Stillness at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show

I found myself reflecting on the Super Bowl this morning and wondering when the Half-Time Show became a part of the entire event. Because I like to look into such things, here's a brief history of the event:

In 1993, the NFL decided it would, for the first time in its history, have only one person perform during the Half-Time show of the Super Bowl. Due to his increasing popularity around the world, they chose Michael Jackson. Little did they expect that, for the first time in the history of the game, the viewing audience would actually increase during the Half-Time show. This set a precedent that has been followed ever since, with each band or performer attempting to capture and draw in viewers during the game break.

I watched Michael Jackson's performance when it happened and I just watched it again:

There's so much that I could discuss about this performance, but I want to point out a few things that I find absolutely incredible about the opening 2 minutes.

- To start it off, Jackson does what, to my limited knowledge, had never been done before - utilizing the two mega screens as an integral part of his entrance.
- He used these two screens and two decoy performers to tease the crowd for the first 32 seconds of the show. Using the decoys at the opening only further built up the anticipation of his arrival and performance.
- Jackson is launched up through the smoke onto stage at the 34 second mark and adopts the "Dangerous" pose. There is no music. There is no light show. It is just him standing there. Jackson makes it a point to prove that he is the show. For an absolutely astonishing seventy-four seconds, Jackson does not move. He is still. The crowd grows anxious and I am certain that the organizers of the event were not feeling quite as confident in their choice at this point.
- Then he turns his head to the left in one quick motion. He holds this pose for sixteen seconds. That brings his total time on stage as a statue to exactly a minute and a half. Not a beat of music has played. Jackson hasn't said or sang a single word and yet the crowd is growing in its intensity.
-  Finally, at just over two minutes into the performance, the music starts and Jackson become animated. The crowd goes wild. Before he has even begun, Jackson has given the attendees a memorable experience.

For those of you who have never been on stage in front of a group of people (large or small), every second that goes by silently can seem like an eternity. To hold a pose for a few seconds can be a challenge. To let a line linger for a moment after it is spoken for effect takes a certain will that some people cannot master. How Jackson could stand as still as he did for as long as he did in that moment is totally beyond me. Here he was on the biggest stage in the world, in front of the largest crowd in the world, to perform a show that had been hyped through the media for months leading up to this moment, and he just stands there stiff as a board. I'm sure his adrenaline was cranked and that he was excited to deliver an amazing once-in-a-lifetime performance, but he chose to stand still to start it all off.

In today's environment, Jackson's stillness would have cost the broadcasters $15,000,000 in airtime. And yet, would the performance have been as memorable if he hadn't started it that way? I doubt it. The still, slow beginning made it that much more memorable.

Reflecting on other Super Bowl performances, there are few moments that I can think of with any great amount of clarity. The Jackson/Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004 doesn't really count as the memory is linked to the activity at the end as opposed to the performances themselves. I think the 2007 performance by Prince was pretty entertaining, but I understand that many people don't like him or his music all that much - even though his musicianship is hard to be topped by anyone. Some people will say "But what about Paul McCartney in 2005?!??" I understand that people love the music, and Sir Paul did a fine job, but I wouldn't say it was memorable from a "Wow!" perspective.

I'll leave you with what I think is the best performance during the Super Bowl Half-time show since Michael Jackson broke the mold in 1993. It's a superb performance that is very entertaining and incredibly memorable, as U2 rocked the Superdome in 2002 and then brought everyone to tears with their tribute to 9/11 victims:
 

For your reference, here's a complete list of Super Bowl Half-Time Shows.

The Silence of God - TuesdayTunes

I absolutely love this song.

I have been reflecting on the sermon Pastor Bob delivered on Sunday (see Dan's Sunday AM Remix), particularly the section on waiting on God timing, and this song has been in my head throughout that process. Sometimes the silence we hear and feel when we seek direction/guidance from God can be quite unnerving. This is particularly true in cases where we approach God with a heavy emotional burden. And that is why I love the conclusion of this song:

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not 

Jesus understands what it is like to hear the silence of God. While in the Garden of Gethsemane, He pleaded for the Father to remove the cup of agony and pain he was about to experience from Him. (see Luke 22:39-46) Yes, we are told that an angel is sent to comfort Jesus, but the angel does not remove the suffering Jesus is encountering. Note that, after the angel appeared, Jesus then prayed more earnestly while still being in agony. "The aching still remained..."

Jesus then understood the silence of God in a way that we will never understand. While hanging on the Cross on Calvary, Jesus had His Father, whom He has been in communion with for all eternity past, turn his face from Him and pour out His wrath upon Jesus, as the sins of millions of people were cast upon Him and judged. In that moment of alienation, when Jesus Christ experienced the total silence of God, He cried out "Why have you forsaken me?" (see Matthew 27:45-46).

For years I always attributed this quote strictly as a natural response to that painful moment when Christ felt the absolutely foreign weight of sin cast down upon Him. However, in recent years, I have come to love the fact that Jesus was not merely responding to the moment, but was capturing it by quoting the beginning of a Psalm of David, which every Jew that surrounded Him would have instantly recognized and known how it progressed.

Read the following portions of Psalm 22 and see how Jesus was proclaiming His Deity and the faithfulness of God just prior to His death:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet -

I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!

You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations even the one who could not keep himself alive.

Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

I can definitely relate to the "Where are you God?" portions of this passage. However, we must recognize, like the Jews on the hill that day, that Jesus was pointing out that the rest of this Psalm was His to proclaim as well. He was enduring exactly what was prophesied by David centuries before, so that he could also lay claim to final portion where the Lord is given the praise and honor that is due Him. Jesus wasn't merely proclaiming that He was missing God's presence in that moment; He was also proclaiming that He understood that the final outcome was that God would hear His cry and that Jesus would have his rightful place of authority restored.

This is one of the reasons why, immediately prior to his last breath Jesus cried out "It is finished." He had accomplished the task set before Him. He had endured the pain of the crucifixion, as well as the pain of judgement and isolation from God. There was nothing left for Him to do.

So the challenge that I have, that I place to you, is to consider "How do I wait on God?" Do I wait on Him with a sense of dread that He will not respond or that He might give me an unclear response, or do I understand like David and Jesus that God is faithful and He will fulfill all His promises to me? I struggle with remembering that my life is but a vapor and the only amount of significance that it obtains has been given to me by God, so that i proclaim Him to those around me.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

The Silence of God by Andrew Peterson
It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God

It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes...

There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God

On the Other Side of Through - TuesdayTunes

This song reminds me of my days serving along side the other members of the Isle of Dreams. I believe that I first heard it at one of our Sunday morning services at the St. Louis Avenue nursing home. There's so much encouragement in this song that I can't help but get fired up when I hear it.

Unfortunately, embedding is disabled, so you will have to click here to hear it. You'll be glad you did.

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Lyrics for "On the Other Side of Through" by James Bignon


Floating on a sea of trouble
Sorrow falling like rain from the sky
Trodding through life's murky waters
Trials form the tears in your eyes
Don't stop
I'm telling you
There's a blessing on the other side of through

We may not see the other side
The light from darkness may seem to hide
But don't give up
What ever you do
The presence of God is there with you
Don't stop
This word is for you
There's a blessing on the other side of through

On the other side of through
There's a blessing waiting for you
Hold fast
Hold fast
Your troubles will not last
There's a blessing
There's a blessing
On the other side of through

What God has prepared for you
Is better than what you're going through
So run this race with determination
God has prepared your destination
Don't give up
I'm telling you
There's a blessing on the other side of through

On the other side of through
There's a blessing waiting for you
Hold fast
Hold fast
There's a blessing
There's a blessing
On the other side of through

Weeping may endure for a night
But joy comes in the morning light
Hold your head up
Stick your chest ouyt
Hang on in there
Hold fast in the good times
Hold in the bad
Hold on when your happy
And hold on when you're sad
Hold and rememeber that in Jesus' name
Your faithfulness will not be in vain

A "Wicked" Night

Well, over a month ago, my wife bought tickets for us to see "Wicked" as a birthday/Father's Day present. I have been listening to, and enjoying, the music from the musical for several years now and it has come to the Fox Theatre in St. Louis several times since I first heard it, but the timing was never right for me to see it. Having memorized most of the music, as well as having read the book years ago, I was really looking forward to experiencing the entire musical story for the first time and was pretty sure Lisa would also like it as well.

We left the house two and a half hours early, so we could grab a bite to eat and then be in our seats with plenty of time to spare. Since we had eaten a late lunch and weren't really hungry, we decided to swing by Lowes and look at some things that we hadn't been able to do with Lydia in tow. A half hour later, we left armed with some good information and an idea about what we wanted to do on an upcoming house project. With plenty of time to spare, we stopped at a Home Depot on the way to check their selection/prices. As I turned off the car, Lisa noticed some steam coming out from under the hood.

I popped the hood and saw that the steam was coming from a radiator hose on top. We then went into the store to cool off and browse a bit. Fifteen minutes later we were back in the car and it started fine and there was no engine temperature trouble of warning lights. So off we went. About a mile down the highway the temperature jumped and I took the next exit. With steam pouring out from under the hood, I eased the car into a gas station and parked in some shade. The radiator coolant container was completely empty, which would explain why we overheated. Lisa went into the station and the attendant gave us a bucket of water. I promptly filled the reservoir and let it sit for a few minutes.

1 hour to Showtime

We made the decision to return home and swap out the cars. The timing would be tight, but we might get to the theatre in time for the start of the show. We made it less than 5 miles and the engine temperature shot up again and the check oil light came on. I pulled off into another gas station and this time both Lisa and I went in. She headed toward the Diet Coke fountain and I grabbed some coolant and oil. As we were checking out, the cashier lady said "Happy early Father's day" to me. Lisa explained that we had a little one already at home with one on the way. The cashier then said something about it being too hot outside for Lisa to be pregnant. Lisa explained what our situation was and that we were trying to get to this show. The cashier finished the transaction and said 'You guys are way calmer than I would be." I filled up the reservoir again, added a quart of oil and off we went in our hot car.

20 minutes to Showtime

We called my father and asked him to bring us the other car and meet us at a midway point. After less than 3 miles, it became clear that we were not going to make it to that midway point without another stop. I pulled into an old abandoned gas station and filled the reservoir once again. This time the car would not restart. I tried a couple of times before calling dad to have him come to our current location. As soon as I was off the phone with dad, I called our car insurance towing service and began setting up the arrangements to have the vehicle towed to our usual service garage. Dad showed up before I was off the call and we were on our way home.

Showtime

We pulled into the driveway right about the time the curtain was going up at the Fox Theatre. We both ran in real quick to use the restroom and then we were back out the door and on our way to the show. At this point, we figured we were going to be at least 45 minutes late, but we were “determined to succeed” and were also pretty certain that there was no way we could exchange the tickets for another show. Throughout the drive, Lisa tried several different numbers to see if we could speak to someone about the possibility of exchanging the tickets, but could never get anyone on the phone.

I was trying to figure out what we might be missing, so I could maybe explain it to Lisa before we got to the theatre. Without knowing what dialogue or scenes took place in between the songs I knew, I was guessing that we might miss 5 or 6 songs. I thought that we might miss through “Dancing Through Life”, whose lyrics were at this point reverberating in my head: “Woes are fleeting, blows are glancing, when you're dancing through life...” For some reason, I was flipping the song order around in my head, and was certain we would have missed “Popular” by the time we entered the building.

Being as late as we were, there was no traffic on the road to the theatre. We followed some parking lot signs and ended up on the street that runs alongside of the Fox Theatre. The lot was full and the only sign we saw was a lot for Handicapped parking. I pulled the car into the lot and the young attendant walked over with a quizzical look on his face. I asked him if we could park in the lot or if he knew where there was another available lot. He hesitated and turned around to ask the older attendant if we could park there. After a few moments of thought, the older man said “Yeah. Park them in #3.” So we pulled right into that slot that is reserved for Fox Club patrons only, did not have to pay for parking and hurried inside.

45 minutes after Showtime

We hustled through the lobby, without glancing twice at the merchandise for sale. Immediately, our heard “Dancing Through Life” just starting to play and was thrilled to have made it to hear the song. We made our way up several flights of stairs and had a kind gentlemen point us in the right direction. After the handoff, a nice lady usher led us into the dark theatre where we quickly took our seats. Since they were in the second row on the aisle, we did not have to disturb anyone around us or inhibit anyone else’s view of the performance while getting to our proper seats. I sat down in my seat and was pleasantly surprised a few minutes later that we hadn’t missed “Popular”.

I cannot tell you how the “Wicked” performance begins. I cannot tell you how the first few songs song live. I cannot speak to certain scenes and dialogue. What I can tell you is that at the moment I sat down, I was the sweatiest, most out of breath, latest arrival who was absolutely thrilled to be there.

God provided us with family to help watch Lydia, family to help us with our car issues, insurance to deal with the car issues, a free parking spot that we should never have been allowed to park in, helpful attendants to get us to our seats quickly and the opportunity to be entertained by some very remarkable performers. I’m thankful that He granted me patience and the ability to remain calm through what was a pretty frustrating and stressful couple of hours and that He allowed me to marry someone who understands me (probably better than I do).

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A Review of “Wicked”

The remainder of the night was all that I had hoped and I was incredibly pleased with all of the performances. The set of “Wicked” is not nearly as elaborate as “Phantom of the Opera”, but it is functional and does not detract from the story or music. The characters are introduced and developed in a very natural way, with numerous one liners thrown in that tie the story of “Wicked” directly to “The Wizard of Oz”. As Lisa stated to me after the fact, they do a good job of having Dorothy be a part of the story, without allowing her be a part of the scenery. I agree with my wife that not showing Dorothy allows the story of “Wicked” to stand on its own merits and not cause the audience to be distracted by the farm girl.

The music was perfectly played, with no noticeable mistakes. The vocalists nailed their notes and, for the most part, their diction allowed the hearer to understand without difficulty the message. There were a few moments where a microphone seemed to have a little trouble picking up a line clearly, but for the most part the sound was well-managed. Although I felt that there were times in the duets where one voice seemed to be lost in the other, making it hard to hear the harmonies clearly, I cannot hold this against the sound engineer, as in live theatre so much is left in the hands of the vocalists.

I do not have a broad experience with Broadway productions of musicals. It may be more than most, but it is not very diverse or artsy in nature. I prefer the mainstream musicals that have proven incredibly popular over time. I would place “Wicked” in the top tier of productions I have seen and would not have any hesitation in recommending it to any adult. I think “Wicked” tells an intriguing story, using interesting characters that perform some really amazing songs.

I am pretty sure I will see it again, although perhaps next time I could do it without all of the drama on the way to the theatre.

Impatience

God has been impressing on me lately that I am incredibly impatient.

In the past week there have been numerous times that I have become keenly aware of that impatience and have been reminded of the fact that God is still patient with me, after all that I have said and done.

This post from Jon Acuff struck home today. This pretty much sums up where I am at right now:

"Have you ever felt that way? That maybe God is not aware that the reason your friends appear to be lapping you in life is that he’s driving very, very slowly? Has there ever been something that made you feel wildly alive but you’re stuck sitting in a cubicle that is so close to the break room that at the end of the day you smell like whatever people heated up? Have you ever wanted to punch the guy who burned the popcorn in the face and take the gas pedal back? (Seriously, we’ve been microwaving popcorn since 1983, how are people still burning it?)

It’s possible you’re not impatient like me, having prayed to receive patience, which is the most dangerous thing you can ask for. But if you are, if you’ve ever felt that way, there’s hope for us all."

And his conclusion is the challenge that I am facing:

"Today, I’m going to give God the steering wheel and the gas pedal. Today I’m not going to lean over the seat and try to force the car faster."

Lord have mercy. And take the wheel and the gas pedal.

This song is stuck in my head:

"Patience (Herbert the Snail)" - Music Machine (Wiki)