Help
Sign In
art
March 2009 
She can dish the spirit out, But can't take the spirit dish
Posted on Nov 20th, 2007
by 
Red Dragon
Red Dragon
Recently I played a song of mine for the second time in a two week period. I tend to use the Open Mic for my fine tuning. It is my opportunity to see how a piece works in front of an audience. The song is called Peace Be Still. There were not very many in attendance, so the audience was very small.
At the conclusion of the night, A woman made it a point to tell me something. She said she was sorry for not sticking around but can't deal with songs about G*d. I didn't know how to take that. My gut reaction was to let her have it. She has a history of interrupting others performances. Instead I filed it away in the back of my brain for review and reflection. One thing that makes me reluctant is she is severely mentally ill. I would rather not hurt, what I don't have the tools or skills to rebuild. I know there isn't enough patience in me to do that.
What strikes me funny, she can stand up there and talk about channeling. But since my twist on spiritual things is not new age. she disregards its validity. It is just as dangerous as Christian, Jewish or Muslim fundamentalists. It is saying that only her path is valid, others not so much. But yet she can stand up there before performances declaring world peace. Strange phenomenon indeed.
I began to realize that that is a big problem. At least in the United States, there is an imprinting. Even if you deny it. It is still there. We come from Puritan roots. It was those "founding fathers" that imprinted our psyche as a nation for a long time. If we didn't like what someone else believed. That culture (native Americans) was stomped on and compressed.
I fear the world going into a modern version of the Spanish inquisition. Spiritualists claiming that religious peoples and institutions are not valid. I decided that I would take note of the possibility of offending people, before playing that song in secular venues. I also recognize that is a song about my own experiences. No person can take that away from me. So at times if I feel it. I am going to go ahead and play it. If it seriously offends people, I'm thinking the problem is within them. Not with anything to do about the song itself.
Funny how stubborn we can become. So childish in our demands that others listen to us. Life is about reciprocation. Community is the result of communication. If we all went through life mute. Then there would never be a sense of community. At least that is the way I see it.
At the conclusion of the night, A woman made it a point to tell me something. She said she was sorry for not sticking around but can't deal with songs about G*d. I didn't know how to take that. My gut reaction was to let her have it. She has a history of interrupting others performances. Instead I filed it away in the back of my brain for review and reflection. One thing that makes me reluctant is she is severely mentally ill. I would rather not hurt, what I don't have the tools or skills to rebuild. I know there isn't enough patience in me to do that.
What strikes me funny, she can stand up there and talk about channeling. But since my twist on spiritual things is not new age. she disregards its validity. It is just as dangerous as Christian, Jewish or Muslim fundamentalists. It is saying that only her path is valid, others not so much. But yet she can stand up there before performances declaring world peace. Strange phenomenon indeed.
I began to realize that that is a big problem. At least in the United States, there is an imprinting. Even if you deny it. It is still there. We come from Puritan roots. It was those "founding fathers" that imprinted our psyche as a nation for a long time. If we didn't like what someone else believed. That culture (native Americans) was stomped on and compressed.
I fear the world going into a modern version of the Spanish inquisition. Spiritualists claiming that religious peoples and institutions are not valid. I decided that I would take note of the possibility of offending people, before playing that song in secular venues. I also recognize that is a song about my own experiences. No person can take that away from me. So at times if I feel it. I am going to go ahead and play it. If it seriously offends people, I'm thinking the problem is within them. Not with anything to do about the song itself.
Funny how stubborn we can become. So childish in our demands that others listen to us. Life is about reciprocation. Community is the result of communication. If we all went through life mute. Then there would never be a sense of community. At least that is the way I see it.
Access: PublicTagged with: belief, core values, religion, spirituality, dogma, doctrine, song, music, art, expression
Sing and speak anyway you like, Little Brother, just let all the crazy ladies do the same.
I'm also thinking that there are many silent communities where no one needs to be heard, or seen, for that matter. I am a trainer for a project that works to replace violence with communication. I think many communities function without communication, but agree with you, to be healthy, a community needs healthy communication.
Speak up for yourself when you need to, even the seriously mentally ill will undertsand, or they will kill you and it won't matter too much afterwards.