RISEN N' RESURRECTED

RISEN N’ RESURRECTED

So, you think you have it all figured out. Attend a church service, say a prayer, receive communion, and I’m all set. Is that it? 

There is a commercial on television that asks, “What’s in your wallet?” Well, what’s in your spiritual journey? Have you made an effort to progress in a more reverent and deeper devotion of your faith? Or, has your journey been like mine, years in the making, finding, that work and a career is in the forefront, and spiritual growth is in the background? That the path you followed is a crossroad which consumes your energy going nowhere. And the focus of your ambitions blinds your way to heaven. That the obstacles on your journey are turning points, that salvation is your objective.

It is here I speak of my own spiritual journey, which had little substance , until I came to my own crossroad.

Back in the 1950s I was pursuing a career in radio and television. I was known as

R N’ R, “Rock and Rolling”, a disc jockey who played records at teen dances and was also a promoter for local rock bands and singers. In the basement of my home I had a rock and roll room, walls with autographed pictures of rock stars and also accumulated a large record collection.

On weekends, you would find me in the studio of a radio station in Hartford, observing the radio announcers doing their broadcasts, and also at the State Theater in Hartford which had live stage shows featuring nationally known rock and roll recording artists. Being backstage, I was able to meet and socialize with well known personalities  whose names you might recognize, idols, like Frankie Avalon to Buddy Holly, from Chuck Berry to Dyane Eddy. This explosive music had an impact on me, from Bill Haley to Jerry Lee Lewis and was accepted into the inner circle of rock and roll stars. Between performances, I was invited as a guest into their dressing rooms. I became one of them. I was there. I lived it, and was able to have a few of them at my home for breakfast, and dined with them at a nearby restaurant. I was in the realm of the rock world, enthralled in an atmosphere of  excitement, of rock concerts, and loud thundering music.

Most of the rock and roll stars I knew back then, have passed away, and there are not many of us left to tell this story as it happened.

In 1975 with an overwhelming anticipation and desire, my cousin and I had an opportunity to attend an Elvis Presley concert at the Civic Center, in Springfield, Massachusetts. The most climatic music experience for me, was when Elvis appeared on stage, hundreds of flash bulbs were flashing on and off, like lighting , as thousands of people were mesmerized by the presence of this charismatic performer. My cousin and I looked at each other, in disbelief, that we were actually seeing Elvis in person.

My career in music had other peaks and valleys, meeting Johnny Mathis, The Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Ray Charles, too many to mention here. Because of my background in rock and roll, in 1972, I was sought out to be a contributor to the making of the motion picture “Let The Good Times Roll”. I was being dazzled by all this glamour and was oblivious to any spiritual direction. My career became stagnate and encountered many failures; designing record album covers, singing auditions going bad, songwriting going nowhere, musicians backing out of commitments to perform. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was leading me in a different direction.

MATTHEW 6:24

No man can serve two masters: For either he hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other, ye cannot serve God and mammon.

It  became apparent, that a music career was not meant to be, so I accepted a job offer in printing to support my family.

In 1976 at St. James Church in Manchester, a new visiting priest, Father Edward Mclean was here to celebrate Mass. It is here when Father Ed gave the blessing,

“Peace be with you. The Lord’s peace I give you”, is when this most wonderful peace came over me. I can’t explain it, but an illumination of spirit became apparent. I felt it. A weight lifted off of me. This is when the volume of the rock music dissipated, and the soft melodies of the heart opened.

JEREMIAH 29: 11-13

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

I had to hear more from this priest, and started to attend Father McLean’s “From The Head To The Heart” lecture series. This twelve part series is a program of prayer, scripture, mediation and inspirational music creating a more deeper understanding of the Catholic faith. For the next thirty- nine years, Father Ed and I had become very good friends, and was fortunate to have him as my spiritual director.

It is here, R N’ R took on a new meaning, “Risen N’ Resurrected”. My spiritual life was “risen” from the rock world and “ resurrected” to the interior journey of the soul. With Father Mclean’s guidance I was so inspired and uplifted, I began to write spiritual reflections of my heart and soul, true events in my life, that now have touched  many hearts across the world by way of the internet. This gift from the Holy Spirit to write these words are a grace beyond my writing ability and education.

Someone said, “ I write things they wanted to say, but didn’t know how to put them into words”. And so, the path that was chosen for me by God’s will is being nourished in prayer, with delicate offerings of compassion reflecting upon the Lord’s intercession.

The rock world, now crumbled. Thundering pulsating guitar strings silent.

The time of Alan Freed’s Rock and Roll shows, and all the performers of the 1950’s,  have past into the echoes of the recordings that were made, a living tribute for others to hear and listen, when their hearts can drift back in time, and grasp a moment to remember the memories, in a time in history, that not many have experienced.

And now, softness of harp strings cascade into a peaceful interlude of interior melodies in the heart, expressions of gratitude, radiate upward, giving thanks for being “Risen N’ Resurrected”, into a spiritual journey to salvation.

Robert J Varrick

rjvarrick@gmail.com