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Remembrance |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 12/9/2009 3:40 PM | Greetings on this beautiful day,
I have reached one of those points in my life where I increasingly find myself saying things that I heard my father say. Things like, “What? That was 30 years ago? That can’t be right – it seems like yesterday.”
What prompted this thought was the first thing that popped into my head when a friend shared that yesterday was the 29th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. What? That can’t be right? It seems like yesterday!
It was, and still is, hard for me to get my head around the fact that someone would want to murder John Lennon. He was a poet of his generation, the conscience of an age, a chronicler of the times through some of the most wonderful music we had ever heard. Listen to a Beatles song today, even one from their first album and it sounds as fresh and new as ever. Listen to some Lennon’s more political songs like “Working Class Hero” and you will quickly realize that so many of the issues he addressed are still real today. The Sunday after his death, people had called for a moment of silence when the radio airwaves would be silent for 60 seconds in tribute to Lennon. I happened to have just picked up my grandmother to go to a family gathering at my aunt’s house. We had driven for about 20 minutes in my rattletrap Chevette with the radio playing John Lennon music while we chatted. At the appointed time my grandmother stopped in mid-sentence and did not say another word until the minute was up and the radio began to play again. “You know, I don’t much care for his music, but it seems such a shame that a man who was so tortured in his past and had just gotten it right would be taken in that way.” And she was right. John Lennon had been a tortured soul for many of years; unsure of where he fit, unsure of how to handle the enormous mantle of fame that was placed upon him. Then, he dropped out of sight, settled down and began life as househusband and father to his son Sean. He had just recently begun to work on his music again, releasing the highly personal “Double Fantasy” album just before his death. After years of struggle, John Lennon had gotten it right and was at peace with himself and the world. And then, he was gone.
While it was a sad day, it once again shows me the importance of living each day for each day; loving, laughing, living to the utmost. It also fits in well with something I got via e-mail yesterday. It is a thought from George Carlin, another cultural icon of my generation: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
Finally, as I sit here today, I play that game that is associated with important moments in our shared consciousness: Where were you when you heard John Lennon was killed?
The night John Lennon died I simply sat, stunned. I was in a neighborhood pub on the east side of Detroit called “The Brook” having a hamburger after work. While we ate, we were watching Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell made the announcement, very reverently and very respectfully. I remember looking around the room at some very hard nosed union guys gathered there, and no one said a word. More than a few of those crusty old guys had to wipe a tear away, as did I. After a few minutes the bartender called out: “Raise your glasses….to John Lennon: Rest in peace, buddy.” And we all drank to someone we had never met, but who had profoundly impacted us all. And 29 years later, I can think of nothing more eloquent than that. And so I will simply say it again: “Rest in peace, buddy.” And thanks.
For an updated prayer list and a list of upcoming events, please go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer list:
George Fey, recovering from recent heart surgery. Please keep his son Russ and his whole family in your prayers.
Alex Smith, continuing to make progress at the Shepherd Center. The family requests no visitors at this time so Alex can rest up and get stronger.
Announcements;
The trees are almost gone, but not quite! The lot will be open from 4-8 the next few nights, or until they are gone. The lot will be broken down on Saturday
following the Choir rehearsal. Contact Charles Kinney for more information.
Make plans to join us for the annual Christmas Cantata. This year the choir will present “One Small Child.” Be there at 11:00 for this wonderful worship experience.
Don’t forget about one of the most moving services of the year, our Christmas Eve Candlelight service. We will gather at 6:00 on Christmas Eve, Thursday December 24th to welcome the Christ child, once again.
Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you Sunday as we worship through the gift of music with the choir cantata!
Be peaceful,
Brad
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