Thanks, and a thought

I just took a look at the statistics for my blog.

According to them, yesterday(Monday, 1/14)was the second busiest day for activity in the nearly two years I've had this little corner of the web.

And this month has been the most active one as well.

Now, I never started doing this with the idea that it would be a "must read" spot on the web for people to go and surf. And I have no illusions that with this extra activity, this blog has now become(or is becoming)a "hot spot" for those who routinely visit southern gospel oriented web blogs...I know that is not the case.

For this blog has no pretensions about being a "news site" or a place where the most compelling thoughts and opinions are posted...all it's ever been is about me, and what I think of phenomena involving gospel music, my personal life, the lives of my friends, and the work of fellow bloggers. That's all I ever intended it to be...and frankly, it's all that I can do.

And even at the outset, some of my postings were misinterpreted, deliberately taken out of context, and the subject of ill-informed personal attacks on certain otherwise well-intentioned message boards. That is all passed and gone...water under the bridge, as it were. But it gave me pause to consider why would people go to so much trouble to publicly villify me without even taking the time to contact me about my intentions, and not just go someplace else and ignore me if they truly felt I was such an objectionable person.

Of course, by being here and sharing my thoughts with the world it can be rightly argued that I open myself up for that kind of reaction. And if that comes with the territory, so be it. The benefits to me from sharing my thoughts and ideas with you, my friends, far outweigh the occasional catty(pun intended)comments I get from those who are not willing to read, communicate, or otherwise understand.

Enough digression...here is my point today.

I am truly happy and proud that this humble portion of the web is being visited and read more frequently of late. And I want to send all of you who have done so(and especially you frequent visitors)my sincere thanks for taking the time to peek through this little window to my heart and mind. I really appreciate it.

And whenever I imagine that I might not get the credit nor attention that some of my colleagues get, I think of (what else?)a gospel song that expresses what I'd like to think.

This particular song is a country gospel song, written(I think)by Hank Cochran, a well known name among country songwriters and performers. I first heard it on the second album Porter Wagoner recorded with the Blackwood Brothers in 1966("More Grand Ol' Gospel")...it's titled "You're Not Home Yet".

It is a story song, with Wagoner doing a recitation midway through(as he often did). He tells the story of a preacher and a "celebrity" aboard a plane, flying back to America(presumably)after spending some time abroad. The preacher is described as one who had worked hard preaching abroad, and had "won a lot of souls". But as Wagoner continues his story, when they arrive, there was a huge crowd of admirers there to shower adoration upon the celebrity. By contrast, there was "...no one there to greet the preacher". Wagoner says at that point the preacher looked to the heavens and said, "Lord, did you forget?" And the preacher then heard God's voice saying, "No, son...I didn't forget...but you must remember, you're not home yet."

And then the song goes into the chorus...

You're not home, you're not home
You're not home yet
I can still hear my Lord's voice ringing
There'll be no crowd to greet you
No choir of angels to meet you
(Spoken)No son, I didn't forget
But remember, you're not home yet

I can wait.

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