Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Pondering

Have you ever played guitar? If so, then you know that there are more hands in this picture that are.. well, normal.

You see, after graduation last summer, we were hanging out and someone thought itd be a good idea to put a guitar in Luke's hands so we could all sing. You know, your average weekend on the back porch kind of sing-a-long: John Denver, Indigo Girls, Guns N Roses. The only problem was that we decided we wanted to sing a song that needed a capo, and sadly, Tripp had misplaced his capo. Being a creative bunch, we improvised: This is the picture of my friend Les being a human capo, while my Luke plays Closer to Fine.

What's a capo, you say? I'm so glad you asked that. A capo is a little contraption that hooks onto the neck of the guitar. Sometimes they're fancy with levers and clips and stuff, othertimes, they're really plain - bars with rubber bands. Essentially, it changes the basic key of the instrument, so that you can play the same chords but in a range that people might be able to join into the music.

In my new job, on good days, I feel a bit like that: that I am serving as a human capo, transposing programs and ideas and generational differences so that everyone can sing the Gospel in a key they can reach. Its great work, fun and creative, but also a bit sloppy as I try to get organized, build up those callouses again. I'm getting to the point where I can start to imagine us actually making music though, and its exciting. I can't wait to hear the song.

PS: Les thinks being mentioned in blogs is kinda like writing his own. I want to remind him that it is not, and he should try writing one to see the difference:)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

ooh, human capo looks painful!

Pastor Peters said...

i bet you have more good days of being a human capo than not...

Beth said...

PPB, if you think the picture makes it look painful, you should have seen the human capo's face while Luke was playing.

And Susie, you crack me up. Thanks.

apbs said...

i thought this post was just going to be about music when i first started reading it, which would have be fine with me, and then you took me somewhere else... i like that.

Erica B said...

What a great great image for what we do! Thank you!