The Edge of Light

My favorite band is Smokey and the Mirror. I have seen them in concert many times. The most recent concert that I attended was last month at South on Main in downtown Little Rock. Because I am so familiar with their music, I always find it interesting to hear a new song for the first time. The South on Main concert was the first time I heard the song, The Edge of Night. I really like the new song.  It was one of several songs that I videoed that night.



Recently Bryan Hembree of Smokey and the Mirror posted a story about the song, The Edge of Night on social media. The story filled the song with new meaning and understanding for me. I contacted Bryan and asked him for permission to share his story on An Arkie's Musings. He graciously agreed. This is his story.

"Last May, Bayard Blain and I got caught on the road in the middle of a tornado on the road to the Kerrville Folk Festival. I was terrified. There I was with my good buddy, in the Sprinter van. Bayard had been a co-pilot and travel partner for at least 50,000 miles in that same van and I had never felt so sure that it might be the last mile. I had visions of 12 beautiful guitars in shards strewn out across the Oklahoma prairie." (Bayard is an amazing luthier who builds beautiful one of a kind custom instruments.)

Bryan continued, "ultimately, we made it through. An answered prayer. The next day I started noodling on a new song. Johann Wagner and I stole away and in an hour we had finished it. Bernice and I just started playing in at our last few shows."

He concluded his post by saying, "may we all find our way out of the darkness. I believe in you. I believe in the human spirit." To that, I add a hearty Amen!

If you enjoy meaningful singer-songwriter music you can listen to Smokey and the Mirror's latest album, Thin Black Line, by clicking here.

Finishing the Job

My An Arkie's Faith column from the February 1, 2017, issue of The Mena Star.

A couple of years ago I received a phone call from a customer in Alexandria, Louisiana. He had a 1965 Chevrolet pickup, and he wanted to get it painted. I gave him a price for painting a pickup and didn’t think much more about it. Why would someone from Alexandria have a vehicle painted in Mena?  A few weeks later he called back and said that he was planning to drive the pickup to Mena to drop it off to be painted.

The day that he was supposed to drop off the vehicle, he called and said that he was running late. He had been having some mechanical problems. After several calls with updates on his problems he let me know that he would be in town around 10:00 p.m. We made arrangements to meet at my shop. It was a dark rainy night, but even in those conditions I could see that the pickup was in very rough shape. I considered telling my customer that the condition of his truck was so bad that I didn’t want the job, but he had just driven all day and had so many problems that I couldn’t tell him no. I did tell him that the pickup was in much worse shape than he had described it and that I would take the job with the understanding that I would only work on it when I had no other better-paying jobs in my shop.

The next morning when I inspected the truck in the daylight, my heart sank. It was much worse than I had thought it was the night before. It seemed like every square inch of the body was damaged. Every panel had major dents, and there were large rusted out areas on both doors and both bedsides. This was going to be a very time-consuming project. I contacted the customer and told him all of the problems that I had found but that I would keep my word and paint his truck for the agreed upon price. Because of the terrible condition of the vehicle, I said that I could make no promises about how long it would take. He understood that it would be a fill in project and that I would only work on when I had absolutely nothing else to do.

That was two years ago, and the project still isn’t completed, although I am now close to finishing it. Over the past two years, I have done anything possible to avoid working on this vehicle. My distaste for working on the 65 Chevy has become a standing joke to friends and regular customers who have been watching my “progress” on the project.

I have a job to do, and I have not been diligent about getting it done. I have gone out of my way to do anything else besides working on it. Finishing the job hasn’t been a priority for me.

Jesus has given us a job to do. In Mark 16:15 (NET) Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Our job is to preach the gospel. We need to take our job seriously. Jesus knew what his job was. In Luke 4:42,43 (NET) we read, “the next morning Jesus departed and went to a deserted place. Yet the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. But Jesus said to them, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, for that is what I was sent to do.’”

Jesus knew that his job was to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and He has passed the job on to those who follow Him. I’m afraid that too often I treat the job Jesus has given me just like I treat the job I have to paint the 1965 Chevrolet Pickup. I have done anything to avoid working on the pickup, and I avoid doing the job Jesus has given me.

We have an obligation to let people know that the kingdom of God is near. “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near.” Joel 2:1 (RSV)

From my experience, it seems that the majority of us are not blowing the trumpet. We aren’t doing our job. Why do you think that is? We are to make the message plain. We are to blow the trumpet clear. 1 Corinthians 14:7,8 (NKJV) tells us that, “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?  For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?”

I think that a big part of it is that we don’t know what sound the trumpet is to make. And when we do blow the trumpet, it is the trumpet of politics – or social change – or lifestyle, but not the gospel. We blow a trumpet with an uncertain sound.

Gentle Reader, let’s finish the job that we have been given to do; proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Our job isn’t to straighten out the political beliefs of others. Our job isn’t to point out the faults of others. Our job isn’t to prove other religions false. And our job isn't to hate those we disagree with. Our job is to give people the good news found in John 3:16 (NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Don’t get sidetracked, let’s focus on finishing the job.

Mesothelioma

Back in 2013, I was contacted by Cameron Von St. James. He came across An Arkie's Musings, and saw that fighting back against cancer was a priority here. He contacted me and offered to tell his story to my readers. We corresponded and he sent me his story. It is both compelling and informative.

I posted his story on An Arkie's Musings and then wrote a blog post that was an update on his story a few month later.

Not long ago I received an email from Virgil Anderson. He came across An Arkie's Musings because of the previous posts about Cameron and Heather St. James. He contacted me and asked if I would write a post highlighting www.mesothelioma.net

Virgil told a bit about himself. He said, "I was recently diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. From automotive to demolition work, I’ve had many jobs in my life that contributed to my exposure. On some jobs, the air was so thick with debris and asbestos you could taste it in your mouth.

When I was diagnosed with mesothelioma I needed immediate medical attention. Even though I contacted www.mesothelioma.net on a Sunday one of their patient advocates gave me a call back within minutes. They gave me a great deal of helpful information on doctors and resources available to me.

As a result of their website I am now being treated at the National Cancer Institute and the patient advocates have even provided me with financial assistance so I could afford a place to live during my cancer treatments. If I had not reached out to this website I would likely be homeless and more importantly in hospice waiting to die. These people gave me my only chance at survival."

If you or anyone you know is battling mesothelioma please check out the website at www.mesothelioma.net for great information of give them a call at 1-800-692-8608.

In the Fog

My An Arkie's Faith column from the January 25, 2017, issue of The Mena Star.

This winter there have been quite a few foggy days. I like a little bit of fog. I like the ethereal, otherworldly way the countryside looks in the fog. Too much fog is another story. One morning on my way to work the fog was so thick that I couldn’t see things that were right beside the road. That wasn’t fun. It can be unnerving to drive in that kind of fog.

One foggy drive that I made was quite memorable. Back in 2000, my wife and I made a trip to Nova Scotia to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We flew into Boston where we met my son-in-law’s uncle who took us on a whirlwind tour of the area including the Old North Church, the USS Constitution, and Buckman Tavern in Lexington. He had recently traveled to Nova Scotia and told us that we needed to be sure and visit Cape Breton Island. He told us that he had enjoyed driving the Cabot Trail and visiting the Fortress of Louisbourg. He told us to make sure that the day we drove the Cabot Trail wasn’t a foggy day.

In spite of his instructions, the day that we scheduled to drive the Cabot Trail turned out to be an extremely foggy day. I had seen pictures of the Cabot Trail, and it’s incredible views. It is one of the most scenic drives on the planet. I was looking forward to this amazing drive. We saw none of the spectacular scenery; we saw only dense fog. When we arrived at Louisbourg, we attended the Louisbourg Playhouse. In a bit if irony one of the songs they played was “In The Fog.”



I enjoy a bit of fog; it turns the world into a surreal landscape. But driving in a heavy fog can be frightening. It makes you slow down and be very alert. Faith is similar to driving in the fog. As we go through life, we don’t always see what’s right in front of us. Like a drive on a foggy day, life is revealed to us little by little. We can’t see into the future. God wants us to slow down and to make each action carefully and deliberately. He doesn’t want us to get in a hurry. That’s when accidents happen. We have to trust that we will get to where God wants us when His timing is right.

“Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NOG) When you have to drive in a heavy fog at night, it is so thick that your headlights can only light a few feet in front of the car. It creates tension and fear. What if there’s something I can’t see? What if the road turns and I miss it? High beams that help you to see far when it’s clear, only make the situation worse. You have to drive slow to feel safe. You have to take your time in getting to your destination. True faith is finding certainty in uncertain times. It is learning to trust God in the patches of fog that happen in everyone’s life.

Faith is believing that God is with you, whatever your circumstances are. Whether life is going smoothly, or you are experiencing the foggiest night of your life. When the foggy night comes, we are not alone. In Psalms 32:8  (NIRV) God makes this promise to you; “I will guide you and teach you the way you should go. I will give you good advice and watch over you with love.”

But why does God allow the fog in our lives? My daughter and her family are planning a trip to California this summer. On of the places they want to visit while they are there is Sequoia National Park. The park is famous for its giant sequoia trees. The Giant Forest in the park contains five out of the ten largest trees in the world.

These trees require fog to survive. The area has very little rain but often has dense fog. When fog hits, water drips off the tree needles, which point down to the ground. The fog is necessary for them to survive.

Gentle Reader, In our lives we need to stay constantly connected to God to survive. If we put our faith in God, we will be okay. The confusion of a foggy night may come, but we can trust that God will guide us through. Don’t panic because you can’t see into the future. Don’t let fear of the unknown unnerve you. God knows your future. He sees through the fog and has promised to guide you. “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) Trust God to guide you through the foggy moments to get you where you’re going right on time. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.” Psalms 119:105 (NAB)

Dylan LeBlanc

I recently saw Shreveport, Louisiana native Dylan LeBlanc in concert at South on Main in Little Rock, Arkansas. My favorite band is Smokey and the Mirror. When I found out that they would be opening for Dylan LeBlanc I made plans to attend.

I hadn't heard of him, but before the concert I listened to his newest album, Cautionary Tale. I enjoyed the album with it's stripped down simplicity.

The concert wasn't quite what I expected. I am a big fan of singer songwriters and acoustic music. In this show Dylan had a full band and they were loud. On the album, Dylan's voice is expressive and evocative. His lyrics are deep and personal. In the concert the band overpowered his voice to the point that the lyrics were not understandable. The band was tight but I found myself wondering what a more stripped down quieter version of Dylan LeBlanc would sound like.

The title track of his album Cautionary Tale features Dylan's haunting vocals accompanied by a stripped down arrangement. It is becoming a favorite of mine.



After the concert I watched a YouTube interview of Dylan by Jon Hart at KCPT in Kansas City, Missouri.



While I was listening to the interview I realized that I had heard Dylan's dad in concert. The concert was at the Shreveport House Concert Series at Fairfield Studios.  In March 2013, my son-in-law took us to the James LeBlanc concert for my birthday.

James LeBlanc was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. Throughout his teen years, James started writing songs and playing in several bands. 

James moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama where he signed his first publishing deal with Fame Music. James first hit single was released by Travis Tritt. The song was entitled “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde. He also wrote the title cut on Jason Aldean's album, Relentless. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Thompson Square, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, and Martina McBride.  To close out the concert he sang "Where You Are" which was recorded by Rascal Flatts as the first song on their Feels Like Today album.

When he was just a baby, Dylan LeBlanc's mother and father divorced. Until the age of nine, he lived with his mother in Blanchard, Louisiana, a small town in the northeast corner of Shreveport. Working full-time cleaning houses, LeBlanc's mother raised Dylan and his two siblings. At the age of ten, LeBlanc relocated to Muscle Shoals so his father could pursue his musical career as a professional country music songwriter. In Muscle Shoals, Dylan spent late nights watching musicians record at the studios where his father played on sessions for the songs that he wrote.

After a record deal at the young age of twenty, Dylan didn't handle fame very well and according to his website; "he slipped into a blur of booze and self-doubt. Exhausted and damaged at just 23-years-old, Dylan came home to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to write a new life for himself. In between the moments of clarity and a few familiar falls, he also wrote a new album, Cautionary Tale: a collection of shimmering, arresting songs with the same haunting vocals."

 

Dylan played a couple of songs solo accompanied only by a cello. It was my favorite part of the concert. I recorded the song Emma Hartley from his 2010 debut album, Paupers Field. You can listen to it here.

If you have a chance listen to the album Cautionary Tale, I highly recommend it.

Smokey and the Mirror at South on Main

Last Wednesday we attended a concert at South on Main in Little Rock. Smokey and the Mirror was opening for Dylan Leblanc. South on Main is a restaurant and performance venue featuring the best of Southern cuisine and culture. The food was amazing and the music venue is great.

Smokey and the Mirror is the musical project of Bryan and Bernice Hembree. I first heard Bryan and Bernice when they came with the band 3 Penny Acre to my hometown here in Mena, Arkansas and gave a concert at The Ouachita Little Theater. I went to the concert because my friend Richie Owens was opening for them and I was curious about the band because Bernice Hembree grew up here in Mena. I was blown away by how talented they were. Since then I have tried to attend as many of their concerts as I can. I have attended concerts in Fayetteville, Eureka Springs, Harrison, Mena and Bentonville in Arkansas and have traveled out of state to Oklahoma City, Shreveport, and Houston to hear them play.

My favorite Smokey and the Mirror concert was the November 2013 concert at The Blue Door in Oklahoma City.

The Blue Door concert was part of a live recording project by Goose Creek Music.  The album that was produced was called Three Nights Live. The album was recorded at three classic listening-room venues in Texas and Oklahoma: McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston, The Cactus Café located on the University of Texas’ Austin campus, and The Blue Door. Three Nights Live featured Rebecca Loebe, Smokey and the Mirror, and Raina Rose, along with studio musicians Daniel Walker and Will Robertson,



When I learned that Smokey and the Mirror was opening for Dylan LeBlanc at South on Main in Little Rock, I was excited and made plans to attend. We drove to Little Rock on a dreary day with light rain falling. We drove downtown and found South on Main easily. Our table was right in front of the stage. We enjoyed our meal. My wife had the chicken fried cauliflower steak with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and onion gravy. I had the stuffed pepper with cous cous, melted leeks, mushrooms, and piquillo puree. Our food was great, and we enjoyed visiting with the other couple at our table. They live in a condo just a few blocks from the restaurant.

Smokey and the Mirror put on a great show. South on Main is an intimate venue and a special place to see a concert and to take photos. This was our first time there but I'm sure it won't be the last.

I recorded several of the songs during the concert.

Lift Up the Trumpet

When I was a boy, I learned to play the trumpet. Ed, a family friend, was an awesome trumpet player and I wanted to learn to play. Our pastor said that whenever Ed played for church, it made him nervous. He gave me lessons and taught me the basics. When I was a freshman, I started attending Boulder Junior Academy.  I joined the band and started taking trumpet lessons from Mrs. Carlisle.

Because I hadn’t been playing trumpet for very long, I played third chair in the band. On one particular piece, the first chair trumpet player thought it would be great fun if we would switch parts. I practiced and practiced and got to where I could play the first part fairly well. We decided to make our big switch during a concert. I never did well under pressure, and I can tell you that it was a disaster. Mrs. Carlisle was not amused.

The trumpet has a long and rich history. Trumpets were used as signaling devices in Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Near East. Pictures of a trumpet were found in King Tut's tomb. In the Roman era, trumpet-like instruments, though prominent in art and literature, are not known to have been used in music. They remained instruments of only a few tones for signaling, announcing, commanding, and ceremonial purposes.

The very first trumpets were made from animal horns. It is why we still refer to trumpets as horns. The word shofar in the Bible is used for an animal's horn. Most translations refer to the shofar or ram’s horn as a trumpet. The first mention of the shofar is in Exodus, where a very loud blast of the shofar heralded God coming down on Sinai.

“On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar, so that all the people in the camp trembled.” Ex. 19:16 (NAB)

Later, in Leviticus, the shofar alerts Israel to the Jubilee year and its laws: “sound a ram’s horn across the land in the 50th year on the tenth day of the seventh month. Sound the ram’s horn throughout the land on the Day of Atonement.” Leviticus 25:9 (VOICE)

The shofar in biblical times had several purposes. It was used in rituals and worship; it was used as a signal to send a message to the people or army and was sometimes used to accompany singing.

In Joshua 6:3-5 (NAB), God directs Joshua to, “have all the soldiers circle the city, marching once around it. Do this for six days, with seven priests carrying ram’s horns ahead of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, and have the priests blow the horns. When they give a long blast on the ram’s horns, and you hear the sound of the horn, all the people shall shout aloud. The wall of the city will collapse, and the people shall attack straight ahead.”

While it was the priests who blew the horns, this was actually a military use of the shofar. In Judges 7 we find shofars used as military weapons. I’m sure you remember the story of Gideon. He was fighting against a large army of Midianites with a force of only 300 men.

“He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and provided them all with horns and with empty jars and torches inside the jars. ‘Watch me and follow my lead,’ he told them. “I shall go to the edge of the camp, and as I do, you must do also. When I and those with me blow horns, you too must blow horns all around the camp and cry out, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’” So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the posting of the guards. They blew the horns and broke the jars they were holding. When the three companies had blown their horns and broken their jars, they took the torches in their left hands, and in their right the horns they had been blowing, and cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” They all remained standing in place around the camp, while the whole camp began to run and shout and flee. When they blew the three hundred horns, the Lord set the sword of one against another throughout the camp.” Judges 7:16-22 Can you imagine 300 shofars sounding all around the soldier’s encampment? I’m sure it was frightening.

Not all of the trumpets mentioned in the Bible were made from animal horns. The use of a metal trumpet goes back to the time of Moses and Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. God told Moses to, “make two trumpets out of hammered silver. Blow them when you want the community to gather together. And blow them when you want the camps to start out. When both trumpets are blown, the whole community must gather in front of you. They must come to the entrance to the tent of meeting. Suppose only one trumpet is blown. Then the leaders must gather in front of you. They are the heads of the tribes of Israel. When a trumpet blast is blown, the tribes camped on the east side must start out. When the second blast is blown, the camps on the south side must start out. The blast will tell them when to start. Blow the trumpets to gather the people together. But do not use the same kind of blast. Numbers 10:2-7 (NIRV)

God always sounds a trumpet of preparation and assembly before the trumpet to begin the journey sounds. Are we part of God’s assembly? Are we part of the preparation?

Trumpets have a very clear and pure sound which seems to be clearer and louder than most other musical instruments. The silver trumpets were used to alert the people to danger and battles. They were also sounded to let the Israelites know when it was time to journey on and follow the cloud, and sometimes that occurred during the night so they would have been awakened by the sound of the silver trumpets. But being awakened by trumpets can be a bit of a shock! Yet how necessary it is for us today to hear and know God's voice as a trumpet blast which wakes us from our spiritual apathy.

We have been given a message to give to the world. Joel 2:1 (NKJV) says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand.” Are you blowing the trumpet? If so, what tune are you playing? We are to make the message plain.  We are to blow the trumpet clear. 1 Corinthians 14:7,8 tells us that, “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?  For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?

There are many uncertain sounds in Christianity today. The core message of the book of Revelation is that God is in control, even when things seem out of control. Not only was God in control of the past, not only is God in control of the present, Revelation tells us that God is also in control of the future. And if He is in control of the future, I can trust everything to His care.

The other day as I was going through the channels on my TV I saw that there was a baseball game on. The Boston Red Sox were playing the New York Mets. The score is tied at 5 in the bottom of the tenth inning with two out.  Without watching I know what is about to happen. Mookie Wilson is going to hit a slow roller to the first baseman Bill Buckner, who is going to miss the ball that would have been an easy out.  Instead, the Mets score the winning run, and the game is over.  I knew what would happen because I was watching a rebroadcast of a very famous game from the 1986 World Series. The game had already been played. I knew the outcome.

Just like baseball game I was watching; when it comes to the end of the world, I know who wins.  I have been reading my Bible, and it is very clear who the winner is. That is the trumpet that we are to be sounding. We know how this all ends. We need to share that information with others.

What I love about biblical prophecy is that with all of its weirdness and challenging symbols, there is an underlying sense of confidence that God can be trusted in everything, even in the future. He has promised to take care of his children. What about you?  Do you trust Him?

Our message is found in Revelation 4:1,2: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

We are to sound the trumpet. Jesus is coming again, and the book of Revelation shows us things which must take place. We have an obligation to let people know. Joel 2:2 “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near.”

It is a serious obligation. Ezekiel 33:6 “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

From my experience, it seems that the majority of us are not blowing the trumpet. Why do you think that is? I think that a big part of it is that we don’t know what sound the trumpet is to make. And when we do blow the trumpet, it is the trumpet of politics – or social change – or lifestyle, not the gospel. We blow a trumpet with an uncertain sound.

I think that Paul had the right sound when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1,2 “So, my brothers, when I came to you, I did not come to tell you God's message in big or wise words. I made up my mind that I would talk about only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on a cross.”