http://soundcloud.com/thecombatjackshow/the-j-dilla-episode
Great interview with Talib Kweli and Ma Dukes, mother of the late great J Dilla. About an hour and ten minutes in, Ma Dukes speaks about Dilla’s battle with lupus. As I’ve shared before, Dilla was one of the first people I thought of when I was diagnosed.
In an effort to keep my writing teeth sharp, I am participating in the Daily Prompt posted by the good people at The Daily Post.
For today’s prompt, tell us three things that you believe in your heart to be true. Tell us three things you believe in your heart to be false.
1. I believe that love transforms.
I wake up everyday further convinced that living in a loving way is the best way to go about things. I don’t want to be out here judging people’s lives or acting like I am better than anyone. My hope is to follow Christ’s example and demonstrate love everywhere. Living my faith has got to be far more effective than attractive words or compelling arguments.
2. I believe that things will get better.
It’s hard out here for an optimist. I try to see the glass half-full while respecting others who view the glass as shattered. I’ve been really captivated by laments in the Old Testament recently. They teach me that:
3. I believe that it’s already done.
It’s important to operate from a place of abundance. My lens is completely different when I live with a victorious mindset. I feel grateful, am able to encourage others and am able to understand that adversity may bend me but it is not capable of breaking me. One of the most encouraging words I received in the hospital came from my uncle who told me that “Every challenge we face in life is there to be overcome.” I often ask myself if I am an actor or merely acted upon. I don’t want to live like a victim, God’s got me.
What I think is false:
1. I do not believe that “it is what it is.”
I understand why people say this but it rings in my ears like despair. Like its cousin “It’s all good (baby, baby)” an indifferent cool is displayed but it’s really nihilism in a cheap suit. Even if everyday feels like the same soup reheated, don’t give up. Prayer and perseverance can turn the ship.
2. I do not believe that anyone is worthless.
It hurts me to see folks struggling. Whether they are being oppressed by others or cutting their own noses, it grieves me. How can I enjoy my bread when I see you starving? What can we do to make community contagious?
3. I do not believe that you cannot have light without darkness.
Balance sounds very attractive and it too has its place. But I don’t subscribe to a worldview that equates good and evil or love and hate. I believe that light always casts out darkness and that we will overcome.
An excellent advice column I stumbled upon. Greatly appreciated this perspective.
Japanese researchers have confirmed for the first time an association in mice between a genetic mutation and the intractable autoimmune disease lupus erythematosus.
“He wakes up each morning with the pain,” said Bertrand. “His pain is often a 7-plus, and he’s going to experience the pain 24/7 for the rest of his life. Rich was an avid runner, 30 hours per week stuff. Now, he is afraid to exercise for 30 minutes. He is an athlete, but he can only dream of what I did.”
Talking about when she was told by the doctor she had the potential life-threatening condition, she said: ‘ I just thought, “So are we talking a week off or something,” and in the end he [the doctor] just went, “You need to sit down … this means you could end up in a wheelchair, you need to take this seriously.”
“Without healthy niches, the bone marrow cannot make normal blood components,” said Lijun Yang, M.D., an associate professor of hematopathology in the UF College of Medicine. “When you stain lupus patients’ bone marrow for dead cells, it is dramatic. In contrast to normal people, most lupus patients’ bone marrows are full of dead cells. Twenty, 30, 50 percent of their cells are dead.”
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Lupus?! A wha dat?! 