359---Road Trip

I think of that time driving to Phoenix to share music at Thunderbird Adventist Academy. Listening to David Crowder off Scott's Ipod, and those two girls with the sweet Hebrew reggae harmonies. What was their name? I love their music. 

That was the trip I met Nichole, and Dexter, and Kaitlin, and Kim, and Warren and Isaiah. That's something I love about road trips--you meet more of the amazing people that fill this world. It's like finding money you didn't even know you had. 

This song began on a different trip, 2001, solo travel, the 17-hour drive from Los Angeles to my favorite part of Oregon. 

I just love the majesty of snow-capped Mt. Shasta going by on my right. There's an excitement that surges through me as I drive past the sign that lets me know I'm now in Oregon and I'm welcome here. I love the gradual encroach of greenery until all desert memories recede and I am enveloped in the lushness of Rogue valley. 

I don't know why my mind went there, but it occurred to me: what if there was a state called Compromise? Ever since I was a kid, I hear people talking about the state of compromise. Suppose I was on a Road Trip and went past a sign that said "Compromise Welcomes You!"

I was in a great mood. I'd been listening to music the last 12 hours and basking in the anticipation of new environments. If I was entering the State of Compromise, I'd probably drive right past the sign and not even notice with my tunes cranked and my mood so light.

I'm thinking of the choices I've made along my life journey. Some of them, many of them, are not choices I justify. I plead the grace God affords each of us, but I certainly won't try to make a case for lust and greed in any of their subtle or other guises.  

Thing is, I didn't set out for that destination.  Wrong turn somewhere.  I thought I was following the map. I must have gotten distracted and somehow ended up in the wrong place. 

It was a passing thought. I noted it as a 'maybe' idea for a song, and went back to enjoying the journey home. The song downloaded a little at a time over the year that followed. I initially titled it "State of Compromise." Then "Welcome Sign," then finally "Road Trip."

I have a different relationship with each song. Catching this one was like reeling in a fish. It's funny that I use the analogy, since I've never gone fishing. It's just that this one was beyond my reach for a while, now closer, now far, until finally with a fair bit of exhaustion, I was ready to invite the other musicians in. 

On this one, Young Professor on the drums. He plays some good stuff on this track--some o' that good 'n tasty. I've heard a piano track from his Boston keyboard guy--haven't heard the organ track yet. Dan Pearson on upright bass. Still putting it together. I was thinking of having a little mandolin, but I don't know. We're working on getting it out by November 1st.

I thought about what it means to be a citizen of the state of compromise. I wondered how many of us end up there by accident. I wandered what state propaganda we might have believed. You know, those tourism brochures always photograph the state from it's best side. 

I see the scenery changing as I drive by. I find more and more gray areas, less and fewer convictions. I wonder what we stand for, and how we decided. 

I hear how important it is to keep an open mind. I hear how dangerously intolerant it is to maintain standards. I hear us waxing eloquent in philosophical discourse on the cultural relevance of the Bible in today's society. I hear it's every person's prerogative to distill their own truth.  

I remember the kingdom where my citizenship resides, but only faintly, as a whisper in the fog. How does one exit the state of compromise? Will googlemaps plot me a course for home? 

I compromise all day, every day. One simply cannot enjoy the fullness of relationship without meeting in the middle on matters of taste and color. But there are some things I won't mix. Not anymore. I've chosen a map. I believe in absolutes. 

Here's the lyric:

I dreamed I took a ride

Upon a road 

It was paved with good intention

Over a mountain made of circumstances 

Through a valley called Decision

I came upon a border

Seemed to me it was a line of separation

And there a sign that bore these words of warning

In flaming gold inscription:

We are not sure what we believe

But we are glad that you've come

If you brought principles, please check them at the gate

And welcome to the State of Compromise

You are leaving what is real for whatever feels nice. 

We might be a little wrong or just a little right 

But welcome to the State of Compromise

There are no absolutes

And if there were

Well only God could really know

But living here you'll quickly learn

That anything goes

Thou shalt not murder means thou shalt not make thy brother dead

But it's alright to tear him down with hurtful words instead

We are not sure what we believe

But we are glad that you've come

If you brought principles, please check them at the gate

And welcome to the State of Compromise

You are leaving what is real for whatever feels nice. 

We might be a little wrong or just a little right 

But welcome to the State of Compromise

Goodnight, Beautiful...

Goodnight, Strender.