{"id":679,"date":"2015-03-19T19:35:50","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T02:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leavinglinda.starthistlemedia.com\/?p=679"},"modified":"2023-01-03T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T19:15:05","slug":"beyond-the-comfort-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leavinglinda.starthistlemedia.com\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Comfort Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Outside<\/a>
\n\"Creative<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0by\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>Lars Plougmann<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n

Although that room in Lincoln, California, was filled with around forty men, it was so quiet you could\u2019ve heard a mouse burp. I\u2019m not sure I <\/em>would have heard that because my heart was beating so loudly. Those men were staring up at me, waiting for me to start singing a song I had written. Boy was I nervous!<\/p>\n

Minutes before I was introduced to the small crowd, I was sitting in my chair thinking I was going to get sick. What was I thinking? How\u2019d I let myself get into this situation?<\/em> Then I realized it was all Mrs. Blackwell\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n

I first met Mrs. Blackwell when my wife started playing piano at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, which is a primarily African-American Church in Olivehurst that can trace its roots to 1852. My wife also played at the Chapel at Beale Air Force Base. Now I can\u2019t remember how it happened, but somehow I ended up in the Base chapel choir for their Christmas Cantata. I think they just needed to fill a spot because they never even heard me sing. If they had, perhaps they would\u2019ve realized why I was told many years ago by a Japanese musician friend that I was \u201ctone blind\u201d; I knew he meant \u201cdeaf\u201d and I got his not-so-subtle hint.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, one day I walked into an office at Beale to update my contractor identification and one of the people working in that office was Mrs. Blackwell from Mt Olivet Baptist. We chatted for a bit, and I told her I had recently joined the choir at the base chapel.<\/p>\n

She gave me a mischievous look and said, \u201cI\u2019ll have to keep that in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why\u2019d she say that<\/em>? I thought as I walked out of the office. About a week later I got my answer when I received a phone call.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that Bob?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, this is Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBob, this is Mrs. Blackwell from Mt. Olivet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell hello, Mrs. Blackwell. What can I do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell Bob, I was wondering if you might be able to help us out with our entertainment for our Christmas program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want me to do? Join the choir or something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I was hoping you could sing a solo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSay what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSing a solo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMrs. Blackwell, you know I did<\/em> join a choir, but I stand way in the back where I can hardly be seen, or heard. I\u2026I\u2026 don\u2019t know about singing a solo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh don\u2019t worry. You\u2019d be fine. We\u2019d love to have ya.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what. Let me think about it for a few days, and I\u2019ll get back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, I\u2019ll be waiting. Bye now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once I hung up the phone my first thought was, how am I going get out of this?<\/em><\/p>\n

However, that same day I started listening to a recorded sermon by Pastor Kevin Thompson, of the Bay Area Family Church in Hayward, California. In his sermon, Pastor Thompson encouraged his congregation to challenge themselves, to go beyond their comfort zones.<\/p>\n

Wow. Singing a solo at Mt. Olivet would certainly put me beyond my comfort zone<\/em>, I thought. Heck, I might be able to make a lot of people uncomfortable just by hearing me sing!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Daisys\"<\/a>
Field of sunflowers at Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm, Wheatland, California. Photo by Maree Gauper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It just so happened that during this time I was also attending a Bible study organized by Heritage Church in Lincoln, which unlike Olivehurst, is a relatively well-heeled community a little south of where I live. During the study I was so inspired by Romans 1:20 that I wrote a song about it.<\/p>\n

Maybe I could sing the song I wrote? That way, no one would know if I was singing it wrong.<\/em> So I gave Mrs. Blackwell a call and told her that I would sing a solo for their Christmas program.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what happened. Christmas week arrived and I sang my song at Mt Olivet. The congregation was warm, enthusiastic and supportive. They clapped and sang along and I felt rather proud of myself. But then I wondered if maybe this African-American congregation was just enjoying the novelty of a red-headed white guy singing in their church. And would they have been just as supportive, although confused, if I was up there singing \u201cRow, row, row, your boat\u201d?<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Inside Mt. Olivet Baptist Church years after my solo singing debut. This time I’m the emcee for an interfaith musical event. Funny, but no one asked me to sing ……. Photo:Elenore de Watteville.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, the Bible study in Lincoln had taken a break in December and reconvened in January. The leader of our small group, Tim, asked us to share stories we had about our Christmas and I spoke about writing a song and singing it for a congregation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, Bob, that\u2019s great. Do you think you could sing that song and give your testimony in front of our larger group sometime?” asked Tim.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh, yeah, I guess\u201d, I responded, feeling rather surprised he would ask me to share my testimony.<\/p>\n

After our meeting, I approached Tim and asked, \u201cAre you sure you want me to give my testimony? You do remember that when I introduced myself to the study group I explained I\u2019m a member of the Unification Church founded by Reverend Moon?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah. I guess I forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I was later leaving the study room, I glanced behind me and saw Tim speaking with the church\u2019s pastor.<\/p>\n

Eventually weeks went by, and I was never approached again about singing that song, so out of curiosity I asked Tim about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow \u2018bout you sing your song, but don\u2019t give your testimony?\u201d Tim suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. I can do that,\u201d I said, thinking, whatever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"????<\/a>
\n\"Creative<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0by\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>ohayo2007<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

And that\u2019s how I ending up standing in front of a bunch of WASPs. And I\u2019m not talking about the insects. I\u2019m talking about White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. I wasn\u2019t quite sure if it was because of my religious affiliation, or because they were just a bunch of white guys, but this crowd wasn\u2019t nearly as supportive as the one at Mt. Olivet. In fact, the difference was, well, black and white.<\/p>\n

Come on you guys, loosen up a bit,<\/em> I wanted to tell them, but I didn\u2019t. Instead, I simply took a deep breath and began singing:<\/p>\n

Somebody told me,
\nSomeone said,
\nSomebody told me that God was dead.
\nBut I didn\u2019t listen to a thing they said,
\n\u2018Cause I knew it was just a lie.
\nI said, oh, won\u2019t you listen,
\n\u2018Cause I\u2019m \u2018bout to tell you why.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0You see, I saw my babies
\nwhen they were being born.
\nAnd I watched the sun arising
\nIn the early morn,
\nAnd I heard a song of a whippoorwill,
\nSaw flowers growing on a distant hill,
\nTried counting all the stars up in an endless sky,
\nSaw a flock of birds as they flew by.
\nYou know that\u2019s just a few of the reasons why
\nI say, oh my Lord, you\u2019re everywhere I go.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Cause everywhere I look I can see you Lord,
\nEverywhere I am I can hear you Lord,
\nAnd everywhere I am I can feel your love.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0You\u2019re in the mountains, way up high,
\nIn the desert dry,
\nIn the country, and the city,
\nIn the ugly and the pretty,
\nIn a forest and a stream,
\nI say\u2026up\u2026.down\u2026and in between.
\nI say, oh, my Lord, You\u2019re everywhere I go.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Cause everywhere I look I can see you Lord.
\nEverywhere I am I can hear you Lord.
\nAnd everywhere I am I can feel your love.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0You\u2019re in the black and in the white,
\nIn the day and in the night,
\nIn a servant and in a slave,
\nIn the righteous and in the brave,
\nIn the humble and the meek,
\nIn the strong and in the weak,
\nI say, oh, my Lord, you\u2019re everywhere I go.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0But I\u2019m not a blind man, for I can see.
\nI know there\u2019s a lot of pain and misery.
\nAnd sorrow may be your friend.
\nBut if you can trust in the Lord,
\nYour heart can mend, and then…<\/em><\/p>\n

Everywhere you look you\u2019ll see him,
\nEverywhere you turn you\u2019ll hear him,
\nThat\u2019s because everywhere you go,
\nYou can feel His love, that\u2019s because
\nHe\u2019ll be everywhere you go.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>When I finished singing, the room was still rather quiet, and some of those guys looked like they were in shock, at least for a short moment. And I thought, that wasn\u2019t so bad after all!<\/em> It fact it was quite exhilarating standing there, beyond my comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n