How many of you have seen the 2008 film “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” starring Martin Lawrence? When it first came out, I loved it. When I saw it recently, I hated it. It represented to me the confinement of familiarity often experienced amongst family and longtime “friends”. I understand Bianca was rather pretentious, but I also saw it as she fit where Roscoe had evolved to. I don’t see who RJ had become a result of her influence. I see her being in his life a result of who he had become.
Sadly, in our culture, no matter what we achieve, we are expected to be the same person we were formed into being by our surroundings. That’s why they had issues with “RJ”. He had changed. They were used to Roscoe doing whatever made everyone else happy. He’d been practically bullied for years by his brother and sister, and even his cousin, but when he stood up for himself, he was made to be the bad guy.
Though, in the film, Roscoe gave into the pressure of regression, I AM just not for trying to fit into anyone’s boxes anymore. I love the people from my past, and I accept them for who they are. I know that me being around them, though, would just be more of the status quo. I AM completely happy being “RJ”, and I don’t need anyone trying to bring “Roscoe” back. I AM not competing with anyone for approval. Even the metamorphosis of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly is a picture of our evolution, and if we choose to not fly because those who only know crawling cannot understand us, we have no one to blame but ourselves for our pain.
I AM allowed to outgrow my family and hometown. You are allowed to outgrow your family and hometown. Especially as highly evolved spiritual beings, you cannot really have an expectation of being accepted as you are by people who are only comfortable with who you were. It’s not an indictment against them at all. We just happen to be on extremely different frequencies. It is absolutely true that a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown, and amongst his own kin. Once you can no longer fit into the box others prepared for you, they tend to become uncomfortable with you, and look for ways to put you back into that box. Rather than shrink yourself for their comfort, enlarge your borders for the happiness of the God within you. Just because society created a picture of what the standard for family and community must be doesn’t mean you have to accept it as your truth.
It is simply childish to talk, think, and reason only as others have told you that you must, and at some point, you must decide to grow up, and establish your own significance and identity. Sometimes that means you have to tell people you love “Fuck you!”
