On The Ragged Edge

Man is that a subjective phrase. It can mean something somewhat positive if someone is pushing oneself to the edge to achieve something bigger or greater, pushing a frontier. It can also mean something negative, like one is barely keeping it together. I find myself living in both definitions of that phrase. I am trying to live the positive, but in my zeal, I find myself pushing the negative side with the volume of activity and development I am trying to engage in.

More than that I am trying to be defined by He who I was created by. Now when I say that I am not referring to my parents, but rather to God. The real mystical thing about God is this. He has revealed himself through history through two things:
1. The Bible
2. Experience

Really the Bible just points us to God and allows us to experience Him more fully or at all. That doesn't de-value the Bible. It actually makes it all the more important. It becomes the Litmus test against which experience is measured.

So back to the ragged edge. I find myself testing myself against the Bible right now as I prepare talks that I am giving to others out of the book of Luke (from the Bible). Right now I am looking at John the Baptist. This guy was different, eccentric really, and living on the ragged edge. Outdoorsman extraordinaire. In some ways he wasn't so much counter-culture as he was a man of integrity. Much of what he was telling people was the stuff that supposedly his audience embraced. He was calling them to put up or shut-up. Now that's not very politically correct. In fact, when the leader of the nation he was living within confronted him, he called him on the carpet as well, and well, lost his head over it.

So what is the bottom line. Life is far from an X-game, it is far from an experiment for me. I feel like I know exactly what I should be doing, and I am trying to figure out how to do more of it. I really believe that no matter what we do in life, Pastor, Executive, Tradesman, we need to be defined He who created us: God, and He who brought us the message of a life with God the way we know it today: Jesus. The ragged edge I need to be living on is the one where I am defined by my devotion to telling everybody about this reality. I am feeling pretty smooth right now.

Radio Interview

Well kind of cool. If you are in the Southern Ontario area (Oakville and beyond) and can pick up Joy 1250 on your AM dial, I will doing a radio interview with Jim Leek promoting my upcoming concert in Oakville on Friday Feb 25, 2005. (Details), and of course the new CD.

A friend of mine sub-titles his site, "the journal of a frustrated audio engineer somewhere north of toronto... ". (www.richardcleaver.com) Right now I would have to say that mine has similar meanderings, although more from the perspective of the frustrated recording artist. This year should prove to be quite interesting as I try to do way more than I should - and hope that it works out. CD anyone?

The Wedding Singer

I am home again, just finished a wedding in Oakville, Ontario tonight. Yes, I was the wedding singer. The stress for me was that I was also the wedding player. Not much of a piano player frankly. I love to play pop piano for myself, but classical and jazz stretches me because I am not really either of those things. Nevertheless, lots of preparation and the execution made me feel great, an I am sure the bride and groom as well.

Funny, I am not really into the wedding thing anymore, and make no mistake this was a paying gig, but it was for a good acquaintance, certainly a friend of connection, and I have a soft spot for my connections back in the Mississauga, Oakville , Burlington area. The bride, my friend, is a likeable classy gal, and the groom (who I just met) seemed also very authentic and of quality. I wish them the best and hope to keep contact through the usual suspects and events as years go on! But tomorrow I am back to my main gig - being a music pastor at Valley View. I look forward to worshiping God with my mates in the band. For now, peace. Hope to sing for you soon!

Hello Radio: 3 Stations and Counting

My blog may in fact appear as more of an online journal meandering through various forms of self-promotion and update, for which I apologize, however, more stuff to tell!

A radio station from Truro, NS Hope 98.5FM e-mailed today asking for my new single. I obliged, of course, by sending a mp3 at 320kbps quality via e-mail. My Producer informed me that there is no discernible difference between that sample rate and CD quality so off it went. I received an e-mail back the same day saying that "You Found Me", my single will start in rotation next week. Thanks guys. Add that to Life 100.3FM in Barrie and Joy 1250 AM in Oakville and we are starting to get somewhere slow but sure.

Some more appearances will make there way to the website by next week so keep checking back for blogs and new appearances - you never know what you will find.

Peace.