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For Johanna...



Johanna,

Hey, thanks for the kind words there.  I was being sarcastic and I figured 
that I better change things up a bit because I was afraid of sounding like 
Mr. preacher man here.  I am not ashamed of my posts, but since others are 
probably a bit bothered, maybe not knowing what know or where the heck I am 
coming from, it could be perceived as such, because what I have seen is so 
uncommon.  I am not boasting here.  I am humbled that a guy like me that is a 
product of the "failed" Pontiac school district busing experiment from the 
1970s could have stumbled upon the secret of the universe.  What I have I was 
given to me by others.  I have no doubts whatsoever that I am a blessed 
person and you should have none either that you are as well.  You are a 
precious gem. 

I grew up in a family that was involved with the Who.  My sisters saw them at 
the Grande ballroom in '67.  They had all of their albums and were 
"underground music' type of people.  They had boyfriends that got them 
involved and they still make a good living being musicians. I had this group 
to hear literally from my birth in 10-'64.  My sister said that I would 
always say Boris the "Fido"...  (oh brother). Incidentally, I would also like 
to hear the many stories of how others got into the group as well.  This is a 
cool subject.  I loved The Who all my life and *really* started to get into 
them in earnest in 1979 with all of the Kids are Alright hoopla.  I saw Pete 
smashing that guitar at the end and that was it for me.  I bought cassette 
after cassette and listened day and night (just like I am doing with the 
encore cd's right now by the way;)) and I could not believe how great this 
band was and  how deep they were.  Although I heard  the lyrics and thought 
they were cool, I did not see that they were *so* deeply searching for 
reality except for the song Christmas, which was rather obvious. Being a 
believer since age 5, I was bothered by the phrase who Jesus "was," instead 
of "is" but I did sense some light instead of the usual sex and drugs 
darkness. Anyhow, I liked it.

In 1983 at the suggestion of my brother, I started reading some books by two 
men named Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.  I couldn't believe what I saw on the 
pages.  What Pete Townshend was to me, these men were 1000 times more and 
still are. They had a way to get into the intrinsic significance of the bible 
and unlocked what was really in that mysterious book that most people either 
see superficially, or shy away from. It was told in their books at a 6th 
grade reading level, but what they said was extremely profound, but 
completely practical. How could the bible make so much sense after all of the 
"boring" stories I had previously heard?  I loved the Lord, but hated church, 
because I knew deep down it was a joke. I was told in these books that I had 
a spirit and I looked in the bible and it was everywhere. This is like step 
one in the process of seeing the divine revelation.  No one ever told me this 
before!  Why not?  Then I was told how to use it.  And it worked. Every time. 
For over 19 years now without fail.

One time early on my shot was not falling and I got my butt kicked in a 
basketball game in town with some black dudes and did not get picked for the 
second game.  This devastated me back then.  I drove home calling on the 
Lord's name from *deep* within ( this is how to touch your spirit) as I 
listened to Bargain on my stereo in the car.  I heard the words "I'd gladly 
lose me to find You. Gladly give up all I had.  To find You I'd suffer 
anything and be glad..."  I could not believe what Pete was saying here. I 
*heard* it.  My "self" was crushed by not being picked for the game, but here 
I saw that my self did not even matter.  I soared to the heavens.  Everything 
was under my feet.  I actually *was* glad, and this happened in an instant.