A Brief Interruption…

When I first started my series on Distorted Images of God, I mentioned that I reserved the right to interrupt the series if I had some other things to share.

So I do.

So I am.

Just wanted to give a personal update on the music side of things, for those who have been wondering how that part of my life is going, since it’s been awhile since I said anything about that. I had mentioned some goals at the beginning of this year, and while I’ve been slow to reach them, I have managed to reach a couple of milestones in the past week, both of which have been pretty exciting (for me, at least).

First of all, as some of you know, I’ve been a worship leader for a long time, and since I’m now pretty much “de-insitutionalized,” I’ve struggled to find new applications for my gifts outside of those parameters. As a songwriter, for example, it’s been a real challenge for me to find meaningful things to say lyrically, since for so many years my lyrics have focused on a particular topic. 🙂 That being said…last weekend I hit a goal: for the first time ever, I played an open stage. I did a couple of original tunes and a couple of covers, and also played keyboard for another artist. All of it went over fairly well considering only two people in the room actually knew who I was. (I really wanted it that way, for this first time, so if I sucked, no one would know the difference.) But the positive response in the room convinced me that there is a place for me in the music community besides just as a writer–and for the musicians in the room who did know me, it lent some credibility, because as a music writer I was able to prove that I actually know what I’m writing about. 🙂

The second milestone: I had set a goal to begin doing some home recording, and since moving to our new place I’ve been able to do that in earnest. In fact, this weekend I had a unique opportunity to pitch one of my instrumental recordings for some music industry people at a conference that was being held here in town. Again, the response was very encouraging; I got good feedback and advice, and made some good connections for the future.

This might not mean much to the people reading this (forgive me if I’m boring you), but both of these events have had a huge amount of significance for me. For the two years since I came here to this new city, I have been thinking about and preparing for the events that just happened. These two things really represent the first time I have put feet to these goals–to actually do something about carrying my music beyond the church walls, instead of just talking about it. It was time to find out whether this was actually going to work. And it did. I discovered that not only does my gift have a place in this new environment, but I actually have the capacity to minister in this environment, also. It has been a very exciting week.

I’ll pick up the series again next time. Just wanted to share this with you. 🙂