a pot smoking prophet

"People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people." 

Today is this man's birthday.

For some reason, well I suppose for many reasons, I have silently acknowledged and internally celebrated this day for many years. I remember my freshman year in college, February 6th, in my dorm room, learning that it was the Rasta Prophet's birthday. It resonated with me and I knew that something about this day would allow me to reflect on a kind of Godly knowledge and a peace that the man himself held within his soul. 

"The people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. Why should I? Light up the darkness."

I think God, or the Universe, the Divine, continues to place people on our Mother Earth to teach. I believe that we still have prophets. And I believe that this Ganja smoking, rastafari loving, dreadlock wearing, man who had many relations with many women, was in fact a prophet of God. 

Maybe that's why I offend some church goers. Who knows. I don't think God has a box he fits things into as the church sometimes does. I think there are lessons all around, wisdom from unlikely places, and often times, faces we may ignore because they are not the norm. As humans, living in collective existence, we should break the mold, break the rules, live on the edge and learn in these unlikely places. 

Bob Marley really isn't too far out there I suppose, I mean he's known in every country of the world and many people think the same way I do about him. But many don't, and I think part of that stems from his use of herb. 

Recently, someone very close to me has been very ill. Without going into unnecessary detail, we have chosen to use marijuana to help ease the pain of what is going on. It has completely changed the way my brother and I look at this particular substance. Not that I was against it before, because I certainly was not, but it has made me look at it in it's true form: medicine. A healing and comforting drug. Now, those of you who know my brother know that his take on the herb is a little different. One could say he may use it pretty recreationally. This situation, too, has changed his outlook on it. He no longer wants to 'misuse' something that has such healing and medicinal properties. 

I think this year as Bob's birthday rolls around, for the first time in my life, he has truly taught me the beauty, strength and power of the herb that many of us look down upon. And that has been an important lesson to learn.

"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction." -Bob

(It's interesting that the healing is outlawed and the destruction is allowed... backwards? As with many things in our society.)

So, Bob Marley has taught me a lot over the years. His music was some of the first I really listened to, understood and resonated with. His lyrics fill me with hope and joy. For someone with a wandering heart, he helps ground me in to my present existence. I think he, in every way, was a homie of Jesus and was here to teach us in his short time on earth. 

We must remember that We can light up the darkness, we can make the world a better place, we can live in harmony and free ourselves from judgement and hate. It is possible. 

Cheers to you, Mr. Marley!