My Camino in northern Spain ended the beginning of June. It was a daunting adventure, covering almost 500 miles and hundreds of meaningful conversations. I came home with a serious limp, a heart at peace and the knowledge that a special season of service was on its way.
Graduation…
It started with a graduation! Taylor Kim, son of long time friends, Joe and Sharika, was graduating along with Hiram Wethern who had spent a summer traveling with me participating in Music and Mission. I’ve known 
Taylor his whole life and Hiram for a year. Great guys and polar opposites…Taylor is Mr. Happy Go Lucky and Hiram has a little more of the brooding artist. Both fabulous musicians…I tried to get Taylor into Music and Mission but summer sports and work won out…and Hiram was a diamond in the rough…ended up being our country/alternative all star, adept at both guitar and bass and his voice would make Hank Williams shed a tear. It was a good day and they are off to fabulous adventures.
Music and Mission…
And then Music and Mission kicked off. I invited five young men from the past two years to spend six weeks with me this summer…working on skill development, song writing, studio work and performance. Micah Teehee and Zach Gilliland took it on. They each started the summer with Josh Ilia, a fabulous guitarist and producer…spending three days living at his home and learning studio life at Lunar Forge Audio.
Then they shifted over to the studio being set up south of Oregon City by the adventist community…Project Phoenix…and glamping on some adjacent property…tenting and cooking out of an outdoor kitchen. We work
at living an intentional life…time spent working out, investing in our spiritual journey and developing our musical bandwidth. So their days are self directed, managing the effort and intentions as they build their vision of who they long to be. Along the way there are breaks that give them a chance to see the change taking place.
One of those breaks was a trip to Boise to serve Jill Cornforth and her community. We packed up the Honda Element and headed out an alternative route down through Bend…stopping at Spork ( https://www.sporkbend.com/ ) for lunch before wandering through eastern Oregon and into Boise. In Boise they played twice at The HUB 365, a fabulous outreach to the Boise community, and at a wonderful homeless center, Interfaith Sanctuary ( https://interfaithsanctuary.org/ ). Watching these young men take their skills into varying situations and engage the folks that are there, whether it’s children, the unhoused or the community served by the local church…is a study in transformation and purpose.
And then its back to the grind of getting better. Studio life is challenging when you’re in the learning curve. Playing to a rhythm track, creating interesting components that fit together, finding 
musicians to do what you can’t and a dozen other opportunities for making a song work. And while this is happening you are stretching to the future to see what is next.
And that would be forming a duo, OPEN, ( http://opentoaction.org ) to travel the northwest and west coast…playing and teaching the worship process to students in adventist academies, creating opportunity for spiritual growth, teaching students to develop their own songwriting skills and more. And so it has come to pass.
They played last night at the 23rd Bobby McGhee Extravaganza. ” I don’t need no Doctor ” i
s an old Ray Charles tune that was redone by John Mayor. Micah took and gave it a new spiritual intention, changing lyrics and adding a fabulous chorus. The audience loved it and it was a confirmation of all the hard work they had put in. Today, they find themselves sharing space with old friends, preparing for a week of concerts and looking forward to an adventure that stretches out till Christmas!
Challenges…
As the summer has progressed some challenges have a risen 
that were unexpected. Having spent two months on the Camino, walking a simple life with like minded people, I find being back in the mindless busyness of traditional American life more difficult than I expected. Wrestling with the blues is not uncommon for pseudo artists like me… But it is still challenging.
Unexpected growth happened in some unusual ways. 
Aaron Koelsch has a 3on3 basketball tournament every year for his friends and classmates from 40 years ago. Usually my team is in the thick of it, but this year because of lingering wounds from the Camino, I went to watch, rather than play. It was a study in mortality, and while I enjoyed every minute, it reminded me that the doors were closing on the dreams and aspirations that I once held dear.
Also, watching the duo, OPEN, wrestle with their purpose. A four month conversation with 
their old alumni University that seemed to hold promise, created expectation that was dashed the week before their tour started. They had to decide if they could make it on their own and with much courage and tenacity, they chose that route. While they held firm to their purpose, I asked a handful of friends to step in alongside them and so far, two have.
When I was 55 I asked God for 20 more years of significance. As I feel my physical and mental capacities slowly, but surely degrading, I realize that I may not be alive for all of all it.
I am at peace with that. I certainly am not giving in or giving up, but there is more subtlety, than surety, in the process. And perhaps, that is how it always should have been.
Blessings.
