December 27, 2006

•  

  
  

  Now for something entirely different…

  
  

  A friend who knew I had been working on increasing the depth and variety of music
  in my Christmas album collection recently recommended an album from 1960 by Bobby Darin.

  
  

  It’s entitled “The 25th Day Of December With Bobby Darin”
  I went ahead and ordered it…
  (and have added several cuts from it to the
  bottom of the music player)

  
  

  What a treat! Not only is it not the standard “Holiday” fare served up by most popular artists;
  both in the 60′s and now, but is entirely populated by music focused around the birth of Jesus (imagine that!).
  Even more to my delight, close to half of the album is devoted to Darin-ish renditions (very 60′s sounding, but then,
  Bobby did much to define that) of traditional Afro-American Spirituals.
  
  The following is from the album jacket:
  
  
  
  
  
  Bobby Darin was born Robert Walden Cassotto at the height of the American Depression to a Mayflower-descendant English-Italian mother;
  the son of an absent Italian-American father. He grew up in poverty in the Bronx, and contracted repeated bouts of rheumatic
  fever at the age of 8, leaving him with a seriously damaged heart: one doctor told him not to expect to live beyond 16.
  However, he grew and flourished intellectually and musically, He was an outstanding student, tested in the “genius” rank for IQ,
  and not only performed on several instruments,
  but also composed music as well. His career was well-established by the age of 23, and he was acclaimed as a singer, composer
  and actor. He was passionate about politics, and though it is not well-remembered went through a period
  in which he composed folk-rock pieces which touched on the human condition, including
  “If I Were A Carpenter”, and “Simple Song Of Freedom”.
  
  I was heartened to hear that Bobby was strong enough of character to express sentiments
  such as those from the album jacket above, which did not shy away from issues of faith;
  even more so that he understood the importance of loving the “neighbors” around him as a result .
  While I understand that he was a man with flaws, I wanted to take this opportunity to
  salute his positives. My guess is that a large part of the formation of this unique individual
  came as a result of his crippling infirmity, which prevented him from pursuing physical outlets
  in favor of musical, intellectual, and other more “spiritual” endeavors.
  
  + + +
  
  I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians..

  
  

  “To keep me from becoming conceited … there was given me a thorn in my flesh, … I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
  But he said to me,
  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
  + + +

  
  

   

  
  

  Father, help me remember to complain neither about my lack nor infirmity,
  rather show me how to
  embrace the blessing in everything you have allowed for me; both
  apple and thorn.
  for Your glory and honor,
  and in Your Name…
  Amen
  
  

  
  

   

  • 9:07 pm
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