Just Like You, Daddy!

I was dropping my youngest son off at school the other day when the Music Teacher came up to me. She told me that my son had announced that he was going to be a musician just like his dad. At first, I must admit, I was very touched and full of love for my little boy – how cool that he wanted be like me!

The incident stuck with me through the rest of that day and kept cropping up in my mind… but as the day went on, it lost some of its shimmer. After a hasty, snarky comment I remembered it… after I let my thoughts wander, I remembered it… after I wasted some effort on unproductive activities, I remembered it… how much of ‘me’ do I really want my boys to imitate? And for that matter, what parts of ‘me’ are making the biggest impact on them?

The apostle Paul put it this way, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9) He doesn’t stop at the official press release… not just what you have learned about me on my web site where I can control how I appear… he includes it all… what you have learned from me, received from me, heard from me (the controllable factors) as well as what you have seen in me (the uncontrollable). In other words, balance what I say (in the guarded moments) with how I act (in the unguarded moments) and the sum of that shows you who and what I really believe.

I have often heard it said that people will see the real you whether you want them to or not. No matter how hard we try to whitewash the outside, patch up the cracks and smooth the sharp edges, eventually our real selves will be seen. This, I think, is true for everyone regardless of race, gender or philosophy. But, as a Christian, this takes on a deeper meaning… when we are honest about our faith, we want others to see not just us, but Jesus sanctifying us by His presence in us. And what critics of our Faith often bring up is the way we blur that. What they see is not Jesus in us, but rather us standing in front of Him and using faith as a tool to get something.

So, back to my son and his comment… knowing that he will see the real me and have to reconcile that with the ‘web site’ me… I want to actually become the man that is worth imitating. I want to become the man after God’s own heart, as David was described. I want the me inside to match the me outside and know that both inside and out, I am being sanctified by His presence.

Just Start…

This blog entry was started in the mid 80’s… 86 or 87, somewhere around there… in a meeting room of the Forum (the student union building) at Grinnell College… I don’t remember the guy’s name, he was the friend of a friend who had come to our guys Bible study that day, but he was in a world of hurt over a girl he loved but had lost due to some bad choices on his part. He made a point of telling us that he wasn’t normally ‘religious’ but in his anguish he had pulled out his Bible and come across one of the episodes in Elijah’s life… 19th chapter of 1 Kings… Elijah is on the run from Jezebel, who has vowed to kill him, and he is finally worn out and drops in the desert and cries out to die.. God sends an angel to his side and… this is the part that had lit this guy’s eyes up… the angel said only “Get up and eat.” (1 Kings 19:5) I remember thinking that this was pretty mundane as far as pronouncements from angels go but this guy was fired up about it. Apparently, he had been pretty much lying in the dark for a couple of days, just hoping to fade away, when these angel’s words spoke to him… get up… eat something… life goes on, continue living, get up, eat something, just start…

How many times have I had a dream or a plan or a New Years Resolution or a goal but decided that I could never achieve it, so I quit before I really even started? From the starting line, the finish looks so far away… and for some reason, I always feel that I must start the race by finishing it, does that make sense? But you can’t finish the race without taking those first steps… you can’t finish until you start…

If I am daunted by the economy and how the income looks, I can be overwhelmed with the need to book 120 gigs for the coming year. But to book 120, I start at 1. I can be daunted when I am considering a new CD project, the songs needed, the budget required, etc… but a finished CD starts with me picking up a guitar tonight. My sons can be freaked out when facing the looming years of Jr Hi, Sr Hi, College and possibly grad school beyond that… but that all starts with school on Monday. A long lasting marriage is a huge goal, but it starts with a kind word and servant’s heart towards my wife today. A life lived in the shadow of Christ isn’t necessarily attainable by lunch time, but it starts with a choice to act like Jesus now. Just start…

Regardless of what the car commercials say about 0 to 60, people can’t live that way. We don’t go from start to finish that fast. Whatever the trials you face, whatever the goals you are looking at, whatever the road you are walking… you don’t begin at the finish line. Maybe you are in the middle of the darkness, you have lost a loved one, or given something up that you never should have treated carelessly, maybe like Elijah you are at the end of your rope… remember the words of the angel “Get up and eat”… To finish the race, the first thing you must do is just start…

Out-of-Touch or Old Code?

I often have the following conversation:

Them: What do you do?
Me: I’m a musician.
Them: Oh! That’s cool! What kind of music do you play?
Me: Christian rock…
Them: oh… that’s… interesting. Hm.

Often, at this point, the person gets a somewhat glassy-eyed look and tries to figure out a way to disentangle themselves from the conversation.

On occasion I have even been told outright that as a Christian I am just simply out of touch with reality, with the real world, with our very modern and enlightened world. And truth be told, there are probably many more who think it but are too polite to voice it. Out of touch… Hmm… I wonder…

Anyone remember the movie ‘Dragonheart’? I loved that movie, the fantasy of it, the adventure, the voice of Sean Connery as Draco the dragon… there is a moment in the movie when Dennis Quaid, as the hero Bowen, tells the young prince Einon that they are knights of the Old Code and strives to impress upon the boy those ideals. As the movie progresses we discover that Einon is not interested in the Old Code at all and they have, in essence, the conversation I started this post with. Bowen is old fashioned, Bowen is foolish, Bowen is naive and simple minded, that both Bowen and the Old Code are out of touch… the conclusion of the movie, in part, centers on Bowen’s personal struggle to answer this accusation.

I am also reminded of the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia, “The Silver Chair”, by CS Lewis. Again we have a young prince, this time taken prisoner by an evil sorceress who hopes to use him to ensnare the land of Narnia. Puddleglum, a marshwiggle, acts as a guide and protector for the two English children that Aslan has called to rescue the prince. At a crucial point, the heroes are facing down the villains in their underground kingdom, with the fate of the Prince and Narnia in the balance, and the sorceress tells them that all of their talk of Narnia and Aslan are just fanciful dreams that children create based on the ‘real world’ around them… for example, their comments about a ’sun’ in the sky are just dreams that are based on the light in the corner of the room… the sun is fantasy while the light in the corner is the reality… Puddleglum, when faced with this accusation tells the sorceress,

“One word, Ma’am, one word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.”

Reminds me of three Hebrews about to be thrown into a furnace by a king who tried to get them to deny their God… they said “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

Out of touch… babies playing games… unable to function in a modern, enlightened society…  no, I reject those characterizations outright. As a Christ follower I am a believer in a very old Code. And if faith, love, kindness, purity, integrity, self sacrifice, and Christ on the Cross are just the musings of the weak and foolish then I, along with Bowen, Puddleglum, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and 2,000 years worth of believers who loved their lives less than their Lord say proudly, “I’m on Jesus’ side even if there isn’t any Jesus to lead it. I’m going to live as like a citizen of Heaven as I can even if there isn’t any Heaven.”

Out of touch? No way, I’m Old Code.

Quest For Love?

I love the idea of quests. They intrigue me, they call to me.

I am drawn to them in stories – whether in the legends of King Arthur; the worlds of Tolkien, Lewis, and others; or even in the gritty back alleys of espionage tales.

I enjoy them in games – I am a paladin on the Adventure Quest website – and can recall vividly employing a long stick as a sword questing down the creek near my grandmother’s house as I imagined the feeling of seeking glory, death or victory last stands and snatching life from the jaws of death on the battlefield.

I have even experienced them (to a point) in real life… the adventure of making a living as a musician (even naming my first record company QUEST Records…), the undertaking of training for a black belt in karate, but most pointedly in the area of finding love. The quest for love. Apropos in February, no?

In a couple of weeks I will be at a Jr Hi Retreat and the theme is love and I am once again drawn to the quest for love. Pictures and memories flit through my mind as I recall the many attempts I have made in this area, mostly comical, some sweet, and even one successful. Discovering that when I completed what I thought was the quest for love, and I got the girl, then the real quest for love began – to make and live a life together. I even recorded a CD about that quest (insert shameless plug for Everyday With You here…) As I prepare for this retreat I am struck by a thought… our many quests for love are actually glimpses into Love’s quest for us.

One more quest before I close… the Magi… they went on a long journey following a star, informed by prophecy and travelling (according to scholars) some 2 years looking for the newborn King of the Jews. All by itself, it is a fantastic tale… and yet, there is a larger story here. The very King they sought was, in reality, looking for them first. That newborn King of the Jews was the same one who first caused the Star of Bethlehem to rise, who in ages past had given the prophecies they learned, who said (in essence) “This quest you are on to find me is an illustration of the larger quest I am on to find you.”

So seek love, quest after dreams, and realize that you, yourself, are the treasure sought by the King, Himself.

The Deeper Mysteries and Intrigue of Christmas

Thanksgiving is over and we are diving into the season of Advent and ultimately Christmas… and as the song says, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! But, maybe not for the reasons that first come to mind… **SPOILER ALERT** If you are a devotee of Santa Claus, don’t read any further as this article contains spoilers!

Don’t get me wrong, I did the whole Santa thing as a kid, loved it, believed it, and survived it when I found out that the jolly old elf was really my mom and dad. It was actually more nerve wracking for me as a parent… do I perpetrate as truth something I know is not? Does it somehow wreck Christmas if I don’t? What if my kids, upon finding out the truth about SC, look suspiciously upon everything I have told them? Especially when it comes to the truth of Christ…

I remember the transition I went through as a kid… and as I recall, after that initial shock, I was fascinated by what I discovered Christmas was REALLY about. I loved the FAO Schwartz toy catalog and all, but the deeper mysteries and intrigue of the first Christmas completely outstripped the glitz of a polar toy maker. It was the difference between candy and steak; one tantalizes and the other satisfies.

What was that first Christmas really? It was the moment when prophecy from years past came true… when the God who is behind all of the universe injected Himself into our story in a real and physical way… it was the ultimate undercover spy operation, the King Himself taking on the guise of a human baby to grow up behind enemy lines and by the ultimate act of self sacrifice, opening a way of escape for all of us… it was the moment in history when angels looked on in awe as God took on the form of lowly humanity and placed Himself on the path to the Cross; it was the moment when Mary and Joseph must have wondered what they had gotten themselves into; it was the start of a two year quest as wise men sought to find the reason for the Star; it was a happening that has fired human imagination ever since in the form of stories, songs, traditions and continual remembrance; it was the birth of the Messiah who would later capture the heart of a third century man by the name of Nicholas…

That first Christmas really was earth shattering… it was the first move in what would become the pivotal moment in all of human history. Regardless of what you believe about Jesus, there is no denying that He is the central figure in our drama… eastern and western, male and female, believer and unbeliever. So… Merry Christmas and God bless us, everyone!

Jewell’s Theme

Jewell’s Theme is a song off of my instrumental CD, TAKE IT IN, and actually has no lyrics in it (sort of circumventing the category this blog entry is in…) However, I am reminded of the song today and wanted to address it here…

Yesterday, I was asked to take part in the funeral of a person in my town. I didn’t know the person but their family has heard me sing in church and asked that I sing their mother’s favorite hymn at the service. It reminded me of my own Grandmother’s passing. Jewell Ames passed away on September 10, 2001 and due to the terrorist attacks of the next day, most of our family was unable to get to her funeral. My Mother sent me a copy of the service and included in that letter a copy of my Grandmother’s favorite hymn… I Would Be True. I will be honest, I had no idea my Grandmother had a favorite hymn nor was I familiar with the hymn itself, but in the back of my mind I knew it would find its way onto my guitar some time.

When the Take It In CD was being recorded, I found the copy of I Would Be True again and decided to use it somehow. So, I started with the chord progression for the hymn. At first I wondered about doing sort of a Pachabel’s Canon type of treatment, stating the actual melody of the hymn and then with each repetition adding and accentuating the structure until it became something altogether different by the end. That would also keep the hymn like structure of the repeating verse form minus chorus and bridge. I never got far with that idea… just not as inventive as Pachabel, I’m afraid… what I did finally do was to take the IWBT chord progression and create a new melody over it. As I did that, I also added a few other chords here and there as well as a chorus. The hymn itself comes back as the bridge before crescendoing into a final chorus.

I had one other element that I wanted to use in this piece, a banjo-ukulele that belonged to my Grandmother. I had originally thought about making it one of the rhythm instruments on her song, but keeping the thing tune proved quite an adventure and not particularly doable. However, I tracked the banjo-uke playing the chords and melody of the hymn, added a sample of an old vinyl record spinning complete with scratches and, voila, I had what sounds like an old 78 of my Grandmother’s favorite hymn as a prelude to the song written for her based on that same hymn.

The Banjo-Ukulele!!

The maple resonator door

Signatures and Doodles on the Head

The ’snake shaped’ Peghead

Vindictive Trees

I was watching the DVD of The Two Towers last night and was struck by the scene in which Treebeard the Ent is discussing the hearts of trees with Merry and Pippin. He is telling them that the hearts of many trees are filled with anger due to the mistreatment they have suffered. Angry trees… hrum…

At my house the leaves were a little late in turning and slower in falling but I think the trees in my yard are among Treebeard’s angry trees… or if not angry, at least a little vindictive. Over the last month I have raked my yard on three occasions. And after each occasion the trees look down on the job I have done, snicker, and then let loose with another load of leaves. After the third raking, the trees let go all that they were holding back. No problem, one more raking session should take care of it. But then the rain came… and it rained and rained and then this weekend the snows came…

So thanks to vindictive trees, I took part today in a Central New York tradition… the combined final raking of leaves and first snow shoveling of the year all rolled into one. Hrum…

A New Work Ethic

OK, I titled this “a NEW work ethic”… but honestly, is anything new? Solomon certainly thought not (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and I am sure this is not universally new, but it is new to me.

As a self employed musician making a go of his art in a full time capacity, I have often struggled to marry the requirements of business with the temperament of art, not always with great success. And in the current economy where something like music might seem ‘expendable’, not something to put money into at the moment, I am having to do things in new ways and more out of the box. So, as I was pondering where to go next, having a bit of a staff meeting with myself, I came upon this thought… the best way for me to be successful (from a business point of view), the best way for me to be profitable (from a ‘make-a-living’ point of view) is encapsulated in one discipline: Make One More Call.

No matter how the day is going, Make One More Call. If booking is horrible and I can’t buy a call back – Make One More Call. If I just had a great conversation and landed a gig – Make One More Call. If I am seriously wondering whether I should be doing this at all – Make One More Call. When friends and peers question my sanity – Make One More Call. No matter what the moment has brought – Make One More Call.

And this can spread through so much of life, not just business… if I am struggling in my faith – Pray One More Prayer; if I am drowning in sadness – Breathe One More Breath; if I am losing hope – Do One More Act of Kindness; if my kids are driving me to distraction – Give Them One More Hug.

It is simple, but I am loving the implications… Make One More Call!

Without The Bells And Whistles…

Last week I was doing a quick tour swing through New Jersey and played two engagements without my usual gear. Folks who have seen me in concert know that I play acoustic guitar through a few effects on the floor and a looping pedal. These bells and whistles allow me to record on the fly, mimic the sounds of other instruments and generally expand the usual palette of simple guitar and voice.

I travelled for years as a part of a four piece band and then as a solo artist with synths, drum machines, sequencers and guitars. I was reluctant to give up all those toys back in the 90’s to move to a more organic sound, but I did. Since going totally acoustic, I have relied on the effects and looping pedal to keep the concert experience interesting for me as a musician and for the audience, as well. And, I will admit, I have become quite beholden to them. My wife calls them my ’security blanket’ and this weekend put that theory to the test.

I was playing for a small intimate worship service where the sound system required to use my effects and looper would have seriously intruded on the moment, so it was just me and my Breedlove… no bells and whistles. As I realized this was how the evening was going to go, I must admit I wondered how I could pull it off without my ‘bag of tricks’. But as I started singing the songs, in essence unplugging my already unplugged sound, it was wonderful to remember that the songs are really good. To remember that it is just plain fun to play and sing. To reconnect with the moments of grace and faith and God that birthed these songs. All before the bells and whistles got added to them…

No, I am not getting rid of the looper and the other effects, they are great tools and fun to play with; but I may seek out more opportunities to play without the bells and whistles…

More ‘Old Man’ Sightings…

People who have seen me at camps have heard me mention it. Folks who have followed this blog have read the occasional posting about it. And thanks to the Apostle John, I am thinking about it again this week…

What, you may ask? The answer to that is the ‘old man’ character of fantasy novels. Let me quote myself from an earlier blog posting, “Think about it, you have Gandalf, Merlin, Zeddicus, Obi Wan, the Old Professor, and Dumbledore just to name a few. What is it about the ‘old man’ character that provides a prominent place in so many books? They seem to exist to provide stability and direction in many stories; they often are the paragon of whatever virtue is being espoused in the plot line; they are trustworthy and even though they are not always understandable, they come through in the end. They aren’t necessarily the flashiest or the strongest, but they are comfortingly consistent. I think that this character is often times my favorite.”

I have, for the last several weeks, been reading the writings of John in the New Testament. He stands apart from the other Apostles as having been the only one not to die a violent death; in other words, to grow to a ripe old age, to become one of the ‘old men’ characters of our faith. And because of that, I feel drawn to him and his example, and I am struck by words from his First Letter, “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2: 5b,6)

It seems like the modern world has placed the emphasis on producing, on getting, on moving up. Even in the church we often talk about numbers and accomplishments and programs. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with any of that, there is a subtle danger as if the proof of our faith depended on the outward trappings. John states simply that the proof is our lives themselves, lived after the fashion of Christ. Regardless of prosperity, regardless of who is in the White House, regardless of health, regardless of good times or bad… we are to live like Jesus. Knowing that our lives are to model He who is unchanging, should give us comfort in an ever changing world.