Beautiful!!!

This is a breath-taking composition by Stephen Melillo.  It is simply the most gorgeous, captivating, and ethereal musical work I have ever had the privilege of listening.  I'd want this performed at my funeral.

I really love this composer's work!

The Baritone Saxophone: Beauty and the Beast

The baritone saxophone, or bari sax for short, is a very beautiful instrument.  She can produce sounds like no other.  She indeed adds a dimension to the whole sound of the band that her absence is certainly noticed.  However, she can be temperamental and even unforgiving at times.  The slightest misalignment of any of her keys or if her structural integrity is compromised in any way, she just won't play like before.

Last Friday I experienced an unfortunate incident.  As I was warming up on my bari sax the plastic clip of my harness broke, which caused my lovely instrument to fall to the floor.  She was impacted in two places and upon initial inspection she seemed okay.  Then I saw that her bell was bent.  Okay, I thought, a minor cosmetic problem that can be easily repaired.  Then as I played her low A, that's where she was unforgiving.  Before I could play the low A, Bb, and even B natural without any problem and could even play her ever so softly with a clean and pure tone.  Now, I have to work to get the notes out and she won't allow me to play her that softly.  Even her low C# takes a little work to play well.  Perhaps the structural integrity of her body is compromised?  I don't know.  I do believe, however, that with an instrument such as this once any of her integrity has been compromised she'll never play the same again.  I did have her worked on yesterday and she does play a little better down below, but it is not the same as before.  Oooh, if only she could talk and say where the true problem lies.

Faith v. Religion

Ever since I began this journey with the Lord I have heard the words ‘faith’ and ‘religion’ used interchangeably. Faith and religion, religion and faith...all the same. However, on this journey with Christ spending much time in meditation and prayer I’ve come to this fundamental conclusion the faith and religion are NOT the same thing. In fact, they are distinct.

According to Webster’s dictionary, faith is defined as:
1. allegiance to duty or a person: LOYALTY; fidelity to one’s promises; sincerity of intentions.
2. belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust.
Need more be said?
Based on these definitions, faith is indeed what or whom you believe for which there is no tangible evidence. It is a decision we all make in our minds and our hearts. Faith is believing without seeing.

Now then, religion is defined as:
1. the state of a religious; the service and worship of God or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2. a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3. scrupulous conformity: CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4. a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

As you can see, religion and faith are not the same thing. Religion is simply the stuff we do or don’t do. Taking communion and how we do it is all religion. Baptism is all religion. Whether we sit down, stand up, kneel down, or whatever when we pray is all religion. Expressed mathematically, R=do.

Now, here’s what burns my biscuit. People will actually follow the religion more than really following Christ. Jesus did not come into this world to start some new religion or sub-culture. Jesus calls us to follow Him, not follow His followers. Religion is not the end point. Religion has a purpose, and that is only to help all of us going in the right direction. Religion serves as a sign post that says, go this way, or STOP, or Yield. Now what’s worse, people may actually believe that if you don’t do this or that then you won’t get to go to Heaven. WROOOOOOOOOOONG! Jesus is the One who gets us into Heaven, not us! To say that we must perform all these things with scrupulous conformity or we won’t get to Heaven is to suggest that we can make it on our own. We cannot make it on our own.

Religion without any faith is garbage! Faith without religion is incomplete. We need faith to lead the religion, and we need religion to aid our faith. So faith and religion do go together in a perfect marriage, but they are two different things.

So if you are reading this and may be engaging in religion without really thinking about what you are doing or why, stop! If the religion has become just another task on the list to check off, stop! Get your faith solid first, then put it into practice.

Claiming my God-set identity

It's time. Since I began my epic journey with Christ I have been struggling with the biggest question of all...who am I? After very much prayer (years) and meditation I am finally going to claim the identity I now know that God has set in me and own it! I am a musician! I may not get paid to do what I love to do, I may not have any of the fancy credentials in this world, and I certainly do not have the recognition this world may offer. All that aside, I do have my Creator God whispering to me His name for me...Rhythm...Beauty. This is all the validation and "credentials" I need.

Currently this is my prayer. If anyone wishes to join me in this, by all means.

"Father God, I want nothing more right now than to be all that You have created me to be. I know that You have set music in me, deep in my soul. I do indeed have a love and passion for music. I love every opportunity I get to perform with the Southshore Concert Band. Now Lord, I surrender this to you, if You indeed intended for me to be Your musician fully and completely while in this world, then I know that only You can arrange for that. I see this vision in me Lord, a vision of learning to play the bassoon or even the contra-bassoon and one day becoming part of a symphony orchestra and thus getting paid to do the very thing I love to do...the thing You set in me to do. Lord, You know I do not have a bassoon or contra-bassoon and cannot afford to get one on my own. So I surrender this to You, that if this vision does indeed come from You then only You can arrange for it to happen. Lord, you know the job I hold now is only temporary. If it be Your will Lord that I become a full and complete musician, getting paid to do what I love to do, then I know You will arrange for it to happen in Your timing Father God. I'm completely Yours Father God. Do with me what You will. I trust You fully. I pray this in the most precious and powerful name of my Lord and Savior, and my Best Friend, Jesus Christ. Amen."

How do they do it?

I'm passionate about music and enjoy all kinds of music.  One group I enjoy is Celtic Woman.  I've always been fascinated with Celtic history and music especially since I performed with the Kilties Sr. drum & bugle corps in 2001 and 2003.  I saw the latest YouTube video of the Celtic Woman ladies and in it they say that they do read all of their tweets and posts on Facebook.  This puzzles me actually.  Going from my experience as a musical performer, especially in tour (drum corps), when would one have time to read thousands of tweets and posts?  I know what it take to prepare for a performance, and it does eat up very much time.  A daily agenda can be filled with much time in practice / rehearsal, then getting ready for the show, perform the show, then loading up/packing up and heading to the next town.  At least in my experience, the road time was usually at night so us members usually were getting some sleep while on the road.  I suppose you could read tweets and such while on the road.  Still, with thousands and thousands of tweets and Facebook posts...how can all of them be read, let alone replied to???

No, I'm not dead LOL

I've just been rather busy with work and raising a toddler that having time to myself is rare.  Here's an update, I  have withdrawn from the Nursing program at Lake Michigan College and have returned to work at Bosch as a temp.  I don't know how long I'll be at Bosch, but at least it's a paycheck and it buys me more time to find another job.  What I'd really want to do is learn to play the cello and then play with an orchestra.  I've had plenty of experience with wind and percussion instruments, the string family is one I've not had the pleasure of experiencing.  Plus, music is the one form of Beauty that I am most passionate about, so why can't I get paid to do the thing I love to do?  I doubt I will ever get to play cello, but who knows.

Oh well, back to work.