There In Every Show

TSO in Manchester, NH 2014

 

I guess we could detach ourselves and say, to each, their own

Then isn’t it the folks furthest removed that cast the first stone

 

To obsess on anything is not the answer, even for one who rants

To me, it’s unhealthy and obvious that one has lost their balance

 

Then there’s life altering events as in the one’s we cannot control

Still others exist when we decide again to make ourselves whole

 

Maybe the choice we made, inspired from a place we least expected

At a show we checked out, message received, we’re truly affected

 

But we all enter the doors from a different place, and intent is key

For we all hear, but to listen is a big difference if you ask me

 

Like the sower of seeds pursues the grounds soft, apt to receive

Our mindset at times needs a gentle push to better perceive

 

I, for one, sit quietly, anxious, like one waiting for Christmas Day

Then I close my eyes renewing my senses as they begin to play

 

I could be wrong but I feel like there is something special in the air

There’s most definitely a message to discern, I’m keenly aware

 

But were my heart hardened and I not to listen, present just to hear

Then maybe it’d be just another show, another band, another year

 

The message, I needed to hear it when I first did, enthralled, I froze

From the stage to my balcony, those sweet sounds, they rose

TSO in Manchester, NH 2014

 

 

The Christmas spirit, the words of love, melted the chill I sought

The musical symmetry overwhelmed my senses though I fought

 

I shuttered from the war within, I left “somehow different I think”

Learning later that this group, was in some ways, my missing link

 

Then it was up to me to model the meanings I had run so far from

Now I attend in part as a reminder to me from how far I have come

 

The shows still move me, sounds divine, I escape, and intently I listen

The snow comes down and through the lights the flakes do glisten

 

Using words that recently sparked a deluge of commentary, I found

That there are far worse folks by whom we could choose to surround

 

So we are drawn in by the message heard and portrayed for us to see

Ideals, defined as a standard of perfection; God, family, country, me

 

It’s all there in every show, God in message, family in every single row

Country honored before and during, just ask Chris, he would know

 

But it’s equally important not to leave out us, the me, the we, the you,

A happy me, a whole me, is better than before TSO passed through

 

So, yes I went to see them again this tour, Lord willing I’ll go again

As for planning each tour, it’s not if, but really, it’s a matter of when

 

Until then I will listen, I will share, I will enjoy, but I will not obsess

Rather I will puff up with pride in the places we TSO fans coalesce

TSO in Manchester, NH 2014

 

 

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148 hours until Christmas!

It’s Sunday night, December 18th. We are less than a week from Christmas. Roughly 148 hours until December 25th starts. Is that enough time to get everything done that you need to get done? Is that enough time to get into the Christmas spirit if you haven’t done so already? The latter is easier. It just takes a moment to make the decision. The first might be tougher, but you do have time. Enjoy each hour. Merry Christmas!

13 Days to Christmas, Where’s your Christmas Spirit?

We are just 13 days from Christmas and here in New Hampshire the sun is shining, the grass glistens as the frost covered blades reflect the low morning sun. The temperature outside was 20 degrees when I came downstairs this morning. The air is crisp, it’s clear, and all is still as the sun climbs to its short-lived perch in the late autumn sky. This time of the year the sun only gets so high in the sky. The temperatures warm for a short time before falling as quickly as the sun darts to the afternoon horizon. The sun’s lower position in the sky exposes every imperfection, smudge, or collection of dirt on windows everywhere. The angles of sunlight throughout each day are different from any other time of the year. The sun doesn’t wander too far from the horizon in the weeks leading to Christmas. We are only a week or so away from the official start of winter and after a very mild November, the air is starting to feel like winter.

The daylight is shorter everyday. Darkness comes early and often. This is fitting I think as the shorter daylight hours prompt more time to bask in the glow of the Christmas lights. To me, there’s no light like the light coming from the Christmas tree, or the candles in the windows. Somehow it is warmer, somehow it’s right. And even though it’s not too bright, it is just the perfect sight. Sitting in a Christmas tree lit room just seems warm and calm, no matter the tempest outside. It’s 13 days to Christmas, there are no presents under our tree just yet. As a matter of fact we don’t have the tree completely decorated yet. We do have lights on it though.

The twins seem to like all the Christmas lights both in the house and in the neighborhoods we drive through each week. They immediately noticed the little village we have started on the mantle of our fireplace (propane lit). They love when we plug in the lights to the little buildings once night falls. Their wide eyes sparkle as they look from the village to the tree and back. Maybe the lights sparkling in their innocent, clear blue eyes, are my favorite this Christmas.

It’s just 13 days to Christmas and then the day of our Lord’s birth will be done. The day will be done but the meaning will remain. The spirit of Christmas need not depart, but I am afraid it will. I think more folks should try the Christmas Spirit on for size and wear it for more than a few hours each year. I define the Christmas Spirit something like this. The focus on others starting with Thanksgiving and running until New Year’s where many people transform to a more selfless, more friendly, more kind, and generally much nicer version of themselves. People give. People assist one another. People give of themselves and their blessings. People are nicer and maybe just a little slower to ire. People look past the otherwise mundane tasks of daily life and participate in them with a spring in their step and a song in their hearts. Well maybe not that last one but it would be nice. So if many can grin and bear it for a couple of weeks, or a couple of days, or even for a couple of hours, then why not make this last. As TSO sings every year in their Christmas show … If our kindness; This day is just pretending; If we pretend long enough; Never giving up; It just might be who we are (at 4:25) … if we can do it once, we can do it for always.

So why doesn’t it last? There’s just 13 days left until Christmas 2011. Where is your Christmas Spirit? Many would say there’s only 13 days left!!!! I will never get everything done! Others may say, good, I can’t wait for it to be over. I say, enjoy the moments, be present in each of them. Presents under the tree are nice, they have their value, but being present in each moment is priceless.

Get lost in the Christmas Spirit. As your body rushes through the next baker’s dozen cluster of days keep your mind focused on the Christmas Spirit I have defined here. Christmas Spirit doesn’t rush, it hurries not, it’s always at just the right speed. The pace is consistently correct for there is no time limit on selflessness. There is no rushing a thought of what can I do to help someone else. There is only time where mind and body come together in harmony while focused on something or someone bigger than themselves. Some how we will find the time to be the selfless person we aim to be in this season, there’s always time for that. Come to think of it, there’s no reason for this thought process or approach to life to go away in December either. I mean what better way to start 2012 than with a transformation to full-time Christmas Spirit.

The snow may not be falling yet. There is green grass in plain sight. Winter is still around the corner. There’s only 13 days left until Christmas. By late afternoon the sky is dark as night. The temperatures dip below freezing each night. It really is Christmas time. The lights are hung everywhere. Crowds shop at stores and malls. Trains take a temporary place closer to our hearts. Christmas cards come in the mail. Christmas music plays at every turn. Where’s your Christmas Spirit?

Maybe, take a morning walk. Feel the crisp air challenge your lungs for the next breath. Notice the sparkle of ice crystals that catches your eye as your gaze sweeps the calm early morning landscape. Follow the cloud your breath makes until it fades away. Think back on your favorite Christmas memories. Why is it a favorite, was it your mindset at that time, or was it someone else’s generous act that takes you there? Ask yourself, Am I the man/woman I want to be? Am I all I can be, not just today, but everyday? Be honest. Let your mind fill with the dozens or more thoughts that almost instantaneously battle for your conscious focus if you are being true to yourself. It’s just you out there, walking on your own, getting down to the core of you. Don’t be afraid. I mean, God is there too, He is always there, whether you are alone or not, so just let it flow. Don’t forget to watch your step as you let these thoughts flow over you like the warmth you feel when you are the reason for someone else’s joy. Lose yourself in the feeling, the moment. Vow to be somehow different this Christmas; to be better, the person you want to be, as you expose your deepest, most vulnerable core. It should be OK. If others in your life might disapprove of this new vow you found inside yourself in the quiet of the morning, then perhaps the time has come to take a personnel inventory. Or at least recognize that the people in your past or present may not belong in your future. We can talk about that another time. Before you go back inside, index the thoughts that flooded your mind and battled for precedence. Promise yourself you will be different somehow. Different in the ways you only know you can be. And, yes, you can be. There’s only 13 days to Christmas, and tomorrow morning makes 12, Where’s your Christmas Spirit?