Thirty-Six Greatest Goods

Great Goods  What greater good can one have than to live for one purpose, one great aim: to right the wrongs in history; that given this life focus on the same goals, the same skills, values, education, training, and commitment we can project our best hope across geography and history as surely as if a single person were able to live, think, and act in 42 different incarnations, across millennia?  What is a more honorable mission to have than a mission in life that ends our suffering, helps our wounded to heal themselves, the hungry to feed themselves, the naked to clothe themselves, the homeless to house themselves, brings swift justice to the innocent, comforts our sorrow-stricken, empowers our powerless, rebuilds our shattered lives, and defends our children? What greater reward can one have than to initiate the turning of the tables, when we won't be denied; to know this time that we will win because we have prepared to not lose again; to know in our hearts that in the blood of our blameless ancestors lie the seeds of our redemption? What greater feeling can one have than to know that we won't be stopped this time, that the world could be given and it would not be enough; that our cause is so priceless that it cannot be bought or sold, that we will not be satisfied until all sacred accounts have been settled; until our children are no longer slaughtered sheep in the wilderness because of our heartlessness? What greater calling can one have than to end the epoch of weakness and begin the new era in which great guides lead with moral deeds not mere words, self reliance not reliance on those who have harmed us, scientific intelligence rather than ignorance,  spiritualism rather than just another corrupted religious racket, clarity and coolness rather emotionalism and half-heartedness? What can be more meaningful than to shed all pretenses of progress in rotten situations, to stop giving our lives to those who take advantage of us and then invariably being left with nothing, to make the final decision final: a new life of our own making, or this old decadent life and a certain meaningless death? What can be more precious than our freedom?  Freedom to unlock our sadness, to awaken from and forever end the fantasy of the good we never had, to unleash our pent up fury, to reach for another chance at heaven on earth, to find forever by letting all the passion in our hearts rise again-for were we not dead and are now alive? Were we not lost and now are found? What greater reward can one have than to have lived each day fearlessly bringing swift justice to the innocent, food to the hungry, cloth to the naked, education to the ignorant, shelter to the homeless, medicine to the sick, truth to the deceived, respect to the disrespected, a boat to those drowning, burial to those who have died, love to those who are unloved, organization to the unorganized, a purpose in life to those without one, meaning to the meaningless? What greater gift can one give than to provide the elderly with a stable present and youth with a bright future, the landless with land, the jobless with meaningful work, the immoral with morality, and the hopeless with hope? What greater responsibility can those of us who bear the weight of all that is and has to be have than the responsibility of being the balancers of the scales, those who bring redemption, restitution and renewal, the ones who unleash the tormented flood swollen rivers of our race's suffering, those who release our pent-up emotions to overflow with the passionate heartbeats of 900 million Innocent souls crushed, to love them so strongly and unselfishly that we vow to give the very best that we have to all that we do? What can be the measure of a woman's or a man's life than to have lived each day with a purpose, understanding that the scales of life have been unbalanced against us and all that has happened bad to us happened because we could not or did not stop it; but through it all, not to have given in to depression, not to have quit, not to have disgraced the legacy of our Innocent Ones, not to have sold one's soul, not to have betrayed one's destiny in exchange for a moment of cheap thrills, to have stayed alert to the end-to have not given up in spite of the odds; is this not good? What greater understanding can one have than to know that for those who harmed us love is hate, peace is war, freedom is slavery, justice is injustice, their secret is our fear; to understand that in face of universes, devils and their gods, we will endure all sacrifices until we end these miserable conditions forever-for have we not already paid for all of our future sins? What greater calling can one have than to have helped to create a civilization toward which 21 billion years of cosmic motion-that part of eternal matter/spirit that we know of-is necessarily moving toward; a world without racial, class, sex, cultural or generational oppression? What greater faith can one have than the faith that believes we will ultimately prevail, that we will come from behind, that we will endure all sacrifices; a faith that is fearless of empty gods and devils; a faith that fights for good, a faith that wins at all cost, a faith that leads us to brave the worst possible conditions, to do whatever is required, but that leaves all troubles behind; a faith that reaches for the light continually? What greater good for those of us who have stumbled our whole lives long than to believe with such passion, with such purpose, with such will that we will win, that we will end all of our grief, that we will correct all wrongs, that we will calm our stormy seas, that we will come from behind, that we will scale the summit, that we will not be denied-that this time we have built a ship that will sail for all seasons?  What greater feeling can one have than to know that we are worth so much more than we know, that we are never alone; that our Council of Ancestors-the tried and tested, the honorable, the morally pure, the brave, the honest, the fighters, those who have paid the supreme sacrifice-are with us even until the end of the world, that all is possible if only we believe? What greater good can there be than to have sacrificed everything and-even though we had every reason-to have not come undone, to have somehow made it through to the other side, to have endured, to have turned defeat into victory, to have not suffered in vain but to have fit oneself for our promised land; to have made sure that our children were not slaughtered sheep in this wilderness because of our faithlessness, our selfishness, carelessness, and our unwillingness to pay the cost? What greater comfort can we have, after having cried everyone's tears, than to be counseled by the Council of Ancestors, to have meditated with open heart, for we could find forever if we let our hearts light the way?  What greater time to live than in these turbulent days when everything we do makes sense, days of victory, days of closure, days of judgment, days of restitution, redemption, resurrection and renewal, days of solutions that are final, days when muffled cries for justice are finally being answered-a time when bringing forth the best from within saves us and not bringing forth our best destroys us? What greater love for our children can we have than not to continue this slave existence, not to accept these crippled lives, not to accept this lifeless, empty fate-to end our acceptance of oppression, to reject and finally to storm even the heavens for redemption being made into victors. What greater contribution can Black women make than to shed all pretenses, to stop accepting mediocrity and start requiring the very best of themselves and others, to stop accepting victimization and start being fighting avengers, to stop being dominated and start taking charge; to stop collaborating, betraying, abandoning, sneaking, to stop losing out and giving in to male decadence and degeneracy and therefore settling for forms of female degeneracy; to stand firm, to steel their bodies and souls for the struggles that are to come. What greater contribution can Black men make than to shed all pretenses, to stop hypocritically talking and start doing, stop abandoning family responsibilities and start to do family justice, to stop corrupting our people with drugs, pimping, spying, collaborating, betrayal, abandonment, low-down sneaking, down-low spreading of death and family destruction, spouse abuse, and drug trafficking and start cleaning and uplifting our people in daily morally sound deeds, to stop living in fear and start facing fears, to stop faking, to stop committing ego crimes and start working (methodically and with genuine humility) toward real daily victories?  What greater lesson can one learn than the lesson of ending all wastefulness, the lesson of taking advantage of the resources one has, the lesson of not worrying over that which cannot yet be changed; to change that which can be changed; to make the best of the situation, to never give in, to search out every star, probing, never giving up-even when this life is over? What greater love can humans have than a genuine love for family, for it is only love that gets us through; only love that unites souls with purpose and shared vision; transforms two into one; unifies highs with lows, inner with outer, above with below; wields the wife and husband into a new purposeful force.  Only love? What greater justice can one have than an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and an arm for an arm, a head for a head, a life for a life, rather than continuing to heartlessly allow any good-for-nothing to ravage our innocent children? What is more liberating than to free oneself from one's tormentors, to not accept their words for they mean nothing, never again trusting them, to face our innermost fears knowing that we could find forever if we let our hearts rise again, to fight through fire for another chance at salvation, to know that if their crimes were silent, even the walls would cry out? What greater sacrifice can one have made than to have given one's life to a cause so sacred that even our lonely spirits now reach for another chance at heaven-that in the sweat and blood of our martyred ancestors lie the seeds of our own liberation? What greater good is there than to respect those who have properly parented us, to have forgiven those family who have trespassed against us, to have pleased one's husband or wife, and properly raised one's children-for in the end, their's is a soup that warms the soul and a precious treasure worth more than all the world's gold? What greater honesty is there than to live with an open mind, a heart free of regrets, a heart free of guilt, a fearless mind, a spirit that never quits, and a soul that is unburdened-that never dies, that never gives up, willing to be righteously indignate for all of the suffering the race has faced alone? What greater good is there than to seize this one moment in time, to give all that we have to offer, to leave nothing to chance, to go as far as can be gone, to end the silent song of suffering that never meant to be, to release the lonely spirits that whisper redemption in the wind; and to know, finally that we could find forever if we let the passion in our hearts rise again? What greater hope is there than to have supreme faith in ourselves, to never give in to the immoral, to not bend under the weight of persecution, to not wither under the strain of degeneracy, but to hold on to the hope inside, that hope that they cannot touch, that they cannot get to; because hope is a good thing, one of the best things, and no good thing ever dies? What greater feeling is there than to know that whatever mistakes we have made, we have paid for them in full and then some; that this time African daughters and sons will slave no more, that this time we won't be denied, that this time we have built a ship to sail for all seasons, this time we will win? What greater good is there than to know what you are doing, why, how, where, when, who; leaving nothing to chance, to plan every detail, to be relentless, to live free of regrets, to live free of fear, to assume the responsibility, to know that this time after having stumbled our whole life, always on our own, now we are going home? What greater good is there than to have quietly worked with persistence, resiliency, commitment, determination, iron will, precision, and above all scientific know-how, keeping all efforts secret, and if despite all efforts, today brings no more than yesterday, to have not lost courage but to have continued steadfastly toward fulfilling my life's purpose, you've run the good one? What greater feeling is there than to have done what needed to be done, to have fought the good fight, to have finished strong, and when all had been said and done to have had no fear of dying because you have done all that you could do? What greater ending gives rise to new beginnings than when facing the final curtain, knowing the end is near, we did what needed to be done, lived full lives without exemption, charted and traveled each and every path without regret, paid the final cost, and above all, we did the best that we could?