Don't Make Me Go There

A few months ago, my associate pastor preached a sermon by this title. The message was two fold and excuse me for not having the accompanying scripture*, but follow me anyway. And please know that I’m interpreting the sermon for how it works for me, in my head, in my life. She doesn’t actually cuss from the pulpit.

So, first she talked about the usage of the often uttered saying – Don’t make me go there. What it has come to mean nowadays. That it’s when someone has pushed you to the brink, to the edge, and is about to take you, well, there. To that ‘no this mothafcuka didn’t’, contemplating violence all day long, til you’re forced to leave work early cause you got to handle something, calling the homies, doing drive bys, bout to take off your earrings and get you some Vaseline, way down in the murk and mire place.

You don’t want anyone to ever take you there cause if they do it will be ugly. And unladylike. And seemingly out of character. And perhaps a wee bit violent. And just, overall, won’t end well for anyone involved. And so you fire off warning shots to the wrong doer with these five words: DON’TMAKE MEGOTHERE! This is the clean version of you better back the fcuk up. Get outta my space. Don’t come for me. Check yo'self before you wreck yo'self. Leave me the hell alone. Give me 50 feet or I will kick yo’ ass. For real. DON’TMAKEMEGOTHERE!

But then she flipped it and said that don’tmakemegothere is when God is trying to move you to another place. A healthier place. A better place. And because of fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. Lack of faith. You say: don’tmakemegothere. Don’t move me out of this comfortable spot. Don’t challenge me. Don’t send me in a new direction. Don’t have me try to reach my full potential. I am afraid. I am not ready. I am not sure I can handle it. don’tmakemegothere. [End of synopsis of pastor’s sermon]

[Beginning of Rum Punch breaking it down and applying it to real life sit’chuations]

But God moves you anyway. Picks you up kicking and screaming. Crying and fighting. Bitching and moaning. Pouting and fussing. Drops you off. And waits. For you to fcuk up. Call that nygga back. Walk away from it all. Curse the world. Sleep with him again. Leave it unfinished. Live beneath your station. Settle. Get complacent. Struggle. Question. Lose faith. Regain. And then finally understand that God means this move. This change. This growth. This different direction. This new experience for good.

Funny how your DON’TMAKEMEGOTHERE! and don’tmakemegothere moments tend to intersect. Usually on what seems like the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, when this just can’t be life, when you fittin' to set it off in this mothafcuka cause someone done lost they mind up in here, up in here and is trying you, pushing you there - you get taken to another level.

You get a tap on the shoulder. A whisper in the ear. A hard shake from the powers above, reminding you that you’re better than this. You’re too cute for this.** You’re more than this setback. And that this moment does not and will not define you. So you might as well start packing your bags and filling out change of address cards. Cause you’re about to be moved again. Over there.

Over to another place where you are given the strength to take a road higher than you could have ever imagined. A place where you: Forgive. Resist resorting to violence or cuss words. Face fears. Quote scripture. Laugh. Walk away. Relax, relate, release. Leave it where it be. Let it go. Praise through the pain. Start all over again. Pray. Remind your own self that this is just a test. Move on. Shake that load off. Keep going. Know that tomorrow is another day. That this too shall pass. And what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.

And other clichés. But it’s these clichés that give you comfort because you know their truth. Cause you’ve been to the edge of there before. Past there, even. And everywhere in between. And you always make it back safely.

That’s my time y’all! Happy Rum Punch Friday!

* I do believe that she was preaching from Jonah, though
** Shouts out to Courvoisier! ;-)