Bus Chronicles: Ignorant Men

I sat in the very back of the bus between five men - four Black, one White; all ranging in ages from 18 to mid-50's. Though varied in ages, temperaments, and swag; they all had one thing in common - ignorance. Not ignorant as in ig'nant; but ignorant as in they lacked exposure to the finer things. More importantly, they lacked God.

Hosea 4:6 says, 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'; therefore, these men were ignorant because they lacked the knowledge of God. Yet these same men spoke authoritatively on how many grams were in a dub and were quite knowledgeable about the price of corn (weed) today as compared to 2004 and 2005. I listened as one even bragged about being 21 and not having his diploma while the others joked about it. I watched discretely as the elder of the men nodded as if to give his approval of their dissemination of the thesis at hand.

The 'old me' would have judged them, but the 'new me' knows that all they need is knowledge and exposure into new terrain– someplace outside of barber shops, traps, strip clubs, and county jails. They needed an education; first and foremost spiritual, then formal. Because I truly believe, these same dudes who've been following the pricing trends of marijuana for the last 10 years, could actually excel as stockbrokers, analysts or even lawyers in a Justice System they know so well; if given the right education and exposure to the knowledge of God. I empathized because often that education and exposure comes through elders. But if the elders themselves are unexposed, uneducated, and unknowledgeable, what can they do? As I sat through the entire trip, I wished I had extra copies of my BMF's, Keri Kokayi's new book, 'Magazine: Feeding Ammo to Men On a Mission'. In it, he strategically navigates men from the block to the throne of God. But since I didn't, I decided to do something other than judge those men; I decided to pray for them. Won't you join me?

Pray this with me: Heavenly Father, please forgive me when I've judged men who I felt weren't doing what they should be doing with their lives. I ask You for forgive every comment and snide remark I've ever made. And Lord, will You lead those men to Pastors after Your own heart and will You also give them another opportunity to do what You created them to do. In Jesus' name.

Practical Application: Consider purchasing a copy of Keri H. Kokayi's Magazine: Feeding Ammo to Men On a Mission and just give it to the hood dudes - without a lecture and without expecting even so much as a thank you.

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