Don't give up...

Well... we did our "spirituality of jazz" worship and it was sweet!  As my man, Carlton, said: each time we played a song - in practice and performance - it was different... and things could have train wrecked anywhere along the way. Thanks be to God they mostly didn't - there were some incredible surprises, too - like Dianne scat-singing for the first time and Brian soloing on "Birk's Works."  The emotional fullness of the music hit my buddy, Eva, too during "Killing Me Softly" but she regrouped and turned in a totally beautiful version of this killer song.

Mostly I think it all worked, too.  As one retired clergy person said to me, "You've been thinking about this for a long time, yes?  Not just two weeks on vacation..." Most of my life, truth be told, and certainly re: music for the past 15 years (and jazz for the last two years.) Put it all together today and it was a good introduction to a spirituality of jazz/beauty/creativity that is an authentic path of formation AND a form of cultural resistance. 

Much more to say (of course) but that's enough for now... with one addition:  I'm thinking of exploring Herbie Hancock's take on Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" for next week's reflection on Abraham and Sarah.  I'm thinking that the heart of the message - in addition to retelling a number of Abrahamic stories - will be grounded in God's promise to be with us as we make life's journey no matter how broken we are (and old Abe is a pretty complicated and broken dude, yes?)

This is one of the most beautiful versions of a great song ever.  So, what do you think?

Love and peace to you...