Date: 24 March 1997
To: RichMailList
From: scatcat@kidbrothers.net (Danl Blackwood)
Subject: [RichMailList 122]: Langhorne, PA 03/21 review

Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 22:53:03
From: Grace Dempsey
Subject: Rich Mullins in Langhorne, PA  3/21/97

Hi Danl,

	I've finally come down off cloud 9 to write this review. I'm doing
it from memory, as it was too dark to write in the gym (Philadelphia
College of the Bible).

	Rich's manager, Gay, came out first and talked about Compassion. 
Then she asked if anyone there was ever at one of Rich's concerts.  She
said that if you were, then you know that Rich and Mitch will be out
whenever they feel like it!  Ten long minutes later, Rich wandered out
wearing a faded T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, holding a can of Diet
Coke.  He talked a little bit about the reservation and his teaching job
which he doesn't have yet and then said, "So tonight we'll have class!" 
He led a 3-part audience participation thing that involved standing up
to do your part and then sitting down, and up, then down, and he paused
and said something about this is like being at mass.  Then he went on
about Lent but then did explain the real meaning behind giving things up
for Lent.  He said he asked his friend who is a priest why Catholics
pray to Mary, and "don't the statues bug you?"  I'm a Catholic but I
wasn't too offended, because he busted up just about everybody else,
too.  He kept going back to the Lent thing.

	SONGS:  He led us in a 3-part round with Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Old
Rugged Cross, and How Great Thou Art.  (Mitch came on stage after that).
 Other songs were:  Other Side of the World, Sing Your Praise to the
Lord (he said he made a lot of money on this one), Elijah (his
favorite), Hold Me Jesus, If I Stand, Awesome God, Growing Young (an
"abbreviated version" -- someone requested it, he said he hadn't done it
in a long time and forgot some of it), Where You Are (my favorite),
Ready For the Storm (the Irish sweater story about being washed up on
shore), Calling Out Your Name, 78 Eatonwood Green, mandolin duet (Bach),
song for his dad on lap dulcimer, Creed, Brother's Keeper, Let Mercy
Lead (Beaker wanted a song written for his son and they wrote 50 other
songs but none of them were good enough), Screen Door, Never Picture
Perfect.  He sang a song about a man named Charlie sitting on a park
bench that his record company wouldn't let him record, I think he said
because it was too depressing.  Some songs he did alone, some wth Mitch,
and Mitch did a few by himself.

	THE BIBLE:  When he was a boy, his grandmother gave him a Bible with
the Song of Solomon torn out of it.  She said he could read that when he
got older!  He said he went for a while not reading the Bible and
decided that maybe he just wasn't a Bible reader. But then he started
reading it again and decided he felt better on the days he read his
Bible, so that's why he reads it -- not because he should but because he
feels better when he does.

	FAMILY:  He had a hard time with the fourth commandment because he
found it hard to honor his father and mother.  He told about being
embarrassed in high school when they would come to recitals because his
mother was plain (being a Quaker) and his father when he wore a suit
looked like a farmer in a suit.  And then Rich told the story about how
he got over that -- the time they were visiting in Kentucky and his
father stopped the car to find a certain tree that he used to climb and
jump off of into the Cumberland River and Rich began to realize that his
father had been a boy once...  He wrote "Never Picture Perfect" for them
on their 40th anniversary.  He went into detail about how his mother and
father met and their family history.  

	He said he was engaged twice and talked about how hard it must be to
be married. He mentioned about the nursery and "bashing heads on rocks."
 Also, how being old makes you humble.

	Gay was out in the lobby at the Compassion table.  I told her that I
wouldn't be here if it weren't for being on this mailing list, and I
told her how awesome I thought it was to be able to listen to Rich and
the Canticle of the Plains premiere live on my computer.  She warned me
that some of the stuff out there is suspect -- that it isn't true.  

	Also, this time I got to meet Rich.  I asked him to autograph the
lyrics from a CD and he asked my name.  I said it was Grace and
commented that he must have said it about 20 times that night.  He said,
"It's my favorite word!"  I also got a picture taken with him.  Someone
in the line ahead of me had a picture of her and Rich taken the last
time she saw him. I told her it looked like he was wearing the same
shirt at this concert.  She laughed and mentioned that to him, and he
said that he likes the shirt so much he's been wearing it for three days
straight!  

	There were too many people there in line so I didn't really talk to
him, just being there was intimidating enough for me.  Maybe next time I
see him I'll explain about those statues...

Grace Dempsey