Brief Writing Updates on Price-Mars:

I have decided to reframe the structure and content of my forthcoming book on Jean Price-Mars as an intellectual biography (Tentatively, I will title it: “Jean Price-Mars: An Intellectual Biography”). My desire is to make it the definite study on Price-Mars in the English language. (The reader should know that this is a different text than the forthcoming book Jean Eddy Saint Paul, Glodel Mezilas, and I edited on Price-Mars, which we have entitled “Between Two Worlds: Price-Mars, Haiti, and Africa”) The implications of this intellectual shift and project are many:

1) I would have to add two new chapters to the book:

a) On the intellectual circles and transnational circuits that influenced the ideas and writings of Price-Mars, following a similar strategy and methodology as I have done for Jacques Roumain in my recently-published book, “Thinking in Public,” and my forthcoming book on Jean-Bertrand Aristide: “Aristide: A Theological and Political Introduction to His Life and Thought.”

b) A new chapter on Price-Mars as a public intellectual in the Haitian public sphere and as a transnational cultural critic of the Black Atlantic culture and thought, which may involve my interactions with his commentaries and critiques (1) on the intellectual life (i.e. politics, literature, Haitian intellectual history, i.e.) of his native land, (2) the role and education of women in the Haitian society, (3) public education system in Haiti, and 4) Key figures (i.e. W. E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, William Wadé Harris (affectionately called “The ‘Black Elijah’ of West Africa”), and James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey) in Black Thought. I will synthesize his ideas in this particular chapter.

2) It will take me another year to complete the book. Sorry folks if you have been patiently waiting for this work to come out. I will ask the publisher to give me another year so that I could produce this ambitious project. 

*** So far, I have completed five chapters: two chapters on the Pan-Africanist vision of Price-Mars, one chapter on Price-Mars’ philosophy of religion, one chapter on Price-Mars’ interpretation of the concept of God in African traditional religion, and another chapter on Price-Mars’ perspectives on African traditional religion, Islam, and Christianity. This one takes the comparative method to examine the subject matter. I’m half way completing two more drafts on Price-Mars’ writings on race, and the Haitian Revolution as a humanistic and global event. 

Say a word of prayer for me to the great Lord to give me both physical and intellectual strength, as well as to confer upon me greater clarity of thought and precision in expression. 

Happy Day!!!

Jesus, You’re my Rest!

 You are the reason I have my being, Oh Lord. You are the air that I breathe. You are my Rest and my dwelling Place, my God and my Redeemer. 

On the cross, you paid the price for my sins so you can give me rest. You gave me rest, and your rest is mine. In the midst of the storm, you gave me rest, abundant joy and unspeakable peace.

On the cross, you made me whole. You made me your own, and gave me your own. Now, I rest.

I’ve been meditating on the words of this song (see below) every day because of the significant meaning of Jesus in my life and for all He has done for me.  When I die, please sing this song to King Jesus as a testimony of his life in me and my life in His.

Have you found your rest? Is Christ Your Resting Place?

Matthew 11:28-30:

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”— Jesus

“God is not done with you. He will give you a future”

I feel like preaching this morning 🙂

Even those who are incarcerated to a life sentence behind the mighty prison bars need to hear a message of hope & love from the Almighty God.

The young lady or the single mother who has been/is a victim of physical abuse and rape needs to hear a message of restoration and freedom from the God of Hope who is the Repairer of broken branches and lives. 

The individuals who are victims of racial humiliation and discrimination should set their hope in God their Maker. 

The worker who has been exploited at work needs to know God will give you justice. 

The immigrant who has been abused  and humiliated at the workplace and other public spaces need to hear it loudly that  God is not done with you. He will give you a future.

” Who is a Friend of God? To love justice is to love God”

At the moment, all I have to say about the problem of race relations and grace within American Evangelicalism is that the American church is very reluctant to embrace fully and live practically the biblical teaching on anthropology and the underlying truth that all people regardless of their race or color are created in the Image of God (To follow up with this debate, see current articles published on Christianity Today on race relations and the problem of justice and grace in American Evangelicalism. It involves the following individuals: Lecrae, John Piper, Ray Chang, Roger Colson, Le Bryan Loritts, Scot McKnight, Carl Ellis Jr., and a host of other individuals.) The current state and attitude of modern American Evangelicalism toward race and justice conversarions is graceless, humiliating, and Christ-dishonoring.

American Evangelicalism as a tribal group in the greater American Christianity is tragically shaped by a set of cultural hermeneutics and is identified itself with the cultural politics of this age that challenge biblical authority and the way of God. Total submission to biblical authority and the life application of biblical ethics and biblical discipleship in human interactions constitute the major crises in modern American Evangelicalism.  The integration of biblical values into the  Evangelical life is a significant lack and failure of Evangelical churches. Another serious pitfall in/of American Evangelicalism is its ardent zeal for and relentless pursuit of cultural fame and capitals, which often compromise  Christian integrity and loyalty.  The cultural alliance is the most threatening antagonist of modern Evangelicalism.

American Evangelicalism  does not interpret life and human dynamics within the paradigm of effective biblical hermeneutics and constructive biblical ethics–as a way of life. This is both a tragedy and a dilemma that have postponed racial unity and reconciliation in our churches and various Evangelical guilds in the American society. When American Evangelicalism reject its cultural identity and the political framework that sustains it and guides its (moral and ethical)  decisions in matters relating to social and political issues such as race relations, social justice and equality, immigration, poverty, abortion, gender relations, political party, etc., then it will find its soul again.  We are not a people of grace. We are not a people who love justice. 

No wonder non-Christian people ridicule the way of American Evangelical Christianity and the practices of American Evangelicalism. Sadly, I have to say that American Evangelicals are the enemy of the Biblical Faith and a stumbling block of the spiritual transformation and cultural progress of Biblical Christianity in the American society. The problem is that we are not a group that loves justice and grace for all people nor have we the willingness or desire to engage in justice conversations for the sake of human flourishing and the common good. 

The Biblical God is a God of justice, grace, and love who makes a clarion call upon his people to model in practical life these virtues in their community, city, and nation. Those who are not friends of justice, grace, and love are not friends of God.

Friends: I’m very anxious about life at this moment….very nervous right now–BIGGLY, REALLY BIGGLY!!! 🙂 –for the following FOUR reasons:

1. My acquisitions editor at Fortress Press has asked me to submit the final manuscript to him for the book on Jean Bertrand Aristide (“Aristide: A Theological and Political Introduction to His Life and Thought”). Second request.

2. My acquisitions editor at Lexington Book has emailed me requesting the final manuscript I, Jean Eddy Saint Paul, and Glodel Mezilass are co-editing on Jean Price-Mars (“Beyond Two Worlds:Price-Mars, Haiti, and Africa”). Second Request.

3. My acquisitions editor at the University of West Indies sent a message to me to submit the final manuscript for a book I’m co-editing on Edwidge Danticat (“Approaches to Teaching the Work of Edwidge Danticat”) Second Request.

4. My acquisitions editor at Wipft and Stock Publishers has requested the final manuscript for a personal book I ‘m writing on Jean Price-Mars (“For a Better World and Toward the Common Good: Price-Mars on Religion, Pan-Africanism, Humanism, and the Haitian Revolution”) Third request.

I’m going to run away and leave this country. Why was I thinking to put all these responsibilities upon my shoulder? 

lol

#runawayfromwriting

#leavingtheusaforgood
******

Here’s the good news: Both # 1 and 2 are done. I just have to put a final touch on them. # 3 is half way complete, and # 4 is 3/4 done.

I’m pleased to announce the publication of three peer-reviewed articles, as seen below:

1. “Viv Dechoukaj Long Live Uprooting Aristide s Politico theology of Defensive Violence,”  Black Theology, 15:3 (2017):185-208
2. “ Beyond Ethnic Blackness: Black Transnational Consciousness (BTC) and the Practice of Black Intertextuality” (English Version),  Vanguard / vol. 1(1) / 2017 /43-68.
3. Más Allá de la Negrura Étnica: La Conciencia Transnacional Negra y la Práctica de la Intertextualidad Negra (Spanish Version),Vanguardia/ vol. 1(1) / 2017 /44-70

Happy Reading!

“Jesus se tout bagay for me”

What do people mean when they sing “I’d rather have Jesus more than everything”  (I love how it sounds in Creole: “mwen pito gen Jezi pase tout bagay”)?

Do they mean any of the following ideas:

A) Jesus is more valuable than earthly treasures, fame, and goods.

B) Nothing on this earth is comparable to Jesus.

C)  Jesus owns everything both in the heavens and on the earth and that what he has is also mine; therefore, Jesus is “all” sufficient and more adequate than “everything.”

D) The supremacy of Jesus Christ over “everything,” and that Jesus satisfies all earthly treasures and joys.

E) While one may posess a great deal of wealth and fame  in this world, life in this world without Jesus is not that cool; it is dangerous, hopeless,  and meaningless.

Let us seek the God of Peace and Comfort in prayer on behalf of the families and victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

“We will seek You and hope in Your Providence”

Our Father and our Great God, we pray that you would come near the brokenhearted and the suffering families at this moment, and that You would also move us speedily toward mourning, empathy, and compassion. 

Oh Sovereign God of the universe, we are a nation in crisis and a people whose collective experience is defined by a life of trauma and a life of fear.  We bear them in our own lives and our relationships. Because we refuse to place our hope in our  strength and human boldness, we turn  to You for hope and for You to teach us what it means to be human and how to love our neighbor.

Oh Father of Light and Life,  we will trust You and depend on You for a more hopeful future and opportunities to promote the sanctity of life and maintain the dignity of all lives. We live in dark moments and walk in the shadow of death, but we are not hopeless and alone. Your grace is sufficient for this nation.

Our Creator and Maker, we pray that Your Spirit of Life will move us toward a heart of remorse and repentance for failing to love our neighbor and treat them as individuals made in the Imago Dei. Whenever we fail to love others as You commanded, we miserably sin against Thee. Whenever we fail to exercise justice toward another individual as You ordered, we dishonor Your glorious name and fame in the world. Hence, we turn toward repentance and forgiveness that Your Spirit of Grace may grant us.

Lord, remember us in our suffering, trauma,  and pain. Remember the victims and the suffering families in Las Vegas.

Remember us who are weak and with no strength.

We will seek Thee and hope in Thy Providence. 

Amen!

Early Morning Thought about Prayer  and Praying…

I woke up at 3:36 am this morning meditating about the importance and power of prayer in the Christian life and how personally, I need to spend more time in prayer with God and to actively  engage  in intercessory prayers on behalf of others.

 One of the characteristics of the early Christians in the first century is their devotion to prayers.  As the early Christian Historian Luke records:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”–Acts 2:42

“O what peace we often forget.

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!”—Joseph Scriven 
Prayer is not only communication with God; prayer does in fact move the hands of God and transform us. Therefore, let us pray fervently  and continually for the people in our community, neighborhood, and city who are currently suffering and experiencing difficult moments and hardships. Let us also pray diligently and in faith on behalf of the earthquake and hurricane  victims in Houston, Dominica, Saint Croix, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbuda, and other countries in the world. 

O Lord, comfort those who are hurting and suffering; strengthen and empower them in the midst of their tragedies and life’s uncertainties.Oh God, our Deliverer and Cornerstone, give them your  peace and heal their wound and restore their land. O Lord, teach us how to suffer with the individuals and families who are suffering and prompt us to intervene in their life in kindness and with acts of compassion and grace. 
Amen!