Thank you to the people of Lord of Life for allowing me to sneak away for a long weekend to spend some quality time with my dad. We traveled to Dallas this past weekend to see Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, more on that in a moment. While we were there we got to experience the Museum of Biblical Art, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, and Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, all of which will be fueling many sermons and blog posts in the near future.
My dad grew up playing in bands at a very early age, playing in night clubs and bars before he was even legally allowed to consume a beverage there. He played with several “party” bands in the Cincinnati area, most notably with “Roundabout,” and even met my mom while playing in one of the clubs. Because he spent so much time playing music, he never had a lot of time to go to concerts to see the musicians who were so influential to him.
It has always been on my dad’s bucket list to see Eric Clapton play live. Clapton “retired” from touring several years ago and it looked like my dad may never get to see one of his guitar heroes play in person. So when Clapton announced that he would once more be hosting the Crossroads Guitar Festival, in support of his Crossroads Centre for Addiction Treatment (https://crossroadsantigua.org/), we knew he had to get tickets. Along with seeing Clapton play two live sets over two nights, we got to see him play for the first time ever with Peter Frampton, collaborations with Buddy Guy and Johnny Lang, Tedeschi Trucks Band, John Mayer, Jeff Beck with Johnny Depp, many more bands, and all hilariously hosted by Bill Murray. It was a joy to see my dad geeking out over all of the amazing guitarists!
After the two-day concert ended, my dad said, “I think I have seen all of my bucket list musicians in one epic concert.” That got me thinking… What comes after your bucket list? What motivates you once all of those “pie in the sky” dreams are checked off and completed? After he is done basking in the glory of that concert, my guess, is that my dad will find some new things to add to his bucket list. The thing that brings me joy is knowing that God smiles when we get to live out those bucket-list moments and enjoy the life with which God has blessed us.
Our God is a God who desires for us to be whole and happy. I think God beams with joy when we are swept up in these mountain top moments. So how are you planning to live life to the fullest? What would bring you joy right now? What do you want to add to your bucket list? A bucket list implies that at some point we will “kick the bucket” and cease to be on Earth. The good news is that God has defeated death, and the most epic guitar concert ever assembled, better than any bucket list item, will be waiting for us, with Jesus playing lead guitar!
Rock On,
Pastor Corey