{"id":5401,"date":"2017-10-26T23:49:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T23:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flightofthesoul\/?p=5401"},"modified":"2017-10-26T23:49:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T23:49:16","slug":"equal-eyes-love-soul-readings-maya-angelou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flightofthesoul\/2017\/10\/equal-eyes-love-soul-readings-maya-angelou.html","title":{"rendered":"We are All Equal in the Eyes of Love: Soul Readings Maya Angelou"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5402 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/305\/2017\/10\/Screen-Shot-2017-10-26-at-4.20.01-PM-300x190.png\" alt=\"Maya Angelou\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" \/>A daily reminder that we are equals in the eyes of love \u2026 \u201cno human being can be more human than another human being.\u201d \u00a0We remember together that each of us carries the weight of oppression, the weight of injustice, the weight of homelessness, the weight of hunger, the weight of any ism that feels like it is flourishing in our fear. A simple look at the world from the POV to Love expanding outward from our Heart center cutting through the veil.<\/p>\n<p>Maya Angelou\u2019s reading of her poem \u201cFor Old Black Men\u201d with Paul Laurence Dunbar\u2019s 1892 poem \u201cWe wear the Mask\u201d brings tears to my eyes every time.<\/p>\n<p>Have a listen and when you are done, let us know how you feel.<\/p>\n<p>Does it make you want to stand up and walk forward \u201cBringing peace in your heart wherever you go?\u201d or something else.<\/p>\n<p>For me. It touches a part of my soul that knows the debt of honor we owe to those who day in and day out do the work necessary to transform consciousness. I celebrate all of them, and all of you. Take this moment to honor all the work and heart break and dreams that has lead to this moment.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maya Angelou Poem &quot;The Mask&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UT9y9HFHpU0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\">As a bonus here&#8217;s\u00a0Maya Angelou, years earlier reading the poem. we wear the Mask\/For old black men\u2026<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe smile, but oh my God\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With respect and honor and love.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=syGGVZ_ILAI\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=syGGVZ_ILAI<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What we do to one, we do to ourselves. Mels Love Land asks the questions \u2026. Why not love thy neighbor as thyself? Why not see beyond the mask.<\/p>\n<p>poems text follows:<\/p>\n<p>Maya Angelou<br \/>\npoem a combination of two artists work spoken word\u2026<\/p>\n<div>We wear the mask that grins and lies.<br \/>\nIt shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.<br \/>\nThis debt we pay to human guile<br \/>\nWith torn and bleeding hearts\u2026<br \/>\nWe smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.<br \/>\nWhy should the world think otherwise<br \/>\nIn counting all our tears and sighs.<br \/>\nNay let them only see us while<br \/>\nWe wear the mask.<\/div>\n<div>We smile but oh my God<br \/>\nOur tears to thee from tortured souls arise<br \/>\nAnd we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing\u2026<br \/>\nThe clay is vile beneath our feet<br \/>\nAnd long the mile<br \/>\nBut let the world think otherwise.<br \/>\nWe wear the mask.<\/div>\n<div>When I think about myself<br \/>\nI almost laugh myself to death.<br \/>\nMy life has been one great big joke!<br \/>\nA dance that\u2019s walked a song that\u2019s spoke.<br \/>\nI laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos\u2019 choke<br \/>\nWhen I think about myself.<\/div>\n<div>Seventy years in these folks\u2019 world<br \/>\nThe child I works for calls me girl<br \/>\nI say \u201cHA! HA! HA! Yes ma\u2019am!\u201d<br \/>\nFor workin\u2019s sake<br \/>\nI\u2019m too proud to bend and<br \/>\nToo poor to break<br \/>\nSo\u2026I laugh! Until my stomach ache<br \/>\nWhen I think about myself.<br \/>\nMy folks can make me split my side<br \/>\nI laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died<br \/>\nThe tales they tell sound just like lying<br \/>\nThey grow the fruit but eat the rind.<br \/>\nHmm huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh\u2026<br \/>\nUntil I start to cry when I think about myself<br \/>\nAnd my folks and the children.<\/div>\n<div>My fathers sit on benches,<br \/>\nTheir flesh count every plank,<br \/>\nThe slats leave dents of darkness<br \/>\nDeep in their withered flank.<br \/>\nAnd they gnarled like broken candles,<br \/>\nAll waxed and burned profound.<br \/>\nThey say, but sugar, it was our submission<br \/>\nthat made your world go round.<\/div>\n<div>There in those pleated faces<br \/>\nI see the auction block<br \/>\nThe chains and slavery\u2019s coffles<br \/>\nThe whip and lash and stock.<\/div>\n<div>My fathers speak in voices<br \/>\nThat shred my fact and sound<br \/>\nThey say, but sugar, it was our submission<br \/>\nthat made your world go round.<\/div>\n<div>They laugh to conceal their crying,<br \/>\nThey shuffle through their dreams<br \/>\nThey stepped \u2019n fetched a country<br \/>\nAnd wrote the blues in screams.<br \/>\nI understand their meaning,<br \/>\nIt could an did derive<br \/>\nFrom living on the edge of death<br \/>\nThey kept my race alive<br \/>\nBy wearing the mask! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/div>\n<div class=\"notes\">\n<h3 class=\"green\">Notes:<\/h3>\n<div>An adaptation of the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar \u201cWe Wear the Mask\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>We Wear the Mask<\/div>\n<div>We wear the mask that grins and lies,<br \/>\nIt shades our cheeks and hides our eyes\u2014<br \/>\nThis debt we pay to human guile;<br \/>\nWith torn and bleeding hearts we smile,<br \/>\nAnd mouth with myriad subtleties.<\/div>\n<div>Why should that world be overwise,<br \/>\nIn counting all our tears and sighs?<br \/>\nNay, let them only see us, while<br \/>\nWe wear the mask.<\/div>\n<div>We smile, but, oh my God, our cries<br \/>\nTo Thee from tortured souls arise.<br \/>\nWe sing, but oh, the clay is vile<br \/>\nBeneath our feet, and long the mile;<br \/>\nBut let the world think otherwise,<br \/>\nWe wear the mask.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A daily reminder that we are equals in the eyes of love \u2026 \u201cno human being can be more human than another human being.\u201d \u00a0We remember together that each of us carries the weight of oppression, the weight of injustice, the weight of homelessness, the weight of hunger, the weight of any ism that feels&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":451,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,44,3,8,62,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-100-days-of-love-and-inspiration","category-i-am","category-media","category-mondays-with-dr-maya-angelou-and-martin-luther-king-jr","category-phenomenal-friday","category-soul-centered"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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