the_songs

This song is named for a mountain in Southern New Mexico where I
spent a lot of time as a young man. Most of the west side of Sierra Blanca is
wilderness, a place where I could find peace and quiet -- except for one close
encounter with a rattlesnake. Everyone should have a place to escape to when
they close their eyes.
As to whether this song is about me, well, let's just say it's
semi-autobiographical: In a previous life, I was a Mack truck.

Country music is amazing, and there have been times in my life when I
would listen to and sing nothing else. Sometimes, though, I got a little
discouraged when singers would talk about how rough their lives were, with
mean parents, hostile homes, holes in their shoes and such. I got discouraged
because I figured I was at a disadvantage having grown up in functional home.
I'll never forget the first time I sang this for Mom and Dad. They both
teared up at the right places, and laughed at the right places, so I figured this
was a good one.

When Mom was dying of cancer in early 1997, all us kids and a bunch of
other loved ones had a sweet reunion at her and Dad's house in Alamogordo,
N.M. She didn't have the energy to join in all that was going on, but even
when she was sleeping, we kept her door open so she could hear the music
and the laughter that has always been a wonderful part of our family.
I got to ride down to Alamo with brother Dave, who lived near Durango
and was (and still is) heavily into bluegrass. So all the way there, he and I
were singing and harmonizing with a bunch of old hymns and joyous songs he
had on tape. So with that long marinade in his truck, how could this tribute to
her be anything but bluegrass? Whenever I sing it, I can hear fiddles and
washtub bass and a jews harp. Maybe someday when I get that country band
together ....

There's something about that lateral sensory array that has plagued the
crew of the Starship Enterprise throughout its history. And the Holodeck is
something no home should be without. But if it weren't for the transporter,
Kirk and company would not have survived their first episode.
I remember as a young Christian hearing about the rapture, and how it
could happen at any moment. To me, that became kind of "Get Out of Jail
Free" card, trusting Jesus to rescue me out of any fix I got myself into.

  Our feet tend to follow our eyes. And there's lot of distractions in this world
that are specifically designed to lure us away from a walk of faith and purity.
Where we look, where we turn our eyes, determines our course toward Jesus'
light or back toward darkness.
       It's hard for me to imagine any Christian making a straight line toward
Jesus for a whole lifetime. Some of our detours are longer and dirtier than
others, but His grace is always there. His voice is always there. His sacrifice
is always there, and it's always sufficient.
       Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me,
is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's
hand." (John 10: 27-29 NKJV)