Rock Redemption!

I have been listening to and collecting music since the early ‘60s, starting with “45s” as they were called back then, which were small vinyl records with a single song on each side. Side A was the hit song from the radio and side B was another song offering. I then began collecting full size vinyl records or albums, which were around 12” in diameter containing 5 or 6 songs on each side, I managed to accumulate about 300 before moving on to cassettes and now CDs are my fancy. I never got into 8track tapes though; since I didn’t own a car when they were popular and they came and went so quickly. When I finally got my own car I had a cassette player put in. At one point I even owned a reel to reel tape recorder which I ended up using to record my friend’s band and later on I bought a cassette deck that I also used for recording the band.

I’ve been attracted to all types of music over the years and all types of music groups. Even when I got married and started having kids, I still collected music. But after awhile, I realized that as I was listening to the radio or a cassette in a car full of kids, something didn’t seem right. These kids were listening to the music too and sometimes the words that were being used in the songs were not what I would want to hear coming out of the mouths of my children!

Around this time I had decided that I needed to get back to church, I had been brought up going to church every Sunday and for some reason I felt I had to give my children the same in their upbringing.  Although all of my kids went to public school, all but one of my six kids went to a Christian preschool, basically because my sister-in-law had sent her kids there so I just trusted her judgment.  My son had ADHD and went to a special Ed preschool run by the public school system.

Anyway, through my sister-in-law and another friend, I found the bible Chapel I now attend. The more time I spent there the more I learned and soon it all seemed to make sense! The music being sung was of a current contemporary kind and I began to like it! Pretty soon I preferred to listen to it over some of my old fare because of the kids; there was even a new local Christian radio station I could listen to in the car!

Now, the music I listen to most is music that is not necessarily all about God or even what’s known as “Christian”, but is more God friendly than that of the past. One thing I have noticed a lot recently is that many of the people I listened to in the past keep popping up in the strangest places! Guys like Alice Cooper, Lou Gramm, Richie Furay, John Michael Talbot, Bob Dylan and even Charlie Daniels have shown up in Gospel and Christian Contemporary music.

Actually there are many genres of “Christian” music, Hip-Hop, Pop, Ska, Rock, Alternative, Punk, Punk Rock, Metal and I’ve even heard of Rastafarian!  Whatever kind of music genre you can name there is a version of it with a Christian theme. I like mostly Christian Rock or Hard Rock, bands like Blindside, 12 Stones, Thousand Foot Kutch, We As Human, Kutless, Spoken, Project 86, Stryper, Seventh Day Slumber, Demon Hunter, etc., the list goes on forever!

So imagine my surprise when I’m listening to internet stations like Broken FM, Reign Radio, Static Radio and URrock Radio and all of a sudden I hear “Salvation” by Alice Cooper or when I’m at a Christian festival in my state and one of the groups playing is The Lou Gramm Band, whose front man just happens to be the former lead singer of the band Foreigner! Or when I find out that one of the founding members of a band I listened to as a teen back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Mason Proffit, has gone rogue and joined a Catholic Brotherhood as did John Michael Talbot and is writing worship songs about God. We have heard over the years about Bob Dylan finding faith and the songs he has written professing it, along with Johnny Cash. I even found some Charlie Daniels albums in my local Christian book and gift store!

Then I found out that Richie Furay of the bands, Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the Souther Hillman Furay Band was pouring out music with a new theme and that he has become a Pastor of a Calvary Chapel in Colorado! Or when I find out crazy stuff like, Michael Sweet of Stryper was the co-lead vocalist and guitarist for the well known group Boston, from 2007 – 2011, it just blows my mind!

My latest find has me reeling as well; I was listening to a mainstream rock radio station in my car that I’ve listened to for years that plays what’s known as Classic Rock. They played the song “Never Been Any Reason” by a group I had only vaguely heard of before, Head East. Over the years I think I’ve only heard that name once or twice, but the song sparked my interest and I had to find out more about the group! So the second I got home I googled it (thank goodness for modern technology!) and what I found out freaked me to no end, turns out that the lead vocalist was none other than John Schlitt of Petra fame! I also found out that John Elefante of the band Mastedon was once frontman for the band Kansas from ’81 – ’84! Wonders never cease! You never know who has turned their life over to the Lord!

Over the years I have come across many groups with songs that hit a spiritual cord, like Blindfaith’s “Presence of the Lord”, Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven”, Bruce Cockburn’s “Lord of the Starfields”, The Hooters’ “All You Zombies”, Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”, the Rolling Stones had “Prodigal Son”, Rush’s “Peaceable Kingdom” or Collective Soul’s “You”, along with tons of others as well. The first time I heard the album "Far From Home" by Steve Winwood and Traffic with the songs “Here Comes a Man”, “Holy Ground” and “State of Grace, I couldn’t help but notice the spiritual message ingrained throughout. Not all of these people were devout believers; many were just searching for something to fill the void in their lives at one time or another, others were just trying to spark more interest in their music, but some actually found God!

So it does my heart good to learn that many of the people in the mainstream music world have turned to the Lord. It’s actually a good thing when bands don’t flaunt their “Christian-ism”, because people can be drawn in by the message in the music and not scared away by the thought of listening to Christian music! Bands like Emery, actively look for venues that are “outside the box” to play at, bars, clubs and mainstream music festivals like Vans Warped Tour, just as Jesus reached out to those around him, tax collectors, lepers, drunks, the demon possessed and harlots, anyone in need!

So it just goes to show, you can’t always judge a rocker by their appearance or the type of music they play! They might just be ROCKIN’ FOR The Lord!

Ever feel violated?

Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt violated? Maybe you’ve had something taken or stolen from you, had someone break into your car or home? At first you have those feelings of horror, desperation, fear, anxiety and then anger! How could this happen to you?

I got my first car in 1972 when I was 20 and had a full time job. I was still living at home and my parents helped me buy a brand new VW Super Beetle! I'd had it for about a year or so, when one day I was visiting a guy I was dating at the time at work. He worked at an electronic store that sold all kinds of stereo equipment and records. I was planning on buying a record (those were the days when vinyl was all there was!) and had taken my money inside with me thinking I’d be right back out.

While I was inside going through the record section, there were these two guys wandering around the store, all of a sudden the alarm went off and the guys ran out of the store. My friend noticed that someone had tried to remove a stereo unit from the shelf which had set the alarm off and we figured it was the two that had just taken off, we didn’t think much about it until another guy that worked there came in and told me he thought someone had broken into my car trying to steal my stereo! So we all ran out to discover that the back side window on my car was smashed and the purse I had so foolishly left on the floor behind the driver’s seat was gone!

First the feeling of fear swept over me and then just plain anger! Anger at myself for being so dumb and then toward those who had done this evil deed to me! I was very lucky; there was nothing of any value in the purse since I had the money with me, I didn’t have a check book or even any credit cards at that time. The only thing was a gas credit card in my dad’s name. I found the purse on the side of the road when I left the store and a few days later someone found my wallet with my driver’s license. My dad cancelled the card and we eventually got it back in the mail.

Flash forward to about two years ago and my oldest daughter is living in Brooklyn, New York. We had let her use one of our cars to travel back and forth from the city to our home. We got a call one day from her all in a panic, wanting to know the license plate number and all. She had parked it somewhere near her apartment and it was gone!

It was an old ’93 Mazda with some dents, not in really good shape, who would want to steal it? First thing that pops in your head is that some teenagers have stolen it to take it for a joy ride and it was probably in a heap some place! Or maybe it was used in a robbery of some kind! All these things run rampant through your brain!

So after about a week or so of freaking out, she finds out that it was towed away! She starts to feel the sting of violation, now the fear turns to anger, not only did they have the nerve to take it, but now she has to pay the towing costs along with the parking ticket to get it back! Now she really feels violated! It’s as though it’s being held for ransom!

She’s left mentally kicking herself in the butt for being so foolish! But she has just learned a valuable life lesson; some mistakes will cost you not only grief and aggravation, but some money too!
 

Wake Me Up

By C.S Bosse

Wake me, O Lord
For I am sleeping
I have fallen asleep to your call

Wake me, O Lord
For I am sleeping
I have fallen asleep to your word

Wake me, O Lord
For I am sleeping
I have fallen asleep to your will

Wake me, O Lord
For my heart and soul
Have fallen asleep to your love

I come into your house
Seeking your help
My heavy heart weighs me down
I'm feeling numb and lifeless

Wake me, don't let me sleep
Give me your strength each day
Open my ears to your word

Wake me, don't let me sleep
Give me your strength each day
Lead me in the ways of your will 

Wake me, don't let me sleep
Give me your strength each day
Help me give everything to your call 

Wake me up, O Lord
Awaken me to the injustice around me
And to the plight of others 

Wake me up, O Lord
Show me your love
That I may know how to love them

Won't you wake me, O Lord?
For I have been dozing far too long!

And now for something completely different “Bowling for Geese”!

There was a time a few years ago, when I was very active in the exercise department. I took aerobics three days a week and on two other days I would jog to and walk around the local park. Then I started having some trouble with my foot which made it very difficult to run or walk a lot so I had to give up the trips to the park for awhile. Finally I was able to get my foot problem under control and started making my rounds in the park again.

The park near my house has a lake in the middle with a paved path that goes around it and has three bridges that cross over it at certain points. I would jog from my house to the park and then walk around the park on the path crossing over the bridge in the middle to make a figure 8. I’d make this figure 8 trip around about two or three times before jogging from the park back to my house. By the entrance where I came in there is a gazebo and parking lot on one side and the basketball courts on the other side along with the restrooms, further down was the high school practice field behind the high school itself. The high school gym teachers used the path in the park for running the mile and aerobic walking during gym class, so every now and then you would have to dodge the kids. The park was also filled with seagulls and geese everywhere all during the spring, summer, and fall months, so much so that it was almost a health issue with all the droppings!

So I would start out jogging from home and when I reached the path in the park, I’d walk, sometimes with my friend and her kids or just the two of us or sometimes by myself. One day I was by myself and on my last trip around with my headphones blaring music from my iPod shuffle, when as I passed the basketball courts this fellow walked out in front of me carrying a basketball. I only noticed him because he didn’t look as though he was dressed to play basketball, because he was wearing khaki pants and a polo shirt, as though he was on his way to work or taking a break from it. So I was just walking along behind this guy, listening to my music and day dreaming, we crossed over the middle bridge and started down the path toward the play ground which was near the tennis courts and another restroom. There was a huge group of geese milling around on the grass by the side of the little stream that ran off from the lake. Out of the corner of my eye I could see this fellow leave the path and walk toward the geese, as he got closer he raised the arm with the basketball in hand and let it fly onto the ground just like a bowling ball! He was actually aiming for them! He had invented a new sport, “bowling for geese”! He let his ball go a few more times before gathering it up and walking away after scattering most of the geese!

I was trying not to stare at this marvel, but at the same time wishing I had a camera of some kind instead of my lame cell phone! As I continued my walk, I imagined to myself just how you would score in this game, maybe “x “ number of points for how many you could scare into flight and you’d get double if you actually hit any of them! Although I don’t condone messing with nature on this level, I found it to be far more humane than the popular sport of using a car to try to hit them as they cross the road in a line during rush hour!  

The X-Factor, just one more thing they didn’t tell you before you had kids!

When I was growing up as a kid on Long Island, back in the ‘50s and into the early ‘60s, there was a show on TV we liked to watch called “The Little Rascals”.  It was about a group of neighborhood kids who hung out and went to school together. Two of the main characters were boys named Spanky and Alfalfa and the show centered around the trouble they and their friends would get into. They were always skipping school or “playing hooky” to go fishing. Then the teacher, Miss Crabtree, a pretty young woman, would always have to call the truant officer to go find them and bring them back to school!

When I married and had my first child, I never could have imagined that someday I would find myself facing this type of thing down the road! I didn’t even think there were such things as truant officers anymore, much less that I would have to deal with one! Most of us think that when our children miss a day or two of school, all we have to do is write a note explaining why and everything will be fine, no harm done! Unfortunately this is not the case anymore, when you write the note it goes on file as an unexcused absence, the only true excused absences are the ones where a doctor has been evolved and given his written consent as to why the child was unable to attend school during that time. 

I raised six kids, five of my own, four girls, and a boy along with a niece that came to live with me just before she turned two. I didn’t really have trouble getting them to go to school, although some of them were tardy (or late) frequently, that is until the very last one! She was good up until the age of about twelve when she was in the sixth grade and then something happened! Suddenly everyday was a struggle to get her up and off to school. Sometimes she would fake a stomachache so she could stay home and then be fine later in the day. I took her to the doctor a couple of times, but the doctor couldn’t really find anything physically wrong. She was classified as Learning Impaired and was in Special Ed classes, so I tried to get the Special Education department to have the school psychiatrist evaluate her, figuring I’d start there. My husband was out of work and our insurance wasn’t that great so I didn’t want to waste time and money if there wasn’t really anything wrong with her. I got nowhere with the Special Ed department, one minute the case worker would say how they could write a time allowance into my daughters I.E.P., but when I requested that it be done, she said it wasn’t possible. I started to feel like I was getting the run around!

Every time I would bring her in late, I’d end up in the principal’s office and he was not very sympathetic, he kept telling me if things didn’t change he’d have to take action. I had no idea at the time what kind of action he would take! This went on for almost a month, one day the police showed up at the house, a real life truant officer and drove her to school; it didn’t seem to upset my daughter too much! Then in the mail I received a summons to show up at court and speak to the prosecutor, with whom I had several meetings and didn’t think they had gone too badly until they actually gave me a court date. I then had to appear before a judge who was rather nasty, he basically told me “we don’t like your kind” and truancy would not be tolerated, then proceeded to fine me $300 plus court costs, he told me he never wanted to see me in his court again!  

There are some things they just don’t tell you before you have kids, one thing is that public schools get “X” amount of dollars from the government when they have “X” number of children in their schools for “X” number of days a year and your child or children better be in that “X” number or else! If not, you’d better have a written documented explanation other than the early onset of puberty! Another thing they don’t tell you is that you will be responsible for every “dumb” thing they do and it can cost you some big bucks!