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The Darkness Makes For Strange Company
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Time moves on. Michael is working
retail now. Grovin' to tunes and serving the public. Michael was very
pleased with his life. One night, in the comfort of his dark wood
paneled basement bedroom with decorative white ceiling tiles, Michael
sat gazing at two photos he had picked up from a friend in high school.
They were old black and white images of a woman's eyes mounted on the
wall. The eyes were run through a spiral filter resulting in a opposite
patterns for each eye. Kind of a novelty. After years of looking at
them, Michael had a feeling that for once, they were gazing back. At
least, he had the feeling that someone was in the room. Michael passed
it off as just another strange feeling and bedded down for the night. |
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Michael settles into to
normal life. Work, bible study, more work, music. Then one Saturday
night, things start turning strange again. With the remainder of the
family at the beach, the young man is home in his basement. He again
feels a presence but no one was in the room. It was like a pressure
change in the room. Pretty soon, the young man could feel the pressure
in his lungs. The air became thicker, heavier, as if he was suddenly
emersed in water. Michael could sense a presence of a female nature. It
was more than obvious to him that this 'presence' was causing more than
just tingles on his spine. Crazy as it may sound, Michael wanted to try
to communicate with the presence. He didn't know why and certainly not
how. |
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After a what seemed like an
hour, the presence left the room. Michael was left wondering at the
strange feelings that had come to him. It was as if an angel came and
stood in the room. But to what purpose Michael had no clue. He only
knew
that something was there and that the feeling was no entirely unlike
that from the Depot, only the presence was much stronger.
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A few months pass then one
night, again while the parental units were out of town, a friend
dropped
over. After exchanging the normal greetings, Michael's friend produces
a
tape of a Grateful Dead concert he had attended recently. As the tape
played, the air in the room began to change. A very dark presence
entered the room and appeared to use the music as its voice. As one
song
rolled into another, the theme began to center around a "Just you and
me." It was as if my friend had left the room. Pretty soon the song
playing was "he's gone" with lyrics that go...
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Rat
in a drain ditch - Caught on a limb - You know better but - I know him
- Like I told you - What I said - Steal your face - right off you head
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Now he's Gone - Lord he's gone - Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track - He's
gone - He's gone - and nothing's gonna bring him back - He's gone -
Nine
mile skid - on a ten mile ride - Hot as a pistol - but cool inside -
Cat
on a tin roof - Dogs in a pile - Nothing left to do but - smile, smile,
smile - Now he's gone - Lord he's gone - Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track - He's
gone - He's gone - and nothing's gonna bring him back - He's gone -
Going where the wind don't blow so strange - Maybe on some high cold
mountain range - Lost one round but the price wasn't anything - Knife
in
a back and more of the same - Same old rat in a drain ditch - Out on a
limb - You know better but I know him - Now he's gone - Lord he's gone
-
Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track - He's
gone - He's gone - and nothin's gonna bring him back - He's gone....
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The music breaks into what
sounds like a slow funeral march of chimes with the "He's gone" chorus
being repeated over and over again. At once, Michael understood the big
bluff was on. Apparently, he summised, the devil had been setting him
up
since college to be able to communicate with him through song. After
all, who would ever believe if Michael were to tell his story. It would
be, my most measures, unbelievable. Understanding that the goal of his
adversary was to seek his submission (that the bible made it clear that
there is no power other than that of the Lord God), Michael waited out
the end of the tape trying to imagine the appropriate response. Then,
like lightning, it came to him.
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The perfect musical response
to such a threatening air full of darkness would be... A Dixie Chicken.
Once the tape started, the air in the room cleared. While not a word
was
spoken, immediately Michael's friend got up, stating he had to leave,
and left abruptly. It was as if being chased from the room; he was in
such a hurry to leave when the chorus rang out "I said Juanita, my sweet Jaunita, what
are you up to? - My Juanita - I said Jaunita, my sweet taquita, what
are
you up to? - My Juanita. After his friend departed, Michael
felt
compelled to run up the stairs to his powder room. There, in the
mirror,
he confronts the shadow behind his eyes and, for the first time, the
shadow was afraid. The darkness that had followed Michael around all
his
early years knew in that moment that he had been made. That dark shadow
could hide no longer behind Michael's eyes. That place was reserved for
the Lord God now. Michael headed back down to his room before the last
song played.
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The presence of God filled the
room. It was, for a moment, as if God was speaking to the spirit in the
room directly through the speakers. At that moment Michael was square
in
the middle of a larger picture. His palms began to sweat as the
revelation set in that God was on one side, the devil on the other and
with Michael tucked safely under God's wing. The sensation was
overwhelming. As the Dixie Chicken came to an end, the next logical
recording for Michael to play was Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming. First
up, Gotta Serve Somebody. The next song, Precious Angel resounds "You're the queen of my flesh, girl,
you're my woman, you're my delight,- You're the lamp of my soul, girl,
and you torch up the night. - But there's violence in the eyes, girl,
so
let us not be enticed - On the way out of Egypt, through Ethiopia, to
the judgment hall of Christ. - Shine your light, shine your light on me
- Shine your light, shine your light on me - Shine your light, shine
your light on me - Ya know I just couldn't make it by myself. - I'm a
little too blind to see." Speaking of a distant past.
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As I Believe in You play,
Michael wept uncontrollably. The lyrics spoke directly to his heart and
reminded him of what had transpired at the Depot as Dylan sang "They
ask
me how I feel - And if my love is real - And how I know I'll make it
through. - And they, they look at me and frown, - They'd like to drive
me from this town, - They don't want me around - 'Cause I believe in
you. - They show me to the door, - They say don't come back no more -
'Cause I don't be like they'd like me to, - And I walk out on my own -
A
thousand miles from home - But I don't feel alone - 'Cause I believe in
you. - I believe in you even through the tears and the laughter, - I
believe in you even though we be apart. - I believe in you even on the
morning after. - Oh, when the dawn is nearing - Oh, when the night is
disappearing - Oh, this feeling is still here in my heart. - Don't let
me drift too far, - Keep me where you are - Where I will always be
renewed. - And that which you've given me today - Is worth more than I
could pay - And no matter what they say - I believe in you. - I believe
in you when winter turn to summer, - I believe in you when white turn
to
black, - I believe in you even though I be outnumbered. - Oh, though
the
earth may shake me - Oh, though my friends forsake me - Oh, even that
couldn't make me go back. - Don't let me change my heart, - Keep me set
apart - From all the plans they do pursue. - And I, I don't mind the
pain - Don't mind the driving rain - I know I will sustain - 'Cause I
believe in you." Michael knew in his heart of hearts that it was only
by
the grace of God that he was saved.
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The next song, Slow Train,
provided the image that would be further established as the night
furthered. A foreshadowing, of types. The next three songs seemed to
speak to Michael's visitor, the angel in the night. Then Man Gave Names
to All the Animals. Where did I leave that snake? It was as if a bright
light shown down into the room to point out who did not belong. The
album ended with a song devoted to the return of Christ. Fitting to
point out the adversary of man then the salvation of man. It was a
strong focal point and a perfect lead in.
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The next recording, played
from Michael's Maryland basement, took on a very special meaning this
night. |
