Originally posted on LinkedIn February 3, 2020
Just last week I looked down from my office on the 43rd floor of a looming glass tower. The rush hour traffic was winding its way through the tangle of L.A. freeways. I took one last look around my emptied office and took a photo of the space I was vacating to remind myself of where I had spent so much time for the past decade plus. I was doing important work that was often rewarding and frequently hard, but that I, at the same time, passionately loved.
You urged me to figure out a way to free myself from the sometimes crushing demands of long days and work that often - by my own doing - consumed my weekends, vacations and holidays. The toll of working as though I was on call 24/7 increasingly wore on me until you persuaded me to make a change. I took a leap of faith and proposed a new position with reduced hours that offered me new growth, but that allowed me time to nurture those parts of me that were at risk – my health, my mind and my spirit. I gave those things more attention because of the promise you made to me about my future. I began to revive the personal dreams I had shelved and to actually plan for them. I lived each day more fully and found time to reconnect with family and friends near and far. I focused on doing more of what made me happy and less of what didn’t.
But not everything you held in store for me was happy. My long-time marriage ended, something I neither expected or wanted. Through it all, you beckoned, assuring me you were still there, although sometimes at my back, nudging me forward when I momentarily lost my way. Those who loved me rallied around and you stood steadfast, calling my name.
Now here you are. Arms open wide, you welcome me. I settle into your embrace with happy expectations. You present to me possibilities for which I eagerly prepare. You kept your promise that you would arrive and that not only would I survive, I would thrive.
You were right. Now I have no fear, only hope and confidence in the promise you made to me long ago. I trust you to launch me into every tomorrow. And right now, those tomorrows look very good.
I have moved into a new season that includes coaching those who want to achieve the promise of their tomorrows. Contact me at crburnett2020@gmail.com for more information.

​I got home one day recently just before noon. The last few weeks had been non-stop with a packed calendar of travel, meetings and activities. After putting away my things, I pulled open the drapes in my dining room to expose the light of the warm, sunny day. That’s when I noticed the neighborhood cat languishing on my banister. A striped grey and white pattern from head to toe, I almost didn’t see her lying there, shaded by a large aloe vera bush that framed the ledge. I paused and watched her for a moment as she peacefully slept. I stepped back and studied her from behind the curtain so as not to disturb her. Blissfully unaware of my presence, her long tail was wrapped around her body and her eyes were closed in a restful sleep.

How I envied that cat nap! I thought about the many times when I wanted to take a nap in the middle of the day, but always talked myself out of it. Too much to do, and if I lie down, I know I’m down for the count and I won’t wake up until the next morning. So, no naps for me!

Some time passed and I forgot about my little neighbor spread out on the banister until I walked out to get the mail from my box, adjacent to the ledge. Slowly she opened her eyes and, watching me warily, she didn’t move or budge from her perch. Her eyes followed me to my mailbox and back through my front door. I closed the door softly so I wouldn’t startle her and I peeked through the window to see her eyes still fixed on the door. Then, reassured that I didn’t represent any danger and was really gone, she resumed her nap.

She stayed there for quite a while, lazily changing her position from this way to that, sometimes stretching her entire length, other times curling up in an adorable furry ball with a white tipped paw pressed against her face.

And just as I didn’t see her come, I didn’t see her go. In her absence I thought about her repose and measured it against my own. Am I getting enough rest? Am I able to block out the cares of the world – even when they invade my space and I’m unsure of what they might mean or represent? Am I wise enough to be watchful, but not to let others startle me or disturb my composure?

Two scriptures that I have incorporated into my bedtime prayer are that I lay myself down in peace and safety and sleep, and that I will have peaceful, restful, undisturbed sleep. My feline friend certainly gave me a true picture of that kind of sleep today.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go take a nap!

Today's Scriptures (NKJV):
Psalm 4:8 - I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Proverbs 3:24 - When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

Aretha Franklin, the undeniable Queen of Soul, died today at her Detroit home. Aretha has been part of my life since I was a young girl. When I found myself alone and the only child being raised in my aunt’s home far away from my mother and siblings, I found solace in her music. I spent hours in the downstairs den playing and singing her songs on my 45 records, and pouring over the liner notes written on the cover of her vinyl LPs. Her songs are etched in my musical memory because I learned every chorus, every line, every riff, every twist and turn of her spectacular yet effortless voice. I couldn’t sing like her, but I could certainly sing with her – and sing I did! I even sometimes adopted the soft “s” or “sh” sound that was part of her signature style - can I get a witness? I still hear singers doing that today! Let's not forget that her talent was born and nurtured in her father's church, and to her credit, she never strayed completely away from it. 

She took Carole King’s Natural Woman and Otis Redding’s Respect and turned them on their ear – so much so that I sometimes don’t remember the original versions. Ain’t No Way, Do Right Woman, Dr. Feel Good, Chain of Fools, and so many others were far beyond my years at the time, but still I belted them out with a passion, trying to emulate her unrestrained emotion. Her tasteful piano stylings convinced me that I could play like that, too, and I taught myself how to play Natural Woman and the intro to Don’t Play That Song For Me, still two of my very favorite Aretha Franklin songs.

I saw her in concert at the famed Cow Palace in San Francisco, where she famously called out during a live recording at one show “I discovered Ray Charles!” Charles was in the audience. Even musical geniuses have their musical idols.

Years later after I was living in L.A., I found myself at Aretha’s house with a few singers who worked with her musical director during the period when she was married to Glynn Turman. She wasn’t there – but I was in Aretha’s house and I was living a dream! Though I never met her personally, I walked and sat where she lived, and just that alone was awe inspiring to me.

A feisty persona broke through in many of her songs, especially R-E-S-P-E-C-T, which became an anthem for women everywhere! So I say now, much respect, Aretha Franklin. Your music has inspired and thrilled generations of people – and I’m sure it will continue to do so for many generations to come. Most of all, you nurtured a young girl (me!) at the beginning of my musical journey, and I learned how to sing – really sing – with your music.

Scripture: Proverbs 18:16 (NKJV parentheses added)
A man's (or woman's) gift will make room for him (her) and brings him (her) before great men.

Growing up in the segregated South helped shape who I am today.

I can’t let this day go by without paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated on this day fifty years ago. As a little black girl living in the segregated south, Jim Crow, the flawed idea of separate but equal, was alive and well. “Colored Only” water fountains and restrooms, and restaurants that would not serve “Negroes” were commonplace. I attended segregated schools and  walked past a large brick elementary school  for whites to our little two-room school house for six grades. Later I would walk all the way across town to the  high school for Black children as yellow school buses filled with white children drove past with the kids sometimes shouting the N-word from the windows.  

As a very young girl I had little real understanding about what Martin Luther King was doing, but I knew who he was. After I moved to California as a teenager, I paid more attention and understood the necessity and the importance of the civil rights movement he led and brought to international attention. 

The day that he was killed, I remember getting out of school early and the Black kids spilling into Downtown Berkeley. An elderly white woman was coming down the side steps of a department store as we approached. When she saw us she stumbled back up the steps in fear. I guess she had heard the news. But we had no ill intent toward her. We were caught up in our shock and grief, and stunned by the magnitude of our loss. Our class would ultimately go on to adopt  the graduation theme “I Have A Dream”. I submitted my proposed speech, and although I wasn’t selected as one of the three speakers, I was chosen as the alternate in case someone couldn’t do it. They all did, of course. Nevertheless, my speech crystallized for me the importance of Dr. King to my life and to the life of this nation - and the world. 

Now many years later, I'm doing my part to continue the fight for equity and fairness and inclusion. It has been central to my profession for almost three decades. Even though I love what I do, all these years later it could be disheartening that we have not made more progress. I therefore take comfort in these words from Dr. King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”. 

Thank you, Dr. King, for your lasting legacy. May it continue to inspire and move generations to come.

Long before I acknowledged my calling to music ministry, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a professional singer. My days were filled with scouring the trades and showing up for auditions. One day I learned that Earth, Wind & Fire was looking for three female singers for their Boogie Wonderland tour. It was an open audition, which meant that literally hundreds of women would show up hoping for a chance to tour with the incomparable EWF – and I was determined to be one of them!

The audition process required folks to sign up in advance. I arrived very early because I knew that these kinds of auditions – known as cattle calls – always had long lines. And, if they ran out of time before they got to the end of the line, then the remaining people were just out of luck. Sometimes they even chose to typecast those left by calling in groups, looking at them and dismissing those who didn’t have the look they wanted.

During the long wait, one of the staffers working the auditions befriended me and told me that I had little chance of being selected because they were looking for three women who were already singing together, but that didn’t faze me. When I returned later for the audition, the staffer seemed quite surprised to see me, but I shrugged it off.

The auditions were at A&M Records on La Brea in Hollywood. Members of EWF were assembled in the gym on the lot. When I entered alone, they were horsing around and shooting hoops. They all turned and greeted me with friendly faces. A piano was in their midst. I couldn’t believe I was there. With them. Earth, Wind & Fire…and me!

“What are you going to sing?”

“Be Ever Wonderful”, I replied. “Can you play it?” I asked their keyboard player. Unfortunately I had made the stupid mistake of picking a popular arrangement of the song that was not the EWF version.

“Nope”, he said. Terror struck my heart, but I said confidently, “Then I’ll sing it acapella.” So I did, and they joined in with me. We had a lot of fun, but I wasn’t selected. There would be no EWF tour for me.
Nevertheless, I cherish that memory and I also learned some valuable lessons:

1. Go for it! Don’t let anyone discourage you from pursuing your dream.
2. Be prepared! Make sure you know beforehand what is appropriate for the situation.
3. Stay confident! When it doesn’t go like you expect, give it your best, no matter what.
4. Enjoy the experience! Even if you don’t achieve what you go after this time, use it as a teachable moment for another time and a testimony to share with others.

We all have times when we wish we had done better or been more prepared. Learn from those times. Know that God is faithful and He will use those moments to build on what He has already invested in you.

Today’s scripture: Philippians 1:6 (NKJ)
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.