JESUS ON THE MAINLINE…Call him up...
- Thomas Tittmann
- Dec 5, 2021
- 3 min read
This post is about relationship…not religion…if ya hunger for relationship…get on board…this train is leaving for Union Station…where we realize that we already ARE where we are headed…WE…ARE…ONE…
NOTICE: Passengers, at the end of the post, there's a Playlist of all the YouTube videos.
The inspiration for this post came during my Saturday morning (actually afternoon) centering prayer time. My mind was wandering…thinking about a workman who went looking for some wages in another state - after I had enjoyed teaching some of his children in Sunday school. At that time, I didn’t know that he also followed (or they followed him) another “instrumental” figure…it took years and another “book” to make this connection: Facebook. Thanks, Trevor!!!
--I’m offering this in tribute to the man who guided my soul’s journey for many years. Thank you, Pastor Craig!
--singing here in 2017 in a NYC Christian church, I enjoyed his amazing Hindu energy a few years ago in a Buddhist temple in upstate NY. A true multicultural soul!
…let’s see where this morning’s “TRACK’S” lead us…gonna keep lookin til I find one with train imagery…
ALL ABOARD!
--considering the season, I liked the video’s thumbnail image…Chillin with Jesus!
--check out his instrument…the shortest 12-string I ever saw…1 string for each of the 12 disciples of Christ…each of the 12 Steps and a dozen other metaphors…that said, it’s still 3 short of Mel Brooks’ 15 commandments…
--Holy Hilarity!!! References to Petticoat Junction sitcom, Get Smart’s shoe phone and great physical comedy…Enjoy this spirit-lifter!!!
Shell phone…call him up…FYI – It’s a toll-free local call…you'll SEA what I mean...
--at 17 minutes it’s a long Gospel train ride…but you’ll be dancing all the way…
--FYI – I rode this train all the way to the…
SIDE TRACKS
--Ahh, my first song with trains…let’s continue our journey
--BTW – in this song there are several references to how we can “love one another”:
“Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand
Well it's all right, remember to live and let live
Well it's all right, the best you can do is forgive”
The dancing in Willie Neal Johnson’s musical message brought these next two songs to mind…the first leadin to the second…
--starts at 3:00
--with great dancing FOOTage
BACK ON THE MAINLINE
--video shoot – musicians will dig this outdoor rehearsal footage
--check out the “wallpaper” (posters) on this studio wall
It isn't easy being green...so, call him up...
If you're on the wrong track...you'd be better off Dead (Casey Jones)
--I liked how this thumbnail image fit in with this mainline tale
PLAYLIST - of all YouTube songs (no Vimeos)
BONUS TRACKS
Excerpts from this 2015 article:
Dead songs are markedly different. They explore an ancient but internal dream. Garcia said, “For me, the lame part of the Sixties was the political part, the social part. The real part was the spiritual part,” which helps explain the band’s peculiarly enduring legacy.
The Dead formed a lasting, spiritual connection with its fans by adapting for contemporary audiences the biblical story of exile and promise of a return home. Plucking these themes from traditional American music, they spoke to deeply held aspirations and worries. Even the shape and direction of their storied live performances traced this story musically from wilderness to paradise.
Their lyrics played incessantly with the movement from home (safety) to exile (chaos), and from exile back home (redemption). The tension and joy in these cycles animate our oldest myths. Theologian Walter Brueggemann found in the Psalms songs of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation: “One move we make is out of a settled orientation into a season of disorientation,” but the move into reorientation “includes a rush of positive responses, including delight, amazement, wonder, awe, gratitude, and thanksgiving” (The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary).
Darkness always gives way to light, or so the Grateful Dead promised its fans. Calling itself in song “Jehovah’s favorite choir,” the band embraced its audience with a bit of wisdom that became one of its most loved lyrics: “Once in a while you get shown the light/In the strangest of places if you look at it right” (Scarlet Begonias).
--more to come
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