Everywhere

Two of my favorite musicians whose music has filled my ears and inspired my heart for the better part of my life are as follows: Rich Mullins and John Denver.

I first heard the music of Rich Mullins in 1990, and began falling it love with it in 1993 when my then wife-to-be put several of his songs on a "mixed tape" for me (yes, Shelley and I are that old). I've loved his work ever since.

My first exposure to John Denver's music is harder to pin-point, as some of my earliest memories involve hearing and singing his songs around the house and in the car. In fact, my mother informed me that she listened to him while I was in her womb. I've loved his work ever since.


On September 19th, 1997, Rich Mullins was killed in a car crash. Less than a month later, on October 12th, John Denver was killed in a plane crash.

I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on each of those days when I heard the tragic news. I remember sitting in silence pondering the events and wondering why it had happened. Shelley remembers me weeping.

For a few days I couldn't bring myself to listen to their songs, because when I did, it hurt.

But within a week I was listening to them again, and they began to penetrate my senses more deeply as I started reflecting on how these men lived their lives and approached their craft.

John did not claim to be a Christian. Though he experienced extraordinary times of love and happiness, his two marriages turned out to be tumultous, even violent at times. On more than one occasion his depression led him to drive while intoxicated. Some would ask what benefit there could possibly be in listening to the music of such a man. However, I never once felt that his music led me away from God and into sin. To the contrary, actually.

These words of his continue to stir me:

I have to say it now: It's been a good life, all in all.
It's really fine to have the chance to hang around.
To lie there by the fire and watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady sit and watch the sun go down.
Talk of poems and prayers and promises, and things that we believe in.
How sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care;
How long it's been since yesterday, but what about tomorrow?
What about our dreams and all the memories we share?

Those are the words of a man who understands that the best moments in life are ordinary, and that relationships are vital but complicated. Like King David and the other Psalmists, he was a man who understood the power of poetry, the importance of prayer, and the joy of believing promises.


Rich was a Christian, and believed that his music was a gift from God given to him to be a venue for telling others about the Good News of Jesus. He loved and served in the Church, but he wasn't a particularly churchy type. He wasn't big on pious cliches, programs, and strategic plans. And in spite of his popularity and financial success, he chose to give away everything he owned except the necessities he needed to live in a single-wide trailer on a Native American reservation in Kansas.

These words of his continue to stir me:

Well I can still hear my dad cussin'; he's working late out in the barn.
The Spring plants and comin', and the tractors just won't run.
Mom, she's done the laundry; I can see it wavin' on the line.
Now they've stayed together through the bait and the string of those times.
Talk about your miracles, talk about your faith.
Well my dad, he could make things grow out of Indiana clay.
Mom could make a gourmet meal out of just cornbread and beans.
And they worked to give faith hands and feet and somehow gave it wings.
Now they've raised five children; one Winter they lost their son.
But the pain didn't live the crippled and the scars that made them strong.
Never picture perfect. Just a plain man and his wife
Who somehow knew the value of hard work, good love, and real life.


Those also are the words of a man who understands that the best things in life are ordinary, that spirituality is earthy, and that there is a joyous freedom in being real and honest. Like King Solomon, he understood that life is sometimes complicated and messy, and like the apostle Paul he understood that Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness.

What I love most about these fine musicians is this: They both refused to be labeled. Rich did not want to be known as a Contemporary Christian artist, and John Denver did not want to be known as a secular Country artist. Indeed, both of their respective industries were never comfortable giving them such labels because their music simply did not fit with what was typical for any of those categories, whether sacred or secular. The reason I love this is because it testifies to what is perhaps one of the least discussed truths of the Bible: Everything is sacred. There is no line of separation between what is spiritual and what is secular. In the words of the Psalmist, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." In the words of Donald Barnhouse, "All of life illustrates Bible doctrine." In the words of John Denver, "My heart so full of love for you sings praise for all I see". And in the words of Rich Mullins, "There is such a thing as glory, and there are hints of it everywhere."

I am not a pantheist or a universalist. I confess with the writers of the ancient creeds my belief in one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Holy Church, but oh may God deliver us from trying to confine his glory to sacred churchy things.

Leonard Bernstein once said "When I listen to Beethoven's 5th, I can't help but believe that there is something in the universe that won't let me down."

When I listen to Rich Mullins and John Denver, I can't help but believe that there is such a thing as glory, and that there are hints of it everywhere.

Everywhere.