Show The Way

December has been an interesting month. There has been a lot of celebrating and family and rest. Underlying it all for me though, has been a current of sadness and fear. Fear has crept into my little world. I can’t go to a movie theater without making sure I know where all the exits are. I can’t go to the grocery store without looking for a place we can hide, just in case. I cried as I walked home after dropping my kids off at school the first morning “after”.

As I look back on this year, 2012, I see huge adventures and triumphs and hope but if I let myself I can also hear and feel the breath of something wicked circling my thoughts and looking for a way in.

The other day Steve was humming an old song and it sunk into my heart and has taken up residence there. It says everything I have needed to hear. When I hear it, I remember hope.

The song is “Show the way” by David Wilcox.

I actually got to sing with David about 10 years ago in Oklahoma City at a venue called the Blue Door. My friend Jeff Mann went backstage and told David that I could sing and could I please sing with him. Jeff had bravery that I did not and I have never been able to thank him properly.. “Thanks Jeff”.

Me singing with David Wilcox in OKC. The Blue Door – 2003.

Another me singing with David Wilcox in OKC. The Blue Door – 2003.

Me, Steve (my husband), Matt (my big brother) and Jim (a very dear friend), singing “Rusty old American Dream” with David Wilcox.

A “Solo” plate that Dave signed for me.

I sang several songs with him. “The kid”, “Sunshine on the Land” and “Rusty old American Dream”. The last I got to sing with David, Steve (my husband), Matt (my big brother) and Jim (a very dear friend). I loved that night and think of it often.

David Wilcox is really a poet. He has written songs that burrow deep into a person and have a way of helping to heal things you didn’t even know were broken.

The world bumps us and chips us and can make us afraid to try. Thank You David for reminding me at the beginning of a new year that, life is worth it, and that sometimes, just by singing a song, we can send fear running.

Happy New Year!