Sparks from the Fire » Children

The Power Of Your Actions

Peter Link — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:17:55 +0000

This is a story sent to me by a friend. It touched me and inspired me, so I thought I’d send it on to you.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.”

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him, so I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get a life.”

He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled… “Thanks,” he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach…, but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life; for better or for worse. God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way.

Even More Inspiration

Save The Philly!

Peter Link — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:57:06 +0000

The Philadelphia Orchestra

“A Sad Day for Culture: Philadelphia Orchestra Declares Bankruptcy…“

From: Digital Music News
Monday, April 18, 2011

“There’s a serious debate over where classical music is headed, especially as audiences worldwide continue to gray. Well, cite this as evidence of a demise: over the weekend, the Philadelphia Orchestra decided to declare bankruptcy after years of audience declines. ”We’re in a state of shock, really,” principal oboist Richard Woodhams told the Associated Press. ”I think it’s a very, very sad day for culture in the United States and the world.”

A number of problems were cited, the biggest being less butts in symphony hall seats. The Orchestra received an emotional standing ovation this weekend following the performance of Mahler’s 4th, though even that crowd was thinned. Now, it’s off to the negotiating table and internal fighting, as unions, management, and even donors are likely to spar.

The big question is whether this 111-year old outfit finds a way to survive. And, what this means for orchestras and classical music worldwide. The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the big ones – in fact, it’s one of the “Big Five” in the US. But it seems that audiences are shifting away from the seriousness and length of classical and operatic works, and simply lacking the patience and appetite from such full-length fare.

Indeed, the more common appetite these days is for bursts of multi-tasked enjoyment, and attention spans are quickly moving south. Which is bad news for orchestras and their hours-long performances.”

I’m flabbergasted by this tragic news. This is my favorite orchestra in the world – an orchestra that I’ve seen and heard play countless times and every time thrilled to their musicianship and inspired playing.

What is wrong with us as a human race that we are getting so small-minded that we can’t support one of the great music institutions in the world? I blame it on television. It’s dumbed us down until we cannot sit and pay attention to anything that doesn’t give us a commercial break. It has taught us that we cannot hold our attention to anything longer than an hour.

It’s a sad day for American culture and just one more step down the ladder for American leadership in the arts, American civility and American maturity.

Whether you’re a classical music lover or not, you must recognize that in this very act of defeat, the great history of music, from Bach to Beethoven to Ravel to Stravinsky, is now being further ignored and forgotten by a race of people consumed with the irrelevancies of television and the Internet.

What can we do to prevent this absolute decline of American culture?

Teach our children to love classical music. It’s not difficult. There are mountains of it to love. Start with Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and help them develop their ears and minds from that point going forward. It may even rub off on you.

Play classical music for your babies. They’ll grow up to be better adults. That’s a promise. Take teenagers to classical music concerts. Make them go. Expand their world from the narrowing influences of Hip Hop and Rap into a world far beyond the simplistic popular.

Ed-u-cate Them! Don’t leave it up to them. They’re children. What they don’t know, they don’t know. We must teach them the finer things of life. If we don’t, they’ll never learn and great art, great culture will disappear.

Yes, it’s possible. Here it is happening. The music business has failed because, for one, it has become so dumbed down. Listening to the radio today is often a wasteland of choices. Where do we find better music, inspirational music, music to inspire our lives and elevate our souls?

There is a great history of music just waiting to be found, to be played, to be appreciated and loved. Find it again for yourselves.

Teach your children before it’s too late.

Save the Philly!

Even More Inspiration

Stealing Healing

Peter Link — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:40:50 +0000

Life Lesson for a Pole-Vaulter

Tonight I shall forego my usual thoughts on Inspirational music and concentrate instead on a great lesson learned decades ago by a young man out on his own in the world for the first time and struggling with life’s many temptations. I shall kid you not and tell you right from the beginning of this tale that the young man in question was I. The tale is true.

I was a sophomore in college and at spring break, when all my friends went off either skiing in Colorado or partying in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, I, of pole-vaulter fame, went off instead to get a jump on the track season and practice my skills at the University of Illinois.

I had gone to the University of Virginia my freshman year on a track and soccer scholarship where I had tutored under a great college pole-vault coach by the name of Lou Onesty (interestingly enough pronounced like the word “Honesty”). As a pole-vaulter it had been a wise decision to learn under this man, for he had been the first true pole-vaulting coach I had ever worked under and I had added a full two feet to my best height that previous freshman year.

Trouble was, though I was thrilled with my progress as a pole-vaulter, I was otherwise pretty miserable at UVA and decided to transfer to a small college in Illinois named Principia College where many of my friends attended.

These were difficult times for pole-vaulters. “Why”, you must ask? Because literally three years before, at the end of my high-school experience, the pole-vault world had switched from Swedish steal poles to the new and much improved fiber-glass poles and the world records had shot up as never before. Now, vaulters, instead of muscling up a stiff steel pole, had to learn how to be catapulted by a flexing fiber-glass pole through the air to greater heights than ever before.

I had begun to learn this high art (pardon the pun) the previous year under Coach Onesty and wanted to make sure I was ready for the season by getting a jump on practice. I had another vaulter friend who invited me to spend spring break with him vaulting at the indoor facility at the University of Illinois. I jumped at the chance. (yet another unintended pun)

I had convinced my new coach at Principia College to by me the best new fiber-glass pole which was, at the time, an expensive $250. I packed this new pole into a plastic tube – 16’ long – and strapped it onto my car and drove off to the U of Illinois for two weeks to practice.

The two weeks of practice went extremely well. I was bigger, stronger and faster and, working with some of the U of I coaches who generously offered their time, I was getting in great shape and bending that pole like never before to get the snap and lift to thrust me high into the air. I could see more great progress on the horizon.

They generously allowed me to store my pole in their equipment room at night and gave me a key for free access to this room.

On my last day there, while I tried to squeeze every bit of time on the track I could out of the experience, the coaches left my friend and I alone in the indoor facility at end of day to continue vaulting. There we remained for another two hours until my friend left for a date. I told him I would take a few more vaults and then pack up, lock up and leave. We said our goodbyes and he left me alone in the facility.

I remember deciding to take five more vaults and then go because it was getting late and I still had to pack up my car and do the 250 mile drive back to St. Louis where I lived. In the hushed quiet of this great indoor track facility I sprinted down the runway at top speed on the first of the five vaults, drove my pole into the box, arched back and as I gave it everything I had, felt the pole bend as never before and prepared for its catapult thrust.

And then, while in mid-vault, the sound like the roar of a shotgun, blasted through the arena. I felt the tensions of the vault go immediately soft and found myself flying awkwardly through the air and landing crazily to the side of the runway entirely missing the foam landing-pit. I was not hurt, but I was immediately devastated because my expensive fiber-glass pole, which was hollow, had shattered in my hands at the result of the powerful bend.

I had heard of poles breaking before, but it had never happened to me and I just sat there in the dust of the runway and wept because I knew immediately that my season was over before it had begun. I was a pole-vaulter without a pole, and a small college like Principia College would never have enough money in their budget to buy me another.

Dreams shattered, I showered and began to pack up what remained of the unfixable pole and went to the equipment room to get my travel tube for my car. There in the room in the corner rack stood 10 or 12 U of I poles just like mine, except that now they weren’t like mine at all. Mine was broken.

In my depression and devastation I had an idea. A rich school like the U of I would never miss one of their poles. Why not just slip one of theirs into my car tube, throw the remains into my back seat and get rid of them on the drive back to St. Louis? Who would ever notice a missing pole among 10-12? It was my only choice.

Let us pause here in the tale and look a bit into the flaws of character of the hero of our story. He had grown up a good boy – taught the rules of moral character, taught the difference between good and evil and taught the discerning of right versus wrong. But he had strayed while traveling the world on his own. The previous year he had discovered how to steal – not how to rob banks, mind you, just petty thievery – the kind one would not go to jail for, but would certainly reap great embarrassment if ever caught.

Trouble was, he had never been caught. His modus operandi had been clever enough to fool everyone (except, of course, himself) and he’d gotten away with his petty thefts so far. In fact, he had found the act sometimes all too thrilling in its drama and pleasing in its result. It had become fun to fool the people and pleasant to own something new and otherwise unaffordable.

There was attached to the experience the slight smell of addiction. So this choice was the only choice. It would be easy and no one would ever find out.

So I packed my new pole into my travel tube, strapped it to my car in the cover of night and took off for St. Louis. A hundred miles or so down the road I pulled into a small country town, found a dumpster and put half of my shattered pole there and on the way out of town threw the other half into a farmers corn field. Evidence destroyed.

It was when the thief got back into his car that he made his first mistake. He forgot to turn the car radio back on and so he continued his drive back home in silence.

Now it was after midnight. The fresh spring air and the quiet of the lonely highway began to take its toll. The silence gave rise to conscience. And the conscience was, at last, troubled.

I had known inwardly for some time that I was on the wrong course. But the crimes had been so petty and the results pleasing. Now, however, I had moved up into a whole new level of crime.

I drove on for another 50 miles, but now my mind was racked with guilt and the fear of being exposed, and the magnitude of what I had done caught up with me. But looking back I know that really what happened was that the goodness that was always my basis, simply rose in my consciousness and took over. As I drove on I came to a strong realization of where I was going with all of this and that it was to my doom.

In fact, my doom had arrived. I understood that if I continued in this direction my downfall was right around the next corner. It wasn’t that I feared getting caught so much as I simply feared the person I had become and made a conscious decision to turn from this and become my true self again.

And so, now 180 miles down the road and moving closer to 2:00 in the morning, I turned my car around (and turned my life around) and drove back.

I reached the U of I about 4:30 that morning. All was asleep and quiet. The gym and indoor track facility was locked up tight. I could leave the pole at the front door of the track, but that was pretty weird. Then I noticed an open window high up in the building. Somehow I scaled the wall and got into a third story window, found the key I had left behind, opened doors and put what did not belong to me back where it belonged. I locked up and got back into my car and at 5:30 AM, began the 250-mile drive home again.

Corny as it may sound, I did not turn my car radio back on. Instead, I began to sing hymns as I drove. I think I sang about every hymn I ever knew that night as I drove and the new day dawned on a new man.

That was a life-changing experience. I stopped stealing for good that night though I have to admit to stealing a few hearts. But that night I got it. And as a result of my change of thought, my character changed. I became a good person again and I cannot put words to the happiness I felt and the sense of awakening I felt on the entire drive. The experience is here with me today as powerful as it was back then. I was healed and the healing was complete.

Epilogue to tale: When I got back to school after spring break I marched right in to confess my sins and reversal of character to my new coach. I explained that I would work in any way he wished to make the money to buy a new pole. I expected the worst.

What I got from Coach Crafton was, “Well Pete, I didn’t buy one pole; I bought three. I knew you might break one. After all, they break. No sweat.”

Good triumphs. Evil bites the dust. Life Lesson for a Pole-Vaulter.

Even More Inspiration

Watchfire Music Learning Lab

Peter Link — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:58:23 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great if, before we pass on to wherever we go next, we could transfer our knowledge base from our brain hard drive to someone younger’s brain hard drive? That way the things we discover and the skills we acquire in this life would not be lost upon passing. Wouldn’t the human race evolve much faster if this were possible?

Unfortunately we humans have not been built with a USB port located just behind our left ears. Instead we have to put up with a slower form of data transference called “teaching”.

As we gain knowledge and acquire skills, we owe it to the human race to pass that knowledge on to others. “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Brooks Adams

I’ve always loved to teach. I’m deeply indebted to the great teachers in my own life – most of which were tough, sometimes scary and yet ultimately loving deep wells of vital information. They passed that food of life on to me in a variety of ways and, thinking back on them, I realize now that each of them had that same central quality – they too loved to teach.

And so, we here at Watchfire Music recognize this necessity to communicate knowledge and have decided to create within the company a center for data transference – the Watchfire Music Learning Lab, a school of sorts, for students of all ages, where specialized professional music classes of a most interesting variety will be taught.

We will open this lab to beginners, intermediates and even have a series of master classes all taught by top professionals who have this same desire to pass on their acquired knowledge to others.

We’re excited about the diversity of subjects that will be presented starting in early March of 2011.

Again, we’re presenting here specialized classes – not the usual stuff like singing and acting, but courses that are possibly more specific and particularize skills to the individual. We feel that here in New York City where there is such a huge talent base, such specialization is very much needed.

And so we will offer the following classes for Beginners and Intermediates:

Songwriting 101 & 201

Learn to write a hit song, a story song, song form, chord progressions, melody expression, songs for the theater,

Lyrics 101 & 201

Learn proper rhyming, scanning, song form, conceptualization, title search, color words, story telling, all the skills of the masters.

Logic Studio Pro 9.1.2

This is the world’s #1 software program for computer based music recording.

Midi Rhythm Section Arranging 101 & 201

This is often the most difficult skill to master for music arrangers and orchestrators.

Vocal Performance 101 & 201

Not just ‘how to sing’, but rather, ‘how to act the song’ – Meisner Technique.

Music Recording Production 101 & 201

Essentially, ‘how to produce your own music in your own home studio’ – a skill more necessary than ever in this evolving world of home studio recordings.

Acoustic Guitar 101 & 201

Still the preferred method of learning to play both acoustic and electric guitar.

Studio Background singing 101 & 201

Learn number system of instant sight-reading, ear training, the art of blending, professional techniques that make this such a specialized skill.

The WFM Learning Lab will also offer Master Classes in the following subjects:

Composition

Lyrics – The Art

Logic Studio Pro 9.1.2

Midi Orchestration

Act Development

Music Production

Most of these classes will be private classes – one on one with the teacher, but a few may evolve into group study though kept small and personal.

For more information on the WFM Learning Lab presented only in New York City, stay tuned or watch the Home page of watchfiremusic.com for further developments, pricing, contact info and schedules.

Even More Inspiration

The Road To Inspiration — Peter Link and Julia Wade

Peter Link — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:10:58 +0000

This article has been reprinted from an article first appearing in the Principia Purpose, Peter’s High School and College Alumni Magazine in December of 2010.

Peter Link’s music career flowed naturally from his days at the College. After serving under Jack Eyerly as assistant choir director his sophomore year, Peter went on to be its main director until he graduated. “Jack believed in my ability, mentored me, and provided opportunities,” Peter recalls. “I really learned my craft from him!” Peter also directed a College production of Carousel. After seeing it, a parent told him, “If you directed this production, you can make it in New York.” With that encouragement, Peter packed for the Big Apple soon after graduation.

During the next two years, Peter studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. From there, he landed a lead role in the TV soap opera As the World Turns as well as a lead role in Hair on Broadway. “Doing Hair and the soap was an incredible two-year ride as an actor, but I soon found that my real interest was composing for the musical theatre,” Peter says. During Hair he wrote the hit musical Salvation. Out of that score came a gold record that sold two million copies. “This was a whirlwind start for a young guy!” Peter notes.

Next, after seeing one of Peter’s shows, Joseph Papp, producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival, offered him the position of composer in residence. Over the next five years, Peter wrote music for 40 Shakespeare Festival productions. He has also written music for 15 Broadway shows and was twice nominated for a Tony Award.

In the following decade, Peter teamed up with his wife at the time, Jenny Burton, to develop a gospel show called The Jenny Burton Experience, which sold out in New York City for seven years and toured nationally. Jenny and Peter also had a son during this time, and although they’re now divorced, they remain friends and collaborators.

“Show business is about reinventing yourself from time to time,” Peter notes. “During this period, I recognized a need to write inspirational music of deeper content.” He also met Julia Wade, an opera singer crossing over into more popular styles. Soon the two were married.

Along with their love of music, Peter and Julia have Principia in common. Though Julia only attended for a few years of Lower School, she says that time was “an important backdrop” to her life. In particular she recalls her fifth grade teacher, Mr. Sellers, and playing flute in the band.

Eventually, Julia majored in music at San Jose State University in California and began her singing career at Opera San Jose. Later, she settled in New York City, but she has performed widely, including the Rome Opera and Palermo Opera.

By the time Peter and Julia got together, the music industry was beginning to change dramatically due to the Internet, so they contacted a Principia friend, Jim Birch (US’63), to help them navigate the business side of this new industry. Eventually, Watchfire Music was created, which now represents a wide range of inspirational music artists (including Julia) and composers (including Peter).

Julia also shares inspirational music each week as The Mother Church soloist. Describing her solo selection process as that of a “hunter-gatherer,” she pores over each week’s Bible Lesson along with stacks of solos. To help others in the same situation, she helped develop a research tool called “Solo Thoughts” on Watchfire’s website. There, 12 to 20 suggested solos are matched with the Bible Lesson each week, and the sheet music can be downloaded immediately. “I wanted to create for other people what I needed myself,” Julia shares.

As busy as they both are, Julia and Peter still find time to make music together. Their latest CD, entitled Every Day, features Julia singing Peter’s songs. Available at Watchfire Music (www.watchfiremusic.com), Every Day is definitely inspirational. As Julia explains, “The title track brings forth the idea that every day, every moment, God is enabling us and loving us.”

To hear the report Julia Wade gave during the 2010 Annual Meeting, go to www.christianscience.com/church/the-mother-church/annual-meeting. Julia’s report begins 50 minutes and 20 seconds into the webcast.

~ Heather Shotwell

Reprinted with permission
from Principia Purpose.

Even More Inspiration

Be A Good Boy (Or Be A Good Girl)

Peter Link — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:40:57 +0000

I have recently had the privilege of experiencing one of the most profound healings of my life – certainly the most powerful of the last several decades. In my prayerful resolve to get well, it became clear to me that I had to clean up several areas of my life, for it was those areas that were the cause of the problem.

I knew that once I truly tackled the job of spring-cleaning my human thought, I would be immediately better and this was, in fact, the truth of the matter. I went about the task like a man determined to clean out a closet on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The physical problem was intense, so it was clear to me that the healing work would have to match the enormity of the problem. So I sequestered myself in my room for three days and did little else but study, ponder and pray.

I’ll write about this experience a lot now because it was such an Inspirational moment for me in my life. It conclusively proved once again the incredible power of prayer as a total healing agent in a time when the world clearly leans towards medical and holistic solutions.

In this case, no medical or holistic solution could have possibly turned the experience around as quickly as prayer did. Anyone would call this a miracle; however, I choose to think of it as a completely natural outcome of the science and truth of God’s love for His image and likeness – man, me.

There were many steps for me in this process, far too complex to explain in one blog post, so I shall concentrate on just one of the steps tonight – the resolution to become a better man, or more simply put, to be a good boy.

The physical problem was clearly the result of some pretty shoddy thinking on my part. Some of it was confusion that I have lived with for most of my life. Some of it was negative stuff that has recently snuck up on me and taken a hold in my thought. And some of it was stuff that I discovered and came into contention with as I sifted through my mental closet and took a hard look at every aspect of my life.

I looked at the way I treat people, at a recent penchant in life to be critical of others, at a disgruntlement of some of the work I’ve been doing, at my sexuality, at my level of giving, at my deep personal relationships, and even at the way I was thinking each night as I went to sleep.

In each of these situations, once I began to explore them, immediate errors of thought and action came up for me that were impossible to ignore. The physical problem was severe and so the immediacy of pain and disease were a catalyst to my impetus to deal strongly with everything that came up negative.

At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the mess in my closet. I thought, “How can I possibly clean all this up?” But the physical problem persisted and continued to worsen dramatically and so I stayed at it and kept identifying problems of negative thought.

In the climax of the physical problem, when fear had its strongest hold and the material picture was at its most dramatic, this thought came to me. “Be a good boy.” I guess my mom must have said this to me on my way to school every morning for a couple of decades. I said the same thing to my son over and over throughout his childhood.

“Be a good boy.” What a simple answer to all my problems!

Sometimes I struggle with the concept of God. Who doesn’t? The enormity of the word, the sheer magnitude of the concept is often much more than I can get my arms around. When it all seems a little much, I find that if I change the word “God” to the word “good”, I’m a lot better off. For example, instead of “God is my life”, rather, “Good is my life”. Sometimes I can’t get a grasp on loving God, but I can understand loving good.

So now I have my New Year’s resolution. I’m resolved to be good, better. I’m committed to goodness. I’m going to work, watch and pray to live in goodness every moment, every breath, every heartbeat. Can I do it? Well, so far I’ve not been able to, but the constant watchfulness and the resolve to handle every thought up to my highest ideal has made a dramatic difference in my life.

Old habits slide in before I know it, but I’m getting better at catching them. Old temptations continue, but I’m determined to see through this new resolve and so the old temptations are pretty easily dealt with and overcome. By raising the stakes of my life, I find that I’m happier, healthier and right smack in the middle of a personal reformation. A re-form-ation. Perhaps some would call this the process of being reborn.

I do know this: In order to truly accomplish this goal of being a better person, I’ve had to slow my life waaaaaaaay down. I’ve needed to study and ponder goodness. I’ve needed to sit quietly every day and meditate, pray and think on these things to re-form my mind on a higher level.

In order to truly commit to this endeavor, I’ve had to understand that these errors of thinking that I’ve been practicing are just not worth the rehearsal. In all cases, what I thought I was getting, turned out to be really bad for me even though it often felt good on one level or another. I’ve had to deal very straight with myself — usually my misguided ego – and often sacrifice supposed pleasure for the straight and narrow.

I know, it’s one of the oldest lessons in the book, but we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that we can get away with things because nobody knows or it’s not really hurting anybody, when, in truth, it’s hurting us and somehow the universe knows. I’ve come to realize that you can’t get away with nuttin’. In the words of John Lennon, “Instant Karma’s gonna getcha.” The good we do equals the good we receive. The bad we do equals the bad we receive. Forgiveness only comes in the destruction of the sin. There’s no getting’ around it and only a fool thinks differently.

So I’m going to live less foolishly. I’m going to be a good boy. I’m going to progress in my thinking and evolve as a man and therefore protect myself from sin, disease and death. What other choice do I have? None.

As I have resolved my conflicts, my thought has clarified, my love for my fellow man has enlarged, my honesty and integrity with myself have become more realized. What’s most interesting about this process is that it’s not difficult; it’s easier. It’s all the old confusions that made life hard. Now that they’re disappearing, life is simpler, clearer and things just seem to work out.

It all makes sense when ya’ really think about it. No miracle here – just natural law in action.

And along the way to reformation, I was healed of a seemingly overwhelming physical problem in ‘miracle’ time. God does not deal in time. Time is not a part of God’s kingdom. Time is a human thang. So time has nothing to do with this healing. Time played no part.

When I became a good boy, I became healthy. That took no time. It was immediate, because the physical problem was the illusory result of a mental cause. Once the mental cause was clarified, there was immediately no cause any longer, so the time it took for my body to heal was no time. There was simply no cause, so no result. In the moments where I became a good boy, I became a well boy.

Even More Inspiration

Looking For Christmas…

Peter Link — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:13:17 +0000

Christmas in Central Park

Christmas in NYC! There’s nothing quite like it. Truly beautiful, but sometimes a bit too much about Santa and not enough about Jesus. Each year I go back to the same moment years ago when I first wrote this song to try to rediscover the essence of Christmas.

I’ll share it with you now:

Christmas In My Soul

Music and lyrics by Peter Link

It looks as though

There won’t be snow on Christmas

And the holly and the mistletoe

Were sold out long ago

The midtown rush was just a little too much

And this year Santa and his reindeer

Never left the pole

Suddenly it just don’t seem like Christmas

Suddenly it don’t seem so natural

Looking for Christmas

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

Takin’ my time

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

But somehow a church bell caught my ear

Somehow a little child caught my eye

Somehow an old man playing on his trumpet

Stopped that drummer in me

With a ty- rie -die-dee-i

Rie -die-dee-i

Rie -die-dee-i-i-i-i

And suddenly it all seemed very simple

And suddenly it all seemed so natural

Looking for Christmas

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

Somehow the whole affair almost slipped on by

I nearly lost the childhood dream

I plumb forgot the reason why

And all my Christmas longings

Were simply left behind

As I went running through the wrappings

And the ribbons and the rhyme

And rollin’ through December

Like a man against time

Rockefeller Center at Christmas

Looking for Christmas

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

Takin’ my time

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

Takin’ my time

Trying to find a little Christmas in my soul

As performed by The Jenny Burton Experience

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I hope you find your true Christmas spirit.

Even More Inspiration

Chariot

Peter Link — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:45:25 +0000

The idea that a chariot of fire would sweep down out of the heavens and carry off a man in a mystical spiritual process called “ascension” has fascinated me since childhood. When I first heard the story in the Bible of the master Elijah and his devoted disciple, Elisha, probably in Sunday School, I tucked the tale away in the back of my mind for further imaginary consideration on those nights when sleep would not come easy.

Later in life, as I taught Sunday School, I began to study thoroughly the story so that I could best relate it to my boys in the class I taught. I watched them too become fascinated with the tale and found that the discussions around the story went on for weeks in my classes. Every step of the experience was questioned and thrashed about. “What was ascension?” “Why did Elijah say to Elisha that if he could see him ascend then Elisha might be able to someday ascend as well?” “Why did Elijah ask Elisha to hold his garment?”

“Was there really a chariot?” That, of course, was the question most considered by my 9-13 year old boys. These were heady discussions of the spiritual process that mystifies and fascinates many of us and I must say that I learned a lot from the open imaginations of those boys over the years.

In the late 90s I wrote a powerful piece of music for the Jenny Burton Experience that became a staple of the group and a fan favorite show-stopper for nearly seven years called Revelation. I went through the book of Revelation in the Bible and cherry-picked many of my favorite surrealistic images from the mind of John and tried to put them together in some way that made a certain kind of sense at least to myself.

I think I was able to convey a strange kind of surrealistic sense to my audience because at the end of the piece each night they always rose and cheered the performance of that magical group.

The piece was just a little over 9 minutes long and though there were several returning themes that kept coming back, it was mostly through written, meaning that different melodies came and went and evolved one into another.

Because of the success of this piece, I thought I was on to something and decided to explore the tradition more thoroughly. I began to look for a story that was Biblical as well as could be told using verses from the Bible and one that would have the imagery and drama that Revelation reached for.

Naturally my old favorite story of Elijah, Elisha, and the chariot of fire came quickly to mind. I spent a couple of years further researching the story and tinkering with the Bible verses to fit them into a more musical language and in some cases finding rhymes to further musicalize the text.

Once I had the story fleshed out to my satisfaction, I began to plot out the musical inventions much like an author would plot out a novel. Where was the slow section? How would the piece rise and fall? Who would tell this story? What style of music would work best in the telling?

I knew it would basically need to be told in two styles: first, in a Gospel tradition because of the Biblical imagery of the tale and second, in a somewhat classical tradition because of the classicism of the story.

Three iconic songs kept coming to mind as I worked. The first, naturally, was Swing Low Sweet Chariot. How could I possibly write this piece and not include some reference to this gorgeous song. So I began to work it through my already developing composition. Borrowing other public domain work began to seem like a good idea to me so once again I went back to my childhood and found two other favorites from my youth.

Swing Down Chariot Stop And Let Me Ride was one from my early folk days first heard by me performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio. I was always fascinated by the energy that they got out of this number, so I decided to use that as well. Also, among many other songs considered, Ride The Chariot In The Mornin’ Lord stuck as well. The rest I wrote myself, weaving these three iconic songs in and out.

I simply loved the process of working on that experimental piece. Give me a good foundation and I can soar, and in this piece we really kick up our heels and ride the sky. Simply put, it’s a great story filled with musical imagery. It was a thrilling process to write, arrange, orchestrate and produce.

I was very clear that the scope of the piece went far beyond my talents as a singer and since it was really a kind of Classical/Gospel piece, I decided to turn to some of my deeply talented pool of NY vocalists for help. I ended up writing the piece for 8 solo voices – seven African American Gospel singers and my long-time vocal arranger and superb vocalist herself, Margaret Dorn. These eight soloists also served as the ensemble in the piece as we sometimes double tracked and triple tracked the voices. Margaret did the choir arrangements.

I scored it for 4 women and 4 men and was fortunate enough to be able to hire the best of the best. Led by Jenny Burton, Angela Clemmons, Cat Russell, John James and Darryl Tooks, this was as formidable a group of singin’ folks as you could find in NYC in the early 2000s.

The vocal sessions took several weeks. I spent a ton of my own money on this project and was totally driven during the process to finish it and get it out there. When the vocals were finished, I did a rough mix (a quick mix that was never intended to go to mastering) so that I could show the song to a few people.

Then life took its turns and for whatever reason the project got shelved. Probably something came along in my life that required my complete attention and in my inimitable fashion I ventured off onto something else.

Chariot sat on my digital ‘shelf’ then for about 8 years. Occasionally I would open up the files and play it and reminisce about the great two-year experience that I had with the piece, but it was going to be a completely time-consuming process to complete and daunting to one who was far to busy to begin with

During those 8-10 years the wonderful world of sample technology came of age. The abilities to re-create the orchestra digitally grew by leaps and bounds and the technology around the sampling became so good that today one is hard pressed to tell the difference.

So each time I would go back to Chariot and listen, the piece would seem ‘older’ and less convincing to me, though I always loved its composition, its spirit and its vocal performances.

Yes, I know, it’s a long story – but one with a happy ending. This year, in all my spare time, I have gone back to Chariot, first to remix it, but then deciding to completely re-orchestrate the piece with the newer technologies. This was not easy. It meant basically re-performing and re-programming the entire orchestra and rhythm section while maintaining the original spirit of the sessions. I was successful at doing that and am now most happy that I’ve spent the countless hours re-constructing.

This week I will finish the mixing process of Chariot and get it to the masterer. It’s been a long road, but entirely worth it. This is one of my favorite compositions of my life and one that I’m very proud of.

It tells a great Biblical story in modern musical language, but, I think, maintains the integrity of the classicism. I’ve now listened to this piece probably a thousand times and it does not get tiring for me. I’m still fascinated with its spirit and invention.

I’ll probably sit on it a bit more through Christmas and keep tinkering, but release it in January of 2011. That’ll make about a decade. Seems appropriate for this piece.

Stay tuned…