Still Awesome

It's 1am and we tucked the kids in for the fourth time. We just got back from Frontier Fest in Arlington, TX. If you don't know what that is, it's a massive concert/sermon fest for Christian Youth. Somewhere in the middle of the praise and worship time at last night's session the legion of participants burst into a rendition of "Awesome God". I always get a little sad when I hear that song. It was written by the late Rich Mullins: someone I had the privilege of knowing and interviewing during my time as a deejay, CCM writer and concert promoter way back in the day. So while the kids sang, my husband took his cell phone and snapped a video in a futile effort to capture the perfect sweetness of the moment. I uploaded it here:

It always bothers me when people talk about Rich's death and connect him with the song, "Awesome God" - because "Awesome God" was the least of his lyrical work. He came up with the song back during the time we all thought stuff was "Totally Awesome." He wrote so many great songs since that one and, if you asked him, he would tell you Liturgy was his favorite album. His music had blossomed so much from that simple anthem but it would be the one he was known for. "Rich Mullins, the song writer who penned Awesome God." So the kids sang it loud and long and waved their arms and I sat there, a little sad - thinking about my friend who was gone. I thought of the first time I met him. I worked for a radio station named SuperPower 103 in Chattanooga, TN. It was my job to meet with him, interview him and get what we called 'a liner.' It's those quick little recordings you hear before a song. An artist will say something like, "Hey this is _______, thanks for listening to ________FM!!" We always pre-wrote the liners so they could read them easily while we recorded them. The one I wrote for Rich went like this: "Hey, this is Rich Mullins and whenever I'm in Chattanooga, I always listen to SuperPower 103!" Cheesy, but fun. I put my script in front of him and held my microphone to his mouth. I'd done it so many times before with so many artists, it was mundane. I didn't expect a fight but he gave me one. He read it to himself and looked at me. "I can't say this," he said. "What?" I was shocked. Artists love deejays because we play their music. Deejays love artists because they give us music to play. Didn't he know the rules? This never happened before. What was his problem? Why was he being difficult? I was bewildered and bemused. "I can't say this because," he continued, "what if - when I'm driving through Tennessee - I'm on a vow of silence? If I'm on a vow of silence, I can't listen to the radio." He looked at me, half smirking, and waited. Was he serious? Was he being sarcastic, provocative? Is he being a jerk, or messing with my head? And is there really such a thing as a 'vow of silence'? "Well," I shot back....you could say "Hi, this is Rich, and if I'm NOT on a vow of silence and I happen to be in Tennessee, I listen to SuperPower 103!" He looked relieved and happy with the suggestion. "Oh...okay. Great," he said. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. He did the liner - in one take and even gave me a 3,2,1 countdown before it. He was different, he was fun. I sat through his concert and began to understand that no interview with Rich would be like the other canned, cookie cutter artists. He was the real deal. He'd kick off his shoes and spout profundities and play every instrument known to man in between. He gave the best interviews EVER and if his dog, Bear, wagged his tail for you, you'd get one more hitch-hiking story, a free concert t shirt, a quick dulcimer lesson..."My dog is the best judge of character," he'd say. And so this complicated, sweet soul wrote the song that you have probably sang a hundred times..."Our God is an Awesome God, He reigns, from heaven above..." You're singing it now, aren't you? I wonder how many times Rich has re-written it since he left this earth. If he were here and I could lift my mic to him one more time I'd bet he'd apologize for the understatement that is "Awesome God". That is...if he weren't on a vow of silence. It makes me happy to think that Rich and his music are a bigger part of my future than they are of my past.