(4 min read)

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I am because We are, We are because God is.

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(explained)

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First of all, please know that, for me, “I Am” = "the God in me is"...

 

As an adult, I was taught and have experienced the power of applying the lesson that my words and thoughts shape substance. Because of that, I practice not saying anything about myself that:

• Is not true about God, Allah, The Source, The One, The All

• I do not want to experience or express in my life

 

Even somewhere in the Bible, it says, “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong,’ and the poor say, ‘I am rich.’” [Let the poor say, “The God in me is rich”, and let the weak say, “The God in me is strong.”]

 

To me, this passage is a call to identify with “Divine Truth/Spiritual Identity”, not our temporary man-made and man-influenced conditions, especially at times when we don’t yet see a way out.

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My teachers instilled in my community and me the practice of identifying with God within us at all times, again, especially in moments of struggle, health challenges, perceived weakness, or lack. To affirm the Truth of God within us, regardless of what we see.

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They also taught me that much of our suffering stems from our forgetfulness and wrong thinking: forgetting who I am/we are and thinking in ways that are out of alignment with that Divine Truth and Spiritual Identity.

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I’ve had many experiences where I was going through something difficult, and the moment I chose to “remember” and shift my thoughts and my words, something changed. First came the shift in mindset. Then came ideas. Then came the opportunity for aligned actions that moved me closer to being out of that condition.

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It rarely happened immediately, and in those moments of affirming Truth, wisdom, strength, love, and abundance, I began to see that I was being shaped into the very expression I was calling forward, while going through the “struggle”.

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I am abundant through abundant thoughts and actions.
I am wise through wise thoughts and actions.
I am healthy through healthy thoughts and actions.

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Keeping my mind on the Truth became an additional responsibility and a new habit.

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Many times, I found myself affirming attributes of God that I didn’t even believe I had the capacity to express. But through repetition, imagining myself expressing what I was affirming, belief followed. And belief led me to seek the knowledge, the community, the discipline, and the actions to become.

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IDK about you, but I wasn’t raised in the kind of home where that kind of belief was constantly affirmed. I became familiar with thoughts of limitations and accustomed to disappointment, feeling like certain things/experiences were for “other people,” not for me.

 

So learning to affirm Truth didn’t just build me, it replaced the lies within me.

The lies I was taught unconsciously.

The lies passed down.

The lies I created to protect myself.

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So, affirming the Truth of God within me became healing.

Again, it killed the parts of me that saw myself as limited.

It led me to do and accomplish things I once only dreamed possible.

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And now, in this very moment, I’m being called to do it again.
And it’s still fake terrifying.

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All of that being shared... my hope for this UBUNTU crown is that it contributes to the unification of the people already embodying UBUNTU and inspires more to join the collective expression.

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I hope that one day, we, The People, intentionally and consistently affirm the presence of God within ourselves and each other.

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So all that God is… can be expressed through who we are individually and collectively.

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I am abundant because we are abundant.
We are abundant because God is abundance.

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I am loving because we are loving.
We are loving because God is love.

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Call-to-Action

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As we work to embody UBUNTU, I want to inspire us to dream big visions and decide big visions.

What are we doing because God is doing? How much God can we embody collectively?

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I believe that God can do all things. I believe that God moves through people, us, THE PEOPLE.

 

My question for myself and to us as a community is, how much can I/we get out of the way for God to flow through me/us?

Do I/we limit what God wants to do in the world through me/us?

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Can God stop the crime and violence in our communities? I think so.

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Can God heal the harms caused through enslavement? I think so.

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Can God unify the black community? I think so.

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Can God unify all people? I think so. 

 

Can God do all of this through me/us? I think so.

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“I am because we are, we are because God is.”

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DO NOT JUST PUT THIS HAT ON YOUR HEAD, SEEK TO EMBODY THE MEANING.

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All Love,

Mashaun Ali