The Maker

Oh, oh deep water
Black and cold like the night
I stand with arms wide open, I’ve run a twisted line
I'm a stranger, In the eyes of the maker

I could not see for the fog in my eyes
I could not feel for the fear in my life
And from across the great divide, In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste, Walking to me with the maker

My body is bent and broken
By a long and dangerous sleep
I can't work the Fields of Abraham
And turn my head away
I'm not a stranger, In the hands of the maker

Brother John, Have you seen the homeless daughters
Standing there with broken wings
I have seen the flaming swords There over east of Eden
Burning in the eyes of the maker (4X)

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Acts 9:1-6 [7-20] - Paul on the road to Damascus.

Paraphrased.
This guy Saul hates Jesus & crew. Saul’s got political pull. He’s on a mission, a campaign to rid the city (the country??) of these ‘illegals’. A revelatory divine intervention blindsides & blinds him… God sends a guy called Ananias to go restore vision/move the scales from his eyes. Saul becomes Paul. Reborn. New vision. New love. New belief. Healed from his hatred…

(I’m exhaling a whispery whooooooo… at those words: Healed from hatred…)

“What’s this have to do with me? Or now?” If we’re not asking that if/when you’re reading the Bible, IDK if there’s much point in wasting the time… In other words - to read a bible story without finding the applicable lesson to me and my life, makes it, well… just a story. And there’s a lot of great ones, no doubt, in the Bible. But, there’s a hell of a lot more elsewhere. So, I’m just saying… Christians… Daniel… “What’s the point here?”

This song is a monster. It’s been covered by any & everyone. Dead, Phish, DMB to name just the iceberg tip. But my hearts version comes via Willie (surprise, surprise) w/ the fabulous, angelic harmony of Emmy Lou Harris onn the album, Teatro, produced by Daniel Lanios. It’s my favorite Willie record.

Take Willie Nelson and his classic…ness. Then sprinkle on a healthy dose of reverb, voodoo & hypnotic percussion … Twist it up and flick yer Bic…you got some serious magic in your ears. Without diverting too far, I’d like to assert that this record brought a lot together for me. I was bobbing in an ocean of doubt and confusion. How to make sense of things?? WTF is even the point?? Ya know… one of those phases…
Teatro told me to flip the rules and ride the spirit tide. Be healed from hatred.
Willie. For the win. Again.

Oh, oh deep water….Black and cold like the night
I stand with arms wide open, I’ve run a twisted line
I'm a stranger, In the eyes of the maker

Damn it’s easy to feel like a stranger in a dark, cold night… around here.

In these times. In this country. I am a stranger indeed in the eyes of your maker, Christian Nationalists. That ain’t my Jesus, nnnnnope. As long as I live in a developed, 1st world nation that makes healthcare nearly impossible… I’m a stranger in a strange land…As long as the homeless sons & daughters w/ broken wings from broken lands lie, ignored, in the wings of society or criminalized by our leaders… I’m a stranger.

I can’t work the fields of Abraham and turn my head away.
Heal me from hatred, Lord. But let me tattle first. Your children, the proud ones…stink. The don’t play nice with others. They other others. Am I your bastard child, God. Am I your problem child? Because I’m lost? & mad. How I’ve meandered through these 46 years… a twisted line. Searching, open heart & arms…

I could not see for the fog in my eyes
I could not feel for the fear in my life

Saul could not see for the scales in his eyes. The scales of fear are blinding. Paralyzing.
To our ability to feel. Feel…It’s scary to feel sometimes but God don’t do her talkin’ with words, ya’ll. If the Holy Spirit has something to say, & she does, you best be open for business… Feel is the difference between AI & people.
Feel is everything in music. I have hero’s, mentors and teachers that say things like:
Learn all the technique and theory in the universe. Practice, practice, PRACTICE!
… then forget that shit and play. Take every thing you know…and forget it.
‘If you think you stink’ is another good one…
In other words - prepare. Work in cerebral. Play from guttural.
When you get to the gig your body is ready to ride the wave without second guessing and getting distracted by doubt.

Practice. Again for the win.

I had a liberating experience.
One that dissolved the scales and absolved me from fear. In the beginning of Neo Trio, my beginning… My buddy and colleague Matt asked me to fill in for him on drums while he took a little break. No prob, you bet, Matt. Gigs a gig. I am grateful. They had (and have) a solid name from Pottstown to Penn Street and I aimed to please my employers with only the purest pristine precision percussion possible… (sorry I just ate a gummy)….

Anyway - I wanted to do a good job. I was a bit nervous & new. We were practicing a Dead song, one that had a highly varied history in terms of tempo and arrangement. Not to mention they were making me do Steely Dan out the wazoo (and that’s exactly where I pulled “my Steely Dan Chops” from…). So probably in an effort to cover my tracks and show Burkey & Cory that I wasn’t a complete 70’s Groove Degenerate I was all “so is it like a 72 Row Jimmy?? Or more late 80’s??” (ugh)…
To which zen master bassist allowed piano boss to reply ….

….“play it how you feel it”….

…and…
poof!

The shackles of expectation. The fear to feel. The pressure to be someones idea of right… or good… anything other than what I am… all the sparring partners of mental warfare…

gone.

Wait, you mean - I don’t have to force all focus on people pleasing & I can let the Holy Spirit take the wheel?? Advice HEARD! Results shall be optimal, Boss.

I’m not a stranger in the hands… of the Maker.

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And from across the great divide, In the distance I saw a light …

You’ve touched me through music, Lord. You’ve reached me through your messengers and champions. Jean Baptiste, Ananias, Willie…

I’m ready for a new name, Dear Maker. One that means Unity. One that makes me hate no more. One that let’s me feel and lead with grace. I’m blind and I want to see.
The flaming swords. Let me burn for love. Don’t turn my head away.
Free me from hate. Make me fearless.

Amen,
d

PS - Thanks Manatawny Creek Ramblers for joining my video this week :)

Gigs:

- 5/9 Neo Trio / Mikes Tavern / Reading, PA / 8-11p (LAST ONE OF THE SEASON)
- 5/11 Manatawny Creek Ramblers / Brother’s on the Brandywine / 2-5p
- 5/15 Neo Trio / Union Jacks / Boyertown, PA
- 5/16 Philly Nelson / Brickette Lounge / West Chester, PA / 9p
- 5/17 Frog Holler / Private Party
- 5/18 Frog Holler / West Reading, PA
- 5/22 Manatawny Creek Ramblers / Barley Mów / W. Reading, PA / 6-9p
- 5/23 DSB2 / Other Farm Brewing Co. / Boyertown, PA
- 5/24 Manatawny Creek Ramblers / Sly Fox / Pottstown, PA