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	Terrapin Station. At the the very least least, a supreme irony. At some levels, exceptionally prophetic.The first song, Estimated Prophet. Prior to this night, just another song. But now, it had a whole new meaning for this young christian man. The lyrics read: My time coming, any day, don't worry bout me, no - Been so long I felt this way, ain't in no hurry, no - Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow - My time coming, voices saying, they tell me where to go - Don't worry bout me, no no, don't worry bout me, no - And I'm in no hurry, no no no, I know where to go. - California, preaching on the burning shore - California, I'll be knocking on the golden door - Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light - Rising up to paradise, I know I'm gonna shine - My time coming, anyday, don't worry bout me, no - It's gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so - Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin' slow - Still I know I lead the way, they tell me where I go - Don't worry bout me, no no, don't worry bout me, no - And I'm in no hurry, no no no, I know where to go - California, a prophet on the burning shore - California, I'll be knocking on the golden door - Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light - Rising up to paradise, I know I'm gonna shine - You've all been asleep, You would not believe me - Them voices telling me, - You will soon receive me - We're standing on the beach, - The sea will part before me - (Fire wheel burning in the air) - And you will follow me, - And we will ride to glory - (Way up the middle of the air) - And I'll call down thunder - And speak the same - And my word fills the sky with flame - And might and glory gonna be my name - And men gonna light my way - My time coming, anyday, don't worry bout me, no - It's gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so - Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin slow - My time coming, anyday, don't worry about me, no - Don't worry about me...
	Were these the rantings of some deranged drug addict who is trying to deceive the masses or did God enlighten a man who, by all definition, was an outcast to society? The next song, Dancing in the Streets, speaks of a big party. Could this be the great party of the Lamb? That only time would tell. But Michael is beginning to feel as if those spoken of in the Bible, the outcast who were invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, just might be getting their invitations for the oddest of places. Could God be using the medium of music to send out the invitations to those who have ears to hear? Time will tell.
	The next song, Passenger, spoke to the person riding the train when it said "Passenger, don't you hear me? - Destination seen unclearly. - What is a man deep down inside, - What a raging beast with nothing to hide." At that moment, Michael felt transparent in the presence of God. Standing there, now alone, but yet surrounded by the warm glow of love that flowed from above. Then came an old fable, Samson & Delilah. Most know the story. The big line in the song, "If I had my way, if I had my way, if I had my way, - I would tear this old building down." Michael sang along with all his heart. It was, indeed, the song of his heart at that moment. Michael longed to break down the walls of deception that seemed to separate everyone.
	Then came the Sunrise. A short, wonderful song that goes "Gazing at the fire, burning by the water - Before he speaks the world around us quiets. - With eyes as sharp as arrows and turning to the fire - He clears the air and cuts it with a feather. - Many in a circle slowly 'round the fire - When he is gone I want to know him better. - No one is forsaken, no one is a liar, - He plants the tree of life on our foreheads with water. - He hums, there are drums, four winds, rising suns. - We are singing and playing, I hear him saying. - I remember breezes from winds inside your body - keep me high, like I told you, I'll sing to them this story and know why." Tears began to roll down Michael's face as he ponders the thought of God's glory. It was a mental image Michael could no deny.
	Then, the train arrives. Terrapin. Michael's tears continued to flow as the Spirit of God engulfed the room as a burning fire. The air seemed to leave Michael's lungs and yet he no longer felt the need to breath. The breath of God flowed through him instead. All the while, the prophetic tone of the song struck a deep cord within Michael as it played as follows: Let my inspiration flow in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm, - That will not forsake you, till my tale is told and done. - While the firelight's aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow, - Till things we've never seen will seem familiar. - Shadows of a sailor, forming winds both foul and fair all swarm. - Down in Carlisle, he loved a lady many years ago. - Here beside him stands a man, a soldier from the looks of him, - Who came through many fights, but lost at love. - While the story teller speaks, a door within the fire creaks; - Suddenly flies open, and a girl is standing there. - Eyes alight, with glowing hair, all that fancy paints as fair, - She takes her fan and throws it, in the lion's den. - Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell? - I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance. - The sailor gave at least a try, the soldier being much too wise, - Strategy was his strength, and not disaster. - The sailor, coming out again, the lady fairly leapt at him. - That's how it stands today. You decide if he was wise. - The story teller makes no choice. Soon you will not hear his voice. - His job is to shed light, and not to master. - Since the end is never told, we pay the teller off in gold, - In hopes he will return, but he cannot be bought or sold. - Terrapin Station - Inspiration, move me brightly. Light the song with sense and color; - Hold away despair, more than this I will not ask. - Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last. - Some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to Terrapin. - Counting stars by candlelight, all are dim but one is bright; - The spiral light of Venus, rising first and shining best, - On, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon, - While crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune, - Terrapin Station. - In the shadow of the moon, Terrapin Station. - And I know we'll get there soon, Terrapin Station. - I can't figure out, Terrapin, if it's the end or beginning, Terrapin, - But the train's put it's brakes on, Terrapin, - And the whistle is screaming, TERRAPIN. - Terrapin Station - At the Siding - While you were gone, these faces filled with darkness. - The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in, - Sullen wings of fortune beat like rain - You're back in Terrapin for good or ill again, for good or ill again.
	Was it a beginning or an end for Michael. Was Michael being decieved by the great deciever or was God reaching out to him in a special way for a reason. All Michael knew was that he had never stood in a light so bright than that within his room that night. As Terrapin Station wound down, the next logical selection for the night was the Garcia album. For Michael, it seemed to be the only choice of the hundreds of records in his collection. Again, could God have been using the opportunity to speak to the spirit in the room with Michael. It certainly seemed that way.
	The album starts with Deal. "Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose, - You and me bound to spend some time wond'rin' what to choose. - Goes to show, you don't ever know, - Watch each card you play and play it slow, - Wait until that deal come round, - Don't you let that deal go down, no, no. - I been gamblin' hereabouts for ten good solid years, - If I told you all that went down it would burn off both of your ears. - Goes to show you don't ever know - Watch each card you play and play it slow, - Wait until that deal come round, - Don't you let that deal go down, no, no. - Since you poured the wine for me and tightened up my shoes, - I hate to leave you sittin' there, composin' lonesome blues. - Goes to show you don't ever know - Watch each card you play and play it slow, - Wait until that deal come round, don't you let that deal go down. - Wait until that deal come round, don't you let that deal go down, - Wait until that deal come round, don't you let that deal go down, - Don't you let that deal go down, don't you let that deal go down." Michael remembered the bar, the card players, and the song, Spanish Train, about God losing souls to the devil in a card match. The song played night after night while Michael was in college.
	The next few seemed to speak of a passing angel, a wayward woman and a loser. A very special loser. It goes "If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn, - I could arm a town the size of Abilene - Don't you push me baby, - Cause I'm all alone and you know I'm only in it for the gold - All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars - And I could pay you back with one good hand - You can look around about the wide world over - And you'll never find another honest man. - Last fair deal in the country, - Sweet Suzie, last fair deal in the town - Put your gold money where your love is baby, - Before you let my deal go down - Don't you push me baby, cause I'm all alone - Well I know a little something you won't ever know - Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee - I'm gonna get up in the morning and go - Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine - I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines - Come to daddy on the inside straight, - Well I got no chance of losin' this time - Last fair deal in the country, - Last fair deal in the town - Put your gold money where your love is baby, - Before you let my deal go down - Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine - I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines - Come to daddy on the inside straight, - Well I got no chance of losin' this time." For Michael, the prophetic reference to Christ calling his bride could not be ignored. Michael began to sob. 'Got no chance of losin' produced an image of Christ on the cross, hanging there to clear us of our sins to provide us with the hope of salvation.
	Once side two started, Michael understood his place. It was as if God had prepared him his entire life for these moments. Four very special instrumental arrangments lead into what would become a spiritual birth for Michael. It starts with Late for Supper. Michael feels tremendous pressure as if being forced down a birth canal. Over the course of the next few songs, Michael feels as if he is passing from one life to another as a child is born into one world from a dark womb. After sobbing until there was literally no breath left in him, Michael is brought forth into a new world of light. The next song would define the Father's love for his newborn son. One cannot help but wonder if it were possible that the Grateful Dead with their Anthem of the Sun could be the mother of Michael as written in Revelation 12.
	To Lay Me Down. "To lay me down, once more - to lay me down with my head in sparklin' clover - to lay me down, one last time, to lay me down - To be with you, once more, to be with you. With our bodies close together - let the world go by, like the clouds a'streamin' - to lay me down, on e last time, to lay me down - to lay me down, to lay me down, to lay me down, one last time, to lay me down - to lie with you, once more, to lie with you - with our dreams entwined together - to wake beside you, my love still sleepin' - to tell sweet lies, one last time and say good night - to lay me down, to lay me down, to lay me down, one last time, - to lay me down, one last time, to lay me down - to lay me down, to lay me down, to lay me down, to lay me down - to lay me down" Michael felt as it were the hand of his Father reaching down from heaven to lay him down. Michael did not resist. So while the chorus played, Michael layed down not knowing if he would ever awaken. Michael knew he was safely inside the arms of his God.
	The next song, An Odd Little Place, was exactly where Michael found himself. Not quite alive yet not quite dead, Michael lay in limbo. It was, it seems, a baptism of sorts. Michael was taken below the waters of the Spirit of God, emersed, then, as the last song started, Michael was brought back up. "The wheel is turning and you can't slow down, - You can't let go and you can't hold on, - You can't go back and you can't stand still, - If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will." It was Michael's call to rise up and go on.
	The next album, Blues for Allah, would take Michael on quite a different journey. Help on the Way begins with "Paradise waits, on the crest of a wave, her angels in flames." Immediately Michael felt the presence of spiritual beings, angels if you may, in a way he had known them before. Previously, he had felt their presence in the bodies of others and the encounter in his room. But this time, Michael surrounded by angels. Of that he had no doubt. The next song, an instrumental lead into Franklin's Tower which begins with "In another times forgotten space; Your eyes looked from your mother's face; Wallflower seed on the sand and stone; May the four winds blow you safely home." As the song played on, the angels carried Michael up high to the place where God sat and look down upon the earth. Michael could sense the treamendous sadness pouring from the heart of God for what man was doing on the earth but at the same time Michael could sense a great peace that passed understanding. It was from this point of view that Michael was able to look back upon the world. Michael knew then that a higher calling was being required of him. It was as if he was given a great secret to keep until an appointed time.
	The next song with lyrics was appropriately titled The Music Never Stopped. The chorus line is "Sun went down in honey and the moon came up in wine; You know stars were spinnin' dizzy, Lord; The band kept us too busy we forgot about the time." What made this song so appropriate was that Michael was in a place completely outside of time. While in the presence of God, time stopped. Michael understood that it was a sense of being in the moment. He wanted to stay. The next song played, Crazy Fingers. The song rang out "Life may be sweeter for this, I don't know, See how it feels in the end; May Lady Lullaby sing plainly for you soft, strong, sweet and true; Cloud hands reaching from a rainbow tapping at the window, touch your hair; So swift and bright strange figures of light float in air." Michael turned to see creatures that could only be described a cherubs standing around the throne of God. Creatures with many heads, full of fire. Michael marveled at their beauty.
	The night was summed up in a line from the title track, Blues for Allah. "The thousand stories have come round to one again." Michael found himself full of wonder. Who would believe the events of this night? Pure fantasy? Divine prophesy? Michael spent the remainder of his night in prayer and fasting wondering what was to become of him. So much had happened to him in so much time. He was left to ponder the meaning of all these things and where his path was to take him.

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