I’ve been having some very clear and strange dreams lately. One of which I’m sure means something, the others have been just cool or downright weird. It may be caused by the magnesium I’ve recently started taking (I’ve got aches and pains, okay!), or it might just be the fact that for the first time in a very long time (possibly ever) I lack a set schedule.
I live by routine. I love routine. I love to live by routine, but currently I don’t have one for my weekdays. By design, my profession is very fluid. It is (generally) free from strict schedules and deadlines, barring a certain few things necessary to keep the department running well. We don’t work normal hours. We go into work at different times every day. We work on days off: recording, special events etc. I suppose the idea is that an extremely strict schedule can hinder the creative process, which is a vital part of music and writing. The strange thing is that I find I still need some structure, some routine to keep me moving forward. Maybe I’m different from other musicians, maybe everyone needs structure in some way.
I continually search for things in my daily life that are constant. I like having my glasses, keys, backpack and shoes in their same spots every day. I enjoy seeing the same cars and people on the highway every day. I like getting to work, turning on the lamps in my office, setting up my laptop and Pro Tools, and checking my email every day. I always get whatever “my usual” is at whatever restaurant we eat at for lunch. I like listening to the same station on my drive home and I love taking the same route. I make a point to always park in the same spot near our garage. I enjoy sitting in my chair with a cold beverage to unwind from the day, and check the same blogs in the same order every day. I love when Judi gets home at her usual time and I greet her with a shout, a hug and a kiss. I love to doze off every night in bed with the sound of ‘Friends’ on DVD slowly fading as I fall further into sleep, as though it is getting farther and farther away. Then I have a strange dream.
I love listening to music from my past. Music I adored but haven’t heard in years. I always end up hearing things that must have seeped into my subconscious and made their way into my musical process. Little guitar riffs, or chord progressions, or song structures etc… I thought they were mine, but it turns out I lifted them from Tony Mottola, Michael W. Smith, The 5th Dimension, Herman’s Hermits…the list goes on. It’s not that this is a bad thing, everyone does it, even especially the greats. The music that a musician listens to inevitably becomes influence and irreversibly shapes that person.
My number ONE rule for writing music is:
Don’t Steal.
Number TWO is:
Okay, steal a little.
Every artist is a cannibal. Every poet is a thief. All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief.
We have our Elevate music practices on Thursday nights. Last night was no different, except for the prayer. We always pray, and it’s always a good fervent prayer, but last night’s prayer was different. Pastor Aaron called on Jimmy to pray. If you don’t know Jimmy, he is an amazing fellow. He has attended ORCC for over 20 some odd years. He’s the most faithful member of our church. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people in Bible verse that I’ve ever met. He works in our prayer center. He reads the Bible more than anyone I know. And he is blind.
Jimmy is a testimony of what it truly means to simply love God with all you are. Last night when he prayed I found myself unable to concentrate on speaking words of agreement (as we tend to do in group prayer) because I was completely in awe of how powerful Jimmy’s prayer was. I can’t explain why, but I know it’s a result of knowing God’s Word front to back. It impacted me. It challenged me. It humbled me. I want to be powerful in prayer like that.
I was going to pray to God and ask Him how to pray like that and He answered my question before I even opened my mouth:
Well, U2 have reportedly finished recording their 12th studio album. Daniel Lanois told a Canadian publication that all that is left is to “finish up some mixes”. Lanois goes on to say:
“It’s going to be different in several ways, but I think it’s similar from one point of view, namely that it’s going to push the known limits in the sound arena, the way Achtung Baby did in the past.
“Currently we’re working within clearly defined creative periods. We meet somewhere and we work for two weeks on everything we can. Then we all go do whatever for three weeks, before getting together again. It requires some administration, but for the creative process it’s as if everything were fresh every time we reunite.”
This song is something that I started writing on February First, Two Thousand Eight. I had only one word in my mind: Sufficient. God is sufficient. That was the only thing that mattered to Judi and I because it was the only thing we had. That word was all I had “written” for this song for several months. No melody, no progression, no other lyric, just “Sufficient”.
On the afternoon of May 13, I sat in my office after everyone had gone home. I was getting ready to leave and decided to pick up the guitar. The song came pouring out. In an instant it was written, but it needed one more thing. Another verse, an instrumental interlude maybe? Not wanting to force it I got up and headed toward home. About five minutes later cruising under Yosemite Street on I-225 the bridge came: It’s your love that rescued me.
I sang at the top of my lungs all the way home. I sang until my voice gave out. I sang to grasp freedom once again.
Jesus, You are my refuge, my fortress and strength.
Jesus, You are sufficient, Your Love’s so sufficient for me.
Jesus, every breath I take is in You.
Jesus, You are sufficient, Your Love’s so sufficient for me.
In my darkest hour Your Love will make a way.
In my darkest hour nothing can match the power of Your Love.
It’s Your Love that rescued me.
It’s Your Love that set me free.
It’s Your Love that made a way.
It’s Your Love I will Proclaim.
I was thinking about why I love Rock and Roll. It was never about girls and partying for me. I wasn’t about having control of the stage and a crowd. It was always about the atmosphere and energy. Certain words come to mind:
energetic
cathartic
uninhibited
raw
unhinged
real
honest
powerful
You can add whatever else might come to mind.
I play worship for the same reason, but from a different angle. I want to bring all these things to worship music.
A friend of mine was telling me about a youth worship service that he witnessed. He said all the kids were given a sleep mask to cover their eyes during the worship. The point behind the exercise was to allow the kids to be uninhibited in their worship. To simply worship as if they are the only person in the throne room with the Father. And guess what…They did. They worshiped like crazy.
I got to thinking about this story and how it relates to who I am: half Rock and Roll, half Worship (and those lines are blurred more and more each day). When I look back at every rock show I’ve ever been to I realize that the people there were always dancing, singing, screaming and going crazy and they didn’t need to wear sleep masks to become uninhibited. I would like to see a worship service produce the same kind of result. Where we don’t worship like crazy just because the conditions in the physical are just right, but we worship like crazy because that desperate need inside each one of us to touch the Spirit of God is so overwhelming that it comes pouring out like a rushing river.
Mark Thomas is a musician, writer, and passionate lover of God. He and his wife lead worship for Catalyst Youth. He spends his days working to create powerful worship experiences at Orchard Road Christian Center. His passion is in guitar. His love is in Judi. His life is in Jesus.
