Last night I took my daughter and friend Paul Q-Pek (and his son) to see the travelling Christmas rock show -- Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was a real blast. Those guys are great musicians who are extremely tight together. They rock out many traditional Christmas songs with their own progressive tweak. It was really cool to see my daughter's face light up when the snow fell, and she really enjoyed all the lasers, fog, and the pyro-technics. She really paid attention to the music. At one point the lead guitar player, flashing a sporty Charvell-Jackson flying-V (like the one Randy Rhoads played), jumped into the audience with the virtuoso violinist, and they marched around the packed auditorium. He looked at me while he was walking down the aisle, paused right in front of me and then leaned back for a real high string-bending note. Awesome!
I plan on interviewing the mastermind behind Trans-Siberian Orchestra for a future edition of Heaven's Metal Fanzine. Be on the lookout for it in the Feb/Mar issue.
Paul the Apostle could never be accused of being a lazy Christian. He was as serious as can be. He makes some references to athletics in chapter nine of First Corinthians. he talks about the strict training that Olympic runners go through. He says that he himself does "not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." His walk with Christ, his faith is like a race or a contest, in which he plans on winning. He takes his Christian faith seriously. He's not flimsy or wavering in his quest to know Christ, be like Him, and do His will.
I can remember the hard work it takes to prepare for athletic competition. You train your body, and quite literally (almost) beat it into submission. Your mind tells your muscles, "One more lap," or "one more sprint, one more press." Like with fasting, your head is telling your body (stomach) who's really in control. It's a great method of discipline. Sometimes this type of serious effort is needed to excel in spiritual growth.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at December 20, 2005 10:00 AM