You Can Make It Happen

On August 26, 1977, the Commodores released a song entitled “She’s A Brick House.”

Some of you may have never heard of the Commodores. Perhaps you’ve heard of Tuskegee Institute, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) founded by Booker T. Washington, where the Commodores started. Or perhaps you’ve heard of Lionel Richie, the leader singer of the Commodores (Nicole Richie’s father. Nicole is besties with Paris Hilton, the pre-Kardashian Kardashian) and host of American Idol. Or perhaps you’ve heard of Motown Records, the legendary Label founded by Berry Gordy that produced some of the most memorable music in American history, including hits by DIana Ross, Michael Jackson, Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder…and the Commodores. LOL. But if none of that rings a bell, I know you’ve heard the song. If not, you can check it out here., and shame (double shame and woe be unto you lol) on you! The song celebrates an unnamed woman with a curvaceous figure, and has become something of a national anthem in certain circles of our culture.

When the song was released, I was in Orangeburg South Carolina, my Dad’s hometown. Our family traveled down south every summer, and Orangeburg was always the last, and to me, the best part of the trip. Although it is a small town, Orangeburg has two HBCUs (South Carolina State College and Claflin University), and my Uncle B.E, was Director of the Campus Police at one of them and several of our older cousins were students at both of them As a result, I spent a lot of time in Orangeburg as a child hanging out on college campuses. I am almost certain that I first heard the song at some campus event.

I remember the song lingering in my mind. Whenever I heard it time stopped. I’m not even sure I knew what the song was about, but it was candy to my seven year old ears. I memorized the words. Sang it. Hummed it. ALL the time. The night before we were getting ready to leave that summer, my cousin Deborah said “Hey Jo-Jo, (thats was my childhood nickname), I’m going to play that song on the radio for you.” I remember thinking to myself “yeah ok, not really believing that it would happen. After all, what did she to do with what I heard on the radio? I knew my cousin Deborah worked at the local radio station, but my seven year old mind really did not comprehend what she did. I didn’t really understand what she was saying at the time, but I just said ok. I remember my mother waking me and up and saying “Deborah is getting ready to play your song.” And then I remember listening to the radio hearing my cousin say “and this song is dedicated to my cousin JoJo from New York.” Then, the song blared through the speakers.

At that moment, I thought my cousin Deborah was Jesus. LOL. It was the first time I realized that what I heard on the radio was the result of a decision somebody made. And not just any “somebody.” It was somebody whom I knew. It dawned on my seven year old mind that what came on the radio was not a mystery. Or an accident. Or God's will. It was the result of a decision—a decision of someone that I knew. It was a transformative experience for me. It taught me the power of agency—that people make decisions, and that people can make things happen.

I am sharing this because I have discovered that far too often in many of our lives, we assume that things are the way they are because well, that’s just the way they are. But that is simply not the case. Somebody made a decision. What we watch on television, what we listen to on the radio, what we buy in the grocery store, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, even the houses we live it are the result of somebody who made a decision. Donald Miller says that in every story there is a villain, a victim, and a hero. And in the story of our lives, far too may of us choose to play the victim—to believe and behave as if we don’t have the ability to make things happen. But all of us have a measure of freedom, creativity and capacity not simply to be pushed around by our circumstances, but to play an active role in shaping the destiny that we desire.

On one occasion while teaching his disciples, Jesus made a powerful statement:

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. John 10:18

Jesus wanted his disciples to know that even though he was going to die on a cross, his death was his choice! His life was not being taken from him. He was not a victim. He was not a bystander in his own affairs. To the contrary, he was exercising his power to help bring to pass a state of affairs that pleased his Father.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

NEVER relinquish your power to decide. You have the power to make things happen! Edward Everette Hale said

I am only one. But I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.