When I was serving at the Interim Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Dickinson I looked for an Open Mic in the area. I enjoy singing at Open Mics. I’ve made a lot of friends doing that. There is a listing of all the Open Mics in the Houston area and I looked up Dickinson. It turns out that there was an Open Mic on Wednesday nights at a place on 517 called Hog Heaven. I assumed it was a Barbecue joint.
When I pulled into the parking lot I realized that it was not a BarBQue place. It was a Bar … a Biker Bar. There must have been a dozen Harleys in front of the door.
As I made my way to the stage area the bar maid asked me if I wanted anything to drink. I asked, “Is tonight the Open Mic?” She said yes and pointed me to the man who was the host. The band was on a break and he showed me the sign up list. I signed up and took a seat to wait my turn.
I introduced myself to the four people at the table that had an open seat and listened to the next performer. He was backed up by a lead guitar, a one legged bass player and a drummer. Both the bass player and the drummer were wearing Mullet wigs. The host came over while they were playing and asked me if I wanted to play solo or if I wanted them to back me up. I said, “Either way.” Then he said, “O.K. You’re next.”
When my turn came up I realized I didn’t have a guitar strap with me so I asked if I could borrow one. The only one they had that was long enough was a rainbow strap. After my second song the host came up and said, “You oughta record that and put it on Youtube.”
After my last song, as I was taking off my rainbow strap the one legged bass player got on his crutches and came over to me and made a point to tell me that he grew up playing in church. I invited him to come. He declined saying that Sunday mornings were hard for him. Then another guy came up to me and said, ‘It took a lot of courage to come up here and do what you did.”
It didn’t take a lot of courage. It took me wanting to play well with others. It took me doing unto others what I would want them to do to me. It took me treating others as beloved children of our one God that we know and love through Jesus who loves the little children of the world.
May you thrive in your time of not being able to play well with others because you can’t be with others. Until we can gather again we’ll have to settle for “recording that and putting that on Youtube.”
Joyful Life Lutheran Church 