Beatles

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Staring At A Blank Page

This doesn’t happen often but this morning I spent quite a long time staring at a blank computer screen. No, my Mac didn’t freeze.

Paul Silcock white album.001

It was more that my mind was blank and so I had a nice white page on my screen that didn’t have any words written on it.

If white’s your colour, it was a beautiful sight!

The Beatles have a white album titled, “The BEATLES”, recorded in 1968. And yes, it was completely white with the title embossed on the cover. That album has been dubbed “The White Album” ever since.

But despite all the “white” there was music on the vinyl inside, and that vinyl was all black.

All white isn’t that great when you’re trying to write something like a sermon or a blog.  They call an all-white page “writer’s block”, when you just don’t have anything to put down on the page.

But it’s not that I didn’t have any thoughts at all. While my page was white this morning, I had lots of ideas come to mind; just none of the thoughts I had were worth recording, or I didn’t feel like recording them.

My mind jumped from one topic to another. I would think of something to write about, but then,  for one reason or another, the idea would die in seconds.

I decided to change my scenery and do something else to maybe knock the “block” out of my system – you know, do something radical, like hold your breath when you have the hiccups, or sip a drink of water upside down.

The idea is to reboot your system back to normal.

So I left my white page, and went upstairs to have breakfast. I thought that filling my mouth with food and having a conversation with my wife would somehow spark words in my head that I could then type out onto the white page on my computer.

Sometimes that helps. … The other day I was having trouble with one of the apps on my phone. For some reason it was staying on and burning up my battery at a crazy rate. I powered down my phone, and when I turned it back on, whatever had been stuck on, got unstuck and my phone was working fine again.

Unfortunately, that didn’t help much with my white page. I came back to it and, not only was the page still white, but I still hadn’t come up with anything worthy of adding some black marks to it.

It sure is frustrating when that happens.

I had other things that I wanted to get to, other things I needed to be doing.

I almost left that white page white. And then I thought maybe I should write about having a difficult time putting black characters on a white page.

It didn’t take long until the black marks started to create an amazing contrast on the white page. My white page became a mere backdrop to highlight all the black letters that are now prominent, front and centre.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes you read the Bible and nothing seems to hit home. You feel like giving up on reading it. I believe Henry Blackaby once wrote that when he spends time with God he keeps reading the Bible until God brings something to his attention. Don’t stop reading God’s word because, if you persevere, God will cause those little black characters to stand out and apply to you, right then and there.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do when you are blocked in some way? Leave your comment below.

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Ripped Off Because I Missed It

Fifty years ago I got ripped off, but not this time. Tonight on TV was a show called “The Beatles: The Night That Changed America.”

heyjude

There was no way I was going to miss this one! On February 9, 1964 I was at church during the first time the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show.

I tried to stay home. My younger brother faked some mysterious sickness so he wouldn’t have to attend the evening service and got to remain home with Gram.

But not me; I had to go. I remember John telling me how he saw a music group on TV; I don’t think he could remember their name. Then the next day at school everyone was talking about the Beatles.

Sure, I saw the Beatles other times they were on the Ed Sullivan Show, but I didn’t get to see them the first time they performed in North America. And now that there are only two of them left, I had to see them for what will probably be the last time Paul and Ringo do something on a stage together.

I once had a chance to see Paul McCartney at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1976 for the Wings Over America Tour. I still kick myself to this day that I didn’t go. I didn’t go because, well, Paul McCartney and Wings weren’t the Beatles and I didn’t have the $16 (I think) for the ticket.

Ya, I know. It was only $16 – what an idiot! That amount seemed like a lot of money to me at the time and I really had no means to pay anyone back, either.

Tonight’s Beatles show was vastly different from the ’64 show. For one thing, it was in colour. I’m not sure if the Ed Sullivan Show was broadcast in colour back then, but we only had a black and white TV so it wouldn’t have mattered.

This time there were all kinds of artists singing renditions of Beatle songs, while the real Beatles watched and applauded. It didn’t really matter to me who was singing because I was drowning them all out singing away to every song that was aired.

The program was about the same length as a hockey game. In this case, they put the two stars on the stage at the end of the game and they scored a couple of goals by singing a few of their hits individually and together.

The last song was, “Hey Jude”, the longest song on the radio in its time. It was the song that opened the way for hits to be longer than about two and a half minutes long.

I knew the song well. My brother got me the single for Christmas in 1968 … actually, before Christmas. He couldn’t wait till Christmas morning, so he told me, and we actually played it a couple of times before it was wrapped and put under the tree.

The TV show ended with everyone, musicians and the whole audience, singing along. I didn’t miss out on it this time . . . na, na, na, na-na-na-na!

Here’s the thing: There are many things that we will miss out on in life. For one or more reasons we will wish we had been there, tried this, seen that, or in some way experienced something we didn’t. Any of those things, while they might have been great, don’t come close to missing out on heaven. We can only get to experience it if we have a relationship with Christ. Don’t miss out on it by put off beginning that relationship.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you missed that you really wish you had experienced? Leave your comment below.

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I like Nostalgia Night … Once in a While

When I think of my ability to remember things, sometimes I find it amazing!  Sure, there are lots of things I don’t remember, like each week when the garbage has to go out … I still need a reminder for that.  Sometimes I need more that one reminder.  If you’re driving by my house at midnight on Tuesday (or, is it Wednesday?), it’s possible that you might see me putting the garbage out to the curb.

When you think of it though, on so many things our ability to recall is astounding.  Take phone numbers, for instance.  Some people can remember not only their own phone number, but they know all their relatives’ phone numbers and many of their friends’ numbers as well.  My wife Lily is like that; she’s my personal yellow pages if I need to call someone in our family.

The other day I was flicking channels on the TV and PBS had a special on the Ed Sullivan show.  (If you’ve never heard of that show, it was an entertainment show that ran from 1948-1971.)  This particular PBS special featured musical acts from the 60’s, so I tuned in.

It was great to see some of the bands perform from way back.  But what struck Lily was that I knew the words to many of the songs.  At one point she said, “You were 11 when that song was out and you know every word!”  I thought about it later, and I don’t even know how I learned the words.  They just got stuck in my memory.

Lily didn’t stay too long.  So there I was, alone, singing away with the likes of Herman’s Hermits, The Beatles, Jerry and Pacemakers, Lulu, and yes, even Tom Jones.  I was asked to shut the basement door as if that would create a sound barrier to my singing, that apparently got louder and louder as I got more into it.  What Lily was really hoping for was the “cone of silence” from “Get Smart” (another 60’s TV show).  When I came upstairs later, Lily had an ice pack on her neck.  She said that her neck had been bad for weeks, but I’m wondering if maybe my singing finished it off.

I did enjoy myself though.  I could even remember guitar solos, drum beats – I sang them too.  For about an hour my memory was digging deep, bringing song after song to the front of my mind.  I guess I overtaxed it though, because I couldn’t remember where I put the remote when it was over.

Here is the thing:  God says that when He forgives us, our sins are gone, taken away “as far as the east is from the west”.  So when we have confessed our sins to Him, and then still feel guilty for them, it’s not God punishing us, or needling us with those sins.  It’s our own excellent memory that keeps them coming back!  What we need to do is be a little more selective with what we remember when it comes to our past sins.  We need to treat our past sins more like taking out the garbage or remembering where we put the remote control.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How do you prevent your past from plaguing you with guilt?