Welcome
to Tuesday Cats and Kitties!!! It's time to get down and get funky
with the slickest set of tunes on this side of your computer screen!
It's Tuesday and definitely time for the grooviest blog in the
internetosphere...Tuesday's Musical Notes!!! You've tripped into the
place that features the best platters from all over the musical universe
and slides you a moment or two with the One who created the universe.
So ease on down into your best blog reading posture and get ready for a
70's sonata sure to get your feet tappin' and your face a
smilin'..."Hand me down my walkin' cane, hand me down my hat, hurry now
and don't be late, 'cause we aint got time to chat..."
In the midst of the "malaise" of 1976, there were moments to be remembered. Our country was celebrating its bicentennial year, Rocky
wins the best picture Oscar, C.W. McCall was part of a "Convoy", while
Barry Manilow was busy telling us, "I Write The Songs". For those of us
born in 1964, 1976 would be a rite of passage, graduation from the 6th grade...except
for me as I had chickenpox on graduation day...sigh. The music was
heavily influenced by...don't chuckle...Disco and the styles were wide
collars and even wider bell bottoms. Apple Computer came into existence
and writer Tome Wolfe declared that the 70s were the "Me decade".
There
are many similarities between 2016 and our leap year brother, 1976.
You can hear the echoes of Disco in many of the electronica and dub step
tunes of our day. The political climate is eerily similar, and there
is certainly the need for a song that would be "guaranteed to blow your mind".
For
the last 62 years, The Spinners, have been making music that, while not
"mind blowing", certainly adds to the fabric of our lives. Henry
Fambrough is the only surviving (and continuing to tour) member of the
group which coalesced in 1954
around the idea of showing the world what the Detroit Rhythm and Blues
sound was all about. They continued to pay their dues and keep that
sound permeating radio waves. They bubbled under the top 40 for nearly
20 years when in 1974 they had their first #1 hit, a duet featuring
Dionne Warwick, "Then Came You". This #1 gave the group they cred they
needed to be a force in the music industry that would help shape the 70's sound. But "you never heard the sound" like the #2 hit that would come along 2 years later.
If
you were in high school band in the late 70's or early 80's, chances
are you played an arrangement of the hit by The Spinners, "Rubberband
Man". With its incredible horn charts, and catchy rhythms, the song was
given an extended life due to its popularity as a "stand chart" for
High School and college marching bands.
"Rubberband Man" was written as an homage to one man bands that were popular during the days of carnivals and vaudeville acts..."Bert's One Man Band Composite" - Walt Disney's Mary Poppins from 1964.
Usually these entertainers would piece together their orchestral
ensemble around a few musical instrument and piece it together with
ordinary articles or discarded items they would find as they traveled
the countryside. They "Macgyvered" their show...so to speak. "Rubberband Man"
describes a man whose ability to make music with the simplest of items, a
rubberband, brought wonder and joy to those who would go and see him
perform. This "cat" was one who perhaps didn't have the resources to
buy an instrument or engage a teacher for music lessons, but had so much
music in him that it needed to have a way of expression. Ok, so I have
extrapolated the meaning of the song maybe a little to make the point
of today's blog...
Many,
even those living below the poverty level, in America would be
considered incredibly wealthy by the standards of the remainder of the
world. We have a prosperity that no other country enjoys. In religious
terms, we have been blessed by God. The overriding question now
becomes, what have we done with our prosperity and blessings?
Let's
drill this down to a more personal level. In the 25th chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches a lesson on investment. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the disciple Matthew 25:14-30 New
International Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible
parallel The King James Version of the Bible describes the weight
of money given to each of the servants as "talents". It seems ideal to
me that the same word used to identify a monetary weight measurement is
now used to describe those with a giftedness or skill in regards to
artistic endeavors. But I digress.
According
to Investment 101 with Jesus, each of the servants were given amounts
according to their ability. No more, no less. (Emphasis on "according
to their ability") The factor that determined whether the servant would
be rewarded with more was what they did with what they were initially
given. Two of the servants made profits for the master from his
investment in them. One did not. Praise and more responsibility were
the benefits for those who made a profit. Removal of the beginning
investment, disdain, reproach and separation from the master were the
consequences for the one who did not.
Consider
the resources you have. Again, by the standards of most of the world,
residents of the United States are very wealthy. Did your parents
invest in you by using resources to purchase an instrument, provide
lessons in art, vocal technique, dance, or other skills that would be
considered artistic? How did you reward their investment?
God
has provided you with a skill set. He has blessed you or perhaps your
parents/guardians with the resources necessary to craft this skill set
to honor and glorify Him. As parents, you have probably invested in
some sort of artistic endeavor to assist your children in the process of
discovering what their skill set may be. All of this investing is not
to be wasted. I hear so many stories of horns set aside, pianos used as
bookcases, singers who sit in pews, and it reminds me of the investment
of the Master on His children. If you are a parent of a gifted
student, please encourage them to go beyond the band concerts, football
game halftimes, art exhibits, dance recitals,or choir concerts and
explore the uses of their gifts in your local church. Churches all over
the country long for musicians, artists, dancers, and those in which the
Master has invested, "talents" to be used to give back to their church,
their community and ultimately to honor the One in whom the investment
originated. Be ever aware also to the calling to go beyond just use of
your talents. God does call "gifted" folks into vocational ministry for
His honor and glory.
I
guess what today's Musical Notes is trying to say is we've all been
given more than a rubber band, so now, how do we go about using God's
investment in us to cause folks to exclaim..."I was so surprised, I was
hypnotized by the sound this cat put down"....and then give Him the
glory or get the opportunity to hear a story that will be "guaranteed to
blow your mind". "Hey y'all prepare yourself..."
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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