wednesday, sept 9, 2009
The last summer has flown by us…ichthus festival, reunions in
arkansas, camps in oklahoma, north dakota, and new hampshire, the
fourth of july and prisons in michigan, the haunting beauty of new
england and the heat and amazing food of my home in san antonio,
texas…to name a few.
These places seem so distant from each other, in not only miles, but
in climate, in culture, in the way people go about their daily lives,
and what they hold dear to their hearts.
And yet I couldn’t help but be awed by one common thread in all of
our travels. Overwhelming me, knocking me flat on my keister, each time
I saw it.
For some people it’s called ‘good manners’, for some it falls under
the category of etiquette…and some have raised it to an art form…I’m
talking about hospitality.
A crazy ancient practice that involves allowing strangers into your
home, and treating them as equals…providing them with food, company and
shelter.
In this band, I’ve experienced so much of this practice, that I
unable to recount or remember everyone who has opened their home, their
kitchen or their best room for me, my wife and the boys.
On this last trip, we were given lobster in Maine, in Michigan, we
were given too many feasts to count, in georgia a mother of 4 boys
cooked several mouth watering meals for all of us while going to
nursing school at night… in my home state of texas we had to bring back
the food in bags and coolers…we couldn’t carry it with our
hands…bar-b-que, and tex mex food…we all gained at least 10 pounds…and
loved every second of laughter and storytelling, and catching up.
People slept on floors so we could have the best room in the
house…groceries were purchased with items reserved for kings and
queens…and all this during a Down Economy. I am so undeserving of this
kindness…really. All we do is write and perform songs for an hour…
maybe an hour and a half. I’m dumbfounded and humbled by it all.
And the thing is, one day I’m sharing a phenomenal meal with someone
who I know is decidedly left of me politically…and the next
night…someone is sheltering me and cooking something exquisite for me
who I know is to my right.
And in the backround, on the television, the noise says we are all
just too different, too divided, too far apart to hear each other over
the yelling, and the screaming and the anger and the name calling.
I know the issues facing us are real, and important.
But I’ve been reminded that in the living rooms, and kitchens, and
porches, and back yard barbeques across this country…there are still
people who care to give each other the best. Who will bend over
backwards to make sure your belly is full, that you have a good night’s
rest and that you have enough gas for the next journey. And it restores
my soul…this unified heartbeat…this demonstration of genuine kindness.
It’s a true reflection of a Father who loves us and cares for us…in
spite of our shortcomings…and I just wanted to say, ‘thank you’ to all
of you for doing this for us…a reassurance that a flame still burns in
the hearts of the faithful.
See you soon.
gabe