Drew Morris, a (White, and I say that to provide a
visual) minister who is around 65 (Pops is 70) shared with me in a meeting
information about my Dad that I didn't know. He stated "Your Dad is a
phenomenal man, he has
done things that others are still scared to do. He deserves a lot of
recognition. He then says "We were in a meeting and he shared with us that Dr.
King (The Honorable Dr. Martin Luther King) told my father in a meeting "You'll
have to get rid of your hate for White people to do your job." Dad then
reportedly shared in this meeting with Drew other things he did during the Civil
Rights era involving racial
reconciliation. Drew shared how he admired
how my Dad, and other Blacks, rose above the problems of that time to act in a
manner exemplified by
Yeshua (Jesus). As a child I used to wonder how
my parent's and ancestors lived under the suffocating veil of evil White
supremacy without wanting to kill every White person in sight. As mad as I would
become after hearing
their stories I still couldn't hate Whites
because my parents wouldn't allow that. They taught me to love Black and love
White and everything in between. A lady once set Pops' hair on fire when he
rooted for the other team at a football game. The
Blancos around him wouldn't let him put out the
fire nor retaliate against the witch. How could he be so loving after facing so
much hate... He attributed it to "a relationship with Christ"... I thought that
he and Christ were both crazy.
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Sunday Schooled is a collection of former blog post by Seko Varner. This post was originally
posted on Janruary 24, 2008 while Dr. Varner was still alive .
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Dad is pictured above with his
friend..........Baseball legend Jackie Robinson (
the second photo displays Dad with my brother and I). I remember coming home from
school after learning about Jackie Robinson in school and telling Dad and Mom I
want to play Baseball like Jackie Robinson. Dad said something to the effect of
"Jackie used to throw balls at you when you were a baby." Dad then pulled Jackie
Robinson's book off of his bookshelf and showed me a signature from Jackie with
comments that could only be made from people who are close. Dad used to minister
to Jackie Robinson's family and was even referenced in the book's "Thank
You's". This picture still
makes me shiver. Two men who both shaped and changed the world I live in. Two
men who faced the cruelty of
Amerika squarely in the face and
'showed love' in response to hate.
Dad raised us in a rather Afro-Centric
environment, yet
never showed a disdain for anyone. We were taught to love Africa and America. I
still get looks of surprise when I often end prayers with my kids by saying "GOD
bless Africa, GOD bless America, GOD bless everybody." GOD bless everybody....
Even those I want to hate. When Dad spoke of people he hated he spoke of Blacks
who were racial betrayers. Dad is chock full of stories where White-folks did
incredibly devilish acts of hatred to him, yet he only hated when 'we' didn't
achieve, when 'we' hurt each-other, when 'we' failed to improve our station in
life, when 'we' didn't appreciate ourselves...........Achieve, heal us, improve
yourself, appreciate us.
02/03/2013 Addendum. Yesterday I sat on the edge of my seat enjoying a learning from
Rich Thawley, a giant in my business of
World Financial Group. In the midst of his session where he taught us about doing business in the realm of the Lower Law and moving towards doing business in the Higher Law, he shared a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln that I had recently heard from my mentor John Epting. "Pray like it's up to God, work like it's up to you." Rich talked about working in Love for our clients noting that we have products and services that can change lives forever. Rich shared how we should talk the three languages of Higher Law to help our clients, and to help ourselves, combat the natural tendency to avoid actions that seem hard while obviously leading to improvement. Rich shared how many in America have been DCP'd (Discouraged, Criticizied, and Put-Down) and it may up to us to guide them towards the Promised Land. Rich began his talk by sharing that too many in our country have accepted eight personally destructive values. Rich taught that too many (1) Want winning to be easy, (2) Want life to be fair and fairly distributed, (3) Get their feelings hurt and stop their progress, (4) Worry too much or too little about the opinions of others, (5) Are afraid to compete, (6) Want someone else to do things for them, (7) Are easily distracted, and (8) Think like employees rather than the masters of their fate. As Rich ended his talk I was standing on my feet waiting on his next word. He ended with "Life will only give you what you will fight for...."
Ashee.
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Seko Varner is from Positive Vibes Financial, a World Financial Group team of financial services agents. They specialize in debt reduction, investments, and insurances. Seko is also in high demand as a special events DJ and owns an event marketing service. Seko has diverse background in business, real estate, counseling and education. Seko is active with numerous Youth Mentorship programs and has a background in radio and television. Visit
www.HappilyEverAfter.Be or call 757-248-3820 for more details.
