rich mullins

hhmmmm, you're right, this is not my usual style; and i do rave on and on about classical music. what i haven't told you is that i love all music (except hard rock, acid rock, and the sort that is ear-splittingly loud, numbingly opressive, and/or otherwise in opposition to the Light and Love we all should possess and strive to enable in others).

that said, here is my very small tribute to a very great artist.

someone once said, "prophets occupy the space between risk and payoff." in reality, prophets live mostly on the razor's edge; because no one else will. the loneliness and the terror of living in the battlezone, that place where the bullets and bayonettes never rest, makes them "eccentric" to say the least. prophets are poets.
his producer wrote:
"to tell or not to tell? what would you do? suppose you had this crazy gift, this prophetic vision that compelled you to be the one to point the finger, tell the tales. would you want it? or would you shirk it, preferring to be liked by all rather than sincerely admired by a few? at least in rich mullins' case, he gets to tell his tales with a song, and that dulls the blade even while it sharpens the truth. there's comfort in the poetry--a place to hide in the beauty of language. after all, he's pointing the knife at himself most of the time, anyway. if we get cut, it's from shrapnel, not blades. rich mullins of the exploding songs..."
but this awesome and stunning gift to all of humankind, the poetry of their life and their words, this awesome beauty of God in/with us, is the song that feeds the unspeakable spiritual malnutrition in each of us.
"who can sever a man from his beliefs without destroying both? what is conviction if it is disembodied? what remains of a man when he is left without his thoughts? apart from each other, both are nothing. in their union there is something that never was before--something unique, dynamic and alive."
-- rich mullins, from his last column

poets are prophets. rich once wrote,
"in my mid- to late 20s i had some romantic, highly exaggerated notions about an early death--taking off at 33--joining the company of mozart, foster, Jesus and other immortals who checked out in their early 30s. but his was a party i didn't get an invitation to--a gang i didn't belong in (me not being a genius and all). so, in chicago i had my own party--celebrating the fun of being alive as opposed to the mystique of having an untimely death."
to live is Christ, to die is gain... --st. paul
the value of poetry to society is that in it you find a total expression of yourself; your desires, hopes, dreams, failures, deceit, and all that makes you rise to the glorious heights and fall to the ignoble depths. poetry allows you to veiw such a shocking spectacle in the privacy of your heart and soul without anyone else knowing what the impact has wrought. your facade remains unchallenged and only your soul soars or "craters" --unseen at the moment of realization. then you are changed forever. you are never the same again; and you work out your new self in a recovery room of private unseen dimensions. people usually call this process "maturing." poetry always moves us to such heights and depths. poetry is dangerous. it is the embodiment, in a soft, velvet casing, of nuclear explosions in our very persona.
rich mullins was a most extraordinary poet, whom i still love and look forward to meeting one day in glory. i think we speak the same mysterious language and i want to scatter-run the nebulas with him one day, then tell it in a poem/song.

i will soon complete the poster art entitled "tribute to faithfulness." stay tuned for details to purchase this poster (created by herself, solaz, queenofeverything). all proceeds will be donated to compassion international.

compassion international has set up the rich mullins memorial fund in order to help continue rich's ministry for the navajo indian reservation. 1-800-334-KIDS or write to:

Rich Mullins Memorial Fund
Compassion International
P.O. Box 7000
Colorado Springs, CO 80933