OK, anyone I go to church with probably remembers a song by that title, written by Pastor Gordy Johnson. It is a good song, and I enjoyed singing it very much, but that is not why the title of this blog is what it is. I’ve just been thinking about working together.
Even "together" has a website
I didn’t know what to write about this week. I’ve been so busy with my wife in the hospital that it didn’t occur to me that Wednesday comes every week. Genius at work, friends.
The doctors operated on Friday the 15th, was in for 4 1/2 days, and by the time she got home, she was in a fair amount of pain. Unfortunately, it peaked Easter evening and I had to bring her back in, although it wasn’t for another surgery. As we were waiting in the ER, I recalled a conversation I had this past weekend about a church which, to attract a younger demographic (when did churches start even bringing the word ‘demographic’ into their lexicon?) is shortening their service to 20 minutes.
Yes, I said twenty minutes. How they can get the word of God effectively translated to someone’s present situation, how they can lift someone from the mire of life in twenty minutes, is beyond me. To put it in perspective, a commercial-free episode of Sesame Street is thirty minutes long. So they are saying it is harder to learn the Spanish word “abuelo” or “agua” than it is to understand a few passages in the book of Revelation. Uh-huh.
You're on MY street now
I said to the person who told me that story, “They’re turning him into a drive-thru Jesus!” And then, as I often say, “There’s a song in there somewhere.” I was not too far off. Fast-forward to the emergency room. My wife was sleeping, because much like a cat always lands on its feet, our trips to the emergency room always come at a time we should be in bed. The pre-chorus and the chorus jumped into my head and wouldn’t jump out. I had a pen, but no paper, so I grabbed a few paper towels and went to work. I wish I could say it poured out, but songwriting is always a struggle for me. My wife woke up and I put the song in my pocket. The next day, she was once again sleeping, and I had a thought that I should finish this thing. I went out to the atrium and wrote. And wrote. It wasn’t bad, but it needed a LOT of work. Cue Dean Richardson.
Dean asked me to bring what I had to practice. He asked me to sing a little, to get a sense for how I heard it. He laid a bit of guitar down, and our bassist Gerry Lepage threw in some notes as well. We finished practice but Dean was still hearing something, so he and I stayed and continued to work, rewriting some lines, figuring out melodies, making it unpredictable. Who doesn’t like a surprising song? By 11, we had a good start on it but we had to go see our wives. Sleeping. On our way out, Dean expressed excitement about both the song and the collaborative process. Working together is something we’ve done only sporadically, but when we are doing something with potential, it just becomes special.
We always work better in teams. Jesus knew this. In the book of Acts, you can see that the disciples went out in pairs to make disciples of all nations. Our church has two primary pastors. You almost never see Mormon missionaries walking the streets alone. Elton John had most of his hits with Bernie Taupin. Batman had Robin. Adam had Eve. Genesis (the book, not Phil Collins’band)
John Locke could feel it in the air tonight, too
recounts God as saying, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Salvation’s House works as one unit, each contributing differently, but vitally to the success of our band.
So before you think you work better alone, think about that being the devil’s lie to get you off by yourself where he can have his way with your heart and your mind. My help comes from God, and occasionally Dean. Where does yours come from?
Salvation's House 