Family, home, food, clothes, love, and of course...smiles.
These are a few of the things, that swarm my thoughts like locusts. At first you might think that I am being a bit shallow because of some of those things listed above, and that these things are relatively tertiary.
I agree.
But allow me to paint the colors of perspective, and together we can reach an understanding that will take us from tertiary, to necessary.
I am a son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, employee, confidant, teacher, husband, and soon to be, father. I am known to many by certain titles; Tiave, Chavez, Brown guy, Coach, baby, Shad, J, and as before that soon will come, Dad.
My family is necessary. For when the world of "friends" has gone out, who is left but those who are truly called family? And when I refer to family, understand that I speak of more than those who share blood, but also those who have, or who may yet, give blood in the name of Family.
Home is where the heart is. At current, I live with my beautiful wife, Renae. We reside in the home of her Father and Mother, Edward and Lynda; a place that at first, left me uncomfortable when without my wife. In my time there, I have found the sounds of endearing efforts, heartfelt prayer, tears of confidence, and words of comfort. I am taken to the time when as a young man, I was raised within the walls of the similar sounds. It is a house one may say, and to that I agree, but what is it that changes four walls of containment, into a hall of harmony, transforming a structure into a home?
Food you may say, is the source that fills our belly's. But I say food, is also the source that feeds our souls the feast of happiness. It doesn't have to be the cheese burger from Mcdonalds, or the steak from the outback. It can be the family, and the friends, and the home the provide for our comforts.
Clothes - the tunics of metaphor. Why shouldn't they cloud my thoughts with concern? I am to be a Father, and what father would not want the means to clothe his family? Clothe them in the threads of warmth, the cloak of protection, in shield of honor, and the strength of his love? Of the two men I now call Father, I speak of them both when I say, the mantle of my Father is the bond of his love, and how honored I am to bear that mantle. In the sound lyrics of a song I love, "I hope I'm at least half the dad, that *they* didn't have to be".
Love. The infinite, and ever present power of love. It brings pride to its knees, conflict to resolution, lies to truth, and war to peace. How do we ever presume to gather and build all that is necessary in our lives, and in our homes, and families, without this seemingly intangible force that governs our existence? We can't. It's impossible. Without this power, we simply roam without destination, linger without purpose, and exist without fiber. For what greater fiber is there to be woven throughout the tapestries of our lives, then the colors of perspective, beautifully enhanced by the threads of love?
My love grows deep, and is rooted in my heart. It grows like daylight breaking the night, radiant and powerful. It is witnessed in the life I live and threads I weave. My love is real. And so is my need to make clear the confusion in my thoughts. It is the love that leaves me with a smile each day.
Smiles are the charm that produce an effect that cannot be explained by science. They contain the ability to turn a cold season warm, and hard day easy, and a sad moment a memory. It is a sword of such power, it can be wielded by the wisest of men and women, or the youngest of children. So to all I implore, wield it well!
Thus is the work I am left with, to labor and to understand...
...and so I work to see the understanding...tertiary to necessary.
God speed...
