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!

A SEASON OF THE SOUL

I remember having an epiphany in autumn of 1981 as my mom and I were driving home from Solvang California. There is a place on that road where Highway 101 curves around and all of a sudden you can see the beautiful Pacific Ocean. It was getting close to dusk and I had Steve Winwood's "Talking Back To The Night" playing. This was a period when Steve was using sequencers and drum machines. It was also a period where I was lost. I saw no musical future for me. As a matter of fact I couldn't see much of any future due to my bout with Botulism. But when we turned that corner on the 101, something inside me said, "I can do that". So I took some money my father had left me and bought a music sequencer and a drum machine. In 1985 I recorded my first solo album for Sparrow/Meadowlark Records. It's was called "Heirborne". I guess what makes me tell this story at this time is that again I can't see what's up ahead but I know the One who holds my future and I have a tangible knowledge of what He has done for me in the past...

Each man's life touches so many other lives

Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?~Clarence the angel from "It's A Wonderful Life"

I've always loved that line (and the movie) since I saw it on TV as a kid. That was probably one of the first times it aired considering my age.
I think most of us take for granted (living our lives in this time-space continuum) how much we need each other.
I'm not talking about the "self-absorbed, all about me" person. I feel sorry for them.
I'm referring to most people who just are taking it day by day, one day at a time, living out the string.
And then, one day that "awful hole" appears. You unexpectedly lose a loved one, a friend suddenly moves away, your beloved pet dies, even someone you hardly knew just sorta vanishes. Like the guy or gal you'd say hi to at the local Starbucks. You've seen their familiar face so often, you feel like you know them.

Your "personal world" feels a void for a brief moment in time.

But...life goes on...you move on...and sometimes that void turns to a vague memory.

I think part of that process is just our own built in protective mechanism.

I would like to think that I would leave more than a void. A very wise friend said to me, "Rich, the only thing you take out of this life are the relationships you've made along the way". For me, it's not the music I've written, the body work that I will have left behind. Big Deal!

It's about my life touching your life...

THE TRUST

As I have mentioned in my other blog entrees, I am not a scholar with a PhD. I have no literary credentials from a university or college. I am a simple musician who uses this blog sometimes as a therapeutic device to just express my thoughts and feelings.~Richard Souther

Charles Dickens starts out in his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
I'm titling this entry, "THE TRUST". What I'm referring to is a proverb in the bible. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

As I also mentioned in another blog entry (referring to my commitment to follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior),"That train has sailed". It sailed back in 1972 and there are no regrets and no turning back.

There are periods in time (like now) when I don't understand what is going on. This is where TRUST comes in. Where FAITH is tested in some fiery furnace. Where the TRYING happens. When one cry's out, "okay, enough already, stop!, I get it". And for a moment you think, you moved His Hand. And something inside you hear,"NOT YET".

At that point, a strange but familiar peace comes over you and you say, "Alright, but not too much longer Lord".

The Importance Of Being In Earnest

Yes, the title is a play on the Oscar Wilde book, "The Importance Of Being Earnest"...

It's 2009, I'll be 58 this year, I stand at another crossroads in my life wondering what God has in store for me, my wife and my animals. Thats my family.
Will we stay in Utah? Will we go to Austin? Will we go to Nashville? Or will we go to Paris? You see, I believe He works in the background of our lives even when we don't feel His Presence.

I realized years ago that time never stands still and that even by not making decisions, decisions will be made by time.

I do know now (at this time in my life) that no matter where the location, I will make and create music. It's the calling I have on my life. Music is the gift God gave me. It reaches into the heart, the soul, before it gets analyzed by the brain.
Personally I don't think God spoke the world into existence. I think He sang it into existence.

In Earnest...I'm thankful for every experience I've had in my life. The Good, The Bad and even... The Ugly. I will always be learning from them even though I choose to live in the present. In the now, the moment.
And even though I stand at the crossroads, I don't fear the future. I know Who holds my future...

It ain't good enough!

The ghost of Jacob Marley to Ebenezer Scrooge: BUSINESS? Mankind was my business! Their common welfare was my business! And it is at this time of the rolling year that I suffer most! ~A Christmas Carol

I live in an area of Utah where twenty minutes away is a community where many wealthy people come to ski and have their second or even third homes here. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not against wealth, in fact I could use a little myself at the moment.
What I don't understand is "the disconnect" when you drive another thirty minutes down into downtown Salt Lake City (or fill in your own city) and there are so many homeless, destitute people. And probably this year more than ever.
Yes, we have our rescue missions, some churches help and many good and worthy organizations that really do try to help the needy here. But it ain't good enough!

And what about our animals?
Dogs, cats, horses, etc., who get left out in the freezing snow to suffer and die. Go to the pounds for a reality check "before they get put to sleep". There seems to be "a disconnect" regarding our furry friends too. That is, at least if you are an animal lover as I am.
We do have some "valid organizations" that try to help them but, it ain't good enough!

Ebenezer: Why? Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

Portly Gentleman: Many can't go there; and many would rather die.

Ebenezer: If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

Someone once said, "Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant [they seemed], you did for me".

There are many wealthy men and women who step up every day and give much to worthy organizations. Organizations (some worldwide) that address these injustices and I thank God for each of them. But...would you be willing to "give at all (and not out your surplus) if asked?" I know personally I would have a hard time with that one. Fortunately that question has not yet arisen in my life. But I'm sure it will.

My PLEA dear friends or to anyone who reads this blog entry is GIVE SOMETHING AT THIS SEASON!

You may be broke... but the most valuable thing you have is your time. Support the homeless shelters and organizations that "really" help our animals.
Do your research and make sure you know where your time and money is going.

I am not an eloquent man, and my blog entries are not profound. I am just another musician in this big world... but I am passionate about this.

That person on the street could be you... That dog running down the street without a collar about to get hit by a car could be yours...