December 2005 - Posts
Well, I guess after my last post it was time to test the kindness of Phil. The day started out all wrong. I spent two hours working this morning on a project that someone called me and told me I didn't need to do because someone else was handling it. One thing after another. Then my girls who were on a shopping road trip called me from the other side of Springfield to describe what was obviously transmission failure $$$$. We made the hour and a half trip to pick them up. I spent a lot of the time on the cell phone on the way taking care of things at work and arranging the tow to a tranny shop that a friend in Springfield suggested. My daughters had a sense of humor about it (more than I did). They called a friend on the way back and told them that they ran into a little trouble and were picked up by the state patrol, which was technically true. The trooper took them to a McDonalds to wait for us a few miles down the road. Nice Guy. He even checked the transmission fluid for me and told me what it was like over the phone. I began to calm down when everything was taken care of and we stopped at a pizza place and then the Mud House (coffee shop) in Springfield. You have to make the best of a bad situation. We just got home and stopped by the mailbox to pick up the mail. A little postcard in the mail told me the rebate I was waiting on was lacking in the UPC code I so maticulously attached to the rebate form and double checked . Of course when I got online to check on it my trusty internet service kicked me off three or four times. ARRRGGGGG. Mom said there would be days like this. Kindness, Phil, Kindness....
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My son got me the DVD/CD of Paul McCartney's Album “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” It was cool to watch the DVD and hear him talk about his writing and how the project came together. There are some great moments here...insights into his approach to writing and humor in his description of working with his producer, Nigel Godrich. My favorite part was where he complained (with a smile) that Nigel would only let him record songs that he (Nigel) liked. He said, “I though that was a bit cheeky of him”
Is is truly a solo work (he even plays most of the instruments except for the strings and a few drum parts and a haunting Duduk on Jenny Wren). I did notice a familiar name, Abe Laboriel Jr. on percussion.
Paul still has an incredible voice. Listening to the CD took me back to earlier days...the unusual progressions, great melodies, and tempo changes that were a signature of the Beatles and his work since.
My favorite lyrical move he made was on the song “How Kind of You”.....“It really meant a lot to be in someone else's thoughts...Someone else's mind....Someone else as kind as you.” I love the homonym (else's, else as) effect there.
I also love the idea of the song. I was thinking last night about how crude our society has become. How tact and fitting words used to be a higher virtue than bluntness. “How Kind of You” reminds me of days when “If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all” was taught as an eleventh commandment...or as Jesus taught, “Bless and do not curse”
Kindness is a beautiful quality. Now that I think about it...it is one of the fruit of the Spirit.
I'm want to start using that phrase...“How kind of you”
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Christmas time seems to bring a few tensions with it. Deadline shopping at over-crowded malls, travel plans, weather, flight delays, decorating, Christmas programs, money worries, cooking challenges, eating challenges, family relations...is that enough? On Christmas I noticed my daughter was wearing some new bright red knitted stockings (This sounds like a digression, but it isn't). I asked if someone had given them to her for Christmas. She smiled and told me she knitted them herself. I was impressed. Then she said that one was larger than the other. I observed that it was. Well, I thought that was sort of funny...but I happen to know that often one or more of a person's feet is bigger than the other (that sentence is for Sue). My daughter told me that wasn't the reason. She didn't do it on purpose. I thought that was funny too. She thought they came out that way because she knitted one of them while listening to the book-on-tape...“The Endurance”. She thought it was probably the tension of the story that caused her stitches on that stocking to be just a little tighter. Somehow that was funny too.
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This has been the most unusual Christmas I have ever experienced. It started off that way because it falls on Sunday. I led three worship services tonight and will lead two tomorrow...so we decided to gather as a family on Friday night. But Friday became a very challenging but rewarding day. My daughters and I spent the day ministering to a family who have a loved one in ICU. They have been cooking and caring for this woman for the past few years. A one point we sang hymns to comfort them (my daughter has a gorgeous voice). It actually made them cry more to hear “Amazing Grace“ and “It Is Well“ but somehow that seemed ok. Tears are an amazing gift from God. They can spring from of all kinds of emotions. They help us work through pain and even joy at times. At times I have been so moved leading worship that I cannot but croak out the lyrics to a song. Then again, people seem to understand. The scriptures speak about God storing up our tears in a bottle. They have a bulletin board at the hospital that has attached to it the tender prayers of ICU family members. It was very moving to read and pray through them. If you read this please consider lifting up a prayer for a family that is on the brink of losing their daughter.
I am reminded tonight that the first Christmas was a difficult one. A strange place. A scary situation for a young couple. No doubt there was the opportunity to worry about many things. Thank you, Lord for sending your Son!
Merry Christmas Everyone.
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Yesterday I saw the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. Yes I know I am slow but this is kind of a hectic season for a music minister. Besides, I haven't really wanted to brave the Christmas crowds let alone the Christmas movie going crowds. We caught a matinee and I saved 4 bucks. I remember when the matinee at the Fox theater downtown was 25 cents...groan! (You can interpret the groan to mean whatever you want). I plunked down 11 dollars for two tickets.
We had just finished reading the book to my 6 year old a couple of weeks ago and last week were listening to the Focus on the Family Radio version, which I might add, is very good and much more suitable for young children than the movie.
My kids had already given me a pretty accurate review of the film. These are some of my reflections.
I was impressed with the train ride intro at the beginning. I thought, “Man! If the rest of the movie is filmed like this, this aught to be good” Overall I liked the film. The children actors were very, very good. They were the focus of the film. I thought most of the effects and animations were pretty well done, though there were a few moments when the live subjects were unnaturally oriented to the animation. The actors' eyes looked past Aslan as they spoke to him in one very obvious instance. Something you would see in early live/animation combination films. This surprised me because they did some very hard things very well. I thought the good creatures were especially well done.
I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed with a few things about the film. Number one, the unnecessary absence of certain inspired dialog that is in the book. The genius of Lewis' writing is in these lines. They contain the theology of the work. Sometimes they went for the cute quip that didn't fit. I felt the screen play often said what could have been left out, and tried to express visually what really should have been said. Healing others with the cordial looks like Lucy's idea rather than Aslan's, “How many more must die for Edmund?“ The classic, often quoted line about Aslan not being “safe“, but “good“... was relegated to a postscript instead of creating the anticipation of meeting him produced in the books. In fact, the whole dialog with the beavers designed in the book to create this anticipation was sacrificed to the wolves. Too much focus on the wolves, not enough on Aslan. Much of the dialog that connected the children to the Lion was omitted...like that which occurred on the final walk to stone table. Sometimes a word is worth a thousand pictures, if the pictures are vague. I found myself saying "Why is Lucy crying about Aslan's death?” They hadn't built the verbal relationship well enough. I kept trying to think of what my reaction would be like if I had never read the book. Would it make me want to read the book?
Secondly, I felt the film vacillated between being trying to be a scary "Lord of the Rings" wannabe and a children's fantasy. It brings to mind a line in the book where Lewis writes about not going too far describing the scary details or else your parents wouldn't let you read the story.
Having said all this. There were many great scenes...especially appealing to the young and adventurous. I felt it was consistent with the book and told parts of the story well. I was just hoping for a home run on this one. I definitely want to see it again. And I look forward to seeing the rest of the series should it all come about. Long live Aslan!
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I'm sitting at my desk in the office. On my left hand is a chocolate pecan pie...on the right is an apple pie. Both are freshly baked this morning. Can you smell them? I got up at 5am to bake them. We are having a pie baking contest at our staff Christmas party at noon today. Wish me luck. I love to bake pies...and eat them of course...tender flaky crusts with only the best ingredients. The chocolate pecan has a special imported dutch cocoa and a homemade brandy vanilla extract that you can't buy. Is your mouth watering yet? The apple is, of course made of very crisp Granny Smith apples, real butter and a touch of home ground Golden 86 flour in the crust. Top it off with the best vanilla ice cream available. Dig in! Who cares about lunch?
I have a old friend (J.K.) who loves to describe the Lord just like I described the pies. I like to listen to him talk...it always makes me hungry.
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Tonight is dress rehearsal for our Christmas musical. It's now or never. The techs are moving equipment to the university auditorium. I dread moving the timpani. We put a dent in one last year.
It is an interesting process...these musicals. Hours of rehearsals and other preparations so that you can do the best you can with what you have in three performances. I like three because if you only have one, then it really does seem like a lot of preparation for one performance. Plus if one doesn't go so well you have two others to feel good about.
Last night we added the worship set to the mix. Caleb (the Worship Minister from the other church we are participating with) and I are leading that part. It is just a collection of Christmas Carols and one familiar chorus that has been #1 on the CCLI charts for the past few years, I think. It was an amazing moment. After all the full instrumentation on the other songs it is very simple with Caleb leading the vocal, me on the piano, Gary on the Bass, Rob on the Guitar. Often we just yielded to the swelling voices of this special congregation, letting them sing out alone. The auditorium was nearly full with the two choirs and as they sang I think the Lord moved in to listen. I see this happen all the time during rehearsal when a particular song begins to fill them to overflowing...from rehearsal to worship in a moment. It was a joy to see the faces and even tears of the worshippers so full of gratitude toward the Lord.
There is a spiritual quality about the human voice that is beyond comprehension. I think the Lord is pleased with what he has created in it. I know what it does to me. What a blessing to hear it being used for Him.
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Christmas is coming. That means something different than it used to. Growing up in my family it meant that we had most of my seven brothers and sisters around to celebrate. Our whole family celebration happened on Christmas Eve. with a meal, the Dad reading the Christmas story, sharing what God was doing in our lives and what we were thankful for and then presents one at a time with everybody oohhing and aaaahing at what was being opened. The presents weren't elaborate with eight of us to take care of but I never thought about it. Later on Mom (Grandma to our kids) would always have a little something for each grandkid even if it was a pair of sox or mittens or a flashlight.
After the older ones left for Christmas morning at individual houses, we would often gather again on Christmas to make Klejner (pronounced Kleina), a danish donut. Anyone, no matter what age could participate in folding the special dough that was deep fried by an older child. Dad would usually sneak the first one. Klejner are intended by the Lord to be eaten as you cook them. Child after child would steal into the kitchen throughout the process and run out with one in the mouth and one in each hand. We always made a big batch and often we would wrap them up on a paper plate to distribute to the neighbors who were always keeping an eye out for the potential delivery. Ringing the doorbell and presenting a plate of hot Klejner was sort of like Christmas May Day (my kids also loved to deliver little flower baskets made of paper to the neighbors in May).
Things first changed when my brothers and sisters started moving away. When my dad passed away a few years ago things really changed. Now, 26 grand-kids and 30 some-odd great-grand-kids later we all have our own clans and it is becoming more rare to share the holidays together. Various segments of our family will still be getting together Christmas Eve, Eve.
This year is also a little different because since I am a worship minister and Christmas is on Sunday, I will be leading 3 services on Sat. Christmas Eve and 2 on Christmas Sunday Morning (cut back from 5). We also have the big Christmas musical coming up this week with another big church in town. Last Sunday over 120 Christmas boxes fo food were delivered by our Cross Purposes team to families in the community...along with a prayer. It was so cool to see them wrapping, taping, smiling and filling the boxes in the Atrium Sunday morning. It was like the big family I remembered getting ready for Christmas.
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A couple of days ago I watched the DVD of “The Dream Giver” my Bruce Wilkinson (who also author of “The prayer of Jabez” and “Secrets of the Vine”) This one came out last year. I found it fascinating and profoundly moving. Surely he strikes a chord with nearly every human heart when he talks about pursuing the dream that God places in you and what that journey entails. It reminded me of the passion part of the SHAPE idea in Rick Warren's book “Purpose Driven Life”...how God has fashioned us for service partly by giving us a passion to direct us. I found myself, like his audience searching for those core passions that God has sown in my heart. Using a parable-like method based on the account from the Exodus to the Promised Land he presents what he believes is a typical path to fulfilling the dream God has given you. When I first started watching it, it reminded me of an infomercial. But the more I got into it and heard his heart and his journey I became enthralled with the ideas, mostly because it so closely paralleled my recent thinking and songwriting. I wrote a song called “Dreaming Up” a while back that explored the idea of ...No eye has seen, no ear has heard....what God has prepared for us. Then in a prior post I shared the lyric of a song called “I Give It All” there are phrases in this song that kept coming to mind as I watched. Of course we all search the scripture and hopefully come to similar conclusions. What was remarkable to me was the timeliness of this video.
One of the most powerful ideas to me is that our passions seem to start out as selfish. I want to do this great thing, be somebody that matters, achieve this or that. But in the journey we find that what we really desire is a way to fill a need in the kingdom and bless others. We are really seeking the place and purpose for which He designed us.
For example, I have noticed that some people, when they experience increasing success only seem to get more humble. They somehow tire of self-promotion and start thinking of how they can encourage others with their gifts. Many years ago, I was commissioned to write a musical for a college group that toured. After the rehearsals I was invited to take the baton and conduct one of the numbers. I can't tell you how that made me feel. Stuff that had been in my head was now coming out of mouths and instruments. I went on tour with the group and the director part-way through the tour said “Why don't you conduct these numbers.” I was a terrible conductor at the time. But I will never forget that selfless act of encouragement. I currently have several worship leaders in training. I find myself more and more wanting to hand the baton to someone the way it was handed to me.
So what is my dream? I have several but one of the big ones is to write music that connects people to God.
So what's your dream?
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It is interesting to me that more than any other field, artists, musicians and songwriters are always asked about their influences. Influences, I think are people whose work you admire and imitate. My dad studied under Grant Wood. He was one of seven students interning with him (he also did his gardening). So Dad's early paintings have that heavy “American Regionalist” look to them. He told me they would sketch the scene and model it in clay so by they time they came to painting the painting it was like the figures were made of concrete with tremendous mass to them. When we lived in Southern California he entered several huge paintings of the life of Christ that were commisioned via a contest and displayed in a shopping mall. No “Happy Holidays” back then. It was public sponsored “Merry Christmas” all the way. He used his kids as models. I was a shepherd boy looking at Jesus (my niece) in the manger. My sister was Mary in one. Frank Otero was Judas at the Lord's Supper (sorry about that, Frank). That was 40 years ago, ouch. Frank plays trumpet in my orchestra now. He followed us from California. Dad loved to imitate Rembrant's use of washes. Later on, he took on a more impressionistic style influenced by an artist in Texas.
Everybody imitates someone at one time or another, most of the time unconsciously. It's how we grow in the craft. We say “I wish I could play (or sing) like them” or “I wish I could write like that”, then later it happens...someone says “that sounds like....“ We are pleased at first, then if they say it too much we feel like an Elvis impersonator (Hi Belinda).
I remember sitting in front of my brother's “console stereo” listening to Joe and Eddie and Johnny Mathis. Man, what melodies in those old songs. I remember jamming with the Beatles' “I Want Hold Your Hand” on the radio at a time when Little League was a whole lot more interesting than the idea of holding a girl's hand. (Many times the music will grab you before the lyric. Sorry Sue, you can hit me later) Later my brother-in-law left his portable record player with us for a summer and I drank up The Brothers Four and Peter, Paul, and Mary. My brothers had a lot to do with exposing me to music. I listen to Brazill 66 (The sambas of Sergio Mendez are great for your rhythmic acuity) Somtimes I write a little too syncopated because of this influence. Congregations and choirs don't deal well with syncopation as a rule. In the seventies I fell in love with the Carpenters (don't you love the major 7ths), the Doobie Brothers, Chicago, and my wife. I did buy some music of my own, eventually. In fact, I bought a reel-to-reel and joined the 1 cent for the first 20 albums Columbia Record Club. I was in sweet analog heaven listening to Fifth Dimension at 7 1/2 inches per second tape speed...and I rocked out with Edgar Winter's “Frankenstein“ not to mention sighing at the string harmonies of Rachmanninoff's Second Piano Concerto. I never could decide what genre I belonged to. I would order from them all.
That is when Christian music started coming of age. Andre Crouch and the disciples entered the scene with by brother's “Soulfully” and “Live at Carnegie Hall” albums and I wished I was a gospel pianist. I would listen over and over to the chords and motiffs to imitate them. The Jesus movement birthed the Second Chapter of Acts, Keith Green and something new in me- worship music. My brother introduced me to Godspell and made me want to write scripture songs. Someone gave me an Integrity worship album and I was forever hooked on seeking God by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Of course the biggest influence was the Lord's music. My dad reduced his pursuit of art in order to preach. But from the hymns in church, to singing camp chorus harmony in the back of a beat-up Ford station wagon with my seven brothers and sisters, it was all around us. Mom was a college choir director and later taught organ and worked with ensembles. My musical expression comes from her. At 91 she still unconsciously moves her hands, giving the cues and cut-offs when the music moves her in church. She smiles and says she wants to play the crash cymbals in heaven.
This is getting long. If you are still with me....Jesus invented this whole thing...this art, this esthetic appreciation of beauty and movement. It's just another reason to worship and imitate Him. It's a reason to use it for His sake.
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