I am NOT Al-Queda!!!

Went to pick up a friend at the airport. Stopped for a minute at sidewalk. Security officer quickly told me to keep it moving. I drove around in circles slowly looking for my pickup. Around and around. Finally I park and wait. He comes in. I go and get the car again. I don't see him. He sees me and comes running out. A big hug. I jump in the truck but apparently not fast enough for some frustrated driver behind to curse and shake their fists at me. I get out to see what's wrong. A man jumps out and wants to fight. We cool off and get back in. I start to pull off, but another security agent stops me. She chews me out and belittles me for getting out of my truck in "her" section. She enjoys chewing me out for awhile and informs me that cameras are everywhere and I'm on film and she has the power to "escort" me out of the airport. I hang my head and apologize over and over as she enjoys her tantrum of power. She finally lets me go with disgust.

I scream, "I AM NOT AL-QUEDA!"

Why the stress? Why the sacrifice of freedom? Why the over-protectiveness of everyday life because some nut-group Muslims bombed New York? I'm sick of it. America has traded her freedom for the illusion of safety.

I'd rather be un-safe.

At least we wouldn't be jumping out of the cars in frustration ready to fight each other.

I think the terrorist have already won this war. We've traded in our common-sense wanting our government to protect us. What happened to that spirit that said, "Give me freedom or give me death" ?

I don't wanna die for it, but I'd be willing to sacrifice some of my "safety" for some common sense freedom again.

Larry Norman

Larry almost always surprised me.

I saw him in concert several times in the '70s at pretty big shows in Chicago and Minneapolis. I expected rock n' roll but instead got soul searching contemplative speeches. One show, he was real quiet and serious with these spiritual callings of "let's just be more like Jesus" stuff mixed with rock n' roll anecdotes.

One story he told was how scientists did studies on rock n' roll and found that if you put house plants in front of speakers and play loud rock music, the plants would grow away from the speakers - (implying some kind of bio-adversity.) And in his dry monotone voice he'd remind everybody afterwards to not place their plants by their speakers when they played loud rock n' roll.

The next concert I saw of his - after I told everybody how he has these nice sit down reflective monologues, quietly sitting at his piano prodding holiness through Christ in his listeners - he comes FLYING out on stage, spinning and his hair twirling round and round with this rock the house down intro music and this dressed in black “Johnny Cash” look.

Larry surprised me often.

Larry's nemesis at the time was one "Bob Larson" who emphatically declared that simply the syncopated beat of rock music was from the devil and drove teenagers to sex. Larry made fun of these comments with superb stand-up comedic dry humor. Kids like us loved it. We laughed at Bob Larson's books and claims of personal knowledge of rock (since he self-declared himself as having actually been in a "Combo" in his pre-Christian days). Bob Larson eventually went on to casting out demons on radio and chasing down the devil elsewhere. Larry kind of faded away after the 80's.

As a church youth group leader in the 80's once, I took the kids to see Larry Norman perform in Pasadena, Texas at the Civic Center. Me and my wife rocked out at the show and the kids enjoyed the freedom of enjoying a rock show and loving Jesus at the same time with one big eye on the representative spiritual leaders (us) bobbing their heads to the music. Some of the kids there that day included Josh Magnuson, Pat Ruland, and David Robinson – all of whom are friends still as adults.

It was at that show that Larry made a call to salvation and like most evangelical events prayer leaders were waiting in the wings to walk you into your salvation experience. David came forth and got routed over to the side by some super Christian who ended up lecturing poor David for what seemed like forever to me with all this Christian babble that I feared was missing the point. Of course it was only proper for me to sit aside and trust the Holy Spirit to work through this person to lead David into his "born again" experience.

…which of course is NOT what I did.

I snapped up David out of the hands of this well-meaning Christian for fear that David would lose the moment and took him by the hand over to where Larry was standing around talking to some fans. I burst in with David and said, "Larry, this is David and he wants to get saved. Can you pray with him?"

Larry paused his conversation for a second and said, "Sure."

He prayed a sweet, honest, simple prayer with David and in a few moments said, "Amen."

I KNEW it could be simple and Larry did NOT let me down.

Larry was a sweet and spiritual guy with a wry sense of humor and a willingness to rebel. He was just what the doctor ordered for many a young man seeking salvation in that age.

I remember being so bummed out when I first became a Christian and figured I had to give up all my music. I'd played in garage bands all my childhood life and now I actually went and busted my precious albums including my favorites such as "Grand Funk" and "Black Sabbath".

Christian life was very boring. Then I heard this concept placed into a song, "Why should the devil have all the good music" and my spirit rose again to new and glorious heights. This was Larry Norman's trademark song sand with all the sassiness that the concept deserved. We early “Jesus Freaks” loved Larry. I later credited him as one of the men in my life that contributed dramatically in my autobiography after asking him permission to quote his song.

I remember in the mid 90's being surprised that he was around. Again, he surprised me by being an early advocate of the web media... having conversations and posting comments and things for people. This was before corporate America and average person really knew about the web. He was always a bit cutting edge.

He ended up having a long drawn out death with money problems and no insurance (I think). I remember seeing his website in the 2000's with updates on his health and opportunities if people wanted to donate money to help him to have his next surgery. It was truly pathetic to see him so down.

Josh would comment to me how he was surprised that whenever he mentioned Larry Norman's name to people who should know about Christian music, nobody ever heard of him. I'd shrug my shoulders.

I'm glad he at least in his death gets some legitimate recognition for being who he was - "the father of Christian rock."

I'm going to miss you Larry. Thanks for the blessings and for sharing your thoughts and feelings and music.

I think that's just about exactly what Jesus would've done.

Some of my favorite songs on MP3 of Larry that I recorded from vinyl (you can hear the crackling) sometime back in the 90's - ... titles may not be exact, albums are up in the barn.... do the usual right-click/save as...

• 97th Nightmare - 8.7 MB
  
• Born to Be Unlucky - 6.6 MB
  
• Hard Luck - 5.0 MB
  
• Lonely By Myself - 2.6 MB
  

Info-tainment Insurance - is that what church services are about?

Wow... I love the sassy come back of "get over it, it's not about you anyway" kind of attitude. Good slap in the face. Thank you.

Now, back to reality.

Church has always been only about one (maybe two) things for me. I've always went (even back in bible college days) ONLY because I thought I might be able to encourage, teach, exhort, cheer-up, encourage somebody that might be there.

The other lesser important reason I've always gone, is that just maybe I could have a moment or two with others where I can feel like I am worshipping the true Him.

I've given up on the first because I basically am what my friend calls an "Atheistic believer in Jesus". (I've basically given up on a Christian world-view but not on Jesus himself.)

So anything I say tends to break down the world-view "eyeglasses" of the others in church and they can't take that. People like the coherent story they've already been using. Even if it is just ooey-gooey muckly mud and manure rolled up into a containable ball with pearls mixed in. Its still got pearls and it's still containable. ("Here - hold it, touch it, swallow it, carry it around.")

So I don't/can't teach/exhort any longer.

And now if the second reason is also gone... (i.e. I cannot gain moments of group worship or at least feelings of memories of past group worship, a.k.a. traditon) then I find no reason to get up early and dress and go to this parking lot of hope with promises of bigger and better parking lots providing shallower and shallower info-entertainment in the context of a non-interactive discourse.

And yes, I am whiny. I'm tired of losing good things.

You nailed it with church is about "hope for the good." (that's a very beautiful statement, btw)

I have been hoping, hoping, hoping - only to watch it slowly decay into the soup of mediocre self-entertaining shadow remnants of an America past dripping in pop culture non-relativeness. Yeah, there may be some jewels there, but I'm tired of treading through all this guck.

They stand on stage not leading interative contributions to the body of Christ. It's some kind of shallow performance. And they're not that good at it. (I can get professional performers ANYTIME on the stupid TV.)

I long for experience. For encounters. For gritty interaction. For truth, action, debate, tears and fears and comfort and love and pain. Life. Life more abundant.

Smiling faces, and spin-around happy hand-shaking with fuzzy monologes with deep-meanings through projected speeches is easy.

Hell, I can get that from an insurance salesman.

Read Think Speak

These are some great mini-lectures by some really bright people. Do a search there on "happy" for some good stuff.

These are some free books you can download. Here's the list I've downloading and am reading now:

Hating America by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin
A $35.00 gift from LifeLock
Downloaded on 4/1/2008 5:17:04 PM — Available Until 4/4/2008

4.4MB

Quantum Jump by W.R. Clement
A $19.99 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 4/1/2008 5:19:31 PM — Available Until 4/4/2008

25.2MB

The Star Chamber: How the Celebrities Go Free and Their Lawyers Become Famous by Eric Dubin
A $25.95 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 4/1/2008 5:15:59 PM — Available Until 4/4/2008

1.8MB

Shattered Dreams, Broken Promises: The Cost of Coming to America by Michael Viner
A $24.95 gift from LifeLock
Downloaded on 3/31/2008 9:57:12 PM — Available Until 4/3/2008

3.0MB

The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman by Peter Rost
A $14.95 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/31/2008 9:56:43 PM — Available Until 4/3/2008

1.1MB

When You Ride ALONE You (Still) Ride with bin Laden by Bill Maher
A $15.95 gift from Celsias
Downloaded on 3/31/2008 9:58:13 PM — Available Until 4/3/2008

4.7MB

Skipping Towards Armageddon by Michael Standaert
A $14.95 gift from LifeLock
Downloaded on 3/28/2008 7:54:35 AM

The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek
A $10.00 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/28/2008 7:54:24 AM

At War with Ourselves: Why America Is Squandering Its Chance to Build a Better World by Michael Hirsh
A $26.00 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 3/28/2008 7:54:55 AM

Free or Unfree: Are Americans Really Free? by Edward de Bono
A $19.95 gift from LifeLock
Downloaded on 3/22/2008 7:02:47 PM

Essential Guitar Chords by Paul Roland
A $13.95 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/22/2008 7:04:14 PM

Who Cares About Legacy Software? (Answer: Everybody Should!) by Robert L. Glass
A $9.95 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 3/22/2008 7:02:25 PM

An Open Letter to the CEO About Lying to Management by Robert L. Glass
A $9.95 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/21/2008 9:42:14 AM

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A $10.00 gift from Celsias
Downloaded on 3/21/2008 9:42:21 AM

Simple Websites by Stefan Mumaw
A $25.00 gift from LifeLock
Downloaded on 3/21/2008 9:42:37 AM

Creating Neighbourhoods and Places in the Built Environment by David Chapman (Ed)
A $56.00 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 3/20/2008 10:25:10 AM

Graphic Designer's Color Handbook by Barb Karg and Rick Sutherland
A $25.00 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/20/2008 10:11:41 AM

The Digital Photographer's Handbook: Travel by Simon Joinson
A $25.00 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/20/2008 10:08:44 AM

A General Theory of Magic by Marcel Mauss
A $105.00 gift from PredictWallStreet
Downloaded on 3/18/2008 1:28:55 PM

Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature by Mary Midgley
A $17.95 gift from PredictWallStreet
Downloaded on 3/18/2008 1:29:12 PM

No More Prisons by William Upski Wimsatt
A $12.00 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 3/18/2008 1:30:53 PM

The Complete Guide to Drawing & Illustration by Peter Gray
A $18.00 gift from Vonage
Downloaded on 3/17/2008 10:18:50 AM

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A $10.00 gift from Celsias
Downloaded on 3/17/2008 10:32:10 AM

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A $10.00 gift from WOWIO
Downloaded on 3/17/2008 10:32:46 AM

Traditional Worship is NOT Traditional - [heck it's not even worship]

Traditional worship sucks about as bad as the contemporary service. In the contemporary service at First Baptist Church of Wimberley you get the hip young guy singing gospel radio hits with a sincere feeling and music that has a basic harmony and maybe a catchy phrase that gets repeated to the point where you almost feel like you know the song.

[I didn't know these were radio songs till I saw a cheesy TV commercial listing "all the popular Christian music" and heard the samplings by the original artists and realized these were all the same songs we sung in church. I didn't know they were radio songs, but at least gained the insight into why our music minister thought they at least "should" be popular - the original artists made them sound good (meaning: and deep meaningful heart-felt emotions.)]

Along with "contemporary music" (which yes, basically sucks too) you get the hip young pray person who prays something like - "God, we just wanna thank you, and... just wanna.... blah blah ... just ....just ... just ... God ... Jesus ... Spirit.... praise you .. just now... feel your spirit... just... and on and on with fairly meaningless dribble "spontaneous" prayers that God would roll his eyes at if he has eyes. (Forget about the annoying Jesus-God-Father-Spirit confusion that leaves the listener reeling in wonder - "just who the heck are we talking to?" (I know the technical "trinity" one-for-all and all-for-one concept... but c'mon... can't we just talk to one or the other at least in clearly separated sentences? I mean, where'd all this "God appreciates it when I just blather whatever vague thought is on the tip of my tongue right now" communication style come from? Hmmmm.... even daily office American greeting chit-chat isn't consistently THAT predictable.

But I reserve my larger complaints for what was called the "Traditional Service" celebrated Easter morning in my used-to-be homey beloved church. I went to a traditional service on Easter expecting to sing "Up from the grave he arose, With a mighty triumph over his foes..." and some of those ... how do you say... "traditional" songs... what'd we call them? Oh, yeah... hymns.

What ever happened to the hymns?

Aren't hymns what we mean by tradional church anymore?

Instead I heard songs that essentially all sounded like they were "written just for that particular service" (as my mom puts it).... with a whole blaring horn section and screaming old ladies trying to stretch their off key voices louder than the brass sitting out front ....

And while I am ranting.... I am sick to death of these Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with the words to these songs that nobody knows how to sing and their wavy little colorful backgrounds! Don't we all get to look at screens enough during the week?! TV? Computers? How about shutting down the visual electonics and open up one of those strange hardback books sitting on the backside of every pew? Maybe we could look at possibly the MUSIC with measures and pauses and notes that indicate how the song is actually supposed to sound!

Why does everything have to be dumbed down!?

It's insulting, boring, non-creative, passive and as non-interactive as going to a theatre in a suburb.

Either give me some tradition and continuity that at least stirs memories of past feelings of worship, family, love and community OR make the music sound creative, modern with the expressive quality that most people in our society take for granted

But please stop drowning me this bland mediocrity of the "in-between" nothingness! It's embarassing and boring.

[Larry Norman, modern church customs either owe you an apology or the blame for this mundanely evolved style of music. Can anybody save us? How is it the black church seems to still have quality music with heart and soul? Is white church singing really committed to just being awful?]

Just One More Walk Around!

[This article was published in the Centralia Sentinel newspaper Feb. 14, 2008 and is reprinted here with permission by the author - my mother.]

Just One More Walk Around!

Well, here I am approaching 70 years old and I am still thinking about Odin. I think back to when I was a lone child delivering the Centralia Sentinel in Odin. What I want to do is to go back to Odin and walk my old paper route just one more time. Although I spent many an evening walking around delivering my papers I just can’t seem to get the experience out of my head!

I had my share of trauma. Dogs chased me and I was scared of them most of the time. I had no boots or gloves and in the winter I would play simple games of warming each of my hands in my pockets and pretending they were really warm. There was a gentleman that lived at the end of Woods Street that I was so scared of. He had a huge red horse which he rode to town to get his groceries and mail. I had to open his rusty old gate and go around the back of his large scary and spooky house to collect. No matter how often I went around the back of his house to collect, he never answered the door. However, one day he did open his door and paid up his bill. He was so kind and gentle. This taught me a lesson that I have carried with me through the years. The outward appearance of an individual may not reflect the true nature of that person.

I was a scared child. I was afraid of persons that I perceived to be grouchy, or people that lived in fine houses and people that obviously had more fine things in life than we did. You see, we were a big family and we did not receive an allowance nor did I get the money from the paper route. I had absolutely no spending money. After school most of the classmates went to the local Drug Store to get a cherry coke. Sometimes, I too would go, but I couldn’t buy a coke so I would stand around and dream of all the items displayed on the counter and in the cases.

Odin Schools – I am so grateful for the wonderful schooling I received at Odin. I realized when I went out into the world to work that I received a wonderful and outstanding education in Odin. Spelling: Mrs. Mattie Martin forced us to want to spell and spell we did! She went over the words daily and learning to spell helped me more than I can explain. This helped in my career. I was a medical secretary for two hospitals. Also, the training in office skills was terrific. Although I could not afford to go to college, the special training I received at the Odin school carried me way above many college educated co-workers. I ended up working as an assistant to the President of a large corporation.

So, before my 70th birthday this year, I plan to come to Odin and walk my old paper route, walk to school, down Main and back to my home street. Thanks to my childhood in Odin, it gave me a wonderful life!!

Sincerely,
Norina Veronica (Ingles) Lovvorn

I asked Moon/God/Other for a Revelation

FIRST REVELATION: What White America doesn't understand is that Black America has a deep wound that hasn't fully healed.

SECOND REVELATION: If you concentrate on the form, you'll lose the essence.

I asked Moon/God/Other this morning for a revelation that I could keep. I got back two.

The first I realized when a Black Church came to our Church a few months back. It was a fellowship yearly agreement between our little country White Church and an Austin urban Black Church that goes back more than 20 years. The preacher wailed and preached and talked in metaphorical language that went over the heads of most White folks there. He talked about overcoming a harsh dark oppression that weighs heavily on the Black man's soul. (But he didn't SAY Black. He assumed it. He was talking around most of the Whites - like Black people are sooooo good at. It's a learned art I'm sure.)

He touched my soul and made me realize that there still exists a painful wound deep in the heart of this Black preacher, of every Black person there shouting 'Amen', and of Black culture in general. They understand this deep wounded psyche and it haunts them still.

To most White people the Black slavery episode is long gone and over with. Even prejudices in White culture has decayed into a sort of of squeamish "White Guilt" where we can't even hardly acknowledge "Blackness" or "Whiteness" and look a person in the eye - White or Black.

Like someone said, "You may be done with your past, but your past isn't done with you."

My second revelation has also been a long time coming - but it flashed into words again this morning. It is that Zen balancing act of awareness that all mystics seek. It applies to God/Religion, Martial Arts (live fighting/learned forms), and all knowledge and wisdom that can pursed into words. More can be said, but a lot less should be. If you focus on it, it is gone. If you see it, it disappears. If you hold on to it, you lose it. Blah, blah blah... :)

Actually, a third revelation also came/was-given to me.

THIRD REVELATION: My soul is living or dying NOW.

(Stir all 3 into a bowl and bake for 30 minutes, then send me a self-addressed stamped envelope for your officially approved "Mystic Certificate.")