Christians - By Maya Angelou

LadyDay · (#1 (**permalink**))

Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#2 (**permalink**))

Given this is an African website, there are a series of questions I must propose...especially if Africans are supposed to go towards Christianity from the following perspective...

LadyDay wrote:

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Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

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You were "lost" before Christians (Whites) came along? Well, Christ came to uswith the chains of slavery, colonization, murder, rape, mutilation, and terrorism. Is thishow you were "found and forgiven"?

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When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

I guess this is the major difference between White religion and most African spiritual systems. Before Whites, the African man guided himself closer to God. Back then, we barely had a fraction of the societal perversions of today with Christ, so does it connote a lingering slave mentality to need the White man's god for guidance?

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

You didn't need "His strength" before, so why do you need it now? In conjunction with that, who made you weak?

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

It seems this is what's wrong with us today; waiting for "God to clean my mess"while other races continue to exploit us and pass us by. Have Africans lost all accountability for themselves?

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

Why is your self-esteem so low in light of this god called Christ? It certainly wasn't before. It reminds me of the songFine1952 highlighted here, Amazing Grace; wherethe firstverse goes, "Amazinggrace, how sweet the sound,that saved a wretch like me...". This song was writtenby a formersea-faring slave trader,John Newton. This along with other elements of Christianityappears to have worked on African people.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

Why not just do something about your own problems?

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Don't you (or Maya Angelou) already know? Have we forgotten the last 500 years? I don't know about Africans in other parts of the world, but in America it took 100 years before we would even say the name "Jeeezus!". The name came out after one too manydisintegrating cracks of the whip....

Justavoice · (#3 (**permalink**))

clp)clp)clp)Great post LadyDay. clp)clp)clp)

@Shemshi

You really looking for confrontation with the christians bighairlol

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You were "lost" before Christians (Whites) came along? Well, Christ came to uswith the chains of slavery, colonization, murder, rape, mutilation, and terrorism. Is thishow you were "found and forgiven"?

Have you seen it written Jesus said enslave the black continent of Africa ?

or do we read that a certain day the disciple of Jesus, Philip was told to join a certain man travelling in a chariot who was an Ethiopian, high ranking, under the reign of Queen Candace ? God told philip to impart something that day to that man.

Whites came with rape, colonization. murder, all that you wrote, not Jesus and not the message that Jesus left... the gospel was in Africa way before it reached Europe.

I guess this is the major difference between White religion and most African spiritual systems. Before Whites, the African man guided himself closer to God. Back then, we barely had a fraction of the societal perversions of today with Christ, so does it connote a lingering slave mentality to need the White man's god for guidance?

Will you never stop ? which white man's God. When they were in caves trying to make fire, Africanswere well aquainted withthe God which answered by fire.

You didn't need "His strength" before, so why do you need it now? In conjunction with that, who made you weak?

The poem is talking about God's strength not the white mans. You are making racism and all that whites did in the past, cloud your judgement and reasoning now, thus making you enter into a worser form of slavery. Spiritual slavery.

Why is your self-esteem so low in light of this god called Christ? It certainly wasn't before. It reminds me of the songFine1952 highlighted here, Amazing Grace; wherethe firstverse goes, "Amazinggrace, how sweet the sound,that saved a wretch like me...". This song was writtenby a formersea-faring slave trader,John Newton. This along with other elements of Christianityappears to have worked on African people.

John Newton became one of the abolitionists, and wrote this song after he saw the errors of himself being par-taker to slavery. The wretch he speaks of, therefore is himself. This shows me that only God is going to truely make the white man see the errors of his ways because outside of that, they don't feel they did anything wrong.

Amazing grace is a good song don't you think ?

Don't you (or Maya Angelou) already know? Have we forgotten the last 500 years? I don't know about Africans in other parts of the world, but in America it took 100 years before we would even say the name "Jeeezus!". The name came out after one too manydisintegrating cracks of the whip....

Its striking isn't it that our people have suffered as Christ suffered and still we will not renounce God. Doesn't that tell you something about our people and their nature.

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#4 (**permalink**))

Justavoice wrote:

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Have you seen it written Jesus said enslave the black continent of Africa ?

or do we read that a certain day the disciple of Jesus, Philip was told to join a certain man travelling in a chariot who was an Ethiopian, high ranking, under the reign of Queen Candace ? God told philip to impart something that day to that man.

Whites came with rape, colonization. murder, all that you wrote, not Jesus and not the message that Jesus left... the gospel was in Africa way before it reached Europe.

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Hmmm....

[font="trebuchet ms"][color=darkred][font="trebuchet ms"][color=darkred]

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"for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil." ~ Romans 13:4

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or how about the verses Matthew 10:33-39...

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[suP]33[/suP]"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. [suP]34[/suP]"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

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...and this is exactly what White men have done to Africans and Native Americans; exactly what Jesus said to do. They brought the sword (along with other unspeakable torments) to those who rejected Jesus. This scripture goes further in saying:

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[suP]35[/suP]"For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; [suP]36[/suP]and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.

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...this is certainly a common case today in African families when someone doesn't accept Jesus. Then, how can it be more clear than this...

[suP]39[/suP]"He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

...so it should be clear that you will lose your life unless you accept Jesus. Oh yeah, just in case you've got amnesia, murder, rape, colonization, etc. is exactly how Christianity first came to Africa (before Europe)after centuries of war with Whites and Asiatics in Kemet, Nubia/Sudan, and Absynnia/Kush/Ethiopia.

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Justavoice wrote: Will you never stop ? which white man's God. When they were in caves trying to make fire, Africanswere well aquainted withthe God which answered by fire.

To be honest...No, I will never stop with the truth (hence my screen name).And I know Africans were well acquainted with God while Whites were in caves. However, God as known to Africans hadabsolutely nothing to do with the Biblical god.

Justavoice wrote: John Newton became one of the abolitionists, and wrote this song after he saw the errors of himself being par-taker to slavery. The wretch he speaks of, therefore is himself. This shows me that only God is going to truely make the white man see the errors of his ways because outside of that, they don't feel they did anything wrong.

Amazing grace is a good song don't you think ?

No, Amazing Grace is a slave song. If you think it is good, then you are still a slave.

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You actually believe that while the song was taught so expansively in African churches across the United States? That is incredibly naive...

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According to his book "Bury The Chains," Adam Hochschild states that John Newton wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" while he was still involved in the slave trade and actually was a captin on a Trans-Atlantic slave ship twice. It wasn't until ill health, preventing him from continuing his slave trade involvement, and external pressures from progressive forces that led him to change his position on the issue of slavery.
[pulled fromen.wikipedia -> search: "Talk:John_Newton"]

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[font="trebuchet ms"][color=darkred]Justavoice wrote: Its striking isn't it that our people have suffered as Christ suffered and still we will not renounce God. Doesn't that tell you something about our people and their nature.

I would call it a "character flaw" we need to work on. There are actually more Africans/Blacks in love with Allah than Jesus in the world; yet, Islam tormented Africa much longer than Christianity. So, whatever argument you are trying to make is probably flawed as well.

LadyDay · (#5 (**permalink**))

@justavoice it was sent to me in an email

and i thought its so reads well because a lot of people assume christians are perfect are propose to be when no one is perfect but our Lord and saviour Jesus

HLF · (#6 (**permalink**))

Justavoice wrote:

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Its striking isn't it that our people have suffered as Christ suffered and still we will not renounce God. Doesn't that tell you something about our people and their nature.

You are using this wordin thesingular (as in only one person), but if you look into it (you may already know)I think you'll see that there were many "anointed ones" chosen by the Supreme One. That is why I like to prose the question, There really isn't any proof that someone's died for mankind's transgressions (sin, thereby transferring each individualâ€™s sins and responsibility), because if someone did, sin would no longer exist by that same teaching,but thereis more than enough evidence that black people have been crucified (by def., "tormented"), so who are more likely to be anointed by God? Someone we never truely knew or the people we see everyday? The Bible has the answered, but onlythe anointed find or know it. This prompts me to speak on another observation in reference to this poem and religious &spiritual perception.

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Men are considered to be "simple creatures" compared to women, but from my observation, it's more men that intuitively understand that something isn't right with various things in this world. I think a fair amount between the sexes know that something isn't right with the educational system, eventhe governing system, but when it comes to the religious system, a whole bunch of black women are still caught up in it, believing andaccepting(basically lieing to themselves) something that has failed to manifest real spiritual and physical blessing for themselves and our people as a whole. This system is preying upon the hope of salvation (but not providing it, look at the world today)and those who believe in it with no solidknowledge are allowingthemselves to be preyed upon.

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Intuition is considered a feminine chacteristic (when it comes to the male/female priniciples), but it seems like some menmay bemore so in touch with it when it comes tocertain things within life. I have tested a lot of people, but I find it interesting that men might be more inclined to having a questioning nature and finding out the truth by not accepting all the illusions that stand before us. Like I said before, I have tested a lot of people on a simple logic basis, yet most of the women I have tested reject it outright, but some of the men were willing to test it for themselves and consider. The only think I have observed between the sexes as well is that although more men might be open to the whole truth, there are some that know it (spiritual truth, truth about the state of the world) and consciously still decide to follow in the opposite direction of it.

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Amazing grace is a good song don't you think?

Amazing grace is an "okay" song, you won't catch me singing it although Ido know of grace in its unperverted, realistic context,but I think my black people are fooling themselves by believing erroneously that grace alone (i.e. "doing whatever you want to do") will allot them being "saved". Even God works on binding agreements; contracts as well. Black people must wake up and wise up, before it will be at the point where it is too late. Speaking of spirituals, Amazing Grace is weak compared to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" or "Oh, Sinner, You'd Better Get Ready".

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urbanorder · (#7 (**permalink**))

@ Shemsi en Tehutichristianity is not a white religion so don't try and brain wash us. Islam is a bit of this and a bit of that ten penny mix up religion.

Shemsi en Tehuti · (#8 (**permalink**))

urbanorder wrote:

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@ Shemsi en Tehutichristianity is not a white religion so don't try and brain wash us.

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Even if my intent was to brainwash Christians,it would be too late...it's already done.

HLF · (#9 (**permalink**))

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urbanorder wrote:

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@ Shemsi en Tehutichristianity is not a white religion so don't try and brain wash us.

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Even if my intent was to brainwash Christians,it would be too late...it's already done.

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The use of Christianity and brainwashing brings a lot of purpose to the name 'urbanorder', some 'coincidence'.

Blackthought · (#10 (**permalink**))

Nice poem by Maya Angelou.. thanks for posting it @LadyDay