From Boaz Ministries
Many have thought about it, and far too many have carried it out selfishly and certainly without the Lord’s blessing.
The late comedian Redd Foxx once said, “Negroes, we don’t kill ourselves. We too hip to suffering.” I’ve always believed he was right. But the more I see Black people sinking under the weight of the bad economy and their own inability to cope with personal pressure; I’m starting to wonder.
Back in the mid-60’s when Foxx made his remarks, which were part of his act, Black American families, for the most part, did not enjoy the lifestyle and opportunity we do now. Few enjoyed the fruits of the American dream as so many Black families do today. Personal prosperity, home ownership, college graduates, business ownership, and professional employment are at the highest levels in Black American history; this in spite of the economy. But let us not forget when America catches a cold, Black America catches pneumonia. This current cold called the economy is the biggest cold America has experienced since the depression of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. In great numbers, Black Americans are losing well paying jobs, our dream homes in trendy neighborhoods are in foreclosure, our late model cars are being repossessed, and creditors are relentlessly calling about late or missed payments. We now have so much more to lose than we did when Foxx made his joke.
When we are unable to pay for the lifestyle we have earned and acquired, through no fault of our own, do we take our lives? I say no. I say that is not our call. I say, our children need us to show them how to survive no matter what life has thrown our way. I say live! Live and be strong in the face of adversity; for he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1John 4:4). And because of that, we can make it. Life is a great gift. I pray we live it through faith, prayer, persistence and creativity knowing always that because our treasure is not bound up in the things of this world nothing is ever as good as it appears. And through our spiritual discernment and trust in God, nothing is ever as bad as it appears.
Bruce
Many have thought about it, and far too many have carried it out selfishly and certainly without the Lord’s blessing.
The late comedian Redd Foxx once said, “Negroes, we don’t kill ourselves. We too hip to suffering.” I’ve always believed he was right. But the more I see Black people sinking under the weight of the bad economy and their own inability to cope with personal pressure; I’m starting to wonder.
Back in the mid-60’s when Foxx made his remarks, which were part of his act, Black American families, for the most part, did not enjoy the lifestyle and opportunity we do now. Few enjoyed the fruits of the American dream as so many Black families do today. Personal prosperity, home ownership, college graduates, business ownership, and professional employment are at the highest levels in Black American history; this in spite of the economy. But let us not forget when America catches a cold, Black America catches pneumonia. This current cold called the economy is the biggest cold America has experienced since the depression of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. In great numbers, Black Americans are losing well paying jobs, our dream homes in trendy neighborhoods are in foreclosure, our late model cars are being repossessed, and creditors are relentlessly calling about late or missed payments. We now have so much more to lose than we did when Foxx made his joke.
When we are unable to pay for the lifestyle we have earned and acquired, through no fault of our own, do we take our lives? I say no. I say that is not our call. I say, our children need us to show them how to survive no matter what life has thrown our way. I say live! Live and be strong in the face of adversity; for he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1John 4:4). And because of that, we can make it. Life is a great gift. I pray we live it through faith, prayer, persistence and creativity knowing always that because our treasure is not bound up in the things of this world nothing is ever as good as it appears. And through our spiritual discernment and trust in God, nothing is ever as bad as it appears.
Bruce
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