Why I Love Mississippi....

I'm fortunate enough to travel across the United States through my involvement in the various organizations I'm in. I've been confronted by several people upon finding out I was from Mississippi with various misnomers about Mississippi and what we are like. With all her flaws and faults I still love Mississippi and for one major reason. Pick up your iPod and put it on shuffle or pick up the album closest to you. Chances are unless it's an international artist they are playing a form of music birthed in Mississippi or were influenced by musicians produced by Mississippi. I love when I take road trips, because I know that I always come back to Mississippi and coming back means I pass the Welcome to Mississippi sign. The single best part of that sign? The bottom where it says "Birthplace of America's music". Mississippi hasn't always had the brightest history. We were the epitome of bad race relations for decades upon decades, but the music remained. Thanks to Mississippi the world experienced jazz, rock and roll, and blues. The first official recordings and copyrighting of a song in all 3 forms of music happened in Mississippi. The Negro Spirituals chanted by slaves on the cotton farms of Mississippi gave rise to blues, jazz, and gospel music. At the end of the day if Mississippi has given nothing else to the world we have given the world music. The only thing more diverse than the people here is the music those people have produced. We gave the world Jimmy Buffett, Faith Hill, Bobby Blue Bland, Son House, B.B. King and last but not least Elvis Presley. It is for this reason that through all the tough bumps and bruises I will always love Mississippi.

Words of truth from God through Troy Davis

Creative Loafing over in Atlanta was fortunate enough to have a few question answered in an interview by Troy Davis. The amount of God given truth wrapped up in this interview is both humbling and a testament to the goodness and grace of a living and holy God. The whole interview is available by clicking the link above. Some highlights...


CL: How do you feel?
Troy Davis: " I feel blessed and at peace because God has blessed me through everyone that is fighting for me."

CL: Are you scared?
TD: "No scared of what? I don't fear the devil. God has blessed me through millions of people."

What is justice?

As many of you are probably aware of by now the case of Troy Davis is getting a lot of attention. I find this particularly interesting because of my undergrad in Forensic Science. I love reading about cases. This one is particularly interesting. Now in the interest of full disclosure if anyone is reading this, I am anti death penalty in ALL cases so that should be said. Having said the fact this case has gone this far is an embarrassment. I have a major problem with the Judge presiding over Troy's attempt to get a new case saying that the recantations of witnesses was unreliable but their initial (supposedly coerced) courtroom testimony was in fact reliable. I just can't see how this case has gone this far. The board of Parole spent the better part of the day hearing the testimony of both sides of the argument. While watching a story on the case they interviews the mother of Marc MacPhail the off duty officer killed in the case. She said she just wants justice for the death of her son. This stirred up all sorts of emotions within me. What is justice? Is justice accomplished by sending a man to death when there are serious questions about his guilt or innocence? The fact of the matter is unavoidable. While many people capital punishment kills are guilty invariably there are innocent people wrongly convicted who are executed in a guilty person's stead and it's there I find my comfort. I'm a Christian. It's not a secret or anything that I hide from people i'm pretty vocal about it. I find comfort when my heart hurts over the death of a potentially innocent person by thinking about the greatest example of love I have ever know. Christ died a criminals death in our stead to save us from our own suffering. Christ even says that there is "no greater love than a man lay down his life for a brother". John 15:13 It's things like this that bring me hope. I long for the day when my state and my country kills no one in my name for the sake of justice because I know that the law of averages catches up and eventually they kill an innocent man or woman. I also take solace that like the thief on the cross if someone cries out to God before they are executed that they too will be held in his arms. So the question returns.What is justice or more importantly is it our place or God's to dole out justice?

Some new music

I've spent a lot of time reading and listening to music recently. I wanted to share a few songs via youtube with people who read this blog in case by some slim chance I could expose you to some good new music.

Hold Me: Jamie Grace ft. TobyMac

Remembrance: Matt Redman

Always: Kristian Stanfill

What Love Really Is: JJ Heller

Looking back at roads diverged

Today I received a news update on my phone. The thing is it was from the Mississippi Coast where my family lives. It turns out a man had taken his wife hostage at a local Winn-Dixie. Fortunately no one was hurt from Winn-Dixie or the man's wife but the man shot himself in the chest and eventually died on the operating table. After watching a little football I checked the news website to see if any updated information was available. Turns out I knew the guy. He was two years ahead of me in high school I began to think about how tragic it can be that paths could diverge so differently. It's amazing to me that I knew this particular guy. I graduated from what was at the time the largest high school in the state of Mississippi and it didn't even include ninth grade. I remember him being a pretty decent guy in high school. He didn't seem to make a lot of trouble. It's just so wild to me that someone could come to such a point. I don't really know what was going through his mind or what caused it but I know there are people around the world in the same predicament. Spend some time watching the people around you. Look for people who seem to be going through a tough time. Take the time to offer to walk with them through the tough time or even if need be carry them through it.