How my will can challenge my spirit.

     In my previous post I touched on the idea of spiritual anorexia. I want to continue the topic of duality and discuss how I have learned how my own will can lead me into a challenge for my spirit. Beyond this black and white idea of spiritual control I believe that there is more to it than meets the eye. Maybe it’s something you have never considered? Or perhaps you think is ridiculous? 

     I can only speak for myself. So, here is a pretty intense thought. My will is selfish, it wants and needs unnecessary things that hold no value when it comes to spiritual matters. I am myself and in a sense that it is all I have. Or is it? This can be debated. However, from my point of view I know that I must daily throw down my will before God because of who I am in Christ. It is in this nature that the Spirit can be free to work in your life and mine. It is a release of the spirit, if you will. It opens the door to the conduit for Him to work freely in my life. I have tried to honor this process in my life, but there have been times where I have failed miserably.  Times where I was too preoccupied with the thing in hand, sort of speak.

     If a song were to have a call to action in regards to this idea then this one is a good suitor. It’s called, “Hang Your Wings” and it is a dark and lengthy song. I can recall how it always got a real strong response and that it seemed to touch a person inside somehow.

     Right away the lyrics challenge the listener by posing the question if they are afraid of death. They then proceed to encourage one to fear not. I truly believe the mystery of Christ is something that has been at least thought of by many. In a sense, most of us are on our own walk and are missing different things or need to be reminded through others. I will never understand the full mystery while I am living on earth. So, I think the message behind this song is about metaphorically hanging one’s wings up. The one’s that we use to hide our shame. Wings that demonize in the blink of an eye just because Christ was not remembered. That is why I must daily do this sort of analogy. Yes, the duality behind faith can be difficult and is a sight unseen. It can even drive some crazy just to think about. That is my two cents. Just some food for thought for the next eight minutes or so, if you take the time to listen.
    

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…lesser than God – Live @ The Mudd Room

Hello! Long time no bloggy. So, I recently was gifted with a DVD disk by Jason Harding with the old recording from in the mid nineties of this show that my Dad video taped on an old VHS camcorder and figured out how to get it on YouTube for everyone. What a blast from the past! The Mudd Room was a coffee shop that was on Chippewa/Watson during the early to mid nineties. The lighting was not very good and there was no stage. This was one of my first shows ever. I had fun with my friends Greg, Jason and Kurt. We hope you enjoy watching it. It is recorded in it’s entirety and is broken down into four parts. HERE is a link to the playlist or watch it below. The song listing and such is in the notes on YouTube for each specific video. Shown above is a flyer from one of the two shows we did there also.

People keep asking, so here is what’s up with me, as of right now.

     God is changing me. My desires are changing. I’m not going into it in depth and I just want my friends to know that as of last year Ockum’s Razor is more than likely done for good. We had a good run. All of the music is set to free download. Since the winter of last year into this year, I have been able to devote more time to STLMU and Rock U Fest since I have more free time. Honestly, I don’t know if I want to continue doing music in the same fashion that I have. I have been making good on the things that I have dedicated time to, but I need help with some stuff in order for it to advance. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that I will continue having the drive to do what it is that I have been trying to accomplish. I’m not giving up or quitting, I just don’t have any more to give and it seems that very few people truly care enough to help. Some of the friends that I thought were good friends didn’t turn out to be as understanding or as real as I thought they were. I don’t owe anyone an explanation, but my personal friends keep asking me what is going on and I figure this post is a good way to explain things, in general.

     My friend Greg and I had been working on some good recordings just for posterity of music that we used to write and perform years ago in our teens into our early to mid twenties w/ LTG. We are at a stopping point now because of an issue with work that has to be done to his home and it will be chaotic. We plan to pick up in the fall again. We hung out with Jason, our original drummer when we started and he has been talking about getting a kit again and him doing some drum tracks down the road. The songs that are up now on my Soundcloud account are the most completed, so far. We have worked on others, they just don’t have drums, etc. Those are not uploaded. Our mutual friend Dennis had been offering to do drum tracks here and there so far, but we want to try and have one of our original drummers on them. Chad has gotten re-married and his new wife has been with child and such. His time just would not allow for it given the responsibilities he already has. 

     I am still a part of STL Music Press and the editor has slowed down the frequency of posts until the fall. I have been spending more time trying to accomplish some personal goals and writing. Ever since I moved over a couple of years ago, I have been so focused on things going on around me that I haven’t ever really gotten things together on my end and it is just time for me to take inventory from my perspective. I love hearing from my friends and always make time for the ones that make time for me. I haven’t always been the best at keeping up with them for various reasons, but I’m working on that too. To my friends that I miss, this is for you. Hope all is well. Take care and God bless… Sincerely, C.M.D.

 

 

The Passion Of The Chris:

I have had a few friends of mine that have known me for quite a bit and they wanted a copy of this song, or that, I needed to find a way to share them easily. That is what initially spawned this blog. I figured out how Word Press works a little more and I put a Sound Cloud link on the right of this blog for easy reference and also a drop box for you to share songs for me to listen to, if you are also an artist and want to share your music and opinions like I am. It is free to use and very simple! If you happen to be an original music artist from the St. Louis Metro area or close to it, you can send me up to three tracks and I will post them for free download on the STLMU blog.  I just thought that it was time for me to create a place online to share my thoughts, experiences, analogies, music and whatnot. While uploading all of this I got to thinking about all the songs that never made it on an official recording due to various reasons. Lack of money, switching of band members, people living life, etc. There are so many songs unsung! Sort of speak. I did find one other disk that I was given by friend Trey, that he was nice enough to burn for me. It is some rare old stuff that he converted from tape to cd for me. I also have some other projects from the past that I also had to post.  The music posted below has info. about the group and members for each particular artist and song. If you look at the top of each playlist widget, notice the info. tab, click on it and the info.  will be there on the site. I recommend browsing through each playlist to read the info. about each group and the credits, etc. If you click on a particular song there, you will see it’s lyrics posted there too.  So, here it is, you demanded it! All of these downloads are free, enjoy!