Madea's Wisdom

"The person you will be ten years from now is largely determined by the friends you keep and the books you read today." Unknown

I think I'm in some real trouble. (Just kidding . . . )

My favorite books are anything by C.S. Lewis, the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks (except for the Knight Series, just can't dive into that series for some reason), the Artemis Fowl chronicles, (yes, I realize that most of the books listed above are for young adults but I'll bet you'd enjoy them too.) and all types of biographies, history, christian wisdom, and detective stories.

As for my choice of friends I feel I'm faring much better in this realm. I have friends that I can tell my darkest secrets and not feel judged or condemned. I am blessed that I have friends that if I needed them any time of the day or night I could call and they would make time for me. Friends that are know how to have fun but also run deep. I try to be this kind of friend to them also though I'm pretty sure that they far surpass me in these areas.

Play-Doh

I have to confess that I'm experiencing a bad case of daughter withdrawals. My 5 year old child is visiting my parents and it has been over a week since her departure. From all accounts she is handling it better than I am.

Independence is a trait that I used to value more highly than I presently do. Being confident in who you are and carving out your own trail is the American way. Yet, to watch independence burst forth in your own child has turned out to be a whole different matter. 

At the age of 3 my daughter was already comfortable spending days without Mom and Dad while visiting my parents who live over 600 miles away. Last year she was gone for over 23 days during one of these visits before I finally jumped in my car and made the long trip to retrieve my beautiful daughter.

"Why are you picking me up so soon Daddy?" was the loving reply I was met with.

Driving In Memphis

I spent a few hours in Memphis, TN this week and was moved by a couple of the places I visited. One was the Stax Studio Museum and the other was the Lorraine Motel. This blog post will be focusing on the famous Stax Studio. Stax's artists have been well known to me but I didn't realize the diversity of talent that lived around this Memphis neighborhood. Aretha Franklin, Maurice White, David Porter, Memphis Slim, Booker T, Steve Cropper, Donald Dunn, Johnnie Taylor, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and Issac Hayes just to mention a few.

The Stax Museum has an excellent documentary that showcases some of the artists and the great music that was recorded there. The house band that played on most of the Stax tracks was the group that was also known as Booker T and the MG's. The studio later fell into bankruptcy and was torn down. They have re-built the Stax museum on the same location and even built a reproduction of the studio, complete with sloping floor. Some of the sound equipment in the original studio used to be the sound system for the movie theater that occupied the building before it became Stax's.

The Biggest Rock

We would probably all agree that one of the most troubling facets of the current Middle East situation is the very real possibility that the violence will escalate. In a part of the world that reaches for weapons before striving for diplomacy, peace has lost its hopefulness. There are little moments of compassion but a massive renewal of hatred. Even the weakest part of society, little children, are not protected in this conflict. In fact, they are being used as pawns without apparent guilt.

Might is the only path that many nations travel and saving face and honor is a primary motivation. History shows us that nations that rely on aggression and violence rarely maintain peace at home. When civilizations trade the Christian beliefs of "love your neighbor as you love yourself" for the "eye for an eye" philosophy we have fallen off the right path.