Life – Page 10

I was blessed with the opportunity, last week, of sharing poetry at Biola University’s Wednesday Wisdom Chapel. This particular chapel is specific toward inviting speakers whose specializations and experience bring biblically-based wisdom for Christian engagement in the arts and culture, reconciliation, missions and evangelism, justice, relationships, spiritual formation and other relevant topics.

The staff and students were wonderfully welcoming. They were ridiculously receptive to my pieces. And they were equally encouraging toward my poetic craft.

Not only did I feel a sense of affirmation, but I also was reminded of why I’ve chosen to fully embrace this particular gift and actually do something with it.

Stewardship.

We’re all blessed with a gift, a talent or an opportunity to do good. I believe God places us in situations where we can make lasting change that can truly make a positive impact in our world that’s slowly falling apart. And, since He’s all about redeeming and reconciling all things that has been lost, God is constantly looking for ways to situate us in positions that can transform others into the amazing potential that usually lies dormant within.

But we have to embrace these talents. We have to utilize these gifts. We have to take the initiative to steward well the opportunities that we’ve been given to make a difference. And, in doing so, the world that’s ripping at the seams will truly be sewn back together.

Writing poetry and performing Spoken Word is my constant attempt at stewarding the gift God has given me. And whether it’s encouraging other believers to think about their faith beyond the world religion we know of as Christianity or reminding the non-believer that they are equally loved by God, poetry has given me a platform to compassionately encourage others toward renewal and reconciliation.

I’m excited to see where stewarding this gift will take me. I imagine it’ll catalyze me toward amazingly irreplaceable moments upon moments of goodness.

We graced the stage.
We graced the stage that has been home to Da Poetry Lounge for the past two decades.
We graced the world renowned stage that became platform to the first ever LA Get Down Festival.

And it was amazing!

The Definitive Soap Box family and I had the humbled honor and privilege of showcasing our gifts and passions to an audience of nearly 100 poetry enthusiasts. We represented a wide range of emotions and current issues from parenthood to political plights. And our Long Beach homegrown band, The Black Noise, even got into the mix belting out their mesmerizing soulful sounds of soothing vocals and eerie electrical guitar accompaniment.

But the grace and blessing was truly the other way around. We were greatly gifted with an opportunity to share the stage with a handful of heavy hitters in the poetry landscape. From Aman K. Batra to Alyesha Wise and from Yesika Salgado to Angie Aguirre (of Chingona Fire), the amalgamation between these fantastic females and our Soap Box family produced words that intertwined into performance pieces that made for a sensational evening.

Donning Da Poetry Lounge stage, after taking a few years off from intentionally seeking out opportunities to perform, was a great way of injecting me back into the stream of Spoken Word.

It’s a new season for me and I’m extremely excited for what’s to come.