I had a close friend of the family pass away over the weekend.  I head home on Thursday to the funeral.  It is strange thinking that we are all marching towards this cliff.  Each generation slowly moving towards its end as bit by bit people drop off until finally there is no one left but the generation behind us.  I was reading Robert Benson’s book Between the Dreaming and the Coming True and he was speaking of how we have come from God and will return to God.  So what is the point?  The point that he makes that totally rings true to me is it must be because we are here to learn something.  If you believe that God knew us before we were born and whispered our name and thus our life into existence than you believe that before you were…..you were.  So why are we here?  If you are totally in God’s pressence and Grace than how can you understand Grace, Mercy, compassion, love, sorrow, pain, peace, loneliness…etc.   How can we understand ”hello” if we have never said good-bye. We are here to learn and experience this separation from the One so we can truly understand. 

I think of my sons.  Before I had them I had some sort of concept of Grace but not really.   I thought I really understood love when I married my wife but marriage is based on both unconditional and conditional love.  I never really understood loving someone no matter what and without conditions.  I don’t think I ever would have if not for my children.  The moment they were born the lesson began.  My depth of understanding love and the reaches of my love extended beyond.  Suddenly I began to understand God’s grace for us because I recognized it in the love I have for my children.  No matter what they do in life I will love them absolutely even when they do something I do not approve of because it is a love not based on conditions.  How could I have ever had some concept of the grace given to me if I had never experienced giving it myself?  We are here to learn.  So as many teachers have said look  at each experience of sorrow, joy, loss, laughter, grief, anger, peace, and love as a new chance to learn and broaden yourself.   What a difficult but wonderful way to look at the world and each experience that comes into our lives.  Looking at each moment, emotion and experience and asking, ”what does this have to teach me.”   The world is nothing more than a giant classroom but one in which can either greet each day ready to learn or as another chance to ignore by accepting the rules meant to distract such as “he who dies with the most toys wins.”  The lessons we are here to learn are always arriving, always being presented to us.  It is up to us to decide if we are ready to grab our notebooks and pencils and be students.

5 a.m., Five A.M., God, Uncategorized, christianity, faith, life, peace, prayer, religion, spirituality, trent yaconelli | No Comments »

Some updates for the Be Still video.  First I would like to say how wonderful and amazing that so many fans and ML blog readers want to be apart of this video.  We are feeling like this thing could really be big if we do it right.  I thought I would do an update because many of you have been emailing.  Right now we are putting together a list of suggestions for the signs and people who want to be a part of the video.  We are going to be setting up days for people in certain areas to meet with the directors and camera men to get shots and we will also have many of you do video shots on your own.  For those of you on your own we will contact you with specifics: sign height, camera angle, rez…etc.  For those of you who have some ideas or issues that you would like to speak to the directors please email me or  the two head directors Don Lewis and Dustin Gould.  dlew022@gmail.com  and dcg47films@aol.com 

 We are trying to have the video shot and edited by the end of April.  We are also changing the format to say, “Be Still for…”  For example “Be Still for Hope”  “Be still for Peace”  “Be Still for those without a voice”  It makes it more universal.  Once again, SUGGESTIONS are still wide open and so far the band, the directors and myself love all of the suggestions coming in so keep them coming.  I will update again next week when we have a concrete deadline.  Thanks everyone.  Oh yes, and please pass this along to anybody you know around the world and the country who have video cameras and would be willing to shoot something for the vid. 

5 a.m., Be Still, Five A.M., life, music, music video, peace, spirituality, trent yaconelli | 4 Comments »

My son started T-ball last week.  He is 4, turning 5 in a few days.  I sat out on the grass watching him run out to work on catching flys with one of the coaches and my heart sank just a little bit as I realized……now it begins: the competition, the sizing up, who has the best arm, who is the fastest, who can hit, who cannot.  The world would start to influence my son no matter what I did or did not do from now on; bit by bit.  As I sat and watched I observed a kid probably the same age as my son get hit in the face with line drive.  His first instinct was to run to his dad who was out in the field as an assistant coach but then one of the coaches began yelling, “nice stop! Way to go! Now pick it up and toss it in.”  The boy stood there for a moment and then reached down, picked up the ball, spun around and fired it back in.  “All right way to go Champ!  Walk it off!  Way to take one for the team!” The coach yelled out.  The boy clearly hurt was looking towards his Dad, looking at the ground and then back to his Dad.  He wanted to run to his Dad and be held – to be comforted for a moment but the world was already beginning its lesson to a young boy, “Hide your pain.  Never show weakness.  Stuff it down.”  The boy stood for a second longer staring at the ground and he began to shake.  His Dad, who seemed just as confused as what to do also, finally seemed to say, “screw it” and walked straight to his son and hugged him, asking the boy if he was ok.  The boy embraced his dad and cried for a while and then went back to playing.  That was all he needed.  Just a moment with his Dad.  Just a moment when someone said, “hey are you ok?” and showed some compassion, some concern. 

This is who we should be as spiritual people…as people who believe in God and a higher power.  We are the people who are not interested in the lessons being taught by the world, in fact we disrupt it.  When we see pain and suffering we walk towards it, we embrace it, we hold a person’s hand when there is nothing to be said and we love no matter what.  We ignore the noise of the world telling us to stuff it down, to hold it in, to smile when we feel like crying - to ignore, deminish and side step.  We speak the truth but more importantly – MOST importantly - we live it.  This little scene that played out on the great baseball field of life happens every single day of every single moment with our husbands and wives, lovers and friends, children and family…etc.   And in each of those moments we are given a chance to practice.  We are given a chance to embrace.  We are given a chance to not only save but to be saved. 

christianity, faith, life, peace, prayer, religion, spirituality, trent yaconelli, trust | 1 Comment »

I was sent this talk by Jill Taylor from John over at Microclesia.  John was at this conference and said this

“I was at an amazing conference last week. A neuro-scientist named
Jill Taylor gave a short talk that was probably the most profound
depiction of the “deep right brain experience” that I had ever seen
or heard. Please check this out when you have 18 minutes to sit and
watch without interruption. After her talk, the vibe of the entire
conference changed – people were more open, deeper, clearer. Truly
remarkable. This video just went on-line today. There is an essential
message here for all humanity on acknowledging just how closely
connected and related we all are. Very spiritual, very empowering.”

This talk totally caught me off guard as I didn’t know what it was or what to expect but it is incredibly beautiful and moving.  If you have 18 minutes please watch it ALL the way through.

God, christianity, faith, life, logic, peace, prayer, religion, spirituality | 4 Comments »

 There is this tiny space inside of us where God lives.  Some of us spend life times trying to find it, care for it, nurture it, protect it.  Others stumble up on it or know its location like the know the way to their own home.  Still others try to ignore it, push it down and away or deny that it even exists.  The problem is it does exist and we all know it or have felt it underneath the miles and miles of cells and tissue that keep us apart.  We are all like seemingly hard chalky tablets laid out on bare tables.  We can sit here letting the air and time slowly slide its fingers across us until we slowly begin to chip…crack….and disintegrate or we can jump into the water and let our bodies, our walls, our tissue, our pride, our malice, our pain, our sorrow….dissolve and become a part of something greater, something bigger.  The key is not to believe in God the key is to dissolve in God so there is no lines or boundaries.  The path is to jump in and just like a tablet in water to sink to bottom but if we do the work, if we begin to look for God everywhere: piece by piece, bit by bit, molecule by molecule we will dissolve and then we will grow light and float because we will see that everything even ourselves is already connected in one.   Our bodies, our minds, our souls will mix and mix and mix until we dissolve and all that is left is water and light.

Five A.M., God, Uncategorized, book, christianity, faith, life, music, peace, prayer, religion, spirituality, trent yaconelli, trust | 1 Comment »

I have been very weak on posting for awhile so a few updates.  First: the video for Be Still is definitely being shot but you have not missed the deadline as people have emailed me to ask.  Please continue to post your suggestions or email them to me. 

 After a long break after our CD release Five A.M. will be playing an acoustic show at the Black Rose in Santa Rosa this FRIDAY March 14th.  This is a laid back irish pub with good food.  Robert Ethington opens and we go on around 9:00 p.m.

 I wanted to give a shout out to the Blog Do Die In Diem or gartenfische.  she has sent alot of people over to my blog to check out some of my writing and encouraged people to  check out the music but MOST importantly she is a very talented writer and thinker.  I try and check out her blog daily.  If you get a chance please click on her blog her posts are always insightful.

 I have been working on a few different thoughts and posts that I will post this week. 

5 a.m., Five A.M., God, christianity, life, music | 2 Comments »