{"id":105,"date":"2006-08-16T19:35:55","date_gmt":"2006-08-17T03:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2006-08-16T19:35:55","modified_gmt":"2006-08-17T03:35:55","slug":"adam-where-art-thou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/16\/adam-where-art-thou\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Where Art Thou?"},"content":{"rendered":"

bro. dwayne thomas has shared with us another lost Crescent submission about the Sigma Beta Club. thank you for sharing, Frat.
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\nGenesis 3:9 records God asking the question ? Adam Where Art Thou? God knew where Adam was but wanted to know where was his heart. Where was his commitment? Where was he in relationship with Him? Today thousands of years later God is asking the same question to the men of this nation, state, city and certainly the men of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Adam where art thou? Many of us have asked a similar question of ourselves. If not this question many of us have silently asked these questions: What is manhood? Chronologically I am what society says is a man but ?What is a man? No man ever took time to teach me anything about manhood therefore I find myself a boy trapped in an oversized body. The little boy in me wants to grow up but doesn?t know how. Now I am married but ? What is marriage? What I saw in my family was certainly dysfunctional and as a result most of the marriages ended in divorce. I now have children but ask myself ? What is a father? Dad was never home. He was always in the street and\/or working long hours to ?ameliorate??? my life. I am told now I have to provide for my children, but What is a provider? Through all of these questions and the chaos of life I find God. I join the local church and as a member of the church I am told it is perfectly okay to show emotion but isn?t that a sign of weakness? Moreover I am now called a Man of God but I am still struggling with the original question of What is a Man. My brother, I feel your pain. Certainly, these and many other questions I have had. What about our boys and young men? Do we allow them to have these same questions?
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\n[It came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob, and said behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Isreal strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. Now the eyes of Isreal were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them. And Isreal stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim?s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh?s head. (Genesis 48: 1-14)]. These scriptures note the passing of the blessing from a father to his son. Jacob was on his death bed when Joseph came to him with his sons so that Jacob might bless them. In doing so he prophesied their identity ? Father to son. Men who grow up without their father grow up not knowing their name thus their identity is often lost. Every man needs an identity and although mothers can encourage, its dad who gives identity. Jacob refused to die until he could lay his hands on his sons and grandsons and tell them who they were and destined to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few years ago I read a column about Elephants in Africa. The writer noted an over crowding problem in South Africa?s National Park. As a result the managers of the park decided to kill some of the elephants while relocating most of the fathers. In doing so violence and chaos became the norm as too many of the baby elephants were left to fend for themselves. In conclusion without the nurturing guidance and love of their father many did not know what to do, who they were and where they were going. After noticing the chaos the managers returned all of the separated elephants and peace was restored.<\/p>\n

Boys raised without fathers or some kind of positive manhood example according to most psychiatrist, are far more likely to express their masculinity and frustrations violently. They further become the victims to negative webs of street culture. Because no one has taught them appropriate ways to communicate their pain it is therefore medicated with sin. Sins like spousal abuse, crime, drug abuse, etc. Although negative, these are forms of communication that often go unchallenged.<\/p>\n

The plight of African American boys in our country is a real one. It is one often ignored and unfortunately repeated as men duplicate the sins of their father. The problems in our city (drug abuse, drug trafficking, escalating murder rate, etc.) stem from the absence of God fearing fathers and mentors to our boys and young men. In order to change a generation we must start with and mentor the next generation. Adam Where Art Thou? Adam is too often missing in action and those men who could assist often spend their time talking about the problem ad infinitum.<\/p>\n

Are we in need of another march? Maybe another crusade? Or Maybe another revival? We have marched until marching has become a dance. What happens after the march? If there is no real commitment on the part of the marchers then it becomes just another long walk around the corner. What happens after the crusade? Do we simply crusade to another city pre-maturely without giving birth to a safe city, & erasing the escalating murder rate? And what is a revival if it does not impact the community or maybe the congregants were revived momentarily and upon leaving the cathedral lost their drive and commitment to the call for action. While these efforts are noble without an ensuing plan are often fruitless.<\/p>\n

Given the gambit number of articles written in newspapers across the country highlighting the criminal activity of African American boys, one wonders, where are the men who care? Why aren?t they committed to changing the next generation? Now is the time for African American men to stand up for their children as father, mentor, teacher, provider, protector and as living positive God fearing images of manhood. It is time out for being players, pimps and punks and stand up as providers, protectors, prophets and priest. If we do not save our boys who will? More African American Men must move beyond marches and simple rhetoric and like the adult elephants move back into their community and restore order and peace, guiding their males from boyhood to responsible manhood. Adam Where Art Thou?<\/p>\n

Become apart of your local Sigma Beta Club Today!<\/em><\/p>\n

Dwayne Thomas<\/a>, M.S. MPA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

bro. dwayne thomas has shared with us another lost Crescent submission about the Sigma Beta Club. thank you for sharing, Frat. Genesis 3:9 records God asking the question ? Adam Where Art Thou? God knew where Adam was but wanted to know where was his heart. Where was his commitment? Where was he in relationship … Read moreAdam Where Art Thou?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluephi.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}