
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday, Flannista hosted Tim Lowly and one member of his band Baby Mountain -- Karima Walker -- in Flannista's home. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of Flann's lifetime.
But this is not a post about house concerts.
This is a post about finding beauty in unthinkable circumstances.
"Baby Mountain" is the nickname of Tim's daughter, Temma. Within 24 hours of her birth, Temma went into cardiac arrest and is now -- in Tim's words -- "profoundly other" (Tim prefers that phrase rather than "profoundly disabled"). The clinical term for Temma's condition is "spastic quadriplegia with seizure disorder and other complications." Temma is deaf, blind and completely paralyzed. She is fed through a valve in her stomach.
She is now 25 years old and still lives with her parents. Her life is a source of great mystery to all her encounter her. Temma and her parents spent the night in my home about 15 years ago. I remember what seemed like constant "electrical storms" in her head. Her soft moaning. How she always responded to the touch of her mother and Tim's wife, Sherrie, now an ordained pastor.
Tim shared openly how much Temma is the subject and inspiration of both his art and his music. Tim is a highly-respected and nationally-recognized artist with paintings in permanent collections such as the Metropolitan in New York City and the Chicago Art Institute. Click here to visit the website that focuses on his art. Pictured above is a pencil drawing entitled, "Imago Dei" that Tim completed in 1991.
About 10 years ago, Tim began to seriously pursue his music as well as his art and two years ago, released his second (or third) CD, "Chasing Brother Angel". To hear, "Sandro," what I consider to be the most beautiful song on that album (in an album of great beauty), click here.
On Tuesday evening, Tim and Karima played a short and lovely set to about a dozen of my neighbors. My favorite song of the evening was, "Singing to You," a song accompanied by a painting of Temma as a baby lying in a desert among ashes and the broken pieces of ancient body armor. Click here to listen to a recording of Tim and Karima singing it at another house concert (which explains why its quality it not as good as "Sandro"). Following are the words to "Singing to You":
Are we more than questions in the back of your eyes?
Is there more to living than this fight to survive?
Will the morning roll you out like the tide?
Where are you going tonight?
[CHORUS]
I am singing, I am singing, I am singing to you.
Which of these stories is best left untold?
What is dross? What is gold?
In the face of fire, will we stand and be bold?
What is this treasure that I hold?
[CHORUS]
I am singing, I am singing, I am singing to you.
Each of these steps puts us back at the start --
We’re pulled together. We’re torn apart.
Though in this dark I cannot read all the cards,
I know you hold the answers in your heart.
[CHORUS]
I am singing, I am singing, I am singing to you.
"In the face of fire, will we stand and be bold? What is this treasure that I hold?"
So many of us are facing fire these days. We are pulled together. We're torn apart.
Let's keep singing.
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