Community

Community: a unified body of individuals: as
a : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself (the problems of a large community)
b : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location c : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society (a community of retired persons)
Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.


I read somewhere recently that what our society is missing these days is a sense of community. We do very little "together" compared to the generations only a few decades ago. I think the author was on to something here. Common activities provide context for us to get involved in each other's lives and thus become a key enabler to caring about one another. It is really hard for me to become personally involved in the lives of people I don't know....It doesn't matter whether they are here in Richmond or in Zambia.

Now.. If I sing in a choir with them, work with them, worship with them, live next door to them, That changes everything. Suddenly, I am less focused on me and more on them. We need to find things to do together. Identify our purposes and common activities and then focus our energy on finding others to do those things with.. singing, playing, building, etc.. Funny, kids do this naturally.. Most of the senior adults I know do it too.. but those of us in the "busy" stage of our lives seem to want to ignore people around us, family, friends, neighbors.. and focus on us.. That can't be right. We all know it, yet we go every day in some form of denial..I'll get to know them tomorrow, we can do something together next week, month, year.. until suddenly we don't really know anyone at all. We go through our days pretending that all of those people around us don't really exist...strange that we have convinced ourselves that this is okay. Deep down, we know that not caring is not the right thing.. but it is the safe thing. If I don't know you, you can't hurt me, I don't have to worry about helping you, blah blah blah... the idea that is supposed to make my life easier seems to create an awful lot of complexity. Simpler maybe to just help the people in front of me.. Trusting that they are "in my life" for a reason, maybe to work with, worship with, or just laugh with..

Getting to know people or at the very least "about people" is the key. Locally, I think that building more community and trying to maximize the number of things that people do together is a key focus of anyone in leadership.... I know, I know.. some of you are saying.. duh.. Where have I been for the last 50 years, there is nothing new here. True it may seem self evident and blatently obvious, but I don't think that we always see what is right in front of our face.

Question was asked in sunday school this morning.. We read the scriptures regularly, we even study them, but do we actually listen..the more I pursue this writing the more I am convicted that thinking and writing are not going to do much in the end, except serve as a self-aggrandizing, pseudo-therapy. The times that we live in call for action and change.

Tracee and I want to start a music school... to maybe even make that our sole vocation supporting both our performance aspirations and our family... lofty dreams, but we are already working on the business plan, it is not impossible... The arts are due for a revival as our society realizes that it is sorely in need of beauty.

We want others to experience the beauty, passion, and intensity that music, particularly classical music can provide. We may not be able to revive classical music as a whole, but if we can create musical communities, a whole series of little musical cells 8-15 kids and adults linked via a common purpose: the pursuit of beauty through music. Maybe, just maybe the Lord will grant us the opportunity to impact some lives and be witnesses for Christ in all that we do.

Time will be the cruel judge of how we do..as it is for all of us..

Vacation

Recital went great.. Week in the pool at mom and dad's house with the kids was a lot of fun. Different world is refreshing and troubling at the same time. I remember when that was all I knew.. Did I progress as I have matured, or did I just make my life more complex that it has to be... not sure on that one.. spending much time on it is probably a waste of energy..

It is important that we remember who we are and use the skills and blessings we have been provided.. NOT waste our energy trying to become what others think we should be.

Community is the key to impacting and helping people. We all depend on it...How can I use my music to create musical communities...WE have been thinking on this one all week.. more info to come.. when the time is right... ideas need to percolate...

In the mean time.. Charles and I are looking for recital venues.. We have a great program.. people love it, and we can do some good in our society by raising money for good causes.. call or email if you can help with providing a venue.

Pics from the week are here: click away

Vacation...

...my cousins from California have been here the last few days and we had a great time at my Uncle's memorial yesterday. It was really great to visit everyone. We had to drive on this dirt road like 5 miles to find the place where my Uncles ashes were scattered, it was a lot of fun. I had my Aunt's car and I must admit, I kind of drove it a "bit" rough :-)
It was fun!! going through mudholes and water and just spinning out. :-)
Now it's back to reality though, back at work and phones ringing and emails coming and people bugging me to do stuff *sigh*. I'm hoping to see my cousin Dawn and my cousin Mel tomorrow. They are supposed to go to the Mammoth Sites in Hot Springs. Just in case, I'm taking tomorrow off! :-) well I mean, I requested it off anyways, if anything I can clean my apartment! It's a mess even I can't stand!
Maybe I'll read a book and just relax, that would be a nice vacation day also :-)

Final Preparations

Yet another recital prep week is now underway. Even for a "professional" the impact and anticipation leading up to a big performance can be overwhelming. I am excited and exhausted at the same time.

Emotions are on a rollercoaster. Stress seems to impact me more than normally..everything is a big deal. Sleep is disrupted, and physical fatigue is a factor. I don't really want to practice or even study, but the final prep work is the key to making the quality really exceptional. I know I should be doing more.. so I do some.. Will it be good enough? Will my voice and skill carry the honesty and message from my heart into the audience directly? Will they reject me or accept me?

It is such a privelege to sing for others. I get to join in something bigger than myself. Music reachs out and the souls of the audience rise up and merge with that of the singer in some sort of special dance. To look directly into the audience's eyes and sing to them takes passion, and intensity on a level rarely called for in other places in today's world.

For the first time in my career I am using my personal singing to try and directly impact a "local" ministry in a benefit. Charles and I are offering this recital as a gift not just to God, but we are hoping to help some folks in M'ville and Henry County through our talents and through the generosity of the audience. This may be among the biggest performances i have ever given... It is certainly a milestone. If you are the praying type, we would appreciate your prayers. If you would are reading this from a location within driving distance of M'ville VA, then I hope you will come on Friday night.

One thing is for certain.. I can't fix the world, but hopefully by performing on Friday night, we can make a difference for a few people that we don't know, and maybe , just maybe, God will bless this offering and example and use it to renew the spirits of many around the world, to try and do something.

Random acts of kindness, without expectation for reward, are the key to delivering on God's plan. What seems random to us, is not random to him. Concurrent diversity drives us towards God size goals. We cannot achieve them alone, but together, each doing our part, great things can be done.

"And this we know in the journey of life. Whether green rolling hills, or the deserts bare and dry. In all things God works for our good, for those who love the Lord."
--from composition by Lloyd Larson set paraphrasing Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I'm going shopping!..

...well kinda, today is payday and for the first time in 5, yes count them 5 weeks, I will actually have some extra money to spend! Not a lot mind you, but I can get that toilet brush I've had my eye on, and even some groceries!! woo hoo! I'm so excited~! Ok I've even made a shoppng list: Toilet brush, nails and hammer, spatula with a metal handle (as opposed to plastic because mine bends all the time), shampoo...ok it's not the most exciting list, but it's mine!! I'm also going to buy an Air Conditioner to put in my window, which brings me to my dilema. How the heck do I install it? how do I get it up the stairs? granted my arm is doing MUCH better, I'm not sure about hauling an A/C up my stairs. Also I'm so paranoid that once I install it's going to fall out my window and kill somebody!! Can you imagaine? Plus I have these really odd shaped windows complete with storm screens, and I'm don't know how to get that out. All I know is I can do it, I have AMAZED myself since moving to South Dakota. Ok I'm not out slaughtering pigs and mending barbwire fences, but I have tackled some difficult tasks. Like a day after I busted my shoulder up I had to put together this stand up fan, with one arm. It took me an hour but I did it. It was a cool fan, not the round kind but the cylindrical kind. I ended up taking it back and getting the money (about $45.00) and putting in gas :-)
So all in all, I'm excited...'cause I get to shop. Dollar store or not, I'm out there! woo hoo!

And the Dr. said...

...I don't have to wear the immobilizer anymore! woo hoo! but it will take like 6 months before I'm fully healed and another six weeks before my fracture heals, but I don't have to go back and I don't need physical therapy. So my summer is ready to go! I just have to baby it a little bit, no problem there. It feels so good not wearing that thing, I mean that was hot to wear! It added like 15 degrees to my already natural body heat!! So anyways, that's my news for the day. :-)

Relevance

Relevant: Having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand
Jeff's take on that definition: To be relevant, you must matter, make a difference, influence, impact, be a part of either sustaining or improving things.

I have been talking a lot about how to make the church relevant in today's culture. I clearly think that God does matter and that the church is and can be a powerful tool in impacting peoples' lives. The church accomplishes its ordained purpose through people. By creating a community, we are empowered to worship, to encourage one another, to grow, to question and to learn. This is like a drug...what was a powerful tool for assisting in pain management, or recovery, can quickly be abused and become the problem itself if the user isn't careful.

A lot of churchgoers are addicted to church, and have lost sight of their purpose. Ask them why they go to church, and how God helps them to impact their world around them... Most will stutter, then come back with a rote answer about being saved from hell, and that God is everything to them. Both answers are correct, but they are abstract in their essence. If people can answer with details about the relevance of God in their lives, other people around them will listen the Holy Spirit will work powerfully through them.

The church enables members, and believers to bear witness to God's impact/relevance in their lives. It assists in the strengthening and renewal of God's people, but it must not become the end goal. The church must be a base from which we operate to accomplish our mission/purpose in the world.

We must bear witness wherever we are, we must honestly accept who we are and by definition then, who we are not. Relevance is a tricky thing to qualify.

God is relevant to our culture, whether most people know it or not. I think my job is to help people around me understand that relevance both through my own ability to sing and make music, and through my ability to lead others and teach them to bear witness.

We have lost track of a sense of community in our world. We do few things together. The church has an opportunity here. We can bear witness through building community. I/we need to get better at telling people how great it is to be a "part of the Kingdom", not judging them for their free choice to pursue spirituality through other channels. Maybe those recreation centers churches are building have more power than I previously thought. The trick may be to find a way to open them up as a gathering point for everyone...

Use the BASE to reach out and bear witness wherever we are, simply doing our job which is to explain how God is relevant in our lives.

Ahh...so much better

...well I have like 85% movement in my arm/shoulder so I can type with two hands now! Yippee!! You so take things for granted until you have one arm to work with, and I'm not talking like picking your nose while driving, I mean like cooking and bathing and shit. So I go back to the Dr. on Tuesday and I'm hoping he tells me I'm cured and to start physical therapy (which I kind of started on my own, you know the go-getter I am.) :-)
Well the problem is, I have a fracture in my arm bone, and it's only been 4 weeks (to the day actually) and doesn't it take longer than that for bone to heal? So my thing is, if they still want me to wear this sling, forget it. They are going to have to put a cast on my arm, because I keep taking this thing off! and I know I will continue to do so, so plaster me up!!
Other than that NOTHING has really been happening, except for this horrific HOT weather. I'll keep ya updated!

Walking the walk, not just talk

Life lately has been pretty simple. Vacation was about traveling, seeing friends, singing and then returning home. When we are home, I have either been at work, or working on the new fence since Father's Day weekend.. Surprising how quickly time passed with so little thinking.

I haven't posted much, because I haven't had anything worth saying... I know, I know.. most of you that actually know me are laughing right now. That is rare. Thing that has struck me is that maybe I and everyone else am thinking too hard. Maybe life is supposed to be more about doing and less about thinking.

I am a strategist, visionary type but I am also a performer and a doer. Since I left Branch's I have struggled to figure out what I am supposed to DO...I have been in a constant "state of funk"... hard to really accomplish anything significant.

I think I am supposed to just be me. The musician, dad, technology analyst, project manager guy who finds ways to get stuff done. Little things, short, small conversations do matter. The trick is to have something to do. Last week in Montreat, Tracee and I had a great conversation with friends about where all the "problem" are in the church today. Man, that is easy to do... Soooo much harder to actually change even one person. I have checked out of the "real" game lately. Please pray for an opportunity to go back in for us..

Thought for the day: Let God handle the God-size problems.. as for me... We are going to be the musicians and leaders God made us to be. I am going to continue to sing wherever I can find an audience. We are going to try and be salt and light to everyone around us. "New Kinds of Christians"

Ministry is about one on one relationships and I need more of those. Mass media are important, internet, news, tv, etc.. but in the end... what matters is what I have done for and with the people I have directly contacted. I need to find a choir, I need to sing on a higher level, and I need to find a better way to fulfill my higher calling than just waking up every day. That interim pastor at Branch's did some damage to my family, but I am allowing him to have far more impact than he deserves. Cecil once told me that I needed to "get happy".. there was something to that advice. I control how I am.. noone else. I want to be that happy guy who had more work than he could handle last year...

I am not out of my funk yet, but I am getting there. Life is a box of chocolates.. you never know what you are gonna get... just think, you have to bite in to find the good ones and the bad.. and in the end.. even the bad ones are good!

Thank you to everyone who cares about us. Know that we care for you as much or even more.

James 1:17-25 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.