There are few things more gratifying, and fewer still more terrifying. Leading the band. Leading what is not your top skill level, striving for what is beyond you and beyond your abilities, and doing it as a group. That frankly is a recipe for constant stress and struggle. That is where I am at.
It is gratifying to learn new skills, or greatly improve those basic skills you might have, but it is altogether another thing to place them in front of the band at practice and the larger congregation on Sunday. Now amplify it . . . literally . . . where every mistake and mis-strum can be heard in vibrant Fender amplifier quality, and there you have it, the ultimate humbler. Miss a chord, or sing the wrong verse, two events which occur regularly I might add, and then you know what it is to eat crow every Sunday. Now add to that mix of beyond-your-skills reach, 7 other band members, and most of them reaching for the very edge of their abilities as well, and the result can be chaos. Or it can be a miracle.
Making miracles week after week is anything but mundane . . . leading the band to worship . . . is perhaps the most overwhelming and awe-inspiring part of walking along with God each day. Now if I could only find the unbreakable pick.
It is gratifying to learn new skills, or greatly improve those basic skills you might have, but it is altogether another thing to place them in front of the band at practice and the larger congregation on Sunday. Now amplify it . . . literally . . . where every mistake and mis-strum can be heard in vibrant Fender amplifier quality, and there you have it, the ultimate humbler. Miss a chord, or sing the wrong verse, two events which occur regularly I might add, and then you know what it is to eat crow every Sunday. Now add to that mix of beyond-your-skills reach, 7 other band members, and most of them reaching for the very edge of their abilities as well, and the result can be chaos. Or it can be a miracle.
Making miracles week after week is anything but mundane . . . leading the band to worship . . . is perhaps the most overwhelming and awe-inspiring part of walking along with God each day. Now if I could only find the unbreakable pick.
2 comments:
My hat is off to you...singing, playing a keyboard and trying to be loud enough to lead and make a difference still feels like the pat-the-head, rub-the-stomach recipe. But not many things are more powerful a medium of worship than music. It never ceases to amaze me that mere sound can stir the most dead soul.
Dude, this is why I love your writing. You're so honest! Enjoy your kids!
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