Doug Van Pelt

How Interviews Happen

This trusty little micro-cassette tape recorder has heard a lot of interesting things said into its tiny little condeser microphone. I'm glad almost every bit of it has been documented in the pages of HM. There have been very few "off the record" or "can you turn that off for a second" comments. There's been a few interviews not used up to this time (which is one reason why bringing back Heaven's Metal Fanzine on the side has been so much fun -- getting to print interviews with Uli Roth, Metal Church, Savatage, and Gwar).

I wonder what interviewing King David during his life would have been like. I imagine there would have been talk of his enemies and the many battles that God brought them through and gave them victory in. In Psalm 66 he directs our praises to God. From our modern perspective, it reads very hymn-like:

"Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His Name;
make His praise glorious!"

He also reflects back on the time that God brought His people through -- the time of slavery in Egypt.

"You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but You brought us to a place of abundance."

I cannot imagine the pain of living under their conditions of slavery in Egypt. I can't imagine the suffering of black slaves in America. It's hard to fathom the arrogance and cruelty of capturing, chaining, and bringing over boatloads of slaves from Africa. To think that our government actually treated the African American to be only 3/5 of a person. I'm so glad they were freed and so grateful for heroic stories of people that risked their lives in the underground railroad. I'd like to think that I would've helped out if I was alive in that era. The classic historical perspective is that it makes a person and a nation strong when it goes through something like that, but that is too trite to put into words. The very real human suffering that went on in this country was horrible. To live on this side of that history is a relief, and to look back and take ownership of the sins of our nation (and repent on their behalf) is actually not as strange or unnecessary as it sounds. The fact that many of our beautiful brothers and sisters of color have embraced the same God that many of the white race did is amazing. In spite of how terrible we sometimes treat each other, our Father in Heaven still loves us. It must bring Him great joy to see us united in Him.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at May 11, 2005 09:19 AM