Please Excuse Thomas J. From Class. . .

he is finishing an Album.

In advance, my apologies for my sluggishness in posting--I am focusing on getting this album finished by my self imposed deadline of December 15.

Expect new songs, an update of the website, new pictures, etc.

Thanks so much for all of your continued support!!

My Twins, born 3 1/2 years apart

Ok, so Kimberly downloaded some pictures of the girls I took outside the other day, and called me over to look at picture of Sofia:


I looked at the picture for a while with a strange feeling of deja vu. . .not sure, so I had her pull up some older pictures. After a little bit of searching, we found THIS:



Now, this was NOT intentional--the similarity in outfits is purely coincidental, but it is the same toy (and the same shoes). Strangely enough, our Sam was about 6 months older than Sofia is in her picture.

It was pretty funny though.

Institutionalized Religion

After the GREAT discussion on the Fundamentalism blog from a week or so ago, I got to thinking (and discussing with my wonderful wife, and a good friend) that a large part of my disdain for religion has absolutely nothing to do with faith or spirituality, but it has to do with my inherent distrust of institutions. Now, keep in mind that this distrust of institutions pretty much extends to all sorts of institutions--I believe wholeheartedly that when an ideology, a belief, a discipline, etc becomes established as an institution, it begins to lose it's effectiveness immediately.

A great example is my experience with Social Work/Counseling. I think that the goals and motivations behind the development of the "Helping Professions" are more than admirable--I think they are virtuous--the desire to work with individuals and systems to affect change for the betterment of people and society is a great thing, and is, in fact, what drew me to the professions in the first place. However, in many ways, the effectiveness of these professions have been sabotaged by the shift in focus from meeting the needs of people and helping people, to the the protection and sustenaince of the profession itself--wither by political special interests or managed care companies. I have said many times that if there was more emphasis on the "helping" instead of on the "profession" things would be alot better. Don't get me wrong, there are many MANY gifted helpers out there, but my expereince on both sides of the counselor's desk made it clear that htese were the exception rather than the rule.

By and large, an axiom that I have come to hold is this:

"When an institution become primary, the people within the institution become secondary--this is the epitome of what is to be avoided at all costs"

You see this in government, education, psychology, business, etc all the time. . .

But it seems to me that the most abominable place to see this dynamic is in Religion. One of my college friends blogged about a similar concept HERE. In discussing the difference between a "Maintainance" congregation and a "Mission" congregation she points out the dangers of "institutionalized" religion. My reaction to reading her post, was my skepticism. ..no my FEAR, that the natural evolution of a religious group is to become institutionalized. It seems to me that it is inevitable, that when a group begins to focus on the well being of the group itself, rather than the focus on the individuals within the group, that things deteriorate.

For the Christian, why doesn't this ring true? Didn't Jesus turn the focus AWAY from groups and institutions? Aren't his actions and words replete with the condemnation of self-perpetuating groups and the accentuation on the importance of the individual? Was it ever truly his intention to create a religious institution, or was he simply creating guidelines by which people are to interact with one another?

Is Christianity actually supposed to me a religious institution? or simply a community of Beleivers? what is the distinction?

2112

This bit of news from http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/:

2112 Chosen for Masterworks Preservation: "The prog-rock experiments of the band Rush are among works that should be preserved for future generations, says a committee tasked with saving the best in Canadian television, radio, film and music. The band's 1976 album "2112," a unique blend of classic rock and synthesizers that made Rush a sensation both in Canada and the United States, is one of 12 cultural pieces named Thursday as MasterWorks by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust. The public-sector group promotes the protection of classic Canadian works and selects a dozen every year for preservation, offering funds for those in danger of being lost...'The safeguarding of these selections is so important to the foundation of Canadian culture.' added president David Novek..."

This prompted me to take a new listen to Rush's epic 20+ minute masterpiece yesterday, in lieu of the honor.

For those of you who are not familiar, 2112 is a mini Rock Opera (for lack of a better term) about a young idealist in the 22nd century, a time of utopian totalitarianism, who finds an archaic musical instrument (a guitar) and recognizes it as a means of self-expression. With eager anticipation, he takes his new-found wonder to the all powerful Preists of the Temples of Syrinx, who are in control of all of the media, entertainment, information, and pleasure within this society. (where self-expression is prohibited). The protagonist is scorned, his guitar destroyed, and he descends into abject desolation.

You can read the lyrics HERE.

You can find it at Amazon.com HERE.

In listening again to this classic piece of prgressive Rock, I spent some time listening to the lyrics--realizing the profound nature of the lyrics.

You see, The Canadian Power Trio, Rush did not create 2112 on a whim--The released their fourth album in 1976 during the depths of their career--their record company had pretty much all but abandoned them (they were not even ON the profit projections for the year--they had pretty much been written off), and there was tremendous pressure BY the company to create something more "commercial" or more "Radio Friendly". Geddy, Alex, and Neil responded by producing an album which was the farthest thing from what the Corporate Bigwigs demanded.

2112 is oviously a commentary on that--The story of self-expression and muscial originality opposing a dumbed down, pre-packaged, contrivance thinly veiled as "entertainment". Victory was ultimately on Rush's shoulders--30 years later, with very limited radio or Video airplay, 2112 recieves such a great honor, Rush coninues to go strong (with a new album due to be released early next year), they are still selling out shows worldwide, continuing to chart new releases, Their Lyricist, Neil Peart is a bestselling author, and all three members have recieved high honors in their native Canada. It is true that the American Rock and Roll hall of Fame has continued to snub them (yet again this year) but I suspect that has to do with sour grapes from the priests of the. . .er I mean the american record companies.

For me, personally, this line from the epic is profound:

Listen to my music
And hear what it can do
There's something here as strong as life
I know that it will reach you

As a musician, a composer, driven to create, driven to play and sing. . .but with no desire to "succeed" due to the compromises that are involved with the music industry, this hits home. The world is full of forces that think that the only venue for music and creativity is within the bounds of record companies, radio, and Mtv. I am proud to follow in the footsteps of those who deny and contend against that.

Thanks and kudos to Neil, Geddy, and Alex for such a masterpiece--Thanks to all of you who support my music and creativity, as well as the creativity of independent artists and writers everywhere!