LOVE TRIUMPHANT: THE OUTRO

Do you remember when people could not marry the one they love because of their matched genders? Did you doubt that Love would triumph over Hate?

It’s been a long time coming. I know we’ve been singing, “A Change Is Gonna Come” for some decades now that many have begun to doubt that they would witness this change in their lifetime. But that change is indeed now real, manifested, live and in vivid living color...rainbow colors! I know that those rising from the ashes of Stonewall burning only to be put to the test by the infernos of a plague, terrorism, bullying, unrelenting demoralizing rhetoric bashing your love and human dignity to bits, and ex-gay ministries seeking to brainwash and trick you into believing that what you instinctively know is a lie, that all of this may have left you exhausted, hardened and maybe even bitter, cynical and numb. But you have surmounted it all and are alive for this day. Not only may you have doubted that you would witness this day, but you were not certain that you would survive your youth like many of your beautiful and beloved contemporaries who are not here with you in the flesh to celebrate this momentous occasion, which then makes for a bittersweet reflection with tears. We can pour libations unto their memories this weekend as we ourselves eat, drink and be merry...I mean gay.

Love is a fire, a spiritual fire. It’s dynamic energy is palpable and only brings out the best in those engulfed in its flames. This is because like that burning bush Moses encountered in the desert, it is a fire which stimulates, inspires and edifies. It does not destroy. Love liberates. It does not constrict like religion. When it consumes, it integrates and harmonizes. It does not disintegrate. If it destroys anything, it incinerates only that which is untrue, unjust and insubstantial, leaving behind only that which is true, beautiful and whole in a refined and polished state. That is what we have endured for the past 45 years when we first began in earnest to snap the fetters on the love in our hearts and our human dignity. Stonewall was its breakout and Friday, June 26th, 2015 was Love’s breakthrough!

In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins, not by a stubborn front, but by persistence. Love can not help but be persistent because by its very nature it is perserverent. Its energy never gets used up but only increases in potency the more it is given away. Anything standing in its way which cannot be consumed will be mowed down in its trek, GUARANTEED! This is because love is the nature of the human heart. It begins in the heart and then reaches our mind when it comes to the prudent decision to marry until death do you part and then persists until the end and even perhaps thereafter.

Hate, on the other hand, operates in the reverse. It begins in the mind through ignorance and consumption of lies, half-truths, mistruths and untruths becoming superstitions and paranoid suspicions. This misunderstanding creates separation which leads to broken communication by the time it reaches the heart as the emotions of fear, distrust and animous. The result is to call your brother a stranger, a queer, something alien and soon an otherized enemy which needs to be destroyed.

Passionate, aggressive and destructive as hate can be, Hatred builds its foundation in the dark upon that which is not the verified truth, making it unstable from the beginning. Who would doubt that the light of Love would upon confrontation expose its fallacies and fault lines and with the indomitable Truth undermine its efficacy, leaving its structure to collapse like a house of cards? Hatred is only the hot air of stupidity, that’s all it really is. It is no match for Love, never was and never will be. Because of our Love, we were set up for victory from the very beginning. All we had to do was become conscious of it. Our opponents realized it too, a little too late after discovering that they had brought a knife to a gunfight, which is why Love Activists had become accused of being bullies. They could not figure out how to beat us, and with each little victory, the more resentful they grew. The more hate they spew, the more we were advanced. Some arriving at the wisdom of our truth conceded and a few even joined our cause, while others stubborn to the core threaten to set themselves on fire with their hate. If you need proof that all of what I am saying is the real deal and not just rhetorical poetry, review Friday’s news reports for your evidence, about those jubilant and those steaming with indignation. It is Poetic Justice.

So now what? You have in June 26th, the bonafide veritas of the tremendous power which resonates within your own heart. It is indeed a super power more potent than anything Superman could ever wield. Thankfully, it is only useful for the cause of justice. If we have now used it to accomplish the seemingly “impossible”, what else can we do with it now? The cause for equality, justice, peace and harmony is not yet won, though we celebrate a milestone victory. As Lovers, you are Champions, Peaceful Warriors to be reckoned with, and now you know it.

From the beginning, I have fashioned the strategy and philosophy of the Love Under Fire Campaign upon the Gandhian method of Satyagraha, “Satya” which means Truth, “Graha” meaning Force. In Gandhian philosophy, Love, Truth, GOD and The Soul are one in the same and are interrelated concepts of the same thing. Love is the attitude. Truth is the science, the eternal and immutable laws. GOD is the source. The Soul is the essence, the energy and the light. When one says that they are in love and truly means it, what they are saying is that the attitude of Love has brought them in conscious connection and sensation with their Soul, the soul which is in and interconnects all things. When this happens, one does become a physical manifestation of GOD. Thus, Satyagraha can also be interpreted as Soul Force. To diverge from the violent connotations of “Force” for our purposes we will use the best English equivalent, “Soul Power”. The word “Power” is...well...empowering and has nothing necessarily to do with “forcing” people to do anything or controlling anyone outside of yourself. That is not what Satyagraha, Soul Force or Soul Power is about. It is all about harnessing the power within which connects with all the power that is without and it is Love which brings everything into accord.

Don’t worry if I just went a little too deep and sent you on a mind trip. The Love Under Fire Campaign was only an experiment, if only for myself to test the useful power of Love, to see if it is still true and lives as it is reported in the days of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, The Early Christians, Jesus of Nazareth, Socrates and the Old Testament Prophets. I point again to June 26th as the answer to this experiment.

Now, I have begun work upon an actual school, a learning institution where you may learn how to use your new found superpower for the work which lies ahead. The X-Men Superheroes had a school, and now you will soon too. If there is a prestigious academy for those who wish to train in the discipline of violent warfare and military strategy, the “West Point Military Academy” shouldn’t there be an alternative institution for those wishing to train in the potent discipline of Nonviolence, or Soul Power? Rev. Dr. King said “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.” Now you may receive this training and education just as Gandhi and King would have taught it to you, for we are basing the bulk and core of the curriculum upon instructional material they have left behind for those like you who would rise up in their legacy to carry the baton of their work forward. Without actually invoking their ghosts, We are bringing them back posthumously as the master instructors of this course and including complimentary material, both contemporary and ancient which gives deeper insights into their philosophies and principles. The course is philosophical. It is as tactical as any law school program or course on military strategy and generalship maneuvers. It is scientific, and when you own it and begin to express the core of your spirit, values and ideals through it, it also becomes an art. By course completion, students will be able to take up any social justice concern near and dear to their hearts using the Gandhian method with opportunities for networking, collaboration and synergizing with many other passionate and brilliant new leaders reshaping our society for a quantum evolution toward peace, justice and harmony. It is called, “Soul Power University”.

We are just now in the midst of recruiting a leadership staff to serve on its Founding Executive Board. So, if you are inspired by this work and are confident in your leadership and organizing talents, we are looking for you. Please contact me, Branden Mattox at 404-492-4197 or email me at dir.loveunderfire@aol.com . I am also found on Facebook by the same name. For further details, like our fanpage www.facebook.com/SoulPowerU In the beginning, we are preferrably seeking those in the general Atlanta Metro region or those willing and able to commute to Atlanta at least on a monthly basis and can work on a very part time basis for a modest compensation at the beginning between 4-10 hours a week.

It has been an amazing ride, these past 3 years. It has changed me. I congratulate all of the lovers, activists, politicians and artists who have worked so hard to bring us this day, one step closer to a perfect union.

In the spirit of Love & Truth

-Branden G. Mattox

NEVER BETRAY YOURSELF

One of the most pivotal lessons 32 years has taught me is to never betray myself. We betray ourselves when we deny our truth in exchange for someone else's perspective. No one shares your exact spiritual address in time and space coordinates. This locale is yours and it was preordained. Therefore, no one has your exact perspective except you, and the ONE who knows and sees all. From our limited human vantage point, there is so much that we can not see, experience and understand, though you will acknowledge insights in ways no one else will. While there is so much we don't know, there are things from our personal scope and unique experiences which shows us truths for a certainty beyond a shadow of a doubt, even when we can not prove it to a skeptic or a nonbeliever. That vision, that insight may not be for them to see or understand, though it is revealed to you as clear as crystal.

We betray ourselves when we deny to ourselves the truth which has been revealed to us. We betray ourselves when we do not trust that truth. We betray ourselves when we compromise our own sense of ethics for any reason. We betray ourselves when we treat others in ways we would find unjust or disagreeable if done to us. We betray ourselves when do not follow our hearts. What I want to drill down on tonight is how we betray ourselves when we accept and tolerate abuse, mistreatment and disrespect out of desperation. Like the sage advice of William Shakespeare, "To thine own self be true, so that one canst not then be false to any man." You then make yourself unfit to stand up for anyone or anything so long as you adopt such an expedient backbone.

I have often been criticized for being "foolishly proud" when in the position of need and vulnerability, I have resisted the need to kiss butt or to tolerate condescending, controlling, patronizing and denigrating attitudes and behavior from so-called "helpers" in order to get my needs met. This is wholly unnecessary. I have learned the humility that as a human being a part of the whole, I am entitled to needing others. When in positions to help others in need, I have done so without question, judgment or expecting anything in return. The opportunity to serve is a privilege and a payment in itself, to know the feeling of contributing value to my world and paying the rent for the space and time I am taking up in this world. So why should I deny someone else that same privilege? So many people need to know that they matter, and they can find this best through the act of selfless service. Even if I am on the recipient end, I am allowing them a privilege to serve my needs, while my heart is crushing with gratitude. They are in reality serving themselves, serving their truth and in so doing, serving their GOD. It isn't even anything personal. When ego, disrespect, abuse and exploitation creeps into this loving transaction, it blows the truth, value and the beauty of the service for all involved.

If someone is not serving you in love and out of love, it is best if they decide to deny you and just leave you alone. Any act of service outside the space of Agape or humble altruistic love is serving poison to your spirit. While you may very well need what they have to offer, you do not ever need to betray yourself in order to get it. Truth be told, if it is GOD's will for you to have it, GOD will plunder them of it and give it to you, if they choose not to give it willingly, like Israel plundered Egypt on its way out of bondage. If it is not yours to have, GOD has something more perfect in store for you that what you think you might need from them would only get in the way of something better. Never forget this. When we betray ourselves to get what we need, that is the definition of prostitution. Prostitution is idol worshiping. "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want."

For the need of companionship, many tolerate verbal and physical abuse, neglect and infidelity. For the need of income, many barter their most precious resource, their time in labor which does not honor and make use of their talents and passions, nor educates them in the ways of money-making. What adds insult to the injury is when many endure exacting and sometimes abusive and punitive micromanagement practices which is anything but appreciative. For the need of belonging, we compromise just about everything which makes us beautiful and unique to assimilate to the values of the masses, we lie about our love, suppress our counter gender expressions, chemically burn the curls out of our hair, bleach the melanin out of our skin, and disguise or true image behind makeup. All the while, our true identities given to us and to the world through PROVIDENCE sulks in the corner, teary-eyed wondering why they are not wanted and appreciated by the body they have been given to inhabit.

My favorite Dr. Phil McGraw quote is, "You have to teach people how to treat you." If you are being abused, disrespected or mistreated, you must begin taking responsibility for enabling this if you really want it to end and take flight in the power of your truth. Our spirits know full well when we are receiving love and when we are not, even when the specifics of the violations are subtle and insidious as often is the case. Never lie to yourself about this. Love doesn't hurt. Love feels good. Love does not go upside your head or put you down. Love builds you up, lifts you up, fills you up and edifies your character. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -1 Corinthians 13:4-7

A good church is one which is if intolerant of anything is intolerant of anything unloving. If upon stepping over the threshold, you do not immediately feel the warmth of love, turn around and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. I mean it.

The word ABUSE, can be deduced to its rudiments, AB-USE (Outside-of-Purpose) If you have not gotten crystal clear on what your purpose is in life, to yourself, to your world and to each person you share a relationship with and the roles you play to them, you are leaving yourself wide-open and vulnerable to AB-USE. The most original purposes given to us as newborn babies is to be an object representing an opportunity to love. On the first moments of entering the world, we hadn't done anything wrong yet, our survival was totally dependent upon love and that is the purpose we served for our parents and our family from the very beginning. Our first purpose is still that of being an object representing an opportunity to love. Once you get clear about that and your other purposes as early as possible, then when others attempt to use you in ways which are contrary or outside the scope of your purpose to them, you can kindly, yet firmly assert your boundaries by communicating to them that you are not here for that, and mean it. Teach them how to treat you by demonstrating to them the best treatment you can bestow upon them. You teach people how to treat you by being kind and true to yourself as you observe this rule to never betray yourself. Lastly, you teach people how to treat you by knowing how to get up from the table when love is no longer being served. Do not trade disrespect for disrespect. To do so is to betray yourself.

Regardless of my social position with others or my degree of dependency upon them, respect is the ground rule in my dealings with them. I have no problem bringing whatever it is that we have going on to a screeching halt and making it clear that we will have respect for one another, or we will have nothing at all. I don't allow people to scream at me or address me outside of my given name, terms of endearment or titles of respect. Not with me, they won't. This is only a precursor to them feeling allowed and justified to strike me if they could get away with it, if I did not check them at the first instance of undeserved disrespect.

Those who continually and consistently betray themselves are not to be trusted. For if they would sell themselves out cheap, what trust should we have in them not to also sell us down the river at the first expedient opportunity? The same goes for those would ever suggest that you should betray yourself. And that is what I know for sure.

FALL IN LOVE

FALL IN LOVE

Saxaphones crooning

Windchimes tingling

my love is breezing through 

and falling on you

Fall, fAll, faLLing

like the leaves

never rushing or torrential

dancing tranquil

love notes flutter

crimson passion

indulging chocolate

pumpkin pie

merlot magic

honey mustard

cinnamon spice

soothing sage

swirling round you

haunting hints

my love is for you

calling for you

in zenful whispers

We planted

cultivated friendship

Now we harvest

a charmed romance

The chill makes you chill

reaching for my arms of fluffy fleece

to wrap around you in warm embrace

You drink my kisses of vanilla chai

sweet and spicy 

my warmth enters you

fills you 

and slips you 

into blissful slumber

Smoking bonfire embers,

gently wake you

basking in the radiance 

of my love

Go on and roast your marshmallows

sip your cocoa

tell your stories

of the magic and the mystery of my love

I'm in no rush,

though I'm Fall, fAll, faLLing on you

Like all good things

I'm passing on

'til I'm all gone

In my absence

your bones shiver

and you wonder

of the fable of my 

love legendary

all yours and with you

for just a season 

now it's Winter

-Branden Mattox

A Love Which Liberates

A Love Which Liberates

Wedding Address for Jazzie and Sonny Jones-Smith, by Branden G. Mattox. Stockbridge, GA, August 22nd 2014.

When two lives become one, the wedding is its official first birthday, which we hope will have as many birthdays as GOD will allow you.

The love may have been conceived a long time ago, but today we are here to celebrate the merged life, the first fruits of that love. Anything conceived out of love is holy.

In a world where we are constantly inundated with news and images of war, poverty, sickness, civil unrest, the bickering of partisan politics and bigotry, it is both refreshing and inspirational to be reminded that love still lives in the land.

It will continue to live on and bless people’s lives no matter who says otherwise because LOVE is the will of GOD, for GOD is LOVE.

Somebody told a lie one day, which said the romantic love of a woman for another woman, or a man for a man is not real, that it is wrong, ugly, disgusting and perverted, because it had nothing to do with a man’s dominion over woman, because supposedly the world revolves around a man and his dominion over women.

With this event, we are demonstrating that the world revolves around love. That the love we hold for the special persons in our lives is indeed real. Because the love is real, it cannot help but be right. It is beautiful. It is holy and has real meaning and purpose in society today, which have taken marriage vows for granted with sky-rocketing divorce trends. Oh, if their love only had to fight for the right to be, perhaps they might not leave their vows by the wayside, a trivial novelty to be thrown away once the thrill is gone.

Though, here we are in the midst of: Disrespect, Dishonor, Discrimination, Disregard, Dismissal and sometimes just plain Dissed by those who say they love us. In the midst of it all, we are here with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts. We are too filled with love to hate back. The more our love is oppressed and repressed, the more defiant it rears it beauty and its strength. That my dear, is Love Under Fire, no less defiant than the love which led Ashech, Meshech and Abednego dancing through the fire unscathed, no less passionate than what led Jesus to the cross, ravaged and scorned to then resurrect himself anew like the Phoenix, no less fierce than any mother or father, husband or wife would protect and defend the honor of those they love.

On this birthday of your merged lives, remember Frederick Douglas was denied the honor and dignity of a birth certificate. Though he was born indeed, to give him one would admit the humanity of a slave. As brilliant as he was, becoming more erudite than the men who had once owned him, he never truly knew his age. Denying him a certificate documenting and acknowledging his life, his existence, was society’s way of telling him from the very beginning that, “You do not matter, you have no rights, your humanity is not real nor the same as that of a white man and you have no value other than that which you can be sold for.”

Today, this special birthday of your merged lives is experiencing a Frederick Douglas style entry into the world. Though, like Frederick Douglas, it will be heard and will be recognized. Like Frederick Douglas, your love will liberate others from the mired depths of traditional hatred, ignorance and fear.

Your love will stand tall as the trees.

Your love will spread wide as the seas.

Your love will be for the whole world to see.

Your love will shine bright in the night like the stars above.

The fire of your love will melt rigid hearts of stone and change people’s wrongs to right.

Your love will soon teach our state of Georgia to redneckognize the moral error of its ways in making itself an enemy of love.

Today, the vindication of your love is already at hand, and so we celebrate that as well.

Love is indeed a spiritual fire which edifies and illuminates and never destroys. May the spark between you two ignite to blaze an inferno capable of engulfing the whole world. Amen!

Give Yourself Away

Life is not about throwing yourself away. See, that's the kind of stuff we do with trash.

If you honor GOD, then nothing created by GOD and infused with the blood of GOD's spirit, which is the energy of life itself can ever be considered trash. Life is the highest capital there is in the world, more valuable than all the diamonds, gold and ores of oil than can ever be produced. And here you are vibrating with the stuff. In fact, you are the stuff and not its packaging, even though you may be beautifully packaged.

What we are then to do is to give that stuff away with gleeful abandon and with the highest quality we can offer. You can not do that if you consider yourself trash to be thrown away. And who wants trash anyway? Give your time, your most precious asset, for it can never be regained. Give your listening, nonjudgmental ear, and be that presence of awareness for someone needing to be acknowledged. We all have this need. With every breath, tone, and look, communicate, "I see you. I hear you. I understand you and you matter because you are here in matter." Give away your creativity. If you sing, are a musician, a poet, an orator, a writer, a painter, a teacher, a sculptor, an actor, a dancer, a comedian, or a cook, use your unique talents and passions to serve and build people up with as much value as you can put into it. This is both an expression of love and an expression of who you are and how you feel about yourself. If you have passion for what you do, you will do this with Platinum quality and be recognized that you were here on the face of the earth. Lastly, and most importantly, give away your love. Show appreciation for people. Commit random acts of kindness. Hug people. Affirm people. Help people however you can. It is not your duty to save the world or fix anybody or their broken lives. But, you can be that person who showed them some love. What they decide to do with that is between them and GOD.

Even when you give your best self away, you will find yourself with critics. These are like those who complain about free samples at the grocery store. If they don't like it then they shouldn't purchase it. But, they'll exaggerate the importance of their opinion and expect it to matter to you. Meanwhile, your free sample has been the only meal for that hungry person. If your best does not serve someone, it is simply not for them, but it is just what the doctor ordered for someone else. Jesus says, "Cast not your pearls before swine, nor give what is holy to dogs or they will turn on you and tear you to pieces." -Matthew 7:6. This is not to call your critics pigs or dogs. Simply, pearls mean absolutely nothing to pigs, they have no need for them, and dogs have absolutely no appreciation for things which are holy. They eat their own dung. When you understand that your best is not for them, you can relieve yourself of the duty of needing to be all things to all people and then there is no need to get your feelings hurt or hurt theirs. May they find who is serving slop and bones and relieve you of the duty, if slop and bones is not in you to give. We all know when we have given our best and when have not, if we are honest and truthful with ourselves. So just commit to giving your best, and then nothing else will matter.

When we commit to giving our best selves away, we find that nothing else in life matters. You will find happiness, because you are giving away what is in your heart. Jesus says in the Gospel of Thomas, "If you produce what is in you, what you have will save you. If you do not have what is in you, what you do not have will kill you." -Gospel of Thomas, Saying 70.

You will find meaning because you will find those who desperately need what is in your heart, and no one else can do it quite like you do it.

"But what about me? I have needs too. If I do not feed myself, house myself, clothe myself, who's gonna? And what will I have to give to anyone else?" When you give your best selves away, you will find all of your needs met and more.

When you give your best selves away, you increase your value in the market place, and thus may command a larger salary or get that promotion. You are only one person, so there is only but so much of what you are able to give and for a limited time while you are alive. You could not satisfy the whole world with your giving, even if you wanted to. Your life and your existence is a once-in-a-lifetime event, therefore when you give your best self away, the law of supply and demand will always be in your favor bringing you all the wealth you are needing. With increased wealth, you'll be able to give even more. Limited supply+increased demand=increased value. When you have faith in this, you can let go of the concern of serving yourself and only be concerned with giving.

Do not be afraid of money changing you. Money only makes you more of what you already are. With money, pure spirits become philanthropists and humanitarians. With money, selfish, egotistical spirits become capitalists who exploit and use the people more than they serve them to increase their own glory and namesake. There is nothing wrong with money. Money can be either a blessing or a demon. It is how it is used, and that depends on the user. Poverty actually steals and inhibits your gift by reducing you to the desperation of meeting your basic needs, making you selfish as a means of survival. For this reason, you can not give so long as you possess a poverty mindset, and a poverty mindset can only bring you more poverty. A person's highest happiness is in giving to those they love and expressing their truest identity. This happiness is often stolen by the spirit and psychosis of poverty, which is rooted in fear and a belief in the lie of lack and scarcity. People who have money work for them harder than they work for it, so that they can have more to give and the means to express themselves, are those who are masters of money. Those who slave themselves for money, enslave others and then hord it when they get it, are mastered by money and they will never find true happiness. In this present society, it is impossible to escape a relationship with money, therefore right now, you are a master of money or money is your master. There is no in between. This is how Jesus could say, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." -Matthew 6:24. True Masters of Money, are not mastered by it, they use it. They could lose it all and gain it right back because they understand how it works, and their lack of fear about money is what allows them to do this and take calculated risks which cowers many. As with many things in life, huge risks carry with them huge rewards. Jesus advises to place even your very lives at risk for the greater good, so what terror is there over loss money? "For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"-Mark 8:35-36

Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:25:34.

When you give your best self away, you unlock all the benefits of the Law of Attraction to ensure that you are not lacking in anything or desiring anything which is not available to you. You may then go on and live out your dreams. Jesus says, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” -Luke 6:38. When you give your best self away, you will attract those who are wanting to give their best selves away to you. When you resolve to give your best self away, it will be an honor for others to give their best selves dedicated to you in return for what you have meant to them. You will then have more than enough you will know what to do with other than continuing to give it away, which then returns more to you. You will then become a portal of abundance in the world, on the receiving end, and on the bestowing end. When you give your best self away, you will find that true happiness lies never in the getting, but in the act of giving and expressing who you truly are, and your lives will then be wealthy and abundant in all respects. This is GOD's will for you, never that you should be poor. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." With the proper spirit and attitude, there is nothing you could ask of GOD, that GOD can not and will not give to you at the proper time, if you ask in faith and wait in patience, while working in preparation to receive. No, GOD will not give you that Corvette when you are 8 at the time of asking. You will have to wait until you are old enough to operate it and wise enough to keep it. In the meantime, that 8 year old is going to have to learn how to make some money to purchase it and save his money. He is going to have take his driving lessons seriously and pass them. He will do all these things if he has faith that what he has requested is on its way. Then, by age 16 he has saved $5000, not enough to purchase a Corvette. His heart is then pulled to give the money instead to a charity for childhood diabetes amputees to get prosthetic legs. He altogether forgets about the Corvette and falls in love with seeing others regain their mobility. GOD has not forgotten, and on his 18th birthday, a philanthropist touched by the service of this young man rewards him with a Corvette, he asked for 10 years ago. The philanthropist contacted his parents and was let in on that this Corvette had been on his Christmas wish list every year since he was 8.  This is how it works. There are many true life stories paralleled to this one.

If anyone tries to tell you that you are not to enjoy your life, do not listen to them. If you are not enjoying what you are giving, then please stop! If there is no joy in what you are giving, than it will be of low quality and you will be helping no one. In fact, you will be punishing yourself and others for no good cause. Again, stop it, please!

Today, search for what brings you to life, excites your imagination and wholly absorbs your attention into the present moment and then give it away. Give it away with honor, with respect and with quality, and let no one pass judgment over it because it may not be what is in their hearts to give or not what they are needing. Tell them to mind their business. If they did, they would have no time to be concerned about someone else giving something they are not even interested in. If they can not help you, then don't hinder you. No really, mind their own business, as in pay attention to what GOD has given them to give away and leave you alone. You can render to GOD and humanity, and yourself, no greater service, no higher form of worship, than to offer your best self.  No one can show you what this is, but you. Your feelings will confirm it for you. Like love, you'll just know when it shows up. ;-)

CALLING FOR A TRAN-SITION

Every time I hear of violence and brutality being leveled against our trans brothers and sisters, it stings my heart and stirs me to fiery rage. Am I to now break something, beat somebody or roar my wrath from the peak of Stone Mountain? What good would that do? What change would that bring? When it happens agains, which it will, am I to contort my face into the ugly sadness and disappointment of righteous indignation or have a conniption so intense as to snap blood vessels and die a stroke victim? I will not. In the words of one strong Transwoman I knew in Baltimore, "I will not run my mascara or put hard lines on my beautiful face over this." Do what you will with your own anger, but I choose do something else with mine. My silence has been the pause I need to choose another way, and not that of indifference or apathy.

So what now? Do we pretend as if the latest assault never happened, because of our inability to deal with the problem? Or are we to lace up combat boots and stomp the latest perpetrator into the gutter in the spirit of Stonewall, to make an example of those who dare to touch one of our own? Or are we to wait until January for the earliest opportunity to harass our state legislators for greater protections under state law? Or are we to trouble the mayor once more who is currently tangled with responding to the previous incident of trans violence? I would like to offer another way, and tell my trans brothers and sisters that the answer and the solution lies within you. How dare I advocate the acceptance of responsibility upon those who are being victimized? Before you come for my wig, contemplate on this truth, that if those who perpetrate violence, humiliation, and disrespect toward our trans family knew better, they would do better. This is not to excuse their most reprehensible actions, but to consider that no one, not me, not you, or anyone is capable of acting beyond the state of consciousness and awareness than the one we currently sit in. If they did, they would immediately acknowledge that what they do to you and to others, they do to themselves. It impossible to send forth any energy, positive or negative and not have it come back home threefold. Such is the Gospel Truth. Karma or "The Law of Reciprocity" doesn't care about the justification of the energy, it moves into action the instant the energy is put into motion as lightning comes down to earth the instant the conditions are ripe and nothing may stop it. If we choose to respond with violence and indignant anger at those who do these things, we join in their punishment and we our then twice victimized, which is no part of our duty. It was how Jesus could say, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

For me, the sting of anger is no longer a shame for me, nor is it something which needs to control my actions any longer. It serves as a rude awakening to me that something is not right and that a response is crucial, lest the injustice continues and exacerbates. It serves as a spark which moves me into action with decisive passion and clarity, that "AH, HELLL NO!" factor. To that extent, I am good and pissed! But now that I'm burned with anger and ready to act, anger has done its job and it is now time to flex fuels into a more powerful and long-lasting fuel and that is the fuel of LOVE. Like the little explosions which moves the pistons, if it goes beyond that, it blows the whole car up, such is anger which matures into violence if not checked. Both are necessary in their role, but anger is of man and Love is of GOD. With this fuel, we must forgive the initial wrong. It is already done and cannot be recanted. What is now before us, is that if we do not help those who would harm our trans brothers and sisters to know better, it is going to happen again and again just as surely those who are blind and drive are destined to injure themselves, others and property if they are not helped to see.

What do these people need to see, and how do we help them see it? They need to see your humanity which is like their own, your fears, your hopes, your struggles and your strength. We must expose the myth that Trans people are sick freaks of nature with no moral compass, lacking standards of decency or a sense of dignity, and thus more befitting of a circus/carnival act than integral members of our community. There is no need to rebuttal this concept, for when we expose the truth, the lie is then clearly seen for what it is and it embarrasses the good senses of those who believed it. We should not seek pity for the trans experience, for I do not see any of you as victims, nor should you see yourselves this way. Mistreated as you are, I see you as victors and heroes given the burden of helping humanity to understand its gender paradigm which lies within each of us, a mixture and configuration of both masculine and feminine energies. When we learn to harness both, we become some of the most potent spirits on the face of the earth like GOD, who is Transgendered (beyond gender), both mother and father, nurturer-comforter and protector, teacher and disciplinarian, care-taker and provider. Your very experience doesn't allow you to escape the hard struggle of reconciling both in a rigidly gender binary society. That man is separate from woman, and woman is separate from man and that in humanity they are not one and the same is the real distortion you are here to correct with your truth. Because GOD is not one to give you more than you cannot handle, consider yourselves specially "CHOSEN", like Joshua fit for the battle of Jericho. I do not cry for you. I stand up and clap for you!

To those who are not of the Transgender experience, these people need to see that they've got people too, a host of family, friends and community members who support them, appreciate their individuality and lift them up with honor and dignity, and that we will not further tolerate their mistreatment and abuse. They are OURS! Come against them and you come against us all. As for me, I don't get knocked down that easily and I never stay down. I challenge them to try to beat me. Though they may injure my body, I have no cause to fear them. They can try if they may to break me down, but I say it ain't up to them, they'll break themselves against me as I stand in TRUTH and LOVE. They can never conquer my spirit or my strength which comes from GOD, to whom they must answer. If we have no cause to fear them, then we have no cause to hate them. If we have no cause to hate them, then what cause have we not the offer them mercy as they incur the consequential punishment of their own errors? Like Miss Ceelie from The Color Purple uttered in her chilling declaration of independence to her abusive husband, "Everything you've done to me is already done to you. Until you do right by me, everything you even think about is gonna crumble." They hate because they fear. They fear because they do not understand, like those who fear everything in the dark. May we help them see with our light and may our love be greater, stronger and more powerful than their hate. I see a day when those who beat up trans people today, we will need to talk them down from beating up people who utter the slightest disparaging words against the trans people of the future and that day is not long off if we begin with letting them know that they are forgiven and commence the hard work which is needed today.

((This article is in response to a second beating in recent weeks of a transgendered person in Atlanta.))

HUNGER FOR LOVE

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."
-Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Founder of the Missionaries of Charity

Against her wishes, I am going to praise my friend anyway! Get a load of her mind in an e-mail sent to me:

I don't know why y'all call me a straight ally or much worse a 'fag-hag' or 'Mary'. What (TF) is that? I just love people. That's all that is. People who don't love people are people who don't really love themselves. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people are people and so I love them. Some are jerks and some are sweethearts just like anybody else. Regardless of the jerks no group has figured out how to get rid of, it is not right to treat any group of people different than any other group. I don't care what your reasons are, it's wrong, it's reprehensible and I'm going to continue to say it because it is the TRUTH! I've made up my mind about equality a long time ago, and I had thought this country had too. Sadly, we are still stuck at indecision when it comes to LGBT people.

The reason we have not fully decided on inequality is because when you get to know personally a few LGBT people and have true and genuine relationships with them, something about it just doesn't sit well with your heart and we KNOW IT'S WRONG, and the Bible is no excuse. GOD's Laws are alive and are written on my heart and not dead on some paper poorly interpreted four hundred years ago when we still had 'Christians in name' enslaving other human beings and looking to the Bible for permission. GOD'S LAW is LOVE, and if you had it, you could never allow yourself to hold a slave, or not want true happiness and equality for our fellow human beings. I remember you sharing with me that Love is seeing yourself in others and then desiring for them all that you would want for yourself and not necessarily how you would want it, because tastes may differ. For example, I enjoy eating good food, so I desire everyone to be able to eat good food, and not necessarily the kind I enjoy but to eat what is tasty and pleasing to them. I want to be loved and appreciated as special above all people to one person who is worthy of me committing my life to them in life partnership and they to me. For me, I desire this to come in the form of a man. The desired form of this may differ for someone else, but the desired love is the same and I want them to have that. Not everyone wants or need a BMW like a drive, but I wish everyone who wants and need a car to have a suitable and reliable car that pleases them. Who doesn't need love? Try enjoying a full delicious meal in front of the face of a hungry person and tell me something deep down inside you won't disturb you. That's GOD, and that's how I feel about marriage inequality. I love being married. It's a wonderful thing, not just for me, but for my kids. Who am I to be able to have that and others can't with all of the protections, privileges and validations I enjoy? I ain't nobody special. It's sickening and it breaks my heart. This is what I know for sure. Therefore, the only and most grievous sin is the absence of Love, for if we have not Love, then we have not GOD for GOD is love. When we have not love, we then have killings, lies, adultery, theft, jealousy, pride, dishonor, resentment, and discrimination. The first 6 of the ten commandments are about honoring that which is greater than and goes beyond us. Commandment 3 is about honoring a true GOD which is invisibly all and in all. The remaining 4 commandments are about honoring with love the GOD which is in each other.

People will get mad at me for telling it like it is, because deep down inside, they know I'm right and their hearts are in conflict with what the Bible says, so which do you follow? Jesus did harshly criticize the Pharisees, saying 'You swallow a camel and strain out a gnat.' as to tell them, they're full of it. 'You follow the letter of the Law, but neglect the heart of the law, the weightier matters of mercy, justice, and good faith.' Don't have me go to church on these church folks, because I will. Get your pipe organ ready. They keep talking about Judgement Day and forget that GOD's Judgement will begin with the Church. Lightning will strike the church steeple first before it goes anywhere else, if you believe in that kind of wrathful GOD. So if Judgement Day is indeed near, the last place I want to be is in a church. I need to be out there preaching to people about GOD's LOVE and if necessary, using words.

I'm a human being, and you're a human being. If this is true, than nothing human should be alien to me. I'm not gay. I'm not even kinda gay, but when you tell me you love Mr. so-and-so, I believe you, I feel it and I totally get it and anyone who has ever been in love should be able to 'get it' too, butterflies and all. If we are willing to open up or minds and our hearts, we will clearly see that we are way much more alike than we are different. We all hope, we love, we have fears, we make errors and we all bleed red when cut. I believe one of the greatest hopes of all of us is not for money, importance, power or fame, but for love. We hope for the Love of GOD, we hope for the love of a romantic partner, we hope for the love of family and friends and we want the love of ourselves, to be comfortable in our own skin and proud to be to be the people we were made to be. Without that, money, importance, power or fame is not even worth having. It will be a sickening reminder of the love you don't have. What many of these so-called Christians are out to do to LGBT people is to crush your greatest hopes on all accounts, because the Bible tells them to. When they succeed, they sit dumb-founded when so many of you commit suicide or become numb to life. They try to convince you that you can not have GOD's unconditional love, blessings and protections unless you become something you are not. They tell you that the most beautiful thing about you, your love and romance, is ugly, perverted and sick, hated by the most loving thing in the universe, GOD, so you can't have that. When you try to love yourself, it's called flaunting. Unless you change who you are and what you feel, you're cut off from fellowship with family and friends. That's not love, that's cruelty.

So to wrap this up, don't give me special titles or any kind of hero worship for just being a human being and recognizing and honoring your humanity. Just call me a friend and a fellow human being who, like you, is trying to get through this crazy experience we call life with you. What hurts you, hurts me. When you are happy, I glow too. That's what love is. Others who think differently than I, simply believe that they are more human than you, no matter how you slice it. You know I've always been one to call a spade a spade, so if you publish this, I wish to remain anonymous so that others will not get mad at me but at the truth.

-Yours for the cause of love
Human Being

You may have thought that marriage equality was simply about equal rights. But we are pursuing something even more important here; the Truth of Love. A truth which is an antithesis to what she has just described, "They tell you that the most beautiful thing about you, your love and romance, is ugly, perverted and sick, hated by the most loving thing in the universe, GOD, so you can't have that. Unless you change who you are and what you feel, you're cut off from fellowship with family and friends." Because of this proverbial lie, many LGBT people deny themselves their own love. As Mother Teresa would agree, without love, the soul starves to death with no incentive to live. If it is a lie that homosexuality forfeits the love and acceptance of GOD, of friends and family, of romance and of self, then we must commit to continuing to do all that we must do to ensure the honor of legal equality in every respect for our relationships and our families. I earnestly believe that for many young LGBT people, just being able to hope to marry the one they love with legal validation and protections is going to save lives. It may take a generation or two to completely eradicate the lie. But for that to begin, this generation must have marriage equality, and we can, we must and will get it within the immediate future.in all 50 states and then worldwide. Let's make America the beacon of light it once was as a world leader for freedom and equality. We can only do this by focusing our efforts on where we live and for many of us, this is Georgia. Now, that we are closing in on Georgia's Marriage Ban from all directions, are you engaged? We can certainly use you and your love.


Grassroots Activity:

Tuesday, May 20th 7PM: Alternative Perspectives- Tune into 89.3FM Atlanta or livestream online at http://wrfg.org/howlisten.asp Betty Couvertier's Marriage Equality segment featuring Branden Mattox and special guests this month, Amanda Newkirk Carver, Georgia Marriage Equality petitioner to the Governer. Invite over 5 friends to listen and/or call-in to the show at 404-523-8989. Then discuss afterwards featuring potluck desert (Strawberry Shortcake) and game night, cards, monopoly, charades whatever. Have those 5 friends invite 5 more, and alternate hosting for this show which will occur every 3rd Tuesday of every month @ 7PM. If you wish to publicly host and invite for a listening party, please post your venue at www.facebook.com/LoveUnderFire or e-mail dir.loveunderfire@aol.com

BLOCK JUDGE BOGGS: Georgia's Marriage Equality Class Action Lawsuit is headed for the lions den if it is to be argued before Judge Boggs. To increase the odds of winning, let's do what we can do block the nomination of Judge Michael Boggs to the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Learn how and why here:  http://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35006/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=1445

#MAYDAYGAEQUALITY: "Sonny" & Joyce "Jazzie" Jones-Smith have launched a statewide initiative to take a stand on Marriage Equality in the State of Georgia to encourage the 21,000+ same sex couples living in Georgia to go to their local county courthouse and apply for a marriage license:

During any weekday day in May except Memorial Day 5/26, go to your local courthouse and apply for a marriage license. Take a picture of your denial paperwork and use hashtag #maydaygaequality in your social media postings: Here are a few things to remember:
1. Make sure that you and your partner both have valid ID.
2. If either or both have been previously married you will need to bring a copy of the divorce decree with you to apply.
3. Know your rights! Although it is illegal to be issued a license YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT to apply.
4. It is FREE to apply. It is illegal for the clerk to ask for money (especially non-refundable money) to process your application. The $66 fee is FOR THE LICENSE once it is approved.
5. This is a peaceful demonstration. You may be treated unfairly but remain calm. Be polite during the process, regardless of how you are treated.
Why is this important?
Applying and being denied may seem silly to some, but you must understand that your information is being sent to the capitol to be stored in a database. The couples that apply this month are making history and sending a message ultimately to the Supreme Court! It also heightens the local urgency and strengthens the argument for a speedy and fair resolution in regards to the Class-Action lawsuit underway and the Legislative Repeal pending in 2015. We want Marriage Equality!
So go out and apply!!! Tell us about your experience.

Help them get the word out about this event and further organize by donating to:
http://www.prlog.org/12304834-sonny-jazzie-of-louddmouthradiocom-launches-mayday-georgia-marriage-equality-initiative.html ; $$ Remember those who said that we'll never raise enough money to pull it off, here's your opportunity to prove them wrong. Many of us who or working tirelessly and passionately for marriage equality are not being paid to do so. We do it because it is the right thing to do, and our conscience would not allow us to do otherwise at such a time as this. However, no war is ever won by a poorly outfitted and poorly equipped army. This couple is needing the funds necessary to get the word out about their movement, "OUR" movement with billboards, radio ads and other means which engage the public at large. Please help them with whatever you are able going to: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/louddmouthradio-com-mayday-georgia-marriage-equality-campaign $$$

Thursday, July 17th, 7PM- OPERATION: YES, WE DO! (SATYAGRAHA UNIVERSITY)- At First Christian Church of Decatur, 601 W. Ponce De Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030. 2nd Floor. Recruiting active participants in ongoing public demonstrations to dramatize the injustice of marriage discrimination in the state of Georgia to convict the public conscience that GA's Marriage Ban MUST END! To prepare for this, we ask that you register for our monthly workshops, where you can learn and practice the Gandhian principle of Nonviolence (non-violation) and harnessing the spirit of LOVE and TRUTH in the act of Civil Disobedience for social change. The classes are to be taught by veteran field organizer for SOUL FORCE, Rev. Townley McGiffert from the text (Nonviolent Resistance by M.K. Gandhi). Upon graduation, you will have the opportunity to practice your skills in the execution of a strategic series of marches, vigils, rallies and actions of civil disobedience primarily throughout the remainder of 2014. The primary purposes of this is the further the awareness, to agitate and dramatize the conversation around marriage discrimination and to heighten the urgency and pressure for speedy action within the state legislature and the class action lawsuit underway. We are needing Gay and Lesbian couples seeking marriage, equality advocates and supportive straight allies. Please invite at least 10 to this movement. Please RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/273288932845220/ and or call 404-492-4197 or 404-604-8124

OPERATION: VOICES OF REASON- Now that the end of GA's Marriage Ban has begun, the next phase is to build popular support for marriage equality in Georgia by leading a campaign to encourage Georgia based celebrities and public persons of influence to deliver a Video PSA speaking from their hearts in support of marriage equality in GA to Southerners For The Freedom To Marry, HRC or independently for the use in television ads, billboards and social media sharing. We are also interviewing and spotlighting in a blog feature Georgia Straight Allies who wish to give their personal and impassioned arguments for marriage equality to share by social media. If you know of any Georgia based celebrities or influential public personas you would like to pursue for this cause, please help us research their contact information and post in this group so that we may begin sending them collective requests. To participate, please join facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/162790130594479/

Join the IDOMARATHON Support Team: Kacey and Chwanda Fierson-Nixon are a Jonesboro couple have been cris-crossing the nation with their 7 children collecting marriage licences to build a moral case against the state of Georgia which nullifies each and every one of them where this couple resides. They have just returned from their second tour and have plans of launching another in the near future with any couple who wishes to be a tag-along. Everyone is welcomed to join the cheer leading squad. They have plans soon on taking to the Western States and could really use all of the moral, spiritual, and financial support you are able to offer them. Like https://www.facebook.com/IDOMARATHON and learn about how to support them and get the word out. There are plans developing to launch a Western tour perhaps in December of 2014 to bring along other Georgia LGBT couples in a Marriage Freedom Ride across the nation. STAY TUNED and we hope you will take part.

Civic Engagements: VOTE TODAY, TUESDAY MAY 20th. FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE HERE: http://mvp.sos.state.ga.us/

JASON CARTER
With marriage equality coming to the state capitol at the next legislative session, by all means we need to do whatever it takes to get possession of the high ground, which means for us, the Governor's Office. If we want to win equality, we have no other choice other than Jason Carter, and he is not a bad choice, the grandson of former Georgia governor and US President, Jimmy Carter. With him as governor, the fight under the Gold Dome, will not be as steep. The requisite of signatures in both houses is only 51% to reach the Governor's desk, and we can count on Carter's signature. This is opposed to the 75% which will be needed to overturn a veto we can expect from Governor Deal. This is why Carter's election is crucial. "Take the high ground, facing the sunny side." Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Please get involved with his campaign and help him to victory however you are able at http://carterforgovernor.com/

MICHELLE NUNN
Our US Senator, Saxby Chambliss is retiring, which means one less conservative vote in the US Senate. We need to keep it that way with Obama's "Respect For Marriage Act" moving through congress. Surely, conservatives in this state will be vying to maintain that conservative vote and Michelle Nunn is our answer to defeating their efforts and bolstering the voice for equality, namely in the South. She now has a dedicated LGBT contingent which meets bi-weekly for phonebanking, telefundraising and canvassing. The next game night for her LGBT contingent is this Wednesday, May 14th, starting at 5:30PM-9PM at 1206 Spring St NW, Atlanta GA 30309. You may also contact Andy Ratto for further details @ andy@georgiavictory2014.com work: 404-445-6700 ext 133 or cell: 678-561-7248. You will be paid in pizza and snacks. Learn about more opportunities of getting involved at www.michellenunn.com ;

KYLE WILLIAMS
Ahead of Rep. Dr. Karla Drenner's and fellow progressive voices in the State House resolution to begin repeals of Georgia's Marriage Ban in 2015, Kyle Williams was the first to announce that he would "unequivocally and without hesitation" do so if elected to replace Jason Carter as Senator of Georgia's 42nd district. Regardless of what Drenner and what her caucus decides to do, we still need him and his intentions in the Senate. If elected, he would be the first and only "openly" gay male in the Georgia Senate, which means that when the conversation reaches that side of our government, we have someone who knows personally, not vicariously our struggles and can effectively advocate for them. How can you help him to victory? His headquarters, The High House at 1830 Sycamore St, Decatur, GA 30030 will be open from 2:30 through 7pm on Tuesday through Thursdays for:
- Phone invites to our Meet & Greet events
- Filling out neighbor-2-neighbor cards
- Helping with data entry (for someone who has a laptop you can bring)
- Helping with list cleanup in Kyle's contacts
- Organizing materials for Kyle and volunteers who are canvassing


Each Saturday - we'll have Walk With Kyle days where volunteers can come to High House at 10:30 and head out with Kyle to walk a neighborhood door-to-door. Learn about other ways you can help @ http://kylewilliams2014.com/

THE LONE WOLF:

You may always choose to work independently yet in tandem with this movement. Doing what you can do from where you are is what this all about. You don't have to wait for anyone's permission to get to work. You may start with forwarding this e-mail. His is a list of 10 other things you may do. http://loveunderfirega.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-can-i-do-in-name-of-love.html

If you have any related events you would like to add to our calendar, please e-mail dir.loveunderfire@aol.com details about it.

And now, I send you off with a weekly tune to pump up your spirits: "I Have Learned to Respect The Power Of Love" by Stephanie Mills: