray to you.
Only you can help me. My present misery is too great.

Despair grips me, and I am at my wit's end.
O Lord, Creator, Ruler of the World, Father.
I thank you that you have brought me through.

How strong the pain was--but you were stronger.
How deep the fall was--but you were even deeper.
How dark the night was--but you were the noonday sun in it.
You are our father, our mother, our brother, and our friend.

Amen. And Amen.

Harvest for the World

I’ve been impressed with many of the people in Charlotte since I moved here over a month ago. When people in Charlotte ask me how I like the city, I tell them about the friendliness that I’ve encountered, from people in churches, to folks at the Department of Social Services, and even perfect strangers. I’m especially pleased with interactions I’ve had with some of the “sisters.” It’s good to be able to meet women on the street, smile, and hold friendly conversations. That didn’t happen that much in Nashville -- not for me anyway. The publicity about Nashville seems to be somewhat misleading. I think outsiders see Nashville as a friendly southern city where everybody speaks to each other. Not so. Although I did meet some phenomenal people in Nashville, I found a great deal of rudeness and detachment from people in “The Music City.”

I had a pleasant experience in the WalMart on Eastway yesterday. I had to quickly go in and buy a booster seat for my daughter (someone stole ours from the car!) While I was in the store, one of the employees started singing over the intercom. She seemed to spontaneously break out with some of the lyrics to “Harvest for the World” by the Isley Brothers. She sang the song like it was something she had to do. Her rendition was very passionate and full of emotion. I giggled a little because it was quite strange, I initially thought. But as I looked around, I noticed how other customers seemed to take it as a natural, everyday thing. Maybe that’s something this woman does regularly. That’s a good thought. I hope she does. It definitely made my day. This was also a coincidence. I had thought the day before that I would post the lyrics to “Harvest for the World” on this blog. I’m not sure why this song came to my mind a few days ago, but it is a gorgeous and appropriate song for today’s world.

Go here (Sample 1) to listen to the luscious prelude to “Harvest for the World.” It’s almost like a prayer—at least it makes me want to pray.

Here are the brothers singing “Harvest for the World.”

Harvest For The World Lyrics
by the Isley Brothers

All babies together, everyone a seed
Half of us are satisfied, half of us in need
Love's bountiful in us, tarnished by our greed
Oh when will there be a harvest for the world?

A nation planted so concerned with gain
As the seasons come and go greater grows the pain
Far too many feeling the strain
Oh when will there be a harvest for the world?
Gather every man
Gather every woman
Celebrate your lives
Give thanks for your children
Gather everyone
Gather all together
Overlooking none
Hoping life gets better for the world
When will there be a harvest for the world?

Dress me up for battle when all I want is peace
Those of us who pay the price come home with the least
Nation after nation turning into beasts
Oh when will there be a harvest for the world?

Wisdom Cries Aloud in the Street

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets;

She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?

If you will turn and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.

Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it,

And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof,

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic--

When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.

Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord,

Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them.

But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.

Amplified Bible, Proverbs 1:20-33

Infant Eyes/You Are So Beautiful to Me

You Are So Beautiful to Me
by Billy Preston/B. Fisher

You are so beautiful to me
You are so beautiful to me
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful to me

Such joy and happiness you bring
Such joy and happiness you bring
Like a dream
A guiding light that shines in the night
Heavens gift to me
You are so beautiful to me

I like to sing to my daughter now and then, especially at night sometimes when it’s difficult for her to go to sleep. Sometimes she’ll request certain songs and sometimes I’ll just sing one of my regulars for her like "Summertime," "God Bless the Child," "Santa Lucia," or "Infant Eyes."

I tried "You Are So Beautiful to Me" on her some time ago and I could tell she was really touched by it. I’m planning to sing it to her more often.

Here’s Patti LaBelle and Joe Cocker singing You Are So Beautiful in 1985.

When I heard the song, "Infant Eyes" as a child, I thought it was the most beautiful song that I had ever heard. My child wasn’t to come until many years later, but I felt some semblance of a mother’s love for her child when I heard it. "Infant Eyes" is a Wayne Shorter composition, but the Jean Carne version is the only one I’ve ever heard. I can’t imagine anyone singing it better than she did. It’s a masterpiece.


Infant Eyes
by Wayne Shorter

There’s no plan
Beneath the sky
The voice could never arise
That could sing of my love
Oh my, dear Infant Eyes

Infant Eyes
You are mine
Without your smile
The stars would fall
The moon would lose its glow
And the rivers would cease to flow
You know
I wish you could realize
This love I have inside
A love that never dies
Oh my, dear Infant Eyes

Things I Do Well

I want to thank my good friend Marilyn in Nashville for encouraging me to come up with this list months ago. It's encouraging and it also makes me laugh.

This is a pat on the back to myself because I really need it. Here are some of the things that I do well:

- Love and take care of my daughter
- Sing and read to my daughter
- Take out the trash
- Select really cool earrings
- Twist and lock my hair
- Write
- Hug
- Smile
- Laugh
- Make other people laugh
- Encourage others
- Doodle
- Direct
- Make chess pies

Thanks Marilyn! I'm going to come back to this list the next time I need a lift.

I'd like to encourage all of you readers to make a list of some of the things that you do well. I want to hear all about it!

Like Vultures

Recently I overheard a converstion between a man and a woman about the woman’s former high school teacher. The man told her that somebody had seen the teacher somewhere. She said, “Really? I told ---- to let me know when he gets a divorce.” The man and woman both laughed. Obviously, the woman is or was interested in dating the man. But she has a live-in boyfriend and a little baby at home.

Is this what it’s come to? Are people waiting around like vultures, hoping and wishing that married people will get divorced so they can have a go? Lord have mercy on all of us, if this is the case.

Let us pray:

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

-- Psalm 1: 1-6 (New International Version)

Coffee, Tea, and Helping Humanity

I gave up coffee back in May, but occasionally I make a visit to a coffee house to buy some type of tea drink. Lately, I've gone for the iced chai tea and Julia's Coffee on N. Wendover Road in Charlotte has one of the best chai drinks I’ve ever had. (I've never been to India, but I almost felt like I was there for a second after tasting the iced chai tea at Julia's.)

Julia's is just a couple of miles from where I live, so this could actually be dangerous for my coffee-free lifestyle. The place has provocative artwork on display throughout the shop, used books for sale, comfortable seating where you can sit, drink, read, and/or talk. Also, from what I understand, musicians perform in the place every now and then.

Another intriguing aspect to this coffee house is its connection to Habitat for Humanity. Julia's Coffee is physically attached to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. All proceeds from Julia's Coffee go toward helping Habitat for Humanity families build their homes. The shop is named after Julia Maulden, the first volunteer executive director for Habitat for Humanity.

One of Julia's well-known comments shows how committed she was to her spiritual beliefs. She said, "You can't just sit around loving your neighbor abstractly; you have to get out and do something for him."

As a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg school board from 1966-74, Julia was a pioneer in the efforts to desegregate the school system here. When she retired from the school board at the age of 60, she spent the next eighteen months teaching children in Zaire as a Peace Corps worker. She brought some of those students to the U.S. and paid their way through such schools as Columbia University and Davidson College.

In 1991 Julia told The Charlotte Observer that to ask yourself, "Am I better off? is the wrong question. Are we better off? is the question."

Click here to read about the farm in El Salvador where the coffee beans used in Julia's Coffee are grown.

Celebrating Our Loved Ones

If you're planning to be in Washington, D.C. in early October, don't miss the 3rd annual Capital BookFest, an event that celebrates the literary arts while promoting literacy in the D.C. metropolitan area. The event is produced by poet, playwright, and television producer, Kwame Alexander, and features award-winning writers and emerging talent.

Capital BookFest will also feature the unveiling of Family Pictures: Poems and Photographs Celebrating Our Loved Ones, which features poetry from such greats as E. Ethelbert Miller, Lucille Clifton, and Tony Medina. The book also includes poems by writers all over the world, including 11-year-old Washington, D.C. student Kyndall Brown, and me. Several of the poets featured in Family Pictures will read at the event.

I have to thank poet/performer Thandiwe Shiphrah for my poem, "Lost in America," which appears in the book. Thandiwe inspired me to write the piece at one of her motivating Women's Gatherings in Nashville. (God bless you Thandiwe!)

Lost in America
by Alicia Benjamin

I am the Geechee Girl. Lost in the English of America. Mangoes are what I like. Orange, green, and fleshy.

I prefer the heat, but when it's cold my grandfather talks to me from the walls of my house.

He says, "One day oona gwine see me agin. On dat day, we gwine rejoice fa true." Then I'm warm again.

My grandfather also tells me that I am the droplets of the Orishas, spilled into the womb of his wife. I carry the strength of my mamas, who were warriors, from Sierra Leone, Senegal and Angola.

Gather me mother and father. Gather me and give me the power to make my child the warrior she needs to be.

The Capital BookFest will be held on October 6, the Blvd. at the Capital Centre, 931A Capital Centre Blvd., Largo, Maryland from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.