Rick Land & Russ Tapp: Blog

ALL STRUCTURES ARE UNSTABLE"Whatever form it takes, the unconscious drive behind ego is to strengthen the image of who I think I am, the phantom self that came into existence when thought- a great blessing as well as a great curse - began to take over and obscured the simple yet profound joy of connectedness with Being, the Source, God. Whatever behavior the ego manifests, the hidden motivating force is always the same; the need for power, for attention, for more.  And, of course, the need to feel a sense of separation, that is to say, the need for opposition, enemies. The ego always wants something from other people or situations. There is always a hidden agenda, always a sense of 'not enough yet.' of insufficiency and lack that needs to be filled.  It uses people and situations to get what it wants, and even when it succeeds, it is never satisfied for long.  Often it is thwarted in its aims, and for the most part the gap between 'I want" and 'what is' become [...]

 

To me, art in worship is an absolute necessity.   Each week I sit and ponder  and ponder to find appropriate words to place here. I consider myself to be a true "renaissance man" but there are a few "sacred places" in my life that cannot be altered. Art and beauty in worship are two immovable facets of my very being.I love Deep Elum in Dallas. It has become an eclectic haven for young people in their early 20's. The music, clothes, atmosphere and general mayhem is fascinating to watch.  Several of my favorite restaurants are down there and the neighborhood also attracts a very unique group of people. I love the diversity, energy and sheer "bohemian" style of it all. I have heard practically every contemporary artist you can think of.   I love the music of this planet in all of it's enormous variety and complexity. But, there is one place that is my particular "cosmic fortress", church. There has to be one place where I can "be" , where I can [...]

 "Lying beyond the bounds of all possible human knowledge, essentially unknowable". That is our working definition for transcendence.  I will try to expound that definition in my following words. Musical improvisation is one of those things that I have never, ever tried to explain. One of the most common types of improvisation occurs in jazz. It is naturally inherent and because of the typical simplistic chordal structure it is easy to formulate a melody or harmony.  However, it is possible to improvise in any musical style if you really understand the basic "texture" of the music. Music is like fabric. It has texture, weave, pattern, warp and woof, color and weight. It is possible to create all of these aspects at a keyboard. Lots of folks believe it is a gift. I agree to an extent. The human brain is nothing more than electrical impulses.  All information enters the brain through hearing , seeing, tasting, touch and smell. It ALL enters through one side of the brain [...]

I want to rattle off a few thoughts on this subject and will come back to the subject again in this series.  During the years when I was an organist in evangelical churches we had moments of transcendence that at the time seemed more emotional rather than esoteric. Those moments occurred particularly at FBC Dallas during those early years of the conservative/liberal biblical wars when one of our most beloved soloists and I would perform a simple gospel song and I would have the freedom to create the accompaniment almost at the moment of performance.  Linda Almond had an elegant rich alto voice and she loved those great gospel songs like "No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus" then there was Janice Mossima the only black member of the choir at that time who loved those great black gospel songs by James Dorsey.
Once in a great while we could offer a simple solo without the full orchestra - I cherished those moments. After I left FBC, I invited Janice Mossima to sing for a joint revival [...]

Now that I have the floor lets talk about a sacred subject for me, inspiration.  It's cousin might be transcendence. I have wrestled with this issue all my life.  When it happens it happens.  When I became an Episcopalian I was adamant with the choir to LEAD the liturgy, speak out with passion, meaning and authenticity.  It would be wonderful if we acted like we believe it! It took a while to bring an awareness that we must not take the spoken collective liturgy for granted. It can become inspired, transcendent and even highly emotional. Back during the revision of the Book of Common Prayer in the 80's the liturgical wars were highly charged and almost frightening.  My God, you would think that they actually took those words seriously. But to hear them uttered week by week you would think those folks were zombies and dead from the waist up. Music can also become mechanical and uninspired as well.  The spoken word can become as meaningless as taking a bath. 
What [...]