There will be a Light

I wish we could live forever then melt into the sun
Time is gonna change you once it gets you on the run

CH:
There will be, There will be
There will be a light. There will be a light

I've been running ever since, ever since I was a child
Some call it free and some call it wild…CH.

Let the warmth of my love dry away all your tears
Fear not for I am with you I will fear not - fear not - with you here…CH.

——————————————————————————————————————

Damn. So far I’ve only sung it or read it with chords involved and a “learning brain” engaged… Having just read the lyrics unaccompanied & raw… wow. I’m a little floored here I gotta say…I’m getting welled up. I can feel my heart area (saying ‘chakra’ makes me feel silly even tho that is what I’m saying)… cracking…like an egg. & spreading warmness up my spine into my head, face and eyes… which are tearing up.

I LOVE this record. Dr. Chuck at church turned me onto this album (There Will Be a Light by Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama) with timing that was perfect. I was feeling pretty stale. At a loss for fresh church music that inspired me. Then viola! 11 songs. ALL of them groovy & great. I love this record. It lights me up every time. Eventually we’ll play all 11 tunes. This is our 2nd. We did Take My Hand a few weeks back. The Blind Boys of Alabama are as real as music gets. Their harmony transcends any rules or theory. They’re just singing pure, raw, personal truth. Sometimes it’s harmony, sometimes it’s in unison. Normally that could drive me crazy. With them it doesn’t matter. The way they sing together is so human and personal. Not curated or produced or perfected. Which makes it perfect. In my ears and heart…. And Ben Harper’s… Ben Harper. He’s had me since Burn One Down came out in the aughts… 25 years ago… ooff… Where did 25 years go?

If I were a preacher approaching this writing project with my own personal Lectionary Calendar or an intentional sequence, I could say right now - ‘today we continue our series on hope’ … But I’m not. And I won’t. Instead I’ll share with you that I’ve noticed a theme lately in my thoughts and heart… yep, it’s hope… (phew… that chakra thing just happened again…) Sometimes it feels like Hope is the only thing, the only option… there is. And here. In America. Here, on this planet. Here, in the human condition it’s needed & necessary.

I wish we could live forever then melt into the sun

That sounds so nice. Live a full, happy life. Forever. & then when forever ends, just conveniently melt away… What a beautiful wish. However ‘ungrantable’, a boy can dream… as can this middle aging, once forever young, man.

Ooff… yep. Remember? Back in the Moonlight days? Before kids? Time was a’plenty and worries were few. I mean… don’t get me wrong. We lived fast and I’ve been hustling ever since I chose this path back in my teens. But things change… Right? Just like our parents say: “You’ll understand someday… When you have kids of your own…”

I've been running ever since, ever since I was a child

And there’s 17 year old me replying (eyes rolling) “ok, ok, Mom! I’m sorry you’re so stressed about everything! But, C’mon! I’m chasing my dreams here!! Life is a beautiful adventure!!! If God is on my side like you taught me, what could possibly go wrong??” … a young mans naivety… Life, unsheltered, gets real. Things go wrong. You learn. Your first imperfect blood panel comes back. A friends gets sick. Dies. One gets murdered. Stuff that was known is now questioned. Things taken for granted disappear…

Time is gonna change you once it gets you on the run…

I used to run towards a dream. Somewhere that changed and now I’m racing to beat the clock. To make enough money to die. (retirement’s not a thing for musicians). Cover my bases so my kids might have a little something from me… Something that’s not debt or medical bills. Or an abandoned pile of storage somewhere. Better get working, Daddy. Enter the rat race. Times got me on the run now.

Feels scary and not real sometimes. Like it’s a big hoax and Ashton Cusher gonna pop out any minute and don me with a prize for being a good sport… But alas… he’s in L.A. & I’m all the way across America.

America…

There’s a lingering soot that lives on my conscience... a subtle brown noise that’s been normalized into social tennitus; a whispering loop saying "your country doesn't give a shit about you. Just break a wrist or get sick and see." We have been fooled into thinking our country is great because of some unlikely possibility that 'you too can pull your bootstraps so hard that you'll ascend into the '1% Club'. That club closed the doors… a long time ago. And, news flash: we ain’t in it.
Dang it. Was really counting on gettin’ in…

I'm not into political complaining... it can be an echo chamber. Get up. Get out. Go do something. Organize. Fight with the rules of the game. Yada yada... But, when at a loss for direction... I do find value and, eventually relief sometimes, when I ask questions… That’s a huge reason… maybe THE reason I’m here. Writing at ya’ll. I’m trying to get to the bottom of some shit that’s really got me down. And engaging with you has proven to be one of the best cures I’ve found so far. (Thank you, BTW…)

So… Question(s)…

A big one. Maybe the biggest, is ‘Why does the “Greatest Nation in the World” have the shittiest healthcare system? *Please note: system. I did not say we have shitty healthcare. We have miraculous, mind bending, futuristic, sci-fi healthcare. But, you just have to be privileged to access it. I happen to be privileged thanks to an overworked, dedicated Nurse Wife who pays good, bounteous money for it for us. But someday maybe she won’t want to or be able to work long, crazy hours in a hi stress environment. Then what? Medicaid? Medicare? Oh - you mean that healthcare on the chopping block?? What then? What actions is a gig working father & husband supposed to take? Forget me, what about single mom’s? What about all of the workers who played by the rules? Will we be ok?

Sure hope so…

Is the catalyst for hope, fear? ‘I hope it’s gonna be ok/I’m scared its not’ Or maybe a better way to say it is - hope is fear, inverted. Outwards. Fear is inward. Hope shines out. Ya’ll hearing me?? IDK… What do you think?

I think I need I need something warm to fire up my hope…

Let the warmth of my love dry away all your tears
Fear not for I am with you I will fear not - fear not - with you here

Where to turn? The same safe place I return again. God’s warm embrace. The ever present reminder & igniter of Her love for me. Music. Let me sing until I can’t. Then the rocks will. The rocks & the rolls.

Robert Johnson didn’t have health insurance. Neither did Harriet Tubman. Or Jesus.
Or a million other divine earthly visitors… What did they have?
Hope?
Do I?
Sure hope so…

Thanks for reading.
Sorry for the tardy drop this week.
Summer’s here. Anything goes.

peace,

d

GS:

- Every Sunday, 9:30am : St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church / Chester Springs, PA
- 5/31 Neo Trio / Bob Kesslers 40th / Evergreen Club / Fleetwood, PA
- 6/1 Frog Holler / Toledo, OH
- 6/8 Frog Holler / Union Jacks / Boyertown, PA
- 6/12 Neo Trio / 6p /Barley Mow / West Reading, PA
- 6/13 Chris Kasper / Falser Club / Philadelphia, PA
- 6/14 Manatawny Creek Ramblers / 10:30a -1:30p /Linvilla (Food Truck Fest)
- 6/14 Hezekiah Jones / 8p / Ardmore Music Hall / Ardmore, PA
- 6/15 Frog Holler / Fleetwood Park
- 6/22 Neo Trio / 2-5p / Brother’s on the Brandywine
- 6/27 Neo Trio / 8:30 - 11:30p / West Reading Motor Club
- 6/28 Neo Trio / 8:30 - 11:30p / Trouble’s End Brewing / Collegeville, PA
- Every Sunday, 9:30am : St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church / Chester Springs, PA