Kimberly…

I don’t know Kimberly Dozier, but I have been praying for her a lot in the last few days.



Kimberly Dozier is a reporter for CBS radio and television, who is usually assigned to either Europe or the Middle East to report on breaking news. She is a very competent, professional reporter who always has done a good job.



As you might imagine, being a reporter in a foreign country has its perils from time to time. Lately, since Dozier has been part of CBS’s Iraq war coverage, she has been in particular peril.



This past weekend, Dozier was the victim of a bomb explosion during an assignment. She was critically injured and remains in critical condition, and is still recovering in an Army hospital in Germany. Nevertheless, she fared better than the cameramen who were accompanying her, both of whom were killed in the attack.



As I said, I don’t know Dozier that well…I have only talked to her a few times in the course of my won work. A few months ago, our news department was doing a story on a local soldier in the fighting in Iraq, and we enlisted Dozier’s help in finding him for an interview.



I was struck by Dozier’s calm, professional, and completely solicitous attitude in all of this…despite the situation and conditions she was working under, she was as helpful and kind and considerate as could be, going seemingly above and beyond the minimum effort we would have expected her to do for us. Her gracious assistance enabled us to not only to get the interview, but assure his family and loved ones here that he was OK. We are indebted to Dozier for her assistance in this matter.



So perhaps it’s only professional respect that leads me to think of her, but my feelings of concern when I heard the news of the attack are real indeed. I took the news of it as if it had happened to a colleague in my own building.



From the reports we’ve been getting, she is steadily improving. I thank God for that, and I pray she’s able to return to work ASAP. I could tell that she loves it…and besides, Kimberly Dozier is the kind of reporter we need to have more of out there.

Tired…

Yes, I’m a little weary today…and not just because I woke up at 5 this morning to go to work.



The housing situation continues to be dangled in front of me much like the carrot on the stick. After weeks of waiting for any action at all on the renovation of my apartment, now I’m told that if I can strike up a suitable agreement on paying the electric bill with my longtime neighbor there, and submit that information to the landlord…and signed…that the contractor will be sent out there to begin the work he ought to have begun over a month ago.



And now my neighbor is dragging his feet on signing the letter I’ve drafted. I expect him to do so eventually, but why the delay? Oh, well….Mom always said there’d be times like this.



As if that weren’t enough, my money has run out of month again, and I have a court date I must prepare for on the 13th. And I have an article to submit to SGN in a day or two.



Otherwise, things couldn’t be easier!



I could use a nap…or a vacation…or both!



I know some of you have been keeping me in prayer, and I appreciate that more than I can tell you. Just don’t stop, that’s all I have to say about that!



I’ll keep you posted on how things happen.



UPDATE: After some pleading, I convinced my neighbor to go along with me on submitting the material to my landlord to commence the work on the apartment…now I’ve gone past tired…I’m spent! But it’s a good kind of spent!

Why the contest?

Well, another morning perusing the message boards, and I have to bring this up…



When it comes to gospel music discussion, we are inundated with “Who’s the best?”" or “Who’s the highest(or lowest)?” or similar questions of superlatives.



I understand why this is important to many of us…we are a society that thrives on love of competition, and accomplishment. We always want to go our furthest, and be our best in whatever we pursue. Of course, in things like sports, or performing gospel music, many of us know we can’t do it as well as people who do those things for a living, so, because of the above, we tend to live vicariously through our favorite such people…and have contests between them and the others in their respective fields as to who is the “best”.



But in gospel music, does that really matter? Are, say, the Statesmen better or more important carriers of the gospel message because they are more likely “better” than the Stay-at-Home Quartet? Of course not. The Stay-at-Home Quartet may be reaching people the Statesmen can’t possibly reach…and they may be meeting the needs of the people they serve much better than even the Statesmen would. Then, again, they might not! But there is a place for everyone in the Kingdom…and we all have our own jobs to do.



The Statesmen touched many in the Kingdom…and I dare say the world is a better place because they sang songs of praise to God in the way they did. And even as one who is DEFINITELY not a fan of theirs, so were the Happy Goodmans! All these artists did their best, and no doubt touched somebody, or they wouldn’t have been around as long as they were doing what they did.



One rule I try to follow in message board dialogue…never put down someone else’s favorites!(Though I confess I’ve mindlessly broken that rule at least once!) If that artist reaches those people, they’re fulfilling their calling…so what does it matter whether or not they are the “best” in their given genre? If they reach people, they’re doing pretty good…at least good enough for the people they bless.



If I could, I would say one thing to the gospel music world regarding this constant search to determine the “best”…remember who we ultimately serve…and why. And be thankful for those who give their time and talents to contribute to the overall mission of the Kingdom of God on earth. Please?



And just relax…and enjoy it ALL.

Sorry, folks…

…for allowing outside factors to influence what I wanted this little corner of the web to be.



When I started this blog, I wanted it not only to be a place where I would express my thoughts about my beloved gospel music, but also to share a few thoughts of my own about life. (Not that I have one, but…:-)) But after an early entry which I caught a great deal of unwarranted flak for posting, I began to shy away from sharing my thoughts about certain parts of my life which we all experience.



And by doing that, I not only let all of you down, but I let myself down as well. I should not allow myself to be distracted by the whimpers of the small-minded. This blog is for us…for my expression and for those who care about it.



Hereafter, I will not refrain from posting my thoughts on issues that affect my life just to appease those who allege not to care anyway. Those who REALLY know me know what my motives are in posting my thoughts…and those who don’t aren’t qualified to object anyway!



I do plan on more music reviews and discussion, but once in a while I’ll share things from my private world that I think you’ll care about, and have universal application to more than just my immediate world. I hope you enjoy those reflections.



For those of you who don’t…post a comment, or leave it be…and may our God bless you all.

Barbaro

I thought I’d share a thought or two as this busy weekend draws to a close…about a subject I don’t discuss very much.



I AM a sports fan, but I admittedly am not what one would call an “animal lover”. Not that I don’t like animals…some of my dearest friends are devoted owners of animals…and I respect them for that. It’s just that for me, animals are not people, or other surrogates of our families…they’re….well, animals…that’s all. I can still love and value them for that, though.



Anyone who saw the Preakness this weekend saw the very tragic scene of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro pull up lame during the race. Now Barbaro was an unbeaten thoroughbred who was trying to achieve horse racing’s venerated Triple Crown, and be one of a select few horses to do so.



But more than the fact that Barbaro was a racehorse, he is one of God’s precious creatures. And he was only doing what he was bred to do…which is to run as fast as he can, and possibly sire offspring that would do the same. Yet, to see him suddenly struggle to even move because he had fractured his leg…well, it broke this non-animal lover’s heart. You could tell that Barbaro truly wanted to run, but because his leg had somehow been injured, he just couldn’t. I felt for Barbaro’s jockey and owners, for they surely knew what happened…and their first concern was for the life and safety of the horse…the race was the farthest thing from their minds, as it was from mine. I’m not ashamed to admit I said a silent prayer that Barbaro would be all right, and to see him try to walk in such pain, and to see the looks on the faces of the jockey and his team…well, that hurt.



Later it was revealed that Barbaro’s injuries were severe enough to require a delicate operation to save his life…all of a sudden, the Triple Crown was not that big a deal.



Things like that happen to people all the time…through no fault of their own, something awful happens, and in a blink of an eye, they go from carefree joy to agony, alarm, and worry for their future. Is it fair? No. Not for people…or for horses. And we always ask “why”…as if we would understand it if we were told.



I’m afraid all that can be said is that things just happen…and nothing can be done to prevent them from happening. Yet, God gives all of us the opportunity to learn more about how He works in this world…and when we clue into it, somehow, we’ll be better off for the lesson.



How does that figure in the story of Barbaro? I don’t know how it will for you…but I’m looking forward to how it will affect the way I look at life. Somehow, I think that God’s got an important lesson for me to learn in all this. Maybe that’s why he let my non-animal loving heart get so affected by what I saw on Saturday.



I’ll let you know.

A little slice of heaven

I have not experienced much internet radio. My personal computer has no soundcard, so I was never able to listen much to the stations online that frineds of mine had told me so much about. Now that I’m in temporary living quarters, I have access to a computer with sound, and can catch up a bit on what I’ve been missing.



And with my tastes in music being what they are, it was only natural that once I had a chance, I’d check out Carl Ramsey’s All Quartets Radio…a 24/7 station offering nothing but gospel quartet music!



Not just current quartet music either, but classic quartet sounds from the golden age of the genre…it is well programmed and well integrated throughout the day!



I checked it out a couple of days ago, and I heard some Gold City, some Landmarks, some Palmetto State and Melody Boys music…and the quality of the songs was uniformly high…songs that were fun to listen to and sing along with, but also songs with strong lyrics that moved the heart. It was quite captivating and compelling.



The clincher came when they went to their “turntable classic”…a 1962 Couriers Quartet recording, “He Will Pilot Me”…naturally, I play my own record of that often…but to hear it online really sparked my spirits. If they were smart enough to play stuff like that, I should make a habit of listening to them when I can! It’s a station after my own heart!



I listened again before I went to work today…I heard the old Harvesters Quartet version of JD Sumner’s “Lord, Teach Me How To Pray”…as well as a selection from the Cathedral Quartet(NOT the “Cats”, heaven forbid)classic album “With Strings”, and a classic from the ultrasmooth Weatherford Quartet had me in the palm of the computer’s hand.



Then a couple of groups I’m personally VERY familiar with…the Liberty Quartet from Idaho, mentioned prominently in my reviews of the GWSGFF on these pages recently, doing “I Wanna Know”…it was such a pleasure to hear the lyrics sung clearly, UNlike the way the Statesmen did on their 1959 classic live album! I know it’s heresy to suggest that Big Chief was anything less than perfect as a bass singer, but honestly, on faster songs, it was hard to understand his singing! I hope I won’t catch too much flak for telling it “like it is”!



Then came California’s Songfellows doing a tasty version of “You Don’t Know What Lonesome Is”…then it was time for work, and I reluctantly had to turn All Quartets Radio off for the day. Oh, did I mention I also heard one of today’s best traditional quartets, Southern Sound? Sorry if I almost forgot about Ben Harris and his outstanding quartet.



It proves once again(lest there be any doubt)that no matter what mood I might be in(and I’ve been uncharacteristically angry of late), a good dose of four-part gospel quartet singing is always good for my state of mind.



As far as this boy’s concerned, the sun never sets on gospel quartets!

To my loyal Norwegian readers…

Happy Independence Day!



Yes, May 17th is Norway’s national holiday! So to all out there who are Norwegian(or want to be), have a very happy day of celebration of your native land…or adopted one!



I wonder how many other bloggers will remember this special day for a bunch of special people?? What do you think??

Another year older…

Yes, I celebrated yet another birthday today…it’s 48 now for me…



The more of these I have, the more I realize that I don’t really change that much in many ways from year to year…and in other ways, I change every day!That does bring me a feeling of comfort to a degree.



A little over four years ago, I wondered if I would even stick around to my then 44th birthday…and I took steps to ensure that I would be able to celebrate as many birthdays as God would allow me to…and I’m still here. If there’s one thing I’m most grateful for this year, it’s that I’m here to celebrate one more birthday! Yes, most of all, I’m thankful that I can still wake up in the morning and breathe!



Oh, sure, things could be different…I still could speak better…be richer…have a nicer home…not annoy people so much…and most of all, be more mindful of God’s ways and be obedient…but for distance, life is very good…and I thank my Father in heaven for loving me so much!



Oh yes, I could be more “popular”…on the message boards I frequent, I used to get a ton of greetings on my birthday…today, however, was relatively quiet. I thank Sharon, Tony, Cliff, Steve, and Meredith for their beautiful cards and well-wishes…and of course, my dear Nicole, for the present and the phone call, not to mention all three of her cards! And Ron, thanks for the dinner tonight…along with breath to live, I am profoundly thankful for all the special, dear friends I have in both the real and cyber worlds! I cherish you all!



But I must pay special homage to one person in particular who surprised me with a private birthday greeting! This person is frequently ridiculed and misunderstood…yet she has never failed to be friendly to evryone she meets. I confess that I even participated at times in that unfair ridicule…but when the time comes to recognize friends and people who mean a lot to her, ahe is always there. And she was again…for me.



Lately I can identify more with her than I used to…but despite all the misguided and misapplied sentiment given to me, I know today that God loves me as much as He ever has…and He sends me other people who do as well, so I can look beyond the narrow “vision” of the barnacles that occasionally plague me…and I pray that the person that I’m talking about here will do the same…and realize God loves her very much. I think she does, because I think she loves God very much…so Jolene, thank you…and take a curtsy.



I have a roof over my head, a place to sleep, a job to go to, a nice car to drive, the best music in the world all around me to listen to when I need something inspiring, friends who love and value me for what I am(not complain about what I’m not)…and most of all, I have the eternal love of Christ inside and around me at all times, and I’ll never lose that. Better yet, no one can take that away from me…they can’t touch it.



Am I still a work in progress? Most defnitely…and as long as I inhabit this earth, I shall remain such. But when I finally stop celebrating birthdays, then I will finally be perfected, and ready to celebrate eternity with the One Who loves me most. I’m a “winner” either way…and I like what the future holds!



And I can deal just fine with the present…because I know Who holds that future. So yes, I had a nice birthday…and I’m looking forward to the coming calendar year. Thanks to all of you…for making my life rewarding…and for being used in my never ending quest for the finest in life.

The boredom of vagrancy…

I realize that the title I used is a bit dramatic…but I truly have gotten tired of not having a home to come to at the end of my days.



All is still on hold as far as getting my tiny apartment back following my having to move myself out of it after the discovery of a veritable boatload of mold. Because of rules tying the hands of my landlord, I don’t know when I’ll be able to move back in yet.



So in the meantime, I have to stay at the house of the friend of a friend…and use his computer to type this blog and my monthly articles, not to mention to correspond with my many online friends. By no means am I complaining about that, though…I am very grateful to God that I have a place to go! Not everyone is as blessed as I when it comes to situations like this. If you don’t believe me, just ask any random resident of New Orleans..



But I’m learning more than I ever imagined I would that a mere house is not a home…that a home is so much more. And as shabby as my little hovel was, it was my refuge from the chaos of the rest of the world. But now, my time to myself(and thus with God)is a bit more limited.



Nonetheless, I am not discouraged…life is a series of phenomena and stages, and this is just one more stage…and much like the man with kidney stones, I affirm, “This too shall pass.”



I’m so glad I have so much down time at work on weekends…I’m using it right now to get the refreshment I need(and we ALL need it now and then).



I got my first official formal recognition of my birthday today in an e-mail from my dear friend Nicole in Glendale…a nice bunch of e-balloons. Moments like these make me more thankful than almost anyone for the great friends and loved ones I have…who value me no matter where I live or how rich I am or what I do. Thank you, Lord.



I’ll be back on my birthday(Tuesday)to post anew…in the meantime, to each of you reading this, may the good Lord take a real lovin’ to ya!

So you wanna be a gospel music star?

(with apologies to the Byrds)…



Recently I’ve been engaged in quite a bit of dialogue with some gospel music artists I know and fellow fans about the way that the “industry” of gospel music operates…and although I understand where some people are coming from with regard to to how it all works, I admit that I’m a bit uneasy about certain aspects of it.



Not just about the politics involved…that’s always a good straw man to beat up on when discussing the gospel business, but the basic mindset of the industy at heart.



Many who try to make a living as gospel singers start out with the noblest of ideals…they want to sing songs they love about the God they love, and encourage their audiences to embrace that same God themselves. But, like most ambitious workers, they become distracted by the economic challenges of the calling, and gradually, their focus shifts from reaching audiences and being faithful to their original vision to self-perpetuation. In other words, they feel forced to address commercial considerations to enable their calling to survive. The vision then gets transformed from serving their Lord and audiences to “making it”, and reaching the top of their profession, i.e., a sort of worldly popularity contest not unlike the various “ratraces” of secular professions.



The focus turns from striving for effective musical presentation and mastering the art to obtaining “radio airplay” and “chart success” in whatever way possible. And it doesn’t help that so many parts of the gospel music industry, while professing that they’re helping to develop “ministries”(arguably the most misused word in gospel music), are instead primarily interested in how the artists they’re guiding can help them reach their “bottom line”, i.e., make money for them.



Not that that’s all bad…after all, these ARE businesses, and they need to make money to continue to exist at all. That’s not the point. What makes me uneasy as an interested observer(and in some cases, a friend)of these artists, it’s a shame to see them acquiesce to so much of the ways of the world to allegedly fuflfill their visions. If I were an artist, I’d be especially frustrated. As the song said some 30 years ago, “There Must Be A Better Way”.



But really…how impressive is the amount of radio airplay one gets? How impressive is putting several songs on “the charts”(however they’re put on)? Artists who wish to use their talents to glorify God know that He is not that impressed with earthly acclaim…in fact, Matthew 6 could well be applied to many gospel artists of this day and age…in other words, those who get the glory down here may learn that that’s all the acclaim they’ll get. And how does one feel when that happens to them? A bit empty? Quite possibly.



Too many artists with real talent to use their musical ability to glorify God get discouraged by the “industry” because some of the things they have to do to maintain their integrity are not very commercial…so such artists are made to feel as though they are failures at their calling when in fact, they’ve not failed at all. So how DOES one maintain one’s spirtual integrity and still have enough commercial success to “make it” in gospel music?



Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in gospel music…nor in the rest of life. And there are no promises of any glory when it comes to dedicating one’s self to God’s work. There are only challenges to meet and overcome…and like in other parts of life, it can be done if it is in the will of God for it to happen.



The outstanding example of that in gospel music is that of the Couriers, who began traveling as a gospel quartet in 1958 with the hope of being “messengers” of God through music. Yes, they faced the challenges and temptations to take advantage of their station in life to be “stars”, but because of the way God led them, and their fundamental trust in His ways, they managed to overcome those temptations and “make it” their way…which ultimately was His way. Their focus was not on being the top group in gospel music(although they had those opportunities), nor being particularly well-known. Their focus was on their craft, and their witness, and on being the best group of singers and witnesses to God that they could be.



And looking back on the Couriers’ career, their music was recognized as among the most innovative and accomplished of any artist who ever made gospel music. They didn’t use “talent coaches” or “consultants”, but just prayed and worked hard…and that ability came. It came despite the fact that with the exception of such natural talents as tenor Duane Nicholson and pianist David Young, none of the Couriers was a particularly naturally talented musician. But in time, Don Baldwin became one of the finest quartet baritone singers of his era, and Neil Enloe became not only one of the best lead singers of his day, but also one of the top writers/pianists/arrangers of his time as well.



And did they “make it”? Well, some 60 albums, three Dove Awards, 3,000,000 miles traveled, and 81 countries sung in is testimony to the fact that they did pretty well in a purely statistical way.



But more important, the reputation that they earned as people and as witnesses of God proved that they were faithful to their vision, without compromising the ideals that they had when they began singing. It CAN be done.



But the “industry” doesn’t seem to want to develop artists that fit those standards at all. Rather, they seem content to “settle” for a worldly sort of acclaim, and the trappings of success.



So if you want to be a gospel music “star”, I suppose you can…if you’re not that picky about how you do it. But if you care, and it matters how you fulfill your calling, there are better examples to follow than that which the “industry” puts forth.

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