Empty Mansions

 He pushed it to the max, but his crew was happy on a fixed income. They left him in a room by himself while he struggled and choked snakes. This is all while the streets watched. People were as cold hearted as they were in Noah’s day as the young God stood silent watching his mansion get foreclosed on. I guess it was back to church with the sheep. Sadly, they all lost their hunger. They took pleasure in wasting all of their money on weed, alcohol and drugs while he worked himself to death for nothing but a thrill. Sleeping in a studio he visualized himself behind bars as the pool he once swam in stood empty, no activity. The many rooms that he and his business partners used to party in were now all silent, video cameras off. Now enemy of the state for no apparent reason, no wife, no home, just the property of the Bank of England. The truth is that he had no backup, as his mind reflected on what was left, a tear fell from his eye. Mom was gone, auntie was strung out on drugs along with cousin Lou. The product of a broken system he saw his real father, the drug dealer who came around on his terms. The man who he swore not to become. As they emptied out his garage there was the image of truth, enemies that showed no mercy and a luxury car riddled with bullets of jealousy. Laying on the sidewalk he began to run laps around the block of his home only to see his uncle trying to buy it at a sheriff’s sale with no intention of leasing it to him. Spinning around in fantasies he began to walk away from the town that raised him, he walked and walked until he found a friend that gave him a drink of water. It’s hard for a prophet to be a prophet in his hometown. He tried and now he had nothing left, looking his new friend in the eyes he said thank you, that’s all he could give back in return. The country had over a million people and only one of them gave him a drink and she lived in a hotel.

Empty Mansions 

Leadership

 “This is my country, I’ll do things my way! Do you understand?” Rex said scolding his administration.

“But Sir, we can’t afford anymore wars, we can’t even afford our own problems. Will you listen to us? Please, just listen!” Michelle said, eager to get the Emperor’s approval.

This upset Rex. He felt as though he’d been losing course on what he was appointed for so he snapped. In a raging fit he took Michelle by her hair and threw her over the balcony. Fear now filled the hearts of his administration. 

In a shaking fit as her body laid lifeless on the front lawns of the United Land’s capital, Rex now had his administration’s attention. Fear gravitated throughout the room.

“We’ve tried everything to keep this country afloat and nothing has worked. Now we will be doing things my way. Do you understand? I tried to be nice, but violence is the only thing that the people of this nation seem to understand.”

Rex had now gone off the cuffs. He’d lost it and everyone was now afraid to face him. Reports soon surfaced that the country had elected a mad man and now that the leader of the United Lands had snapped things took a turn real quick. Not only did Rex just kill a staff member, but he’d now got his point across that he was not willing to compromise. In a fit of rage, it now appeared as if Rex had no challengers. Standing with blood on his hands he became enemy number one and only one man was brave enough to challenge him. His name was Evander and he was known for carrying a sword. Every where he went he had his sword and when asked if he would lead he said no. Once Rex heard about Evander he sent troops to kill him but Evander never stayed in one spot for too long. Now comprehending that he had enemies, Evander was now preparing to defend himself so he would only talk to local people. 

“You have to lead us Evander, you’re our only hope. Rex has lost his mind, he’s going to get us all killed,” Greta said, doing her best to convince Evander to get into politics.

“I am not made to rule a nation, I’m only made to tend my own fields,” he replied.

Shortly after his conversation, seven men had heard about where Evander was hiding out so they attacked him and killed anyone in his path. Fighting for his life, Evander now had blood on his hands. He’d killed them all with just his sword. After word got out that Evander had saved Greta the people began to gather around him and this made Rex jealous.

In a power struggle he tried to get Evander to join him but Evander refused so Rex challenged him to a one on one battle. 

“Since you won’t join me then fight me,” Rex said.

Now in a battle to the death, Evander fought hard with his sword as crowds of people gathered to watch. Evander dodged and sliced as Rex slashed at his ear. Noticing blood dripping from his left ear Evander charged Rex landing his sword in the apple of his neck. Looking eye to eye with Rex the raging emperor fell to one knee as Evander went for the kill and chopped off his head. Word spread fast as the sun emerged from a cloud in the sky about Evander’s victory. Evander was the new rightful leader of the United Lands. Taking his place at the head of the table he’d earned the respect from the people. Evander was the new hope. Evander was their new leader.

Leadership 

The Consequences of Fear

Each and every one of us have our own unique qualities. Some of us are heroes and some of us are villains in the story of life. A child that is constantly bullied hears these two voices challenging him over and over again. These are the consequences of fear. It’s like watching a diver jump off of a diving board 89 feet above the water. Each trade, and each profession has to overcome some form of fear. A pilot must overcome the fear of flying. A football player must overcome the fear of being hit. A singer must overcome the fear of an audience and a businessman must overcome the fear of losing everything. With every step one must overcome this number one obstacle, and this includes all of us. We must overcome the fear of failure. Failure is being left in a field of mud never to get up and try again.

The Consequences of Fear

The Purple Curtain Call

 I want to warn you that during the writing of this piece my thoughts saw a different side to leadership and life because I’d just watched a video about the brutality of history compared to present day.

I also had deep thoughts about the crucifixion and I put my mind in the body of an innocent man being tortured. In these thoughts, I saw myself starved being brutally beaten. Sick, on stage, acting out my entire life as though I were happy but deep inside there was more going on. I saw people living lavish lives enjoying themselves as I suffered severely. I saw them drinking, tipped over in wealth as a tear fell from my eye. My soul being ripped out daily as they basked in their riches. I’d become a king of sorrow and as my flesh died while being lifted in the air I could feel my feet burning as they set fire to my legs. The pain I could not endure. I’d become a slave to the world, dying slowly every precious moment that I saw them all basking in purple alcohol and weed. I could feel blood and sweat falling from my head with the crown of thorns seeping into my scalp. With the little consciousness left I saw black birds flying overhead as the burning sun burned at what was left of me. I’d performed this act very well as I saw my disciples do nothing. Crying out to God all I could hear was a voice in my head telling me that this is a price that I must pay for the souls of man. The pain soon became numb. What did I do God? What did I do to deserve this? As they closed the purple curtain and I gave up the ghost the show was over, the crowd was left with a burning cross and as I gave up my spirit they all stood at a crossed road and had to make a decision, but…But…BUt….BUT my soul would rise. They owned the world, but I now owned the heavens. What a performance, what a show. The crowd cheered and threw roses on stage. I gave it all. I did it for them. Love is a brutal performance that we all must play. God loved them so much that I stood in between.

The Purple Curtain Call

A Ray of Purple

Battered and bruised from a hard day’s work it’s hard to get out of bed. 

You’re getting older and when you awake you realize that there’s still more work to be done.

You can give in or you can get it done.

Money is tight so on your quest to save you realize that it may be impossible.

Feeling the burn you see a purple glare from the sun reflecting off of a puddle of water where a bird is bathing.

In the midst of your struggle you feel a ray of hope. Trouble don’t last always.

A Ray of Purple

The Purple Cloth

 Even in today’s world it’s hard to forget the great story of the King and the purple cloth. A special King who spent the majority of his adult life healing and helping others. A King who roamed the streets of Jerusalem and Egypt preaching and teaching about the kingdom of heaven. A King that was tormented for his beliefs. Yes, he was an outcast. Yes, he was different. I humbly remember this King by the many stories passed down from generation to generation. A hymn would say, “Manger boy who died on a tree to save humanity.” I encourage all of mankind to learn about the King of Kings. His story has survived many generations and is still important today. His story is so powerful that even today it still saves lives, all we have to do is remember and take the time to read it.

The Purple Cloth

The Tale of Working Andy

 Everyone in town believed that there was something special about Andy. While everyone else seemed to be wasting time, Andy for some odd reason just kept working. He’d developed a reputation for being absent for everything outside of work. He never showed up to church, never attended birthday celebrations, and was never seen at any parties, but just about had perfect attendance at work. Andy took the term workaholic and built an entire new industry off of his techniques. He’d spent so much time at work that people called him working Andy. He never talked much, but when it came to work, he moved mountains. As a child Andy could be seen setting up the microphone at Dr. King’s speech. He could be seen in the background doing maintenance on the statue of liberty and could also be spotted in photos fixing the Jackson’s dance floors. Everyone had Andy’s number, he put the deck down at the union hall and even shined shoes at the local barber shop. He detailed cars and sanded drywall. At age 90, Andy was still working and no one could figure out how. Everyone he knew had died, but the old man was still cutting grass and trimming trees. Andy had worked for so long that he had a huge album filled with pictures of his portfolio. Now at age 118 the rumor circulating around town is that Andy’s spirit is still working at the graveyard where he was thought to be last seen. People passing by often report seeing him cutting the grass and trimming the trees. Since Andy outlived everyone many believe that he never died, but can still be seen around town working with no social security number or authentic identification. Some people even believe that he’s an alien sent to earth to keep things in motion. The mystery behind Andy’s work ethic is like watching a statue shattering into a million pieces. It takes potential energy to clean up every piece. Andy was and still is ,til this day, filled with potential energy.

The Tale of Working Andy