Fear is something that we all deal with on some level and because of that I wanted to pass on this series about it. The last one in the section deals with fear in relationships… after you’ve been hurt.
{November 18, 2011}
Confronting Fear
{November 15, 2011}
Sharing…
I am feeling good…looking good… and I just wanted to share somethings with you all…I’ve been passing on information to people about the things they are passionate about it…in an effort to share the knowledge and hook them up with their community if they haven’t been. It feels good to share information with people and help link them up with folks that can help them or people they know…Regardless…of how I feel about people…if I can help someone then I’m going to do it… Honestly…I didn’t even think twice…I just passed the information on and that signals to me that I’m finally coming to a good place where my energy is up…my mind isn’t so clutter with the why questions even though they are still there….they don’t weigh me down as much and leave me in a funky place… my self perceptions/projections about the situation are changing which has been a huge thing…I can’t believe that I’m coming into this place… thankful to be watching my vibrations and enery…it is amazing to finally be turning this corner …. but that’s not the point..since I’m back on here writing at random times…I’m going to be working on a series and just passing on information that might be helpful to you ladies…Sharing is caring and that’s what I’m going to do…
Did you ladies know that November is Diabetes Awareness Month?…here are two articles on it…..
Julianne Malveaux: Let’s Talk about Diabetes
by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President – Bennett College for Women
November is diabetes awareness moth, and World Diabetes day is heldon November 14 each year. The day aims to increase awareness about diabetes and its complications, and focuses on the need for more resources to fight the causes of diabetes and help fund research about improved treatment options, or even cures. The International Diabetes Federation predicts that by 2030 there will be as many as 552 million diabetics in the world. Presently, nearly 68 percent of all Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Diabetes doesn’t visit every community equally. While 7.1 percent of all white Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes, 8.4 percent of Asian Americans, 11.6 percent of Hispanics and 12.6 percent of African Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. Among Hispanics, more than 13 percent Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans have been diagnosed with diabetes. In total, nearly 26 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes.
I say, “have been diagnosed with” as opposed to “have” because diabetes is often described as a “silent” disease. You can have it without knowing. It can get complicated without your knowledge. You can find yourself dizzy, disoriented, or even just excessively thirsty and think its no big thing, only to find out that it is diabetes. Take it from me, I know. While I don’t often use my column for testimony, this is an important enough issue to stop and testify. I was walking around with crazy high blood sugar levels (that I wasn’t checking) thinking I was simply stressed, only to be stopped in my tracks when a routine check-up led to two days in the hospital. Talk about scared straight! Now, I’m taking my meds, watching my diet, and testing blood sugar at least twice a day. Diabetes is nothing to fool with.
But if predictions are correct more and more of us will have to manage it. The Centers for Disease Control and the National Instates of Health has issued a report called “The Diabetes Epidemic Among African Americans” that outlines the growing incidence of diabetes among African Americans, especially women over 45. And even in the overall population, diabetes is on the rise. By 2050as many as one in three Americans will be diagnosed with diabetes unless somebody finds a cure.
I had these facts in mind last Saturday when I had the honor of speaking to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students inSt. Louis, Missouri. There were about 3000 undergraduate, graduate, and even high school students attending, many showing off their work in poster sessions that highlighted their research. There was a young African American from Tuskegee doing research on breast cancer, a Latino brother from Cornell University, a community college transfer, who was exploring his options in science, sisters from Spelman and Jackson State University, and of course Bennett College for Women was in the house, represented by students, faculty and alumnae.
The United States will continue to fall behind globally if we can’t get more students of color focused on the sciences. In a report by the National Science Foundation called Gathering Storm, “For the US to maintain global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals today, we must invest in research, encourage innovation and grow a strong, talented and innovative science and technology workforce.” Further, “a strategy to increase the participation of the underrepresented must play a central role in our overall approach to sustain our capacity to conduct research and innovate because our sources for future science and engineering workforce are uncertain, shifting demographics are dramatic, and diversity in science and engineering benefits both diverse groups and the nation.”
But people of color are woefully underrepresented among our nation’s sciences, less likely to graduate from high school, from college, and less likely to pursue the doctoral degree that prepares one for key laboratory research. There are so many health disparities that cry out for motivated researchers. Why are so many African American women diagnosed early for breast cancer? Why are we less likely than majority women to recover? Why are there great disparities in life expectancy by race, socioeconomic status and region? And why do so many African Americans and Latinos, especially Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans have diabetes? I am counting on one of the young researchers that I met to figure out answers to these questions and to, perhaps, find the cure for diabetes. Meanwhile, in this month dedicated to diabetes awareness, let’s make sure we share knowledge about this epidemic that visits the African American community more often than it visits others.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC and the Founder & Thought Leader of Last Word Productions, Inc.
Here is another article about Diabetes…
{November 12, 2011}
Prayer vs. Meditation
So the flood gates have been open and I’m just recalling a lot random things… One of the questions that someone I knew would often ask is what’s the purpose of prayer? “Isn’t it just asking Elohim to do things for you…Like he is a slot machine? I can’t get with just asking him for stuff”…
I don’t know what led me to look up prayer vs. mediation now but I’ve also been talking about this subject with others… so maybe that’s it. This person…didn’t pray they mediated and all of my studying on energy and other things has taken me on an interesting journey … so I decided to look up somethings about these two words along with the definition of the words.
I really like words and finding the meaning and origins behind them. When you know a words root it really puts things into context and allows you to frame things differently…or changes your understanding of the word….Words are powerful…and I respect them….I don’t know about you…but my mother would not tell me how to spell things when I asked…Her response was always what are the first 3 or first 3 letters of the word and from there I had to go grab the dictionary.
Here are some of the things that I found….
prayer 1 (prâr)
n.
1.
a. A reverent petition made to God, a god, or another object of worship.
b. The act of making a reverent petition to God, a god, or another object of worship.
2. An act of communion with God, a god, or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving: One evening a week, the family would join together in prayer.
3. A specially worded form used to address God, a god, or another object of worship.
4. prayers A religious observance in which praying predominates: morning prayers.
5.
a. A fervent request: Her prayer for rain was granted at last.
b. The thing requested: His safe arrival was their only prayer.
6. The slightest chance or hope: In a storm the mountain climbers won’t have a prayer.
7. Law
a. The request of a complainant, as stated in a complaint or in equity, that the court grant the aid or relief solicited.
b. The section of the complaint or bill that contains this request.
Definition of MEDITATE
intransitive verb
1
: to engage in contemplation or reflection
2
: to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness
transitive verb
: to focus one’s thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over
“To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature” .http://utmost.org/the-purpose-of-prayer/
10 Basic Steps to prayer
http://www.tenbasicsteps.org/english/prayer/step4l1.htm
Meditation is looking inward for the answers.
Prayer is beseeching something outside of the self
Prayer allows us to minister to our God by coming to him in adoration, praising and worshiping him. Prayer puts God to work on our behalf because we have now made our requests known to him and he is obligated to answer us by his word. Our prayer authorizes God to respond to our needs and change things on our behalf. Prayer releases God to bring his will to earth and establish his kingdom on earth.Prayer allows us to hear the voice of God and receive direction and correction that will enable us to become powerful spiritual warriors. Prayer acknowledges God then he can direct our paths and order our steps. Prayer builds a hedge of protection around us. It gives us power and dominion over the works of the enemy.http://blogs.christianpost.com/prayer/2009/12/the-purpose-of-prayer-25/
What is the Purpose of Prayer?
It is not to get what we want, but what God wants.It is not to convince God to change his mind, but for him to change our minds.It is not to have our will done in heaven, but for God to have his will done on earth.
Prayer is the means by which we praise God for who he is, ask him for forgiveness, and thank him for everything he’s given us.
We are to bring all of our concerns to him, but we know that what we want is not always best for us or for anyone else. That’s why Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours,” when he was praying to the Father.
As my wife likes to say, God is not a genie in a bottle. He doesn’t operate by our commands. He has a long-term plan for the earth and all its inhabitants.
