Why these Books about Rich Mullins?
Rich Mullins and I used to kick a rock back and forth between us on our long walks. It was great fun, and a metaphor for the rebound of creative exchanges between us. When he died, the rock was left in my path. Now I'm kicking it back. When catch up with him where he is now, I want to look him in the eye. I want to show him I made an effort to keep up my side.
Why write these books? I couldn't keep myself from writing them. I had to get my thoughts, my memories out of my mind and onto a page. I know more about my subject than most: the love, the creative life of Rich Mullins. The fact that these are first-hand accounts may make some people uncomfortable because I've been silent on the subject so long. But if everyone who was involved with Rich Mullins said nothing about his personal life, the public would have no record of the private side of one of the most profoundly spiritual creative geniuses of his age.
Why did I decide to publish? I could have reserved these stories for a very limited audience by archiving them in a special collection of a library, and at one point I had planned to. I had hoped these writings would see light after his music entered the public domain in 2072.
But then things started happening.
First, I confess I was raised a diehard rationalist, petrified of ever being thought crazy. I needed to explain every spiritual event on the basis of logic and fact. Intuition--which I do seem to have--was something to be repelled and fought back, as welcome as a lightning strike in a dry forest. So I initially took an analytical approach to documenting my experiences with Rich Mullins: which made him seem rather flat, since the fires of his life burned well beyond rationalism. Everything I had written amounted to nothing but dry bones. I was holding back a lot.
Then I started getting, well, signs. I have never been raised to look for signs. Competely unexpected, they just cascaded into my life. If I read the signs right, it seems the Author of life demanded a massive re-write of the dry facts I'd been reciting. And he wanted them to be published. Some may doubt my sanity at this point of the story. But if crazy is the color of fool God's made me, I'll wear it.
The signs I was given were so powerful that they moved even me--a wounded, self-protecting doubter--to pour myself out in the most self-searching, honest story I could write. Because if you know the ministry of Rich Mullins, you know that as talented as he was, as creative as he was, as loving as he was, truth was the crowning gift he offered his audiences. By sharing it with us, he gave us all a richer experience of our own humanity.
What about profits from the books? If I wanted to rake in money instead of sharing the truth, I could have written these books into one big advertisement. The truth has set me free to write books that will not suit everyone's taste. If I ever earn more than an average annual income from their sale, it will be my great joy to follow Richard's example by giving the rest away.
Do I speak for Rich Mullins? Heck no. And if ever I act as though I do, I hope someone puts an ice cube down my back to cool me off. We are two unique individuals. I speak about him, not for him. Although we had a lot in common, we always had the best time arguing: we disagreed about a lot of things. I don't think it's fair for me to put words in his mouth now that we can't hear him sing his argument back.
Richard and I were both determinists--which means we did not believe we had the power to change the story of our journey. If our path was steep, it was God who made the mountain. The truth may be difficult to hear, but ultimately the Author of our lives never tells a story that cannot lead us back to him.
I remain grateful to have known Rich Mullins.
More about Singing from Silence
Walk Through the Valley and
Let the Mountains Sing.
Why write these books? I couldn't keep myself from writing them. I had to get my thoughts, my memories out of my mind and onto a page. I know more about my subject than most: the love, the creative life of Rich Mullins. The fact that these are first-hand accounts may make some people uncomfortable because I've been silent on the subject so long. But if everyone who was involved with Rich Mullins said nothing about his personal life, the public would have no record of the private side of one of the most profoundly spiritual creative geniuses of his age.
Why did I decide to publish? I could have reserved these stories for a very limited audience by archiving them in a special collection of a library, and at one point I had planned to. I had hoped these writings would see light after his music entered the public domain in 2072.
But then things started happening.
First, I confess I was raised a diehard rationalist, petrified of ever being thought crazy. I needed to explain every spiritual event on the basis of logic and fact. Intuition--which I do seem to have--was something to be repelled and fought back, as welcome as a lightning strike in a dry forest. So I initially took an analytical approach to documenting my experiences with Rich Mullins: which made him seem rather flat, since the fires of his life burned well beyond rationalism. Everything I had written amounted to nothing but dry bones. I was holding back a lot.
Then I started getting, well, signs. I have never been raised to look for signs. Competely unexpected, they just cascaded into my life. If I read the signs right, it seems the Author of life demanded a massive re-write of the dry facts I'd been reciting. And he wanted them to be published. Some may doubt my sanity at this point of the story. But if crazy is the color of fool God's made me, I'll wear it.
The signs I was given were so powerful that they moved even me--a wounded, self-protecting doubter--to pour myself out in the most self-searching, honest story I could write. Because if you know the ministry of Rich Mullins, you know that as talented as he was, as creative as he was, as loving as he was, truth was the crowning gift he offered his audiences. By sharing it with us, he gave us all a richer experience of our own humanity.
What about profits from the books? If I wanted to rake in money instead of sharing the truth, I could have written these books into one big advertisement. The truth has set me free to write books that will not suit everyone's taste. If I ever earn more than an average annual income from their sale, it will be my great joy to follow Richard's example by giving the rest away.
Do I speak for Rich Mullins? Heck no. And if ever I act as though I do, I hope someone puts an ice cube down my back to cool me off. We are two unique individuals. I speak about him, not for him. Although we had a lot in common, we always had the best time arguing: we disagreed about a lot of things. I don't think it's fair for me to put words in his mouth now that we can't hear him sing his argument back.
Richard and I were both determinists--which means we did not believe we had the power to change the story of our journey. If our path was steep, it was God who made the mountain. The truth may be difficult to hear, but ultimately the Author of our lives never tells a story that cannot lead us back to him.
I remain grateful to have known Rich Mullins.
More about Singing from Silence
Walk Through the Valley and
Let the Mountains Sing.