Guitars

     There's this quote from a book entitled "Diary of a Player", co-written by Brad Paisley and David Wild. Brad pretty much wrote the thing, and then this David guy cleaned it up and polished it all nicely. Anyway, there's this paragraph that is just terrific.

     "When I was eight I got a gift from my grandpa. No coincidence that around that time I also got an identity. See, no matter how I have changed, learned, and evolved as a person, the guitar has been a major part of it, and really the only constant. A crutch, a shrink, a friend, love interest, parachute, flying machine, soapbox, canvas, liability, investment, jackpot, tease, a sage, a gateway, an addiction, a recovery, a temptress, a church, a voice, veil, armor, and lifeline. My grandpa knew it could be many of these things for me, but mostly he just wanted me to never be alone. He said if I learned to play, anything would be manageable, and life would be richer. You can get through some real tough times with that guitar on your knee. When life gets intense, there are people who drink, who seek counseling, eat, or watch TV, pray, cry, sleep, and so on. I play." 

    Mom wanted to learn how to play at one point, so Dad got her a guitar at the music store in Okmulgee that is now a Hibbett Sports. It was an Abilene AW-15, with sort of a flat brown finish. He also got a little kid-size guitar for me; neither one of us actually really learned to play. So they just sat there in the closet and then were moved to Beggs, and then they sort of disappeared somewhere after the fire, reappearing later.
     It was probably that big ice storm in 2007, maybe the year before, I was clearing a yard of downed tree limbs for my dad's mom and stepdad. (I guess I could say "my grandparents", but that doesn't sound quite right. We don't really know many people on Dad's side of the family.) Anyway, Paw Paw Jim digs around somewhere in a mountain of discarded old things and pulls out this guitar. He says, "You should have this, you've done a great job these last couple days." I can't play, but it would be kind of awkward to say that...so I just take it anyway. It's bright orange, with an extremely thick neck. Think it might be one of those Spanish classical guitars. Not the best for playing, but it's the one I learned on. I sort of halfheartedly attempted to learn a few chords, but not especially hard.
     Then after the fire I was trying to think of something to work on that would keep me busy during the lulls(ha!) of remodeling, and I remembered that guitar. So that's when I really first started taking it seriously. Didn't do very well, I only had a poster on the wall and my ears to tell me how it should go, but it was a start. Mom found her guitar one day and since she didn't have time to re-learn how to play, she asked if I wanted it. So I took that guitar and gradually it became Abby Lee, who you can see in the picture in the corner.
     About a year later I realized I needed some help if I was actually going to learn how to play instead of making random noises with a wooden box, so I rather shamefacedly purchased a copy of Guitar For Dummies. It helped a lot.
     About a year after that, we had some extra money saved up, so Dad asked if I wanted to take guitar lessons. I agreed sort of hesitantly at first, but this guy was supposed to be pretty friendly and Annette and the Gastons said he was a good teacher. Well, that was Dale; and I loved every second(okay, welll....almost) of those lessons. My playing skills grew leaps and bounds, and I'd found another friend who played music, was beginning to discover how many people I knew either played or were learning. Annette, Asa, Billy, JB, Logan, Jed, Jon, Micah, Sam, Josh, Bennett, Garrett, Wesley D...
     My senior year, Steven asked if I'd lead worship with Josh for the youth group. So I did that for about eight months before leaving, it was a good experience. Gave me lots of time to ponder the lyrics of hymns, exactly what makes a good song "good"(the theology, mainly), and improve my playing. I was always a half-step behind Josh's piano; because I was trying to slow myself down to match him. When Laura would sub for her big bro, that was easier, because she plays things fast, too.
     For my eighteenth birthday, I got an electric, a Fender Squire Strat in a sunburst design, pretty awesome. I don't play electric as much as acoustic, partly because it's quite a bit louder and I don't like people to hear me practicing, and partly because it requires a lot of space, with the amp and everything. But it's very good to have, for those times when you need to play old rock songs or pretend you're Brad Paisley or Keith Urban. Or when playing the tab of the MacGyver theme song. Another reason I usually prefer to play acoustic is because that's what was used on a lot of the music I heard in the late 90's. Songs like Big Tent Revival's "Two Sets of Joneses" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE5PNRLZ40), Green Day's "Time Of Your Life" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwnoNVOj1Fs), Jars of Clay's "Flood" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfAhpX_wIBk), most of Chris Rice's music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GQZeBjfXP4) and anything by Eli (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJVzlXCmIR4), just to name a few.

     An interesting story about how Eli got his first six-string: There was this older lady at his church that he'd kind of met, one day she marches up to him after the service and says, "Eli, I have something to give you, and you need to follow me out to the car right this second." He probably looks at her confused for a minute, then shrugs and goes along. This lady's husband had died recently, leaving behind many things, one of which was a guitar. They get to the car, the lady pulls out her husband's guitar and holds it out to him. "Eli, you're supposed to have this." "That was your husband's, I can't take that...." "Yes, you can; Larry(for lack of knowing the real name) doesn't need it any longer, and it's just taking up space in the house. And besides, for some reason God told me to give this to you." He's probably frowning by now. "But....I can't play it. I don't know how." "I don't care; God told me to give it to you, and so that's what I'm doing. He said you'll do something great with it to minister to people someday, and so I'm just doing my part and we'll see what the Lord does with you." "Well...okay?..." At one point he was a drug addict, another time homeless. Eventually he learned to play it, and that led to several  wonderful CDs, and a couple others that I can't find hardly a trace of anywhere.

      By playing, whether strumming or tab or fingerpicking or whatever, we can preach to ourselves, all the things about life and how we ought to be living as Christians, truths about God and His character. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16 (NIV). One of my favorite verses. Not just guitars, either; but many types of instruments. Pianos; violins and their cousins; cellos; mandolins; harmonicas; drums; trumpets; banjos; just voices; they can all be used to praise and edify and make good memories with friends. (Like, see my camp posts, or the T4G trip, or all those CD reviews...)

     Can't think of anything else to say on this topic, so I guess I'll just end it right there.