Great Musicians of the Past

Some of The Great Musicians of the Past

"This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’"       Jeremiah 6:16


The Big Easy was hosting the International Civitan Convention and The Sand Artist was on the program. 

We arrived with a little extra time to see some of New Orleans and enjoy the music that thrilled me back when I began to understand how to walk with God. I was only fifteen but this song brought tears to my eyes.

I am weak but thou art strong...

Too many years have gone by and my path has not always been the straight and narrow but God’s strength, His mercy and His book lit the way that directed me always back. My memories of that music are tied to this part of the country. New Orleans gave birth to these melodies out of a rich spiritual heritage in the early church. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” “When the Saints go marching in,” “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” “Nobody knows the trouble I see,” composed a significant part of my early spiritual pathway.

Walking down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, that sweet clarinet dripped from the balconies, oozed between the shuttered slats and puddled on the cobblestones at our feet.

... Jesus keep me from all wrong,

Like so many wonderfully talented musicians that sung or played their first notes in Church, this amazing city with all its color and diversity didn’t continue on that early, narrow road. She sold her birthright for the promise of fame, wealth and the fun life. The city fell into depravity. Narrow streets in the French quarter are littered with strip joints, sleazy bars and darkness. You can still hear the music, but no one believes in it anymore. The child that was hope and beauty and love got duct taped and tossed in a swamp in exchange for a wild party.

I’ll be satisfied as long...

Yet, the darker the street, the brighter the light shines. Just off Bourbon Street we wandered in to a tiny shop that hand-made, quality brass lamps. Jack Berman, Polish holocaust survivor who learned metal smithing in a refugee camp, finally settled in New Orleans. He and his family founded  Jack’s Metal Lamps. The original dream for a better life, born in the death camp, passed on to son’s Benjamin and Saul, has survived the death of their father, Hurricane Katrina, and the recession. On Decatur Street, next to the French Quarter, a family business is a shining a light. It is always better to build lamps in the gloom than to curse the darkness.

...as long, as I walk close to thee.


Hope you are walking closer