Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (Matthew 22:34-46) - October 29, 2023

Point of No Return

I grew up listening to my dad's records in the '70s. Darkness on the Edge of Town, Who's Next, Zep IV. As an '80s teen, I became fascinated by rap music & loved Run DMC, but also consumed significant doses of Metallica. Pretty typical midwestern kid.

In my 20s, I was living in Iowa City, not working because I was just about to move to Santa Fe when my old college friend Michelle Rubin called with a mini-emergency & asked if I could go deliver some newspapers for the weekly ICON. I was busy packing up, but had plenty of time so said "sure". After I'd finished filling the vending machines around town, she handed me a couple tickets to a Paul K show at Gabe's later that night.

I didn't plan to go, but said thanks & went home & got back to packing. But as the evening wore on & I had a few beers, I figured I might as well take a break & go check it out, so I walked downtown.

With all apologies to Mr. K, I don't remember any of the music from that night except for two songs. He introduced them by saying he had just been at the wake for a recently deceased musician named Townes Van Zandt. I'd never heard of the guy before, but those next two cover songs, Lungs & Our Mother the Mountain changed my life. I walked out of there in a daze of wonderment. The universe had just opened up & played me some music that was exactly how I'd always wished music sounded, just didn't know it till right then.

I spent the next couple decades trying to play Townes songs & failing miserably. But the extended accumulation of all that determined failure, mixed in with a penchant for Surrealist poetry, Dylan harmonica, & John Lee Hooker's foot stomping added up to where I'm at right now. A quirky songwriter who mixes in Townes covers, spoken word pieces, & lotsa foot stomping with a little harp now & then. I'm really only just getting started as a performer & recording artist even though I'm in my 50s. Took me a while to put the pieces together, but better late than never!

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