I have been thinking a lot lately about whether humility is in fact the most scarce character attribute in the world. The scope of my thinking towards this idea includes but is not limited to Christianity. I am always thinking creatively about the gospel when I am with my unbelieving friends, which is what initially led me to this thought. Could I convince someone that does not subscribe to my belief system that humility is the single greatest quality that any human could possess? Let’s* think about it for a second, can you imagine the kind of person that displays genuine humility every second of their life? Do you know anyone who is a Christian and is extremely humble? Do you know someone who is not a Christian and completely humble. I am conscious more and more that in any conversation I have, any position I find myself in, there is an overwhelming tendency inside of me to constantly promote myself and the quality of all things C.J. I see this also in pretty much everyone I come in contact with. It is an endless dance we all dance, hoping all things will eventually point to our greatness. If I am talking with someone, and they are telling me about their day, at every pass I am immediately thinking of my own day and trying to look for a chance to jump in and talk about me. I have noticed this in my relationship with my wife Renee as well. She will be telling me something that is difficult about her photography business and every time without fail, while she is talking, I find myself wanting to interject and give my own example of how I can relate because of something I find difficult in my music. I would love to say that is me empathizing, but deep in the root of it is my desire to be validated myself.
I believe that if we could convince people that humility is brilliant and beautiful and we all love those who have it, if we can convince people that the world is extremely short on it, and if we can display the smallest amount of it to them in relationship, then it would follow for them to want to know more about what we believe.
In any case, I have been chewing around with this, if you have any thoughts, feel free to drop them in.
C.J.
*let’s” is a reference to my fantasy where this blog is not simply me thinking out loud, or in white on a black surface in Tahoma font, but a place where any number of minds come together to share thought, assuming I have earned that privilege, which is why I simply don’t understand blogging, and why anyone would read mine. I am trying to get over it though.
I will be playing a show at Paradise Valley United Methodist church on October 17th at 8:00 p.m. Lisa Corso is going to open up with some worship and atleast one of her own songs =]. Cost is $10.00 for students and $15.00 for everyone else, hope to see you there.
Well, I discovered this handy little deal today and spent
a good several hours creating it =]. If you have the desire,
you can embed this widget on your myspace, facebook, blog,
etc… to help spread the word. Thanks much!
Hey everyone! I wanted to say thank you to those of you
that made it out to the concert last Saturday night. It was
a huge success and a ton of fun. I definitely want to try and
do that more often. Perhaps again sometime in the fall.
It was a great time to be together and to connect with God.
I am humbled that people would allow me to share my heart
through music, it is a true honor and blessing. below are some
pics from the show as well as the list of songs we did.
1. Save us
2. Set Free
3. The real me
4. You loved me enough
5. Love (Red as Your blood)
6. Stories to tell
7. Take all of me
8. Lost
9. Back to you
10. Open I listen
11. Questions
12. You Say
So, this song has started to catch on. I am excited about it. People come up to me and say “Don’t take this the wrong way, but that song kind of sounds like a song you would sing in an Irish Pub with your glass raised”, to which I reply, “That’s exactly what I was going for”. After all, I am half Irish on me mother’s side.
SO, playing the song next Saturday night at the Southwestern show, and couldn’t possibly do without BANJO and some ACCORDION. this means tracking…you may or may not have noticed that often when I play a song there are ‘phantom’ instruments playing that are hidden from sight. Well, technology has so proven itself useful by allowing us to actually create a track to play to that includes instruments that you don’t have someone that can play on stage. A lot of bands you know and love use these, such as U2 and Coldplay. So, today’s task, create a track for “Stories to tell”. I am getting pretty stoked. Took about 3 hours to get the banjo part right, though.
Hey everyone, who live in Arizona =], I am doing a concert next weekend the 16th at Southwestern college, which is at 2625 E. Cactus Rd. I am super excited about this since right now I am throwing a concert about once a year on average, need to work on that. But I am playing with the full band and we are doing a bunch of stuff from the album that I haven’t done in forever, some since last summer’s release concert. I am also excited to roll out some new songs that people haven’t heard and to share what has been happening in the last year in my life musically and personally. Hope you can make it and help spread the word!
Well, it was quite an experience. Last week I spoke at The Element and did a message on the life of Solomon. It was a great learning experience for me. I don’t think I have been that nervous since the first time I ever led worship like 8 years ago =]. If you are bored, you can listen in by clicking the link below.
Hey guys, I have been working on a ton of new material that I am having a hard time waiting to show people =], so here are some tiny samples of new songs, some of them you have heard, others no one has heard, if you get a sec, let me know if you like any of them.
