Blistered by the prophet...

I sang at Journey this morning. I don't sing very often. There are several reasons for that...one, we have a ton of talented, gifted musicians and singers who grace us with their musical gifts. Two, I'm not one of the afore-mentioned group. I'm not trying to be pseudo-humble or self-deprecating...I just happen to be very clear about what my talents are and are not...I'm a below average guitar player with an average voice. That's just the facts...anyway, I digress... it was a day when we talked about our community's commitment to the poor, and those in need in Austin and around the world. It was very beautiful...Cathy from Project HELP who works with helping kids and families who are homeless find resources to get them through, talked about her job and how Journey folks have helped in that over the last three+ years. Alan the founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes was there and Heather from CASA. Because part of my job and my privilege is to work with the team from Journey that decides how to best use our resources to support ministries and agencies like this both with money and people power, I was asked to sing. I sang the Derek Webb song "This Too Shall Be Made Right" (see the video above this post). Well, I sorta sang the song...Actually I sang 4 of the 5 verses to the song, which were dead on in our faces as a community as we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus in helping make some of these things right. The reason I left out a verse was that I didn't have the cajones to sing verse 4. It echoes and paraphrases the words of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes by saying "there is a time for peace and a time for war...a time to forgive and a time to settle the score...a time for babies to lose their lives...a time for hunger and genocide...and this too shall be made right". I think I understand what Derek is going for. That is always a dangerous thing when listening to a lyric...assuming you know what was going on in the head of the writer. I guess that is true for most poetry and sermons too, but I just couldn't sing it... especially the part about a time for babies to lose their lives. I know that babies lose their lives...and children, and teenagers, and adults...but I couldn't sing it. My friends Scott and Sarah are staring down the gun barrel of precious weeks and months left with their beautiful two year old Thomas who has cancer. I can't sing it... I don't want to sing that there are times for war and times for hunger and genocide either...Maybe I'm a coward... but I'm not gonna sing it...not as long as we have the power to work to change it...and I think with God's help and a willingness to sacrifice and commit resources to not only the symptoms, but the root causes there will be hope that "Thy kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven" will be not just a line from a recited prayer, but a reality...

Now THAT I can sing...

Pling...Pling...

dg

I Really Do Kinda Like These Guys...

Friday I was at the Warehouse most of the day getting ready for a show that night with Grace Pettis and her band opening for San Francisco band, The Cobalt Season. Ryan and Holly Sharp are the very cool husband/wife team that comprise the heart and soul of this wonderful band (TCS), who have been traveling (along with their adorable 13 month old, Paxton) all over the US in their Prius for the last two months singing and doing shows. We were waiting for the Sharps and Grace to arrive for sound check, as well as helping four of our friends display their photography that would be available for folks to view during the show. As it turns out I missed a cell call from Ryan because they had rolled into town and to the home of our mutual friends, the Carltons. Ryan left a message saying that they were making some plan changes and wanted to get some feedback on that...but that was the last half of Ryan's message. Here's the first... "Hey David, this is Ryan from The Cobalt Season, and I was just online reading your blog right now, and was noticing that on the right side of the page under the heading of 'Bands/Musicians That I Kinda Like...' we're not listed. And frankly, it kinda breaks my heart because I see that you have The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Imogen, Sufjan, and even Grace, but no Cobalt...soooooo..if you could take care of that before the show tonight, I would appreciate it." Of course I laughed, and had to replay the message because I was laughing so hard I missed the end of the message which was the part I was supposed to really be acting on. The show opened well as Grace Pettis in her first show playing with a band was delightful, featuring her voice and songwriting, as well as shaking off the first-show-jitters. Then Ryan and Holly came on with video streaming across the front of the room. Ryan has an old school Dylan/Prine/Guthrie-esque talking/sing flow to his art, but it was derailed early by cable/pedal problems. Unfazed, Ryan unplugged, came down to the front of the room asked everyone to pull their chairs up close, and begin to do the show unplugged...I mean really unplugged...no mikes, no direct box, no eq or reverb, just he and Holly singing and talking. It was fascinating because everyone leaned in to hear the lyrics and strained to hear his startlingly honest and open struggles as a human being and a person trying to make a difference in the world. At one one he paused and observed that he thought someone might need to say something and he wanted to give the opportunity...there were a few playful comments from the audience, but it was a rare move by an artists to communicate that there is more going on at a concert than what is going on up on stage. At one point he confessed his struggles with feeling like the only way of living is that of peaceful non-violence, and that individuals and nations can always get along if they try...then he confessed his feelings of hypocrisy over not being able to have that kind of relationship with his own brother. After he sung a song written for his brother, someone from the audience asked why he couldn't just say to his brother what he has spoken to us...It was that kind of night. I couldn't help feeling that I had been a participant in something very very special...and I'm not even sure exactly what it was.

This morning in worship Dave Madden, Brandon and Harmony sang, "Lean on Me", "Now the Day Is Over" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Some Journey folks shared gut-level stories of the silence of God in the face of pain, suffering and honest questions. Then we watched REM's "Everybody Hurts" video and prayed and went home. I felt the very same way...I felt like i was in the middle of something very special...and I was. You know I feel sorry for those people who spend their lives trying to figure God out...Heck the fun of the faith is just trying to keep up... and go unplugged when the wires and pedals go freaky. And though it is probably a dubious honor, at best...Ryan, you made the list...traveling mercies to you, Holly and little Pax...

Pling...Pling...

dg