Wake Up Everybody!

Wake Up Everybody, is an R& B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden , and Victor Carstarphen. Originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead vocals on the title track from their 1975 album. They performed the song on Soul Train on November 22, 1975. The beginning music of the song draws you in, and as my head started bobbin and as the singer sang the words to the song, it got me thinking. Isn’t it amazing how there is nothing new under the sun and how this song is still relevant today. The song itself seeks to make all of us more consciously aware of what we are all capable of when we come together. In a world where poverty, violence, economic inequality, education, climate change, gender equality, discrimination, terrorism, mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, gun control, pollution, and crime are only a few of the problems facing the people of the world. The dictionary defines wake up as to cease from sleeping. It also means to become aware or make someone aware of something.

Here are some of the lyrics:

Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed, no more backward thinking time for thinking ahead, the world has changed so very much from what it used to be, there is so much hatred war and poverty.

The song also reminds me of some of my daughter’s favorite books, that I would read to her when she was my baby. Do you all remember the Berenstain Bears?  You had Papa Bear, Momma Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear, Since the 1962 debut of the first book, The Big Honey Hunt, the series has grown to over 400 titles, which have sold approximately 260 million copies in 23 languages. Not only did these little paperback books put a smile on my daughter’s face, as we read them over and over again, it represented real life experiences, full of the power of the family. They encourage the importance of saying let’s be aware of ourselves, let’s talk about it, and let’s see how we can make better choices. If you haven’t read one of those books in a while, I encourage you to go your local bookstore and head to the children’s section. With titles like: Messy Room, Picnic, Love their Neighbors, The Bears’ Vacation, Go to Camp, Catch the Bus, Patience Please, Get in a Fight, Kindness Counts, Chores, Junk Food, Take Turns, Too Much TV, and The Truth. Believe me friends, you are gonna find something to warm your heart and stimulate your mind.

On the first day of creation, God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and light appeared as a thing separate from darkness. The phrase let there be light is a translation of the Hebrew phrase which is a literal translation for “Light, exist.” God is speaking into the void and commanding light to come into being. The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and everything else that exists by simply speaking them into existence (Genesis 1). His personality, power, creativity, and beauty were expressed in creation. The idea of light, existing first in God’s mind, was given form by the words “Let there be light” or “Let light exist.”

Consider this thought friends, the reality of the creative power of God’s voice has important spiritual implications that go well beyond the creation account itself. Light is often used as a metaphor in the Bible, and the word illumination (“divine enlightenment of the human heart with truth”) has to do with bringing things into the light. Spiritual illumination is a kind of “creation” that occurs in a human heart. “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Jesus Himself is “the light of the world.”

Jesus reminds us in scripture that he is the light of the world, and whoever follows him, will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. When I woke up this morning, I did not have any doubt, I am just grateful for another day. When I look all around me friends, I can’t help but marvel at the genius of his hands. Tell me friends, are you awake? AMEN!!

Remember friends, we are each other’s keeper and the only time we should be looking down on someone is when we are helping them up.