Dreamers Close Their Eyes
Recently, in a blog post from Carlos Whitaker, he posed a question, “What do you hate that your worship pastor does?” A lot of folks replied back with they didn’t like when the worship leader would close their eyes during worship. I can see their argument if they think it’s not authentic or disconnected, but for me it’s not even close to what’s going on.
In some of my youtube videos singing in the bathroom, folks have commented on my weird facial expressions, eyes being closed, etc. To me, when my eyes are closed I have the power to visualize whatever I’m thinking about. This may sound crazy to some, but I’ve always been a dreamer. My mother raised me to believe I could do and be whatever I wanted and to dream big! She distilled wonder through taking us to museums and art shows, and imagination and creativity through making up stories on long road trips to keep us amused. So I argue that keeping my eyes closed is me dreaming of something bigger and better than I can visualize with my eyes open.
In one song my eyes are closed quite a bit..
I caught quite a bit of grief over this on youtube but there was stuff I was thinking about. I was remember hanging out with my wife and how much I love her, and how I have and do see sparks in our relationship. I was thinking about the simple lyrics and simple riff of the song and how it was so pleasant. This is a very warm song to me and makes me think of being somewhere cold and having something to warm me up like my wife laying next to me under a blanket.
So, do you dream with your eyes open, or are you like me, and dream with your eyes closed. When you close your eyes you can dream of things your eyes could never possibly see unless you allow yourself to create them in your mind! I love being creative and I love seeing creativity! I am so thankful for my parents and for my mom for just constantly pouring creativity into my life through her stories, books, paintings, even lip synching!
This entry was posted on December 17, 2008 at 8:04 am and is filed under 3amjosh with tags creativity, dream open eyes, dreamers close their eyes, dreams, stories, youtube singing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 21, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I know exactly what you’re saying and agree one thousand percent. when I used to lead worship, there were times when I enjoyed watching the church come together as one to praise God but much of the time I was immersed in worshipping God myself (which I believe is very important for a worship leader). I think most if not all of us these days have been skewed by at least one (if not many more) experience with a worship leader wearing aviator sunglasses dressed to the nines with a trendy hairstyle acting like they’re putting on a rock show instead of leading worship. It’s a fault of mine but sometimes I do assume that when a church has a really good band and the leader looks like he was ripped from the cover of Paste magazine that he is just putting on a show. That’s a personal problem I have and it’s sad. Though sometimes people are not genuine in worship I should never assume someone is being that way AND even if they are I should not let that take away from my own worship. Good post. It’s a good reminder for us all to be focused on why we worship and not on the setting in which we are worshipping.
December 22, 2008 at 5:00 am
Thanks for the insight Brad. I know exactly what you mean and can sometimes be distracted by folks leading worship but it’s important for me to realize that no matter what I’m not there to judge but to worship. I think it’s a good thing for worship pastors/leaders to keep in mind to try and not be distracting and be more engaging.
I’m still learning a lot myself from watching others, to having leaders pouring into me how to bring people along with me in worship and pray that is the only thing I do!
I didn’t realize you had a blog but it looks awesome and you are now in my google reader!