The Strength of a Woman: Power, Pain and Liberation
What is it about Mary J. Blige that is amazing? Everything. She is a super star, first class performer, great voice, authentic and transparent. My wife and I love Mary J. Blige and we have been fans since the early days. Mary and her music are simply the best. Her songs tell stories. Stories of pain, power, desire, disappoint, hope, ecstasy, and love. Yes, love. I can’t help but feel Mary is a person filled with love and whenever you see her you really feel like she loves her fans, and we sure do love her back.
The show last night was simply amazing. Mary took us all the way back and brought us up to her new work. The Wolf Creek Amphitheater was packed and we didn’t sit down the entire show. We sang every song, did the Mary J. dance and to put is simply the choir was in the house. While I was there as a true fan and follower I couldn’t take my preacher hat off. There was something spiritual about this gathering of faithful Mary followers.
The band of followers weren’t Mary worshippers but Mary took us to a place of worship. We were in touch with life’s twists and turns, ups and downs and the power of God to get us through what we have gone through. The honesty in Mary’s songs and her re-telling of these stories through song took us to a place of truth. Her telling of her story honestly and transparently meant we felt her. As she shared her pain, her hope and her refusal to give up on life gave us life. She didn’t tell us all is well but she told us all will be well. She let us know we will get through what we are going through because we got through what we went through. She showed us the power of music to minister to us and pull us through the hard times. She also pointed us directly to God as she was clear that it was God and good friends who got her through and continue to get her through.
There is something about Mary J. Blige and her body of work. She is once in a lifetime artist. I am so thankful to God for creating her for this time. To have experienced her and her work has been and continues to be such a blessing. Mary has inspired me to be a better husband, a better pastor, a transparent/authentic story teller and to not be afraid of sharing my story because in sharing others are liberated with me. Mary, “Thanks for being a model for me, for putting on a great show that did more than entertain. Thanks for the liberative work you do to set us free to be free and get through this thing called life!” What does Mary mean to you? How has she or other artists spoken to your life?
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