the righteous rocker himselfi work nights, so the news of his passing was a part of my "hard days ... 'night!" my 4 year old daughter told me, "daddy, I prayed for Larry Norman and his family and friends," just as i was leaving for work.
funny thoughts run through my mind - and i thought two of them blog worthy.
1) what have i been doing? 30 years since i first listened over and over again to a cheap cassette recording of Norman's music - taken off the radio - over and over and over again. i've done a lot in those years ... but still, at times like this ... i wonder "what am i doing now?"
life's too short. part of the adult me has lost the young me - who bravely faced life with open eyes and carried about the motto: "I want it all with open eyes" as my own declaration of how i looked at my own life and my own future passing. just a way of saying, "i don't want to miss one of life's experiences, whatever they might be ... seemingly good or seemingly bad ... i want to see it all."
2) i cannot help but feel that concerning Larry ... maybe i could have cared more. i have cared about him and i have been faithful to pray for my older brother ... but, times like this make me want to "care more."
watchman nee is credited with saying something like, "when my hands were whipped my feet felt pain." a way of saying that within the body of Christ ... when one of us hurts ... we all feel it - we all share in it.
obviously, we're not able to take in the whole world of human suffering, nor to carry the weight on our backs - even the full suffering of just one another ... but we do share in it.
my grandparents were simple people - not nearly as learned nor sophisticated as i am (no dig on them - i've simply been blessed with a great deal of goodness). when their daughter contracted polio - they prayed together saying, "maybe we just weren't thankful enough for all of our children." bad theology for certian ... their lack of thankfulness in no way caused their kid to have polio.
but, that's not the point - i could hold the right theology and miss the tender heartedness and childlike passion that my depression era grandparents walked in as a matter of course. i want to be as simple and tender hearted as they were about those i love and my faith in Whom i love.
Larry struggled for a long time with his health ... i cared ... i felt ... i even did. but, in that simple part of my being ... i would always like to have cared more deeply, felt more consistently, and done more ... to have done more.
so, the past cannot be made up - i've yet to find a way to go back in time - nor any strong desire to do so.
however, as i look fwd in my days ... the passing of Larry Norman - this great influence in my life ... has brought about a desire in me to get on with living and to get deeper in the quality of my living.
funny, that's exactly what my discovery of Larry Norman and his music those long years ago - did to my life in the first place.
plenty of better articles and news on Larry - i'll offer some links:
google web
google news
google news search refined
clusty news
some hand pickeds
mercury news
canadian press
some images
clusty image of larry norman
google images
blogs
technorati
icerocket
the irony of my reading eliot during this time is not lost on me - and for that i am thankful.
a video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BznsjIe5sMk
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tagia Larry Norman righteous rocker hard days night funny thoughts grandparents care death music eliot norman Larry Norman's death
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