Session Drummer | Studio Drummer | Touring and Worship Drummer for Hire | Dale Baker | Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, NC

Pure Inspiration

I receive daily emails from inward/outward every day (except Sunday) and though I rarely read them when they arrive, I'm archiving them in my Gmail account so that when I need some inspiration or something to meditate on or just am looking for something to get my creative juices flowing, I can just pull up my archive of these emails.  From the website:

"inward/outward is an ongoing, online conversation sponsored by Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC."

I love the variety of quotes and sources they pull from.  For instance, there is this quote from Abraham Heschel that was up on their site recently:

"Creation, we are taught, is not an act that happened once upon a time, once and forever. The act of bringing the world into existence is a continuous process. God called the world into being, and that call goes on. There is this present moment because God is present. Every instant is an act of creation. A moment is not a terminal but a flash, a signal of Beginning."

Source: The Sabbath

Or this other one I thought was pretty cool, attributed to M. Basil Pennington:

"Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self.

It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want."

There is an About Page that gives you more information about inward/outward and the churches that are affiliated with their project.  I've found the emails encouraging and something to look forward to each day and when I get time, I like to start my day by reading their emails and collecting my thoughts.  You can sign up for their daily emails and this is what they have to say about that:

"Our Monday-Saturday email message service offers words of encouragement and challenge from a broad assortment of authors. It’s a collection of thoughts and ideas that speak in some way of living a more authentic and joyfully connected life rooted in the rhythms of the inward/outward journey.

The service is free, and you can cancel at any time."

 

Culture Making by Andy Crouch

My wife recently went to an Arts conference in Austin, TX and brought back this "pre-release" teaser of Andy Crouch's new book, "Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling."  The "our" in the title refers to Christians, and this book is geared towards encouraging Christians in the arts and Artists in the Church. I was immediately drawn into the book via the opening line in the Introduction:

"The essence of childhood is innocence.  The essence of youth is awareness.  The essence of adulthood is responsibility.  This book is for people and a Christian community on the threshold of cultural responsibility."

From the one chapter I read, it was hard to get a feel on whether I'd enjoy this book.  But the Introduction was engaging, and his tone was cordial.  I didn't feel talked down to, or "preached" at.  I look forward to learning more about this book upon its release in August.  Update:  I found this website that has more information about Andy Crouch:

"The collected writing of Andy Crouch, exploring the ways that culture shapes faith, and the ways followers of Christ respond to culture."

...interesting stuff.

Lent Project

My friend Wade asked me to contribute a picture to the lent project that Emmaus Way is doing.  They are collecting photos from the people in their community of images representing Lent. 

After Wade asked me for a contribution, I struggled to figure out what to submit.  At some point I heard my wife discussing this season with someone on the phone, and it made me realize that Lent can be a dark time, a time of wandering and not knowing, of hoping and seeking.  The connection between the dark winter months and Lent was not something I had thought about prior to hearing my wife mention something along those lines on the phone. 

So with that in mind, I found a photo I took of one of my kids through the lens of a Mamiya Twin Lens Camera, using my Canon wide angle point and shoot.  Julia is helping collect the photos and and is printing them off for Emmaus Way, so I sent it to her with the following rambling description:

"It's roughly a picture through my twin lens camera with my digital camera of Sophia (but it might be Isaac)...so in theory...Lent for me is like looking through a dark lens...and you're not sure what you see on the other side...you hope that it is joy or wisdom or something good, but I can never be sure...(pessimist that I am...)...so in this picture I'm not entirely sure if that is a happy girl on the other side, or some sort of scary apparition, or what...it could be anything...but since I took the photo, I know that it is my little girl Sophia (wisdom) and knowing that, adds an element of hope to the picture and to my view of Lent..."

Prayer for Morning

One of the benefits of living with a theologian/ artist is that random books on art and theology come through our house at any given time.  I was sitting on the couch tonight and my son shows me a picture in a book and says, "Look Dad, it's a picture like the one Mommy made..." Indeed it was.  It was photo of an Icon corner in the home of a priest and it included an Icon similar to the one Carole had painted at a workshop she attended sometime ago.  So as I started looking through the book, there was a section on prayer and it really grabbed my attention.  At the end of one of the chapters was this prayer and I thought it was beautiful:

Lord, grant that I may meet the coming day with spiritual tranquility. Grant that in all things I may rely upon your holy will.  In each hour of the day, reveal your will to me.  Whatever news may reach me this day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul, knowing that all is subject to your holy will.  Direct my thoughts and feelings in all my words and actions.  In all unexpected occurrences, do not let me forget that all is sent down by you.  Grant that I may deal firmly and wisely with every member of my family and all who are in my care, neither embarrassing nor saddening anyone.  Give me the strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.  Direct my will and teach me to pray, to believe, to hope, to be patient, to forgive, and to love.  Amen.

reprinted from the book, "Praying with Icons, by Jim Forest, from the chapter Praying in Body and Soul, page 49:  "One prayer that you might use at the beginning of each day comes from the Monastery of Optino, an important center of spiritual life in Russia in the nineteenth century:"  (btw, if you have access to the Duke Divinity Library, you can find it there as soon as my wife checks it back in...DIV.SCH. 246.53 F718 P921 1997 C.2

Modern Worship compared to the History of Jazz and Rock

I guess I've been thinking about worship a little more than usual, probably because of that article I read about a week ago, and also because my wife is an Artist in Residence at the Duke Youth Academy this summer again, and for the past week and continuing through this week, she'll be attending their worship services and plenary sessions when she can (in addition to leading her own workshops on Art and Theology).  She mentioned to me last week about all the "explaining" that is going on before some of the worship services they are doing - each night they worship using the traditions of different denominations.

Lately I've been listening to the radio a bunch and skipping to another station when ever a commercial is played.  So throughout the day (while I'm in the car), I'll skip through a bunch of different stations and hear many styles of music.  It just so happened that tonight, my station was on Shaw University's channel and I was listening to some jazz - it turned out it was Spyro Gyra, from a new album they have out.  I thought it sounded like smooth jazz (not my favorite), but the drummer was playing some interesting stuff.   Sort of like Dennis Chambers,  channeled through Omar Hakim with a bit of Weckl thrown in - though he never turned the beat around like Weckl, you could sense that he might do that when he plays this song live.  And then I thought that most people wouldn't think of Dennis Chambers, they'd think of Carter Beauford, but you can't get to Carter (IMO) without first going through Dennis.  (And you can't really get to Dennis without going through Billy Cobham). 

My point being, that like a lot of things, drumming styles have evolved over the years, building on the styles and personalities of the musicians who have come before.  Which makes me think of Jazz - Modern Jazz.  How did we get from New Orleans Dixie (and my lack of Jazz History here will be evident) to Smooth Jazz?  Couldn't we have stopped at BeBop?  Or let's take Rock Music.  First there was the 50's, Chuck Berry and the like, and then The Beatles on up to the present day. (Brandon, feel free to step in here and fill in the gaps.)  And crossing the boundaries between these two styles, we have (more or less) Prog Rock: Weather Report, Genesis, Rush, etc.

So now I start thinking about how in many churches, worship has been changing.  And I started trying to compare various styles and forms found in worship services to the stylistic changes of Jazz leading into Bebop, to the more electric stuff in the late 60's and 70's, on up to "smooth" jazz.  Why did someone try to electrify Jazz, was it because they were trying to be "more relevant" or "reach a larger audience" to try and more or less show "them" that Jazz could be as "cool and hip" as the Modern Rock of the day.

Yeah, I know this is scattershot...I'm not the best at organizing my thoughts, but I thought I'd write down what I could. 

So where is Modern Worship at compared to the stages that Jazz went through?  Will there ever be a point in worship, where we don't have to state the obvious?  That somehow the leaders can trust that the congregation knows the chords and the melody, so well that worship can go places we never thought it could, that worship becomes something more than just a simple chord chart.

Or I guess for that matter, we could use the history of Rock and Roll.  You know, what's the modern worship equivalent of Dylan going from Acoustic to Electric?  Have we seen something that ground breaking and controversial related to worship?  Or the equivalent of the Beatles or Bryan Wilson in the worship scene?  Not that there would be a specific person, but more a "movement" -  a direction that took place that was different from where worship was before? 

I guess it's the evolution of modern worship that I'm considering, when I really think about it.  Where is it going, where are we going?  What does it all mean?  Are we progressing and drawing ourselves closer to God, or are we fooling ourselves as we try new ways and expressions of worship?

Maybe it's not even worth considering or having this discussion...but I sort of started thinking about this earlier and had to write it down...though I could explain it alot better to you in person.  (I like to talk with my hands, and I usually can't say EXACTLY what I'm trying to say...)  But that's what Blogs are for right?  Or maybe that's what this blog is for.  Me trying to make sense of it all.

Image Journal: Interview w/ Godfried Cardinal Daneels

"Francis of Assisi, he too was an artist, following Christ's example.  He found the way to deep happiness.  Such beauty disarms us when we find it.  It shows us our own possibility and opens us to what lies beyond ourselves."

I just finished reading this awesome interview in the IMAGE journal # 54.  My wife recommended I read it, and so I had some time to sit down tonight and read it - digest it, if you will.  If you get a chance to read this interview, please by all means pick up a copy and devour it.  Below follows some excerpts from the interview:

"Lamentably, liturgy too often becomes a didactic and cerebral event, a kind of performed catechism lesson.  It becomes something that we have hold of rather than something that contains us.  It is no longer an encounter.  it is no longer the place where I enter to recognize myself and reality and allow myself to be transformed by Christ.  Occasionally Catholics are drawn to the liturgy of the Eastern Church because of its power and mystery."..."We should not ignore people's dissatisfaction. We can learn from it.  A liturgy can become so understandable that it no longer inspires."

"The celebrants role is one that should be fostered with a sensitivity to people and appreciated for being grounded in a community - as one who helps people to see in depth.  The celebrant helps the people to see beyond the surface, into an invisible world."

"The arts, for example, can help the church to avoid the trap of didacticism or being to cerebral."

"The average believer, moreover, has become conditioned to conceptual thinking.  This is a problem for the church.  The hidden layers of the gospel stories are overlooked in favor of an understanding of concepts.  A concept naturally has the advantage of tightness and clarity.  It shows the contours plainly.  It says something.  When you have a concept, you know something, and concepts are certainly necessary.  Symbols and narratives, however, are something else entirely.  They are not matters of clarity and correctness, but of suggestiveness and waking enthusiasm and appealing to intuition and the senses."

And this was my favorite paragraph from the interview...

"You can explain the faith through catechesis and theology, and explanation is necessary.  But ultimately the one who is the object of our faith can't be fully grasped with concepts.  In theology and catechesis there is room for symbolism and poetry, which are means of saying much without pretending to say all.  This is also why liturgy is so important.  If we do our work properly - attentively and with humility - we can find transcendence by means of it.  Through the play of word and light and music and our own movement - our senses become attuned to God's presence.  For this to happen, we must not forget that God is the initiator.  Our role is to give a response and not to claim his role for our own.  Christ is the true actor in the liturgy.  He is the one who should have the stage, ultimately, and we must make room for him to enter.  The liturgy is a mystical reality, and we must respect that.  I consider a homily, for example, that is without any poetic quality whatsoever to be a failure.  Compare that with the parables of Jesus.  It is necessary to mull over what he said, to puzzle over it and let it sink in.  Too often the church falls short in its preaching, reducing the homily to exegesis or an action plan."

What I find amazing is that this interview is with a Catholic Bishop who lives in Mechelen-Brussels.   I doubt he has ever set foot in the neighborhoods and communities in and around Durham and Chapel Hill where I live and play. I doubt he has ever thought about "Contemporary Christian Music" and probably has little concern for the state of "modern worship."  Yet, I feel that a lot of what he is talking about in the interview could/ or can be directly applied to modern and emergent worship environments I find myself playing in and also in the church I call home, which is a rather traditional Episcopal Church.

Upon reading the interview, I feel validated in my suspicion liturgy is more "exciting" and life giving than we give it credit for and that his thoughts about homilies can be applied to the various sermons I sit through at some of the more "modern" churches I play at.  Also, the thread I feel throughout the interview is one of how the order of service is something that has a creative undercurrent and one that can be accentuated by a better understanding and grasp and inclusion of the notion of aesthetics, art, drama and shall we say (yes we shall) mystery.

I feel like he might be saying that our life is to be lived as a liturgy, that possibly there is a connection between how we view and express the liturgy of the church and how we view and live our life.  I know that may seem real simplistic, but hey that's why I'm a drummer and not a theologian - right?

As usual I can't find the words to adequately express and sum up my thoughts, but I really enjoyed this interview (actually, it reminds me of a book I read a long time ago - after sitting down and talking with its author - that got me excited thinking about the various aspects of worship, art and theology).

Here's one last quote from the interview that I'll leave you with:

"Art is saying what can't be said and seeing what can't be seen.  Faith is also seeing what is not visible.  But we can't do without what is visible.  We need what can be said.  One of the readings at Christmas says, "What was invisible has become visible."  Art gives us the power to bring forth something that the senses wouldn't otherwise perceive.  Art feeds supposition.  It brings you further. "

Update and a blog break...

Well, it's just been too long.  So much stuff going on and lots of things I want to write about, I'm just having a hard time finding time to consolidate my thoughts and put them down on my blog.

I'll try to list a few things that have been going on (in no particular order):

1. War Cry youth camp with Nathan Fancher was a blast (no pun intended).   We really had  great time playing up in Virginia.  Looking forward to playing again in Cary towards the end of July.
2. Was intrigued by the "Free Mac" offer I heard about through Gavin, and he directed me to Josh, the Free Mac Guy's blog and from reading his blog and all the assorted comments, I decided to try my luck with ShopFreePay, and now less than a month after starting the process I am the proud owner of a MacBook, that only cost me somewhere between $100 and $200 (and that's only because I can't figure out how to return this case of wine that's been sitting in my house for over two weeks now).
3. Bought the new Alesis Trigger I/O so that I could use BFD for my drum sounds and not get locked into the proprietary technology that is ROLAND.  At least with BFD, I can keep expanding my sound palette and begin to understand triggering technology a little better.  So far, not so good.  I probably should have just bought another Roland module.  But I will figure it out.  I'm determined.
4. I've been having a blast coming up with little songs on Garage Band.  I might post some at some point.  We'll see.
5. Probably going to upgrade my Mac to a bigger/ faster hard drive and max out the RAM.  That will be my project for August.
6. I did some recording with Mike Garrigan up in Raleigh last week.  We tracked some full drum set stuff and also some cool hand percussion/ hand drum stuff that I was really proud of.  The tambourine-as-kick-drum contraption (inspired by Ken Lewis) sounded pretty awesome.

Alas, so much to say, so hard for me to post.  Plus, I really need to make some updates to my site.  You know it's hard trying to keep it all together, from trying to be a good dad, to spending time with the family, to paying our bills, etc...and I just haven't been able to keep this blog thing going this year like I'd hoped. 

So for now, I'm taking the "Blog" link down from my main page (as well as the link to the "Loops" page) and will post when I can.  For those of you with RSS feeds, the next time I post, I'm sure you'll get notified via RSS.  Otherwise, if you have the site bookmarked, check back every so often.  Maybe I'll finally get around to updating some things and otherwise cleaning up the cobwebs around here...but until then, thanks for reading and maybe I'll see you around sometime...

Cheers!