Said all that to say this. One of Patheos’ Catholic blogs is Standing on My Head by Father Dwight Longenecker. In a recent post he ripped and ridiculed not only Christian rock itself, but the very notion of it being suitable for ministerial, let alone liturgical use.

Shall we examine his foolishness… er, rationale?

A friend of mine used to quip, “When you’re talking about Christian music it’s pretty safe to substitute ‘bad’ for ‘Christian’.

A friend of mine used to say the moon is a gigantic dusty grapefruit. I didn’t believe him either. But at least he wasn’t a smug, sanctimonious ass.

Who hasn’t had to endure a Christian rock band or sit through a worship with some aging trendy strumming a guitar and inflicting folk music or light rock on everyone?

Gee. I’ve endured many a Christian rock band. I recall many of them giving altar calls at the end. I recall many, many people coming forward to give or recommit their lives to Christ as a result of those altar calls. One of those people was… me. As to worship, I also recall many a moment of folk or light rock bringing many people into a deeper relationship with Jesus, encouraging them to follow Him more closely and be better servants to one another and the world. One of those people was… me. Somehow I doubt Fr. Longenecker has ever been to an actual Christian rock concert or heard quality contemporary worship/praise music. Which, despite his upcoming assertions to the contrary, does exist. In droves.

Why is it that so often Christian music is so awful?

Because the modern church, with few exceptions, has done such an abominable job of finding, nurturing, supporting, and promoting artists? Naah, couldn’t possibly be that.

I think there are a couple of reasons. The first is that the musicians and their audience mistake a worthy message for talent.

Uh, no. If that was the case, every everything every Christian record label releases would sell. It doesn’t. People do both care and have the wisdom to discern what’s worth a listen.

Then they get a martyr complex if they’re criticized. “You’re obviously not very spiritual if you can’t enjoy my music!

Wrong again. I don’t mind if people don’t enjoy my music or that of the artists I like. Where I do call into question someone’s spiritual discernment is when they apply their cultural bias and personal preference to their alleged discernment. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not good and therefore cannot possibly be used by God. I know people who think Pink Floyd is the worst garbage on the planet. Does that make it so? No. So don’t waste my time bringing your petty preferences, inflated with pseudo-spiritual tripe, into any discussion of art’s value or quality. Like what you like; dislike what you dislike. But don’t drag God into it.

The second problem is that the audience are often either totally uncritical or they haven’t the ability to criticize intelligently. Too often the audience actually like the crap that is being dished up.

We’ve addressed this already. Telling people they’re mindless drones for their musical tastes isn’t exactly what I’d consider a strong opening to winning over hearts and minds. Or winning souls for Christ. Or drawing those who already know Him closer.

The third factor is that market forces are usually not in play. Market forces often have a surprisingly sharp and salutary critical effect. Market forces weed out the junk, but in the Christian market they’re doing it for love, not money, so no one is telling them to get off the stage ’cause it won’t sell.

Already addressed this as well. But hey, keep flailing away at that deceased equine if it makes you happy.

These are all the practical problems. There is, however, a deeper problem. Christian popular music is almost always pretty bad,

Feldercarb. (Look it up.)

but the problem with most “Christian” music is that it is secular music with Christian words.

And what, pray tell, makes music secular or sacred? The style? The sound? Are you telling me God’s such an impotent wuss He can’t use whatever variation of His language — for music is God’s language — He pleases for His purpose? What emasculated God are you following? Not the one I know and in my stumbling, bumbling way serve.

In any decent art style and substance are supposed to match up. The meaning and the media are supposed to harmonize.

Which far more often than not they do. Except to those with open mouths and closed minds.

Most “Christian” music is taken from the secular world. Whether it is the music of Broadway musicals, Country Western, Las Vegas ballad crooners or light rock or heavy rock and roll it’s secular not sacred.

Again… it’s music. Music in and of itself is neither sacred nor secular. Did Paul Simon’s “American Tune,” which is an adaptation of an excerpt we know as “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” from J.S. Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” which is itself an adaptation of Hans Leo Hassler’s love song “Mein G’müt Ist Mir Verwirret” turn what started life as a secular tune, turned into a sacred one by Bach, back into a secular song? Really?

When you then add sacred words to the secular music there is a natural disconnect.

To people who serve a whipped puppy masquerading as God Almighty, yes. Or if you prefer, to those who are so petrified of themselves they can’t handle life, thus run and hide and cry out for the bad people and/or things to go away. I’m hardly the strongest person you’ll ever meet when it’s sin-resisting time, but I don’t need musical burqas to protect me from the beat menace.

That’s why so much Christian music (even when it is well written and well performed)

You said there wasn’t any. Make up your mind, will you?

doesn’t really work.

Feldercarb on a stick.

Oh sure, people might like it.

How dare they!

They might even have nice feelings about Jesus by listening to it,

What? People enjoying the notion of there being a loving Savior? Obviously a Satanic trap.

but the secular music was designed to produce certain types of feelings,

So? God can’t use it? Do we really need to repeat how small your God is?

and why should those warm sentimental feelings or hard emotional feelings be linked with worship?

Uh… because we’re human.

We might like listening to Christian country Western or a sweet Broadway type ballad about Jeezus or we might get all hyped up listening to Christian rock, but is it worship? Is it really inspiring us to draw closer to God? Is it really deepening our spiritual life or is it just music we like which makes us feel good and it makes us feel even better because it talks about Jeezus too?

Let’s think back a bit about something mentioned above that takes place during so many of those “awful” Christian rock concerts. Altar calls. Exhortation toward Bible study, fellowship and discipleship. Obviously thin disguises for warm fuzzies. But back to reality. You see, Fr. Longenecker, maybe — just maybe — in spite of your sarcasm in regard to and loathing of contemporary Christian music, God uses it anyway. The evidence is all around you. Too bad you’ve chosen to close your eyes to His work.

Forgive me for being cynical,

Don’t push your luck.

but think about it.

I have. Which apparently puts me one up on you.

The worst example is Christian Rock music.

And here we go…

At the risk of sounding too puritanical,

Reality isn’t really a risk, sir.

rock and roll music was, from the beginning highly sexualized, laden with rebellious, heavy and nasty rhythms

Nasty? What is this, a Janet Jackson revue?

linked with the drug culture–designed to alter consciousness and demolish self restraint. The acid rock and heavy rock was also obviously

Obviously.

linked with an occult and demonic sub culture.

And because a few losers played the devil game, stealing God’s language, we’re supposed to concede? Uh-uh. We’re stealing it back.

So you want to put cozy Christian words to all that?

Try listening to the Rez Band song again, then get back to me on that “cozy” thing.

To my mind that’s like putting a gospel tract inside a porn magazine.

Why not? We’re supposed to be reaching sinners, aren’t we?

The same criticism applies when the musical style is not quite so bad as acid rock. You name the popular secular style–the music wasn’t written to deepen prayer, lead to worship or open the soul to the sacred. It was designed to produce shallow emotions about love and romance at best, and lust and sex at worst.

Because we as Christians have been so shallow we’ve let the world run wild. We haven’t promoted our artists. We’ve held them back at best, actively ridiculed and opposed them at worst. We have made ourselves culturally irrelevant. We have paralyzed ourselves into being afraid of our own shadow. We have abandoned the things of God and settled for perpetual self-appointed second class status. That’s why we’re losing.

Pope Benedict XVI comments on this in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy. He acknowledges that down through the ages this has been a recurring problem in the church. Sometimes the hymn writers put Christian words to beer drinking songs. At other times they adopted the popular operatic style. Now they adopt light rock, hard rock, and virtually every other secular style.

Yeah, it was really rude of our forefathers to try and use God’s language for its intended purpose.

The antidote is to be more aware and appreciative of sacred music.

We are. You’re not.

There is a kind of music that on its own–even without words–is designed to open the mind and heart to the sacred.

Yes. It’s called “whatever God wants to use.”

Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony which evolved from it–is the music of worship.

I happen to love Gregorian chant. But it is not the only arrow in God’s musical quiver:

Especially in the liturgy this is the music which we are supposed to use because the music lends itself to worship.

As does most everything else when you let God be God and stop trying to squeeze Him into your box of what He can and cannot do.

It opens the heart and mind to a new dimension and reveals the spiritual aspect to our lives in a way that secular music with Christian words does not.

I’m sure this would be true… if there was such a thing as secular music.

That’s what sacred music is. What is required is catechesis about this music and an effort to appreciate it. Truly sacred music is an acquired taste. It takes some effort. It also takes some effort to produce it at a good and worthy level.

So when are you going to put in the effort, Father?

The problem in most mainstream Catholic parishes is that they’ve had nothing but crap music in church for as long as anyone can remember. The people actually think its okay because they have never heard anything else. They take on board the blend of muzak, Broadway tunes, folk music and light rock thinking that this is all there is. Then if they ever do hear Gregorian chant or sacred polyphony they hold their ears and say, “Geesh, why does Father want to bring in all that gloomy music? We’re outta here.” Alas. Its true.

Yeah, sucks when people want to live in the twenty-first century. Again, I love Gregorian chant and traditional hymns. They’re wonderful. But they don’t always work. Our God is a mighty God. Why, then, attempt to tie Him down as to what He can use? Let God be God. He’s much better at it than anyone else.

Does this mean that Christians should listen to nothing but Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony? Is that all we should ever use in the liturgy? The purists would say so.

I’m very happy for them having discovered backwards time travel and all.

But I’m of the opinion that we have to work with what we’ve got. We have to meet people where they are and move on from there.

Which you are doing in this article exactly how, reverend?

Chant and polyphony are the foundations of the music we should use. In addition to this we have the library  of sacred hymns (and there’s enough there to warrant another blog post completely) the worthy ones of which will serve to complement the words and actions of the sacred liturgy.

Fr. Longenecker… please go away. And don’t come back until you’ve gained some wisdom.

Again you announce while you whirl and bounce
Intentions to pounce on the beat menace
No woman or man could ever withstand
The devious plans of the beat menace

Come to lay you low, we’ve come to vex your soul

Feeling the heat, hell at your feet
Don’t even speak of the beat menace
Something to take away your innocence
Someone to blame it on

Helps you to defeat
Dancing in the street

Come to lay you low, we’ve come to vex you

Resolved in your mind- the nature of crime
Is to swallow the line of the beat menace
Imagination’s on the rise again
So hide your heart away
Dust off the fears and guilts and lies again
The beat is here to stay
Your satellite can reach that Eskimo
He buys a suit and tie
Re-styles his hair like girls in Tupelo
And sings “Sweet Bye And Bye”
He’s meeting all your strange requirements
He thinks you can’t be fooled
He’ll get the rules and laws and sacraments
By sending checks to you

We’ve come to bring you low

(Crossposted at The Conservatory.)

It’s fitting on Christendom’s most solemn day – Good Friday – to remember how Christ’s passion and death were foretold in brutally beautiful poetry by the prophet Isaiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Using poetry and spoken language to convey both Christ’s message and the full spectrum of our relationship with Him, and each other, is something of a lost art these days, especially in contemporary Christian music where the overwhelming emphasis is on fundamental praise and worship. It’s not that there is anything wrong with praise and worship; they are vital elements of every believer’s life. However, there is more to life as a whole. Much, much more.

Enter Steve Scott.

Although a native Englishman, Scott is very much a part of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene via his involvement with local artists such as the late Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill and Mike Roe. Now based in Sacramento, Scott has carved out a niche for himself as someone far more concerned about artistic integrity and creativity than commercial acceptance. Like most true artists, he has found a small but devoted audience. With the release of Emotional Tourist: A Steve Scott Retrospective, a compilation of some of the best tracks from various albums he’s recorded during his career, this small number should grow quite a bit.

Scott’s music has shifted over the years from a more jangly guitar-based rock to reflective keyboard washes etched with haunting melody; always modern, always demanding attention. Lyrically, be it sung or spoken Scott’s focus is on world and humanity observations from a Christian perspective while going far beyond the stock evangelical action safety net. A brilliant example is “No Memory of You,” detailing Scott’s encounter with prostitutes in Java where in lieu of hitting them over the head with his Bible he shows them pictures of his infant daughter.

Emotional Tourist: A Steve Scott Retrospective is not background music for self-administered spiritual coddling sessions. It makes you listen. It makes you think. Scott’s words challenge faith not by calling it into question, but rather by questioning whether our faith, and our God, is too limited. If you’re looking for warm fuzzies, this record isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for the thinking person’s Christian rock by Christian rock’s thinking person, Emotional Tourist: A Steve Scott Retrospective perfectly fills the bill.

The record is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Sort of like this, except mine has a black pickguard, thumbrest, and has the pickup and bridge covers.

I was in a rather productive state of being yesterday morning rolling into the hours past lunch; doing dishes and laundry, filling out a octet of job applications while quietly noting no matter when the day may come I was one day closer to rejoining the cubicle warriors at a yet to be determined location. I eagerly await that day.

As the afternoon wore down, I was reminded of a video clip a friend had posted to his Facebook page that morning featuring the somewhat odd sight of a matronly grandmother playing keyboards with an anything but matronly ensemble:

The story goes that in 1982, a seventy year old British grandmother named May Booker sent a letter to the BBC expressing her affection for Thin Lizzy and how wonderful it would be to perform with them. Word was passed along to the band, and how could they resist?

It reminded me how back in my tender teen years when I just knew I was going to be a rock’n'roll star, while most everyone else in my generation with similar ambitions aimed toward being Jimmy Page or Keith Moon (or reasonable facsimile thereof) I wanted to be Phil Lynott, bass player and leader of Thin Lizzy. Said dreams seldom ventured past me plunking away on my bass in my bedroom. But that was the dream. Pretty much everything I knew about playing rock bass came from wearing out my copy of Live and Dangerous and other Thin Lizzy epics, playing along with all my might. I did my best to sing like him and, when I wasn’t doing folk music, write songs like him. Granted, being half-black and half-Irish was a tad outside my powers, but in everything else I strove to be like him. At least musically.

Personally, thankfully I chose a different path; Lynott died in January of 1986 at the age of 36, his body no longer able to survive the drugs he had abused for years. It will always be a personal lament I never saw Thin Lizzy live. A couple of surviving members still tour under the name, but without Lynott there is no Thin Lizzy.

Anyway, for my high school graduation my parents presented me a genuine Fender Precision Bass, this replacing the cheap copy I had been playing. It was bass guitar perfection, gleaming white and sort-of almost just like the one Phil Lynott played. His had a black finish and a chrome pickguard, which was a tad over the top for this quiet lad. Still, it was at least the same model, and I loved it, playing it at who knows how many church gigs and whatnot.

I still have the bass. It’s in remarkably good shape for a thirty-five year old instrument; a couple of small dings and a bit of belt buckle rash on the back, and the finish has yellowed over the years. Still, the frets are in excellent shape (the advantage of having played either flatwound or black nylon tape wound strings all these years), and it still sounds as deep and rich and pure as it did when I first plugged it in.

The earlier Thin Lizzy reminder gave impetus late yesterday afternoon to take it out of its battered case and play some of the songs from days gone by. Recall that I said rock bass earlier; my musical foundation bass-wise was actually in jazz with the school band. This led to me flipping through Spotify on my iPhone, seeing if I could find the original recording of some of the charts I remember from those days. To my delight I did, so I cued them up and played along as best I could.

I’m a bit out of practice on bass, spending almost all of my playing time these days on guitar, so the fast numbers were especially a struggle. Still, it was fun, and I know should I devote myself to some serious woodshed time I could get back on top of things.

It was good reacquainting myself with my old friend, one that’s accompanied me these past three and a half decades. I hope everyone has a similar experience in their life.

Jerry Wilson

Oakland Evangelical Examiner

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Continue reading on Examiner.com “Sticks and Stones” by the 77s hurts only those who don’t give it a listen – Oakland evangelical | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/evangelical-in-oakland/sticks-and-stones-by-the-77s-hurts-only-those-who-don-t-give-it-a-listen-review#ixzz1qfmL3bZM

Montrose burst onto the music scene in 1973 with the eponymously titled debut album by his hard rock quartet, which bore his last name. It was vinyl heaven for hard rock fans, loaded with sledgehammer riffs and the then-unknown Sammy Hagar’s powerhouse vocals. Oddly enough in an era of guitar heroes, Montrose’s signature wasn’t his soloing. Rather, it was the songs themselves and the ferocious textures of distortion and feedback that carried the day; inspiration for thousands of garage rock bands across the land who traced their musical roots directly back to Montrose’s thunder. To this day, songs like “Rock the Nation,” “Bad Motor Scooter,” “Rock Candy” and “Space Station #5″ are playlist staples of classic rock stations aware that rock’n'roll didn’t start with Boston and “More Than a Feeling.”

Montrose recorded only two albums with Hagar before he went his way, with Montrose himself making his music less immediate and more layered as the years progressed. He embraced prog rock with his 1978 instrumental album Open Fire, dabbled in arena rock with his band Gamma, and followed his muse wherever it led, occasionally revisiting the hard rock for which he was first known. He could have easily stayed on his original and certainly most profitable path, but he decided to let the music grow and take him wherever it led regardless of its commercial impact.

Personally, while I enjoyed his later work it was his first two Montrose records that most stay with me. The sheer hard rock power of those songs touches the primeval musical soul. At least, it touches mine.

Godspeed, Ronnie Montrose.

That all said, some of the special limited editions they come out with are a bit, shall we say, peculiar. Case in point, with text taken straight from their website plus a few comments by yours truly:

Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom

See? I'm not joking.

When KISS hit the stage at Nippon Budokan in Japan in 1977 with guitarist Ace Frehley behind a Cherry Sunburst, three-pickup Les Paul Custom, the entire package—band, guitarist, guitar—embodied the height of glam-rock excess and success for the ’70s. This was the ultimate marriage of pop and heavy rock, driven to meteoric heights by the record industry marketing machine, and ultimately attaining that otherworldly presence that great stadium rock should achieve: unbridled fantasy and party-hard reality rolled into one glorious explosion.

And I thought I had a problem with run-on sentences.

In celebration of Ace Frehley’s unquestionable status as a rock icon, and the epitome of glam-rock stardom that KISS represented at this crystalline moment in time in 1977,

“Crystalline” moment? Really? Is this anything like Crystal Bowersox?

Gibson Custom proudly announces the release of the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom, produced in a strictly Limited Edition of 50 hand-aged guitars signed by the artist, with a further 100 hand-aged guitars, and 150 guitars treated in Gibson Custom’s VOS process.

And when you see the price, you’ll know why they’re so limited.

Offering everything you’ve come to expect from Gibson Custom’s artist replica guitars, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is a painstaking recreation of Frehley’s modified Les Paul Custom, based on intimate examination of the instrument’s current condition.

Which somehow I doubt is pristine. Or even Christine Sixteen.

The Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom has been created with close cooperation between Gibson Custom, Ace Frehley and the guitar’s current owner, Matt Swanson. Digital scanning technology was used to capture every minute detail of the actual guitar.

Let’s see… strings, check; frets, check; razor blade scrapes on the back from when it was used as a table for snorting cocaine because there wasn’t a mirror handy, check…

In the image of the original Les Paul Custom, the guitar has a four-piece maple top glued to a mid-’70s “sandwich” body made from a middle and back section of solid mahogany joined by a thin maple veneer, with no chambering.

The technical term for this is “plywood.” Very, very heavy plywood, as anyone who’s ever picked up a ’70s Les Paul can attest.

The top is hand-sprayed in nitrocellulose to give it the same Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish as the original, with 150 hand-aged to match the wear of the existing guitar.

Because who wants a guitar that doesn’t look like it’s been the victim of being too close to Gene Simmons during his spitting fire routine?

The three-piece mahogany neck has been made made to match the original’s thin profile.

How nice how nice it’s been made made… or is that just talk talk… oops, wrong band.

Decorative elements include mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays, multi-ply body and headstock binding, mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and split-diamond inlay, and a cream pickguard.

But Eric Clapton played a SG when he was in Cream!

To match Ace’s original guitar, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is loaded

Just like Ace!

with three period-correct double-cream DiMarzio humbucking pickups—two PAF models in the neck and middle positions, and a Super Distortion in the bridge.

Translation: It has three pickups…

And just like on Ace’s guitar, the traditional 3-way toggle switch has been modified to only allow the use of the bridge pickup,

… only one of which works. The other two are there for high-priced decoration.

allowing you to be able to accomplish one of Ace’s most noted effects.

What, not being able to figure out how to use a toggle switch to select more than one pickup? Or the ol’ stick a smoke bomb underneath one of the pickups trick for which Ace was famous and is currently being used in worship bands across the land?

The DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup offers searing lead tones and fat, chunky rhythm for the ultimate hard-rock performance.

It’d better; it’s the only pickup that works.

Hardware includes the classic pairing of chrome ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece, with Ace’s choice of Grover tuners with pearloid “banjo” buttons and Dunlop straplocks to keep the guitar securely strapped on through the wildest on-stage antics.

At his age, getting on stage without a walker is as wild an antic as Ace can muster.

In short, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is the ultimate embodiment of mid-’70s arena-rock balls and bluster, and it’s available in strictly limited numbers. Check it out today at your authorized Gibson Custom dealer.

Please.

All guitars include a Gibson Custom hardshell case silkscreened with Ace’s signature. Aged/signed guitars (limited to 50 worldwide) are all played by the artist during final approval, and include a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity; aged guitars (100) include a leather-bound CoA, and VOS guitars (150) include a standard CoA.

Oh, well, that makes it all better then. A genuine Certificate of Authenticity!

And how much is this timeless brand new relic?

If you want the beat-up… er, aged one, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price is… drumroll, please…

$12,235.

The not beat-up one is a steal at $7,529.

Somehow I’m not seeing one of these ending up in my possession.

Good enough reason for a post for me!

Oh, how that man could play guitar.

To any and all who been blessed by the life and gifts of Terry Taylor,

It is with much regret that I come to you with a desperate prayer. Our dear friend and brother, Terry Taylor, is experiencing one of the direst personal struggles of his life. Since the cancellation of Catscratch, his financial situation has been dismal to say the least. His wife and daughter both teach at a pre-school to help make ends meet week to week but it hasn’t been enough and two years ago they lost their home in foreclosure. As many of you know, Terry, who is uninsured, has had ongoing medical problems for the past five years, with last year being particularly troublesome and expensive. The bills have mounted steadily and the late fees continue to add more misery. Last month their little apartment was burglarized and items of great sentiment were stolen. As an unwanted culmination to one of the toughest years in the life of his family, this past weekend his daughter Noelle was rushed to the hospital and had to have emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder. He hasn’t wanted us to share his story and burden his fans and we’ve been trying some creative new ideas to raise Terry’s income but this last blow has broken the camel’s back and nearly broken Terry’s spirit. I know many of you would want to help our brother in this time of personal crisis. If we all gave $10 or $20 it would go a long toward relieving this burden for their family. Some of you may be able to give more; some less. Anything would help right now.

We’ve set up a relief fund that can be donated to through Paypal. Please visit www.DanielAmos.com and click the donate link in the upper left corner. Be sure and click on “Update Total” after you enter the amount. If you’d like to donate in some other way, please email tom at eveselis dot com.

Thank you for hearing and for being the support you’ve been to Terry and his family for these many years.

Sincerely and with much love and gratitude,

Tom G., the Townsends, the Lost Dogs, and Terry’s family

Please help if you can.

A couple of Lost Dogs songs (Terry’s the lead vocalist on each):

My hunch is this is mostly due to looking for decompression from the assorted issues that have haunted me as of late: persistent nagging health problems, workplace stress, dealing with the void left by loved ones no longer here. However, it’s occurred to me that at least a part of this stems from something I’ve been striving for in multiple areas of life. Namely, simplicity. Not simplistic, mind you. Simple. Straightforward. Whole different kettle of fish.

The best illustrations of simple minus simplistic are a company and an individual most likely not thought of together all that often: Apple and Billy Graham. Looking at Apple for a moment, what makes their computers, phones and portable media devices stand out above the rest? It’s how they are designed to fit the user rather than making the user fit them. If you’ve ever played with an iPad for any length of time, you realize how comfortable it is to use. The old joke about how books will never go away since no one has ever been heard saying they want to curl up with a good laptop goes out the window with the iPad. You can curl up with it, whether you’re reading, playing a game, watching video or interacting with others on Twitter or Facebook or whatever via the on-screen keyboard. A tremendously complex, sophisticated item. Yet its end result is simplicity.

Now , Billy Graham. What has made him America’s most beloved evangelist, respected even by those who are not believers. Certainly a blameless life helps. However, there is more. Have you ever heard him preach? His message is straightforward and simple: Jesus loves you, He died for you, come to Him and know His love, forgiveness and healing. Simple. Yet behind that simplicity is all the wisdom and truth of God Himself.

My goal isn’t to avoid the complex and/or complicated, but rather express them in both word and, far more important, deed in a simple, straightforward manner. Providing physical, emotional and spiritual care and compassion isn’t the destination. It is doing these things throughout the journey that is the goal.

Which ties back into the music.

Sometimes, you want to hear a simple song.

P.S. A good example of this, methinks: