QUARANTINE BLOG # 127

August 4, 2020

We start today with some first day of school photos.  If you want your pictures from yesterday shared, or when it is the first day of school where you are, just email them to me.

Rachel Bryn – first day of senior year.  Maggie – first day of freshman year.

Mac – first day of middle school.

Tate – first day of kindergarten.

All smiles.  Homework is next!

👉   Speaking of pictures and smiles, let’s look at some different ones.

👉   It’s been a while since we’ve put a few coins into the juke box, so today I’m going to spin a couple of golden oldies by The Drifters.

First is their chart topper from 1963, “Up on the Roof.”

“When this old world starts getting me down,
And people are just too much for me to face –
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space ... ”

Carole King, the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th  century, having written or co-written over 100 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100, suggested that  Gerry Goffin write lyrics for the tune which had occurred to her while she was out driving – she suggested “My Secret Place” as the title.  Goffin kept King’s suggested focus, but modifying it with his enthusiasm for the movie musical West Side Story which contained several striking scenes of the rooftops of Upper West Side tenements.

The song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ksNvivbEI has been covered by artists from the Lettermen, to Ike and Tina Turner, to Neil Diamond, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

For their next song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNbmmclS3Uo The Drifters moved from the rooftop to “Under the Boardwalk.”  The lyric describes a meeting between a man and his beloved in a seaside town, who plan to privately meet “out of the sun” and out of sight from everyone else under a boardwalk.

The opening line of the song flashes back to “Up on the Roof,” and the occasional thermal weakness of the rooftop getaway sets the stage for an alternate meeting location, under the boardwalk.  Many singers have covered it including the Rolling Stones and Bruce Willis.

One personal memory about The Drifters.  They were the featured entertainment for Homecoming our first year at Frostburg State College (University today).  They performed accompanied only by their guitar player – they said some transportation snafu did not get the rest of the orchestra to western Maryland.

👉  I’m not sure how start this piece except with a cliche that is appropriate: some people are snake bit – bad things just happen.  Consider Justin Stuller who took his family for a relaxing trip to the Florida Keys.  All was well until a shark bit him, and he required dozen stitches.  It was not the first time he and his right leg met the teeth of one of the denizens of the deep.  On an earlier trip he was bitten by an alligator.  I think I’d go somewhere different next time –  somewhere without creatures with large teeth lurking about.

Maybe it’s time for another song.  This one by Bobby Darin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXEU “Mack the Knife.”  Give the intro, at least, a listen.  If Justin reads the blog, I hope he will forgive me for making light of his pain (and he gives me a piece for tomorrow’s blog – the origin of that phrase).

👉  As our world is forced to embrace change and uncontrollable circumstances, fear can quickly begin to overpower our faith.  Thoughts of “what if” and “what next” can lead us down paths of doubt, anxiety and depression if we aren’t careful to fix them on the things above.  So what do we do when life feels overwhelming and out of control?   How do we remain hopeful and peaceful in the midst of life’s storms?  As followers of Christ, we can place our hope in the truth of God’s Word.

Here are 5 of God’s Promises in the Bible to meditate on in times of uncertainty (5 more in tomorrow’s blog).  All are from the New King James Version.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you.  He will not leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10).

For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you (Isaiah 54:10).

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles (Psalm 34:17).

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