Category: A Spiritual Look At All Forms Of Entertainment…

I recently finished the first season of a new series on Amazon Prime called “Them”, which in a nutshell is about a black family (The Emory’s) moving into a predominantly white neighborhood in Compton, California in the early 1950’s, just after housing segregation laws were removed there. While the show itself has an otherworldly side to it, much of it is actually grounded in the terrible racism that black people have faced in this country, especially when desegregation began.

To be perfectly honest, there are times I feel very ashamed to be white because of all the awful racist things people of the same color as I have done to blacks throughout our history, something I saw depicted quite well in “Them”. The racism in the series that the Emory’s faced in North Carolina before their move to California was one of the most egregious examples of it I’ve ever seen portrayed on television. What the Emory’s endured both there and in California are ones that countless blacks have experienced throughout our country’s history. Actions that included an entire high school classroom acting like monkey’s and apes while taunting 15-year-old Ruby Lee Emory (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and her getting blamed for it by the teacher. Actions like her father Henry (Ashely Thomas) getting passed over projects he was totally qualified for at his engineering job, not getting invited to company functions, and verbally being bashed repeatedly by his boss. And actions from their neighbors that included a sit-in in front of their home for an entire day with tables and loud music, effigies in nooses placed all around their porch and front yard, racist words burned into their grass, and physical attacks as well.

Sitting through this heart-wrenching series was difficult for me and left me pondering the very same thought I’ve had for many years, that being why so many white people throughout history have been so afraid of those of different races then them. Ironically, some of my best memories in life have been with my best friend Cedric who is black, and whose color has never been the focus or even a forethought in my friendship with him…EVER. In fact, I’ve had many other friends over the years of many different skin colors as well, each of which I’ve been thankful for enriching my life, which is why I found “Them” so sad, as I watched one white person after another never even give any of the Emory’s a chance, solely because of their skin color.

While “Them” depicts much of this racism back in the early 1950’s, it’s regrettably very much still present in our society today, and all it takes to see that is tuning into the daily news. Frankly, it’s sickened me and I’ve felt helpless to do anything about it, other than to continue being who I am, which is someone who loves and accepts everyone unconditionally, regardless of their skin color, or anything else really. I give credit to my Dad for helping me to become this way, as he loved everyone no matter what. My mom, on the other hand, not so much, as I occasionally would hear a number of racist statements come from her mouth from time to time.

Living here in the Midwest of Northern Ohio, I’ve come to see racism more than I ever did when I lived in the Boston and Washington D.C. areas. Hearing people regularly use the “N” word here has disgusted me, and I’ve frequently had to ask people to not say that around me. All of it has led me to believe that racism is a sickness in itself and lies within the insecurity of the racist individual themselves. Deep down I think it’s one’s own inferiority complex in the world that ultimately leads them to try to dominate and control another, often in racist ways, just to feel better about themselves.

I saw much of this during my college years, especially when I dated interracially and where most of my friends were black. I’d frequently be on the receiving end of racist comments then where people of my own race called me a “wigger” and regularly told me I should stick to my own kind. I abhor behaviors like this and want nothing to do with any individual who feels their skin color makes them superior over another or entitles them to anything.

Nevertheless, racism, on many levels, is still very much present in our society today. Many turn their cheek to it, hoping to ignore its ugly presence, but it’s there and it’s never going to go away through policy changes, laws, or punishments. It’s only going to change when each of us go within and fully change ourselves, by learning to love each other for our differences, and not just for our similarities. “Them” was a great reminder of this and I’m at least thankful for having a father who once helped me to see that whether one’s black, white, yellow, or any other skin color, we’re all equal in God’s eyes and as much as God loves each us of unconditionally, so should I with everyone else too.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

In the dating realm, one often tends to look for their “soul mate”, a match believed to be made in Heaven. Many have hard sought for that perfect partner time and time again, hoping to meet the one who truly feels right on every level, mind, body, and soul. What if such a thing actually existed? What if science had a way to find that for every individual in this world? This is the concept of a new television series I just got done watching its first season of the other day on Netflix called “The One”.

If such a science existed, if there truly was a genetic component in all of us that blended perfectly with another on the planet, would you want to know who the other person was that was meant for you? If there ultimately was indeed a perfect match for all of us, would you seek it out through a simple DNA test?

Watching “The One” really got me thinking. How often in my life have I sought out the perfect partner, only to discover time and time again the imperfections in every one of them, especially with myself. But what if I could take a test just like one that “Ancestry.com” offers to discover their ancestral roots, where a tiny tuft of my hair could lead to finding my perfect match somewhere in the world that blended perfectly with me? Would I take such a test? I’d have to say knowing my personality, probably.

In the television series, I love how this concept gets explored, how it shows the many difficult choices and complex paths that each individual takes when having the potential of “The One” being out there for them. Like, what if “The One” for you was someone already in a relationship with another person? Or, what if “The One” for you had passed away? Or, what if “The One” was actually someone of the same sex as you, where you didn’t identify as gay or lesbian, or vice versa, you did identify as that, but your match was of the opposite sex? Or even better, what if you were so insecure of a person that you might even take some of your partner’s hair unknowing to them, just to discover who their perfect match was? What would you do if it wasn’t you? Each of these questions and more get explored in this series, all leaving me to ponder them quite a bit myself, as to how I’d handle every one of them, if such a science existed in this world for relationships.

While I love my partner Chris a lot, we most definitely have our problems and our vast differences in our relationship. I wish we blended together perfectly, where we never argued and felt more of a unison in our connection than not. But we don’t, and honestly, I’ve never felt that with any of my former partners either. In the past, I’d jump from one partner to the next hoping to find that, but never did, which is why I’ve opted to remain with Chris, as I don’t think there is a perfect partner out there. Yet, if such a science existed that could reveal a perfect match made in Heaven so to speak, I think I’d really want to know who it was given all the dating woes I’ve faced in life.

Some have said to me over the years that they’re with that match made in Heaven already. Many of them have been in their relationships for decades and couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. It’s hard to fathom what would happen if such a DNA test existed that could prove whether they truly were always meant to be together. Or better yet, could prove there was an even closer match?

While I’m quite sure that many decades-long relationships in this world would never take such a test if it existed and would accept they’re already with the one they were always meant to be with, I’m just as sure, like “The One” series explores, that hundreds of millions and more would want to know.

When I approached my partner Chris about this, he said he wouldn’t want to know who “The One” was for him. But ironically, I think I’d want to know who it was for him, because of a past partner he constantly speaks so fondly of, a relationship that ended only out of fear. What if that person was meant to be his perfect match? In light of all these challenges that might arise if such a science became real in our world, it’s probably a good thing there isn’t such a DNA test yet, because it would probably only lead to mass heartache and pain on our planet, something we already have enough of.

In the end, I think I like best what my good friend Rob answered when I asked him about whether he’d want to know who “The One” was for him. He said part of the excitement of dating is just leaving things to fate and chance and all the growing and learning that comes through it all.

Regardless, “The One” is a great series if you like science fiction that’s grounded in science possibilities. And while its left me thinking I’d really love to know who “The One” was for me, I trust “The One” I’m with now is who God wants me to be with, even through all our ups and downs.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

It’s actually been a good while since I saw any movie that truly moved me enough to write an article about it in my blog. That all changed when I caught a screening of “Land” starring Robin Wright in the theater recently.

Wright plays a woman named Edee, who from her very first moments on screen shows how extremely unstable she’s become, both mentally and emotionally. Something tragic has obviously happened in her life that has caused her to find no reason left to live. Her sister Emma (Kim Dickens) is distraught over this and pleads for Edee not to take her life. While the viewer has no idea exactly what has caused Edee to feel like this, it’s apparent it’s something horrific. As a last-ditch effort to cope with whatever she’s dealing with, Edee decides to completely go off the grid in a remote part of the Wyoming wilderness and start up a life of complete solitude. Little does she know she’s bit off far more than she can chew when she arrives at the very old mountainside rustic cabin she’ll now call her home. In the middle of nowhere, without any attachment left to the living world, including no phone or car, electricity or otherwise, Edee begins a spiritual journey within, one that will face her two biggest fears, that being the pain within herself and the fear of connecting with another human being again, one that will only come by way when another lonesome soul named Miguel (Demian Bichir) enters her life by happenstance.

“Land” is exactly the movie I needed to see lately. Watching a seriously wounded woman overcoming the greatest of odds and finding herself along the way is the hopeful story my soul has been calling for. Most of the films I’ve watched as of late are depressing. They’ve all dealt with fighting, bickering, cheating, stealing, and well pretty much every type of low vibrational behavior that’s filling our world quite a bit now, especially as everyone continues to cope with this ongoing pandemic. What my soul needed the most was a spark to uplift it and “Land” most definitely didn’t disappoint in that.

What I think I related to the most in “Land” was the number of times I saw myself feeling just like Edee, having no purpose to keep going, that life doesn’t matter anymore. That’s a very scary place to be in, where every day you awake and feel that life is pointless. I know the pain of that oh, so, very well. Watching Edee in “Land” walk through that pain is something I continue to face myself. There are countless days where I don’t know if I can take this pain anymore, but like Edee, there’s an inner resilience somewhere deep within me that keeps me going. While I’m not sure if I’d ever go to the extreme of living in a remote mountainside wilderness-based existence to find myself, I am spending more time alone in stillness, as I too hope to find greater inner peace and serenity, just like Edee desperately sought in the movie as well.

By far, “Land” is at least a four out of five-star film with Robin Wright giving an Oscar-worthy performance that was more than believable and well worth its hour and 29-minute running time. While the film takes one through the most heart-wrenching of moments via Edee’s eyes, it’s one I definitely felt ended on a positive note and left me with exactly what I needed, which was the courage to keep going.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson