Tag: blues

Bible, Blues, Family, Grief, Music, Narrative, Parenting, StoryLeave a comment

Holding On

Gary Furr

Sermon four was part of the series “Feeling the Blues,” originally presented on Sunday, November 15, 2009, at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church. The title of this message is “Holding On,” and it’s based on the biblical story of Hannah that you can find in the book of First Samuel, chapter one, verses 4 through 20. Infertility and Hope Now, this is not a text about how to have babies if you haven’t. The whole struggle of infertility for so many people is a… is a hidden one. It is painful, and it’s not really the focus of this story. In … Continue reading Holding On

Aging, ancestors, Bible, Blues, Grief, Music, Sickness and Health, spirituality, Story, SufferingLeave a comment

Deathbed Blues

Gary Furr

Sermon 5 was originally the conclusion of “Feeling the Blues,” presented on Sunday, November 22, 2009, at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The title of this message is “The Deathbed Blues.” It’s based on the biblical story of King David and found in the book of 2nd Samuel, chapter 23, verses 1 through 7. And so we come to the end of this series of sermons on the blues and the church, the blues and the Christian life, the blues and the gospel. Two things that we might have been forgiven for thinking had very little to do … Continue reading Deathbed Blues

Blues, Music, Robert Johnson, Theology and Life

Hope With Weeping and Consolations

Gary Furr

Musical Introduction: “Talk About Suffering” (Singing) “Talk about suffering here below and let’s keep loving Jesus. Talk about suffering here below and let’s keep following Jesus. Oh, the gospel train is coming. Now don’t you want to go? And leave this world of sorrow and trouble here below. Talk about suffering here below and let’s keep loving Jesus. Talk about suffering here below and let’s keep following Jesus. Oh, can’t you hear it, father? And don’t you want to go? And leave this world of sorrow and trouble here below. Oh, can’t you hear it, mother? And don’t you want … Continue reading Hope With Weeping and Consolations

Art, Blues, Creativity, Death, Faith, Folk, Gospel music, Grief, humanity, Hymns, Music, Uncategorized4 Comments

Death Grief and Hope: Songs for the Shadows

Gary Furr

  We must face our losses.  Courage does not spare us from them. 

Courage’s work begins at the other end of honest acknowledgement.

          Grief can encompass many parts of life, not merely death.  It is, in many ways, our most universal experience.  It can be the death of dreams, grief of a way of life that ends, the end of a relationship, leaving home, moving to another town, divorce, a broken friendship.  The question is, “What are we to do with it?”

I can’t speak for people who have no faith in God, but I will admit that having faith in God doesn’t dispose of grief. It is just the same, just as overwhelming, the same disbelief followed by disintegration and despair and a long struggle to put life together again.

One verse of scripture I have found meaningful is  this one:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.   1 Thess. 4:13

 I take great comfort that it does not say, “Don’t grieve, you’re a Christian,” but I have heard many a well-meaning minister stand up and talk about death like it was a flu shot. Death is real, it is irreversible, it is disheartening. I don’t think dismissing reality is a good idea. It has a way of showing up again with reinforcements.

The denial of death is, as Ernest Becker said, the most pervasive of human failings, and the most futile. The Apostle Paul said, very intentionally, that we should not “grieve as those who have no hope.” Instead, I would assume, we should grieve as people who DO have hope. Continue reading “Death Grief and Hope: Songs for the Shadows”

Blues, Country Music, Creativity, Culture, Folk, Jazz, Literature, Modern Life, Music, Rock and Roll, Songwriting, Songwriting, texas, Texas music, Writing2 Comments

Everything’s Bigger in Texas: the Oxford American 2014 Music Issue

Gary Furr
The Oxford American Music Issue

For many years, a member of my church who knows my weird tastes in music (if most people have never heard about it, I might have; if mass media doesn’t write about, I will) gives me the annual Oxford American Southern Music Issue.  Given my roots and rootlessness around and on the edges of this bizarre and wonderful region (politics=absolutely bizarre; unelected people generally fascinating and gracious; land, music and layer of cultue—wonderful), he knows it lines up with my interests.

The OA is a journal with as colorful and eccentric history to match the region it writes about, but plenty has been written about it elsewhere.  Just a few lines to mention the music issue, which isn’t cheap ($12.95) but well worth it.  Every year, a particular state’s rich heritage of famous and not-so-well-known songwriters and performers are showcased.  Continue reading “Everything’s Bigger in Texas: the Oxford American 2014 Music Issue”