Shameless Self Promotion-The American Spring pt.3

So you may be asking yourselves, why would the reverend, such a holy, selfless and humble man(ahem….) be such a shameless whore and try and sell us things on his blog. Well the answer is simple. We need it.

A bit about the band and CD. The American Spring CD contain stories of the plight of the working class in this day and age. It tells of stories of the illusions of better days, the elderly, stories of theft and corruption, but most of all, it tells stories of power and hope. The power being, what you the listener-the congregation-can do in your life. What you can do to change your small corner of the world. Stories of hope, because no matter what you do-however insignificant you may think it is-changes the world in some way. (Sample tracks on the music page of this blog)

The cover from our new CD “The American Spring”

The Band “LordRifa” receives no monies from the gigs we do. All of it-every last cent-is donated to charities. We do this because it is not enough to talk about it, not enough to write about it, we MUST walk the talk. Otherwise, all that we stand for is meaningless and all of the words I have ever written are just tomorrow’s recycling.

Our efforts have gone to help the homeless problems in San Francisco,  women’s shelters, ecological damage, hurricane relief, music in schools programs…the list goes on. And it’s not just the musicians who do this, But everyone; roadies, sound people, musicians, management, everyone!

Because we all believe that there is a better way and we are all willing to take it to the mattresses to prove ourselves right.

We are willing to fight for the American Spring.

Will you help us? $16.50 including shipping. Such a deal!!

http://lordrifa.com/item/members-of-the-congregation-only-pre-press-american-spring/

Selah

the rev

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Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt

So Zimmerman was set free. What does this tell us about ourselves?  Forget the law and the perception of consequence. Forget the facts, because they are only facts and interpretation is paramount in the world of facts. Think instead of what in your world exists beyond the shadow of a doubt?

It can’t be science, because science seems to have disbelievers everywhere.

It can’t be religion, because all too many wars have been fought over which religion is correct.

It can’t even be someone’s word, because that in and unto itself is subjective.

No, I will tell you since you seem to be having so much trouble.

It is belief, plain and simple.

I am not talking about the belief in god in this case, but in the belief in things that we think are true. The things that are buried deep beneath our consciousness.

A black man walks towards us at night=We are in trouble!

A Korean grocery store clerk is having trouble making change=He is ripping us off!

My son’s teacher is gay=He’s trying to have sex with my son!

It is these things that live inside our hearts, in the very small places that we sometimes never want to look. It is these things, that we believe are beyond a shadow of a doubt and it is these things that need to be changed if we are to move ahead. To move out of the  world of “isms” that binds us to this downward spiral of injustice.

I can’t say I KNOW what happened in the Martin/Zimmerman case. But I can say that;

The world as a whole does not mourn another black son being killed. But what the world does hold dear to, is the concept of self defense-be it personal or national-and it will do anything it can do to protect this “right”, to the point of allowing murderers to go free. Especially when they don’t look like “us”. Walk like “us”. Talk like “us” or even fuck like “us”!

I am sorry Treyvon. I am sorry that the right use of will, is the incessant use of force instead of thought. I am sorry that we-as a species-are having such a hard time eradicating these beliefs from our hearts and I am sorry that the inevitable response will be a show of force as well.

The circle remains unbroken.

Selah

The rev

Destiny

I sit in the hands of destiny. They are warm and kind. After all these thousands of years, she has finally revealed herself to me.

She is a beautiful vision to behold.

It really doesn’t matter that when she puts me down on a path, it could be one of mayhem or love, in her hands it is always warm.
My future, for all that’s left of it, is a culmination of my many pasts and the baggage that I carry from life to life, is her map.
She caresses my soul as she tells me my life will be hard. She drops me down onto the path like a newborn and bids me adieu.   Until next time. Because there always is a next time. There is always another path.
The funny thing about the paths is that they always look familiar at first. Another adventure, another job, another chance. But in the details, they differ greatly. You know what they say-“The devil is in the details”.

But I realized all too late that this devil-called detail-is my foe. It plagues me and haunts me. And now, that I can no longer understand what they are, they mock me.
I guess it’s only fair, correct turnabout as they say. (They sure say a lot!) For all the years traipsing around this world and mocking  them, this is their chance.
But destiny doesn’t care about those things. She just sets me down peacefully and calmly as I look into her beautiful eyes, I see no ill, just the truth of the moment.

Now.

Destiny emailed the other day and told me she was going to be in town and did I want to hang out? I thought to myself, “a date with destiny, how could I refuse?” So I jumped at the chance. We met in the park and just walked around, we talked about things, about art, friends long past, things that I wished to be and things that I wished weren’t. When I finally pulled up my nerve and asked the question. “Will you work with me? I mean after countless lifetimes of having you drop me from situation to situation, don’t you even have the desire to work together?” I started to plead with her to stay and here me out. To hear the way I could change the world, to make it a better place.

Truthfully, I was as needy as a horny 14 year old and dumped a whole lot of crap on her, but then again how many times in my life has destiny ever formally asked me to hang. So I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But she would have none of it. She looked at me with those beautiful eyes again and said “It doesn’t work that way Rev and you know it.” I am only the vehicle that brings you to your life’s adventures, not the actual results. So get a grip, be a man, stand up and fight!”

Well, she is/was/will be destiny and who in their right minds can argue with her? She got up to leave turned to me and said, “times up Rev, gotta plane to catch”.

Selah

The rev

JUJU

It is the mysteries of my life that have drawn me into my chosen professions. The unexplainable things that I have a need to explain to myself, and to you in the process of my self-discovery. This process is never ending and always surprising-Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But always surprising.

JUJU

What in the hell is it?

According to the World Dictionary JUJU is:

1. An object superstitiously revered  by  certain W. African peoples and used as a charm or fetish.
2.The power associated with a  juju.
3. A taboo effected by a  juju.
4. Any process in which a mystery is exploited to confuse people.

All these things may be true, but like most things of long gone times, we have reshaped it anew for our usage, for our times.

We use this word all of the time with no thought to its intrinsic meaning but only to its vernacular usage. The way we see it fit into our world.

In our world JUJU sort of means a few different things.
It means magic: Someone can have bad JUJU.
It means soul: A band can have great JUJU.

I love this word. I love this concept. The word rolls of your tongue like soft honey.

It also represents this most intense of bonds, that shatters space and time to deliver us into the moment of someone else.
A mystical connection at worst-the blood of the gods at best.

I really love it!

Having JUJU between folks is like an instagram of emotions. A picture of what someone else feels right in your pocket.
JUJU is like an octopus. It has tentacles that reach out from you, to find others to hold on to. To experience them, to appreciate them, to want to understand, to unfurl and peel the layers back of their lives to reveal what is hidden.
It is a glorious thing to behold and take part in.

JUJU is what makes musicians work well together. That unspoken bond that allows you know where everyone else is going without even looking up, even though you have never been there before (musically speaking)
JUJU is what brings people together that have no real reason to be in the same room, yet there they are, in a cozy corner discussing the what’s and how’s of life.

JUJU is the underlying, unspoken commonality that we can all share.

Dogs have JUJU in abundance. Woof!

Also one of my Favorite bands-Lemon JUJU!

Just some mildly amusing observations after a tumultuous week.

Selah,

the rev