madame zenobia's

i woke up this morning/
feeling kind of down/
i called on my best friend/
she could not be found/
but i called on Jesus/
my life He can hold/
i'd rather have Jesus/
than silver and gold/

chorus
silver and gold/
silver and gold/
i'd rather have Jesus/
than silver and gold/
no fame or fortune/
nor riches untold/
i'd rather have Jesus/
than silver and gold/

one of my best friends in the whole world sings this song beautifully. when we were living together in orlando, whenever she was going thru it, she would take a shower and sing. not necessarily this song, but definitely a gospel song. so, i was especially emotional as i listened to the song and imagined her voice.

Easter is always a special time of year for me. my early life, i was raised Catholic--no surprise since about 90 percent of the Philippines is Catholic--that whole Spanish invasion had something to do with it, i'm sure. during high school, i was introduced to the Pentacostal faith by way of the Church of God in Christ. so, i got a little bit of everything going on. this new awareness that i am developing, a combination of living life and reading, studying, and thinking about my scholarship, has made me see the spiritual in a different way. for the sake of keeping the sacred sacred and to allow me some room to think about this stuff, i'm going to leave it alone for now. but as i'm working my way thru this, i can hear the words of one of my professors: "we are both saturday nite and sunday morning." my Pentacostal mom wouldn't like that too much...it makes a lot of sense to me.

this morning, at home for Easter, we would have gotten up and had some oatmeal for breakfast. got dressed for church. listened to the Resurrection message about promising tomorrows. received a blessing from the choir. gone to Easter brunch. returned home.

this Easter, i cooked some dinner, invited over a friend, and watched some great basketball.

poem for the day

**i dedicate this poem to all the little black girls who played great basketball and learned hard lessons this weekend. their coach did an admirable job of protecting and motivating these players. she should be proud.**

"The Day-Breakers"
Arna Bontemps

We are not come to wage a strife
With swords upon this hill,
It is not wise to waste the life
Against a stubborn will.
Yet would we die as some have done.
Beating a way for the rising sun.