hello bloggy world,

lots is happening and yet it might look like nothing is happening.  despite current appearances, the MV gang is hard at work even when you don’t see it.  kind of like how batman has his secret cave (or is it a lair?) where he does all sorts of geek cool work behind the scenes.  

don’t worry, we’re not building skin tight, spandex and armor costumes for the stage.  yet.

I’ve avoided writing something here all week.  partially, because of life.  you know.  but also because I always want to say something that I think contains more than the day to day.  But I’m learning recently that your basic day to day is okay too.

in that vein, I’ve still not a lot to say.  but this morning I put on a shirt that I haven’t worn in a year.  I realized why – because it’s one of those shirts where the cut is just a bit funky for me.  I still like it though for its nifty pattern and it just happens to work wonderfully paired under a sweater.

earlier this week at band jam time I was reminded of a parallel truth in life…we are often better when working in concert with others, despite our oft desire to be great in and of ourselves.  we were made for community and when we share talents, dreams, goals and life with those around us something bigger and better often comes about.  

that was what I was reminded of by today’s shirt and sweater and this week’s practice.

love from the maida valers.

A few months back, a leader in our faith community got up and made this cool announcement about how iTunes had lent its support to one of our CDs and we had made the charts there. 

A few days later, he received an e-mail from someone who had attended the church that day, expressing their “disappointment” that he was endorsing a band that was not explicitly Christian.

Come again? 

This is nothing new, believe me. I’ve heard rumors of it, but being on the direct end of it is something differently entirely. You want to scream, shake their shoulders, sit down with them, reason, but in the end all you can do is silently shake your head and keep on doing what you’re doing. 

Frankly, it also hurt. I don’t quite know when faith became something you lived out and struggled with only on Sunday mornings, but it’s obviously shifted. I don’t know what this person expected to find when they listened to Maida Vale’s music: “Jesus is a friend of mine?” (either you know, or you don’t)

Somehow the expression of full-humanity, of longing and fulfillment, of love and rejection, of sin and redemption failed to connect with her. If we have to turn our backs on being fully human in order to be a Christian band, then perhaps we don’t want to be a Christian band. 

Maybe we weren’t ever a “Christian band”.

But maybe if struggle, transcendence, fun, desire, and doubt can be part of faith, then, well, we’ll let you put two and two together.