"Tesla's Christmas" a chance to give back.

It's been a tough year. My wife and I are very thankful to still have a roof over our heads and food on the table. Many are not as blessed. You see them on the streets, their homes have been foreclosed on. They barely have enough to get by... and some don't. Then, there are also the "other" family members, dogs, cats, etc. Some are abandoned on a highway, others killed at the end of their stay at the local animal shelter. Why?... because people don't have money to take care of them, let alone themselves.

About a month ago, I decided to use my music to give back. An eclectic project, "Tesla's Christmas", was born. The songs are comprised of Christmas Carols... some familiar and others not. Combining electronica with ancient sounding instruments, "these carols will remind you of something you've never heard before".
My wife and I will give all the profits we receive to a couple of charities that are close to our hearts:
The Rescue Mission of Salt Lake City and No More Homeless Pets in Utah
This is the very least we can do to help... Christmas should last 365 days a year.
Blessings, Richard & Cyndi Souther


Click HERE to buy "Tesla's Christmas"

There but for the Grace of God go I...

As we move into this winter season coming up to Christmas, there will probably be more people living on the streets that could rival the Great Depression of 1929. People who lost their homes, jobs, no food or money. Good people who are willing to do almost anything to survive. It sounds like a Dickens novel, but it's all too real.

There are a lot of us who are close to that place. There but for the Grace of God go I.

Maybe you don't have a lot of money at this time to give to charities but one act of kindness can go along way. Buying a stranger a meal, filling someone's gas tank, adopting an animal, even giving someone a smile as corny as that may sound.
America in many ways is sheltered from "certain realities" that are in her own back yard. "Man's inhumanity to man" is more than just an old quote by Robert Burns.

Your helping hand is what is needed this season. Don't depend on our government to do something that you can do in a moment. No matter what your beliefs or your faith, do something outside yourself and make a difference in someone else's life. It's just way too easy to walk on by.

"Are there no prisons, are there no Workhouses?"

These Next Couple Of Months Will Tell The Story!

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.~ C. S. Lewis

Not that life will cease to exist as we know it in the next couple of months for my wife, my animals and myself.
But, it may change.
That CHANGE may be "courtesy" of a certain bank. You see over the last year we discovered that "Corporate America" does not care about the little guy and his little family. They WILL tell you what you want to hear every time they call you (which can be several times a day!).
Fortunately last year we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Course and it gave us a handle on how to deal with the "credit card sharks." We shredded all the credit cards by the way.

I guess the point of this little story is that no matter what happens... our life and times are in God's Hands.
This Train Sailed A Long Time Ago. God is either who He says He is... or not.
Too many experiences in my life say: I know The One who holds my future and that of my family and animals.

When Do You Get Time To Think Anymore?

"There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before." ~Henry David Thoreau
I seldom get enough time to really think about this season in my life. I am usually too busy just trying to take care of my family and keep food on the table.
I read somewhere that, "He makes me lie down in green pastures". I have always taken consolation in the 23rd Psalm. Especially the part about He Restoreth My Soul.
It's hard to get anything restored when you are always using it. I for one don't take enough time to think unless I'm flat on my back. I would prefer another way to be perfectly honest! but here I am again Lord, flat on my back, and I'm all ears...

Living In The Moment

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

Florence Farr once said to me, "If we could say to ourselves, with sincerity, 'this passing moment is as good as any I shall ever know,' we could die upon the instant and be united with God."~ William Butler Yeats

I have spent so much of my life living in the past. Reflecting back on what "shoulda, coulda, woulda" as opposed to just saying "that was yesterday...move on!".
I've also been a little too excited about the future at times and forgot to enjoy this very moment. The right now even as I type this.

Enjoying the NOW. As the seconds pass by so quickly like the proverbial hour glass with the sand running down like the seconds, I want to publicly thank my Savior Jesus for every breath I'm given... living in this moment.

I've seen a lot of death throughout my life. Some eventually expected and some totally unexpected. I miss those loved ones and hope to be reunited with them farther along. And I'm including my animals too! Sorry if that messes with someone's doctrines.

That's the FUTURE not the NOW. Life is a precious gift and this moment is all we really have.

Enjoy the NOW...

Just a thought at this moment...

A Guy Named Joe

I never really knew the man. He was quiet, very handsome, athletic, but very hard to get to open up and talk. At least to me. I was his new son-in-law. Our common ground was that we both loved his daughter and we both loved the Lord. Early on into our marriage my wife and I were in Nashville and received a call that he had been diagnosed with ALS also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". I remember seeing a movie about Lou Gerhrig's life (Pride Of The Yankees) with Gary Cooper and that "famous farewell speech" but I didn't even know what the initials, ALS, stood for.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys motor neurons (components of the nervous system that connect the brain with the skeletal muscles). You eventually die a slow tragic death. You lose the ability to speak or move and you essentially become "locked in" in your own body. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to blink for "yes and no" towards the end and even go on a respirator to prolong the inevitable. In his case he did in order to see his youngest daughter married. Rest In Peace: Joseph Signor
There is no cure for ALS... yet.
Please donate something to The ALS Association also known as ALSA

Another POP QUIZ for Richard...Oh Boy!

If you had told me three and a half years ago that I would move from my childhood home in Los Angeles (Granada Hills) to Utah, I would have laughed and said "ya sure!". But here I am writing you from Utah.
Utah? what is the connection?
Well... my wife has relatives are here. My Mom's family was from here. That's two pretty good reasons.
But Richard, you're a musician. What the heck are you going to do in Utah? Sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?
Well no, I'm not LDS.
Why not Nashville, Austin, NYC even Vegas, someplace more...well, more music oriented?
Been there, done that.
So how is it going up there for you? Lot's of snow I bet!
YES...but not right now.
Are you making it?
Well...only by God's Grace.
I hear you play restaurants and are music director at a little church up there just starting.
Yes...not a lot of restaurants because of the economy but I'm enjoying playing piano at the church.
Still doing albums?
Yes, from time to time. Sell maybe fifty, seventy five... as opposed to thousands like I did at one time.
Must be hard?
Sometimes, the money part anyway.
So what do you think this is all about?
You mean the big picture?
Exactly!
I am learning how to REST an put myself completely in HIS HANDS.
Sounds like a pop quiz!
Yeah!, the longest one I've ever had and it's not over.
Made a lot of mistakes?
Sure, it's part of life and learning.
Wouldn't you like this QUIZ to end?
Yes!...but not till I learn everything I need to learn.
To rest?... sounds so easy!
YEP!