Be Present (live from Catalyst Atlanta)

Lyrics

[Spoken Word: Propaganda] So I tend to think of life in terms of movie clips, or tweetable moments Somehow I've convinced myself they last longer that way And my wife proved wrong when she referred to my phone as my black wife Now I thought it was funny, I mean we both giggled, now single men take notes Now I'm no expert, but I don't think she was kidding She talked about some other stuff which I really don't remember I was too busy in my head composing a Tweet where I would quote her with some sort of clever hashtag About marriage and about how much I love her To be paying attention to her at that moment I think what snapped me back in was the silence which Indicated I was supposed to have some sort of response to whatever she was talking about I told my father that story in hopes to get a little sympathy My father, Civil rights and Vietnam war vet Hopelessly charming On his fourth marriage, Father And rather than the customary nod that men give each other when they understand, he Proceeded to tell me why He failed as my mothers husband He said it was the same reason half of his platoon died in Vietnam And the same reason you are deathly afraid of your daughter becoming a teenager Son, you can't hear past the explosions, either the ones that already happened or the ones You anticipate See the former, paralyzes Living life in a rear view mirror driving full speed across traffic into the center divider So shell shocked you too stupid to duck when bullets are flying Or the latter Your life a game of capture the flag So focused on the finish line, you stepped right on a land mine So ready to attack the day Frustrated 'cause you can't find your keys Focused on the meetings you finna miss And the traffic you finna sit in to realize you been holding your keys the whole time Slow down You've been hypnotized by the possibility Son, I couldn't hear past the bombs The first one didn't kill me and the second one ain't even happened Yet it ended our family He told me a love story Of a woman born before him He said but I knew her before and at the moment of conception There was an eternal connection And although I didn't know it then, I'd fight for her affection It's this war we been waging since day one of creation And only when you lose her do you learn to appreciate her Like even when I'm with her, I'm itching to get rid of her And she only gives you one shot, blow it and she's gone And I took advantage of her That's why I'm telling you this Son, you can't rush her or slow her down You better keep her on your side She will slip through your fingers Like sand Her name is Time And she told me a secret She said multitasking is a myth you ain't doin' anything good just everything awful And she begged me to stop stretching her thin and stuffing her full, and stop being so concerned With the old her and future her, but love her now Her presence is God's present, and you should be that, huh, present So I guess you could say Well I guess I could say I've been through a divorce now Me and my phone are no longer married I think I'm ready to be here now