Tag: Spiritual Warfare

Three Letters (The Early Years Series)

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness,a light will shine. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod- Isaiah 9:1, 2, and 4.

I dropped my letters.

Oh no she didn’t?!

Yup, as of February 2008, I am no longer considered to be an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. And I know that may come as a shock for the people who know me (or knew the old me) and how badly I wanted to become a part of the organization. No more holdin’ my pinky high; no more, “Hey Soror”. No more knowing the Greek alphabet backwards and forwards and other pointless Greek information. No more sorority calls, chants, hymns, license plates, key chains, paddles, or ‘nalia… 

It’s over.

I’m writing this one because I feel like I need to. I’m writing this one for my brothers and sisters who claim Christ and went or are thinking about going Greek.

When I first began to think about college I had this idea of who I wanted to become. I wanted to be this successful, sassy, sophisticated, mover and shaker in society. I wanted to be a teacher and wanted to help others. So when I started going on college tours and going away for college summer programs I found out about BGLO’s and the images they appeared to uphold. AKA was the particular organization that caught my interest because the young women I met (on that campus at that time, lol) represented who I thought I was and wanted to become. The fact that they sported my favorite color- pink holla, lol- was like icing on the cake. So I kept my eye on anything AKA until I graduated high school.

I got accepted to my college of choice, Virginia Union, and went for a freshman orientation in May ’00. The AKA’s put on a show that was better than the rest of the other organizations, taking my interest to the next level. They expressed interests similar to my own-education, community service, sisterhood, etc-so I was hooked…

God’s plan took over from this point.

Ironically enough my freshman year GPA was on point so I could have expressed interest, attended a rush, got cool with a couple more AKA’s (the one I was cool with graduated the semester before I came to the school). I could have pledged. But for some reason freshman year that chapter was suspended until further notice and the organization was placed on a Moratorium due to hazing incidents. So AKA was out for me until further notice.

God brought me back to Philly May ’02. I really didn’t want to finish college because I was still mad I was back in Philly, lol. I wound up at Cheyney Spring ’03, still fiending to become an AKA lady. The sorority finally got off the moratorium, but I couldn’t pledge anything without at least 30 credits because I was a transfer student. There was an interest meeting held fall ’03, but no line crossed. So when another flyer went up for a rush-WHAT, lol! I was TOO hype! I was really believing that God held up the process just for me (sounding like a true AKA, lol). I was scramblin’ to get ready. Attended the rush, waited, got the acceptance letter (we all got the letter-take that how you want to, lol) and went crazy. I wasn’t feeling this process, but I feel like I waited so long and wanted it so bad and hey, something was better than nothing. 

I attended the first set of meetings before the official process and was like so this is it, huh, lol. I ain’t know them-they ain’t know me, but by the end of this weekend we were supposed to be sisters. Anyway, I went away for the process but something didn’t feel right. I was uncomfortable the whole weekend and couldn’t figure out why so I tried to ignore the feelings and hype myself up. I mean AKA was just a few days away. Tried to participate, learned some steps, watched my LS’s party walk, but I couldn’t get hype enough. That crazy desire I had wouldn’t come back.

The official ceremony ritual day came and the feeling I had was even stronger. The rituals in themselves raised some questions and didn’t feel right. All the bowing and pledging my life away didn’t feel right. We were given the opportunity to stop and leave several times if we didn’t agree with the process. Each time I got more and more uncomfortable but my walk with God wasn’t strong enough to get me out of that room and I still wanted what I paid for. I had invested too much by that point so it was a now or never type situation. Spring ‘04 I got my twenty pearls and still wasn’t hype! 

I tried to fit in. I really did ya’ll. I thought the desire left because I didn’t get the process I wanted where I wanted it with my girls. I mean in freshman year we used to make up crazy party walks and practice puttin’ up our pinkies and doing the call! This was supposed to be fun, lol! I was getting mad with myself because I thought something was wrong with me! So I tried harder to look past the non-sense and confusion in the name of sisterhood. I didn’t feel comfortable party walking- for what I barely felt comfortable at the parties, so when I wasn’t working the door I went home on the weekends we had events. The sisterhood didn’t feel real to me. I would run into other “sorors” off campus and they were either trying to hide the fact they belonged to the organization or heard about my line and didn’t want to be bothered-another story in itself, lol. I didn’t think our grad chapter leadership was that hot so I started to pull away-slowly. I attended functions less and less and slowed down with them chapter meetings. 

So February ’08 comes and I’m reading this book on prayer and spiritual warfare. I came to this section on people who were formerly involved in practices of the occult and how God delivered them. It talked about how just having any forms of idolatry and witchcraft in their homes affected their overall well being, prayer life, family life, etc.  Several scriptures were mentioned in the book so I began to pray that God would reveal anything in my life he wasn’t pleased with. I know I used to read horoscopes occasionally but that had stopped a while ago so that couldn’t have been an issue. Before I finished praying God began to say, “I want the paddle, the paraphernalia, pins, the Ode to AKA, the stuff on your car…”. Everything I owned with them three letters came to my mind in a vision. 

That Sunday night it all went out for trash.

All BGLO’s claim to be founded on ‘Christian principles”; however all BGLO”S promote activities and mindsets that are driven by the spirit of the Anti-Christ. The Bible states that we should, “test everything that is said; hold on to what is good and stay away from every kind of evil”- I Thessalonians 5:21-22. These organizations are base on Greek mythology and gods that symbolize what the organization is supposed to stand for. AKA is Atlas who supposedly represents the strength of the organization and Themis the supposed goddess of justice. Delta is Minerva for wisdom. Alpha has the Sphinx, the gods of the Egyptians. Kappa’s have Apollo; Sigma’s consider themselves to have a spiritual fellowship with gods and goddesses led by Zeus. Omegas align themselves with the “forces of Omega”. Alpha’s, Zeta’s, SGRho’s, Omega’s and Iota’s all claim to be the true lights of the world. All of these organizations have some form of rituals that involve kneeling, pledging your heart, soul, mind and service, all while tapping into and singing hymns to the spirit of the organization. I know for AKA I pledged my heart mind and strength to foster its teachings and to obey its laws. Service to AKA was to be supreme. Extreme loyalty and secrecy was a must, no matter how crazy the stuff being kept a secret was. They encourage marking your body for the organization in the form of branding and tattoos-usually proof of ownership and dedication. People dedicate whole rooms in their houses as shrines for paraphernalia. You pay tithes (oops, my bad I mean dues, lol. They want more than a tenth, lol). You don’t even realize how brain washed you became, even after most of your personal items and your closet are full of the organizations colors, lol!

God’s word clearly stands against idolatry of any kind. It stands against being involved in anything that looks like you are putting something before him or in his place. The Bible clearly stands against drunkenness, wild parties, immorality, fornication, exclusivity and secrecy. II Corinthians 6:17 admonishes us that we should “come out from among and be separate” from such activities. You can’t possibly claim Christ is Lord of your life and heart if you pledged it away along with your soul, mind, and service to some organization.

Post–pledging is pointless, ya’ll. 

I had already been initiated into his Kingdom by the Blood of his Son.

Some will interpret this as bitterness or a bad taste towards AKA or BGLO’s because things didn’t go the way I wanted them to. However I believe that if God had allowed things to go my way he still would have called me out of it.

I believe he wants to call you out too.

If you belong to a BGLO, OES, Mason’s, or any other Greek letter organization I ask that you examine the practices of your organization. Then I ask that you examine it thoroughly by the Word of God. If you already have questions or concerns, pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and show you what to do. A lot of the practices of these organizations appear helpful and innocent, but unfortunately the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions.

Don’t be afraid to take a stand.

The Alpha and Omega has your back.