Rock Me Baby

The year was 1994 and California had just had a major earthquake. I was trying to settle down and become stationary after three years of audacious travel and adventures.  Just as I decided it's time to get settled, the Earth beneath my feet began to rock and roll. You can't put down roots on shaky ground - it was time for another road trip. I had left my hometown of Baltimore, years earlier, in a rather hasty fashion.  I figured it would be a good time to give my hometown a fair chance. My mother, as well as other relatives and friends, were overjoyed that I had returned home.

I quickly established myself in the city by renting an apartment. I immediately set out searching for employment.  I received a job offer that had more potential for growth and opportunity than I had normally been accustomed to.  In regard to my housing situation, my manager assured me that he had already begun to think of me as one of his best tenants and future payments could be worked around my pay schedule. It seems like everything was going my way, right?

It hard to express the feeling. Some may simply attribute it to jitters over a new situation, but for whatever reason, the week before I was to start my new job, I experienced a feeling of emptiness such as I had never felt before. Towards the end of the week the feeling grew worse. I had a long telephone conversation with my mother. During that conversation, I found myself telling her that I couldn't stay. Why I would make such spontaneous decision right in the middle of the conversation, only God, the mysterious Mover of the universe, knew. I did not have a plan in my head but the die had been cast, the wheels were in motion.

I called my future employers and left a message on their machine thanking them for considering me for the position. I also informed them that recent developments would prevent me from taking the position. I notified my landlord that I would be leaving in a couple of days.

Monday was packing day. I didn't have much to pack. Packing to me equates to getting rid of stuff. During the day I found myself assorting stuff in appropriate piles; stuff to family, stuff to the homeless, etc. While I worked, I listened to the television. I had it on mainly for background noise.

The ‘Regis and Kathy Lee ‘show was on. One of the departing guests was giving Regis an itinerary of his upcoming performances. He stated that he would soon appear as a television evangelist in an upcoming made for TV movie. At this point, Regis took the opportunity to get in humorous dig at televangelists. He begin to do an exaggerated impersonation. Halfway through the spiel he lost his flow.

    “blah, blah, blah, and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail.....”

He actually stopped and asked Kathy Lee what is was that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against. This was odd I thought, I don't believe he's supposed to ask questions like that on a nationally syndicated show. Undoubtedly questions like that would offend someone.  Kathy Lee was not sure what the answer was, and Regis was still intrigued by what the answer might be (and this was way before 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'). He decided that the answer is the Angels. Kathy Lee disagreed. Regis then polled the audience as to what they thought the answer was. Wait a minute here, this is national TV and not the 700 club (a religious TV Show) so this sequence of events is stranger by the second. 

Members of the audience agreed with Regis’ answer. Kathy was still skeptical and announced that she should call her brother because he knew the bible backwards and forward. They went into a commercial break. I was sure that during the break the producers would give them a reprimand. They come back from break and guess what? Kathy Lee had her brother on the line, on the speaker phone. He read them the passage from the bible where Jesus is talking to Peter, one of the disciples.

Matt:16:18    And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This was definitely not average television. I put the unusual episode behind me and continued my version of packing.

Tuesday morning I left the apartment with all my possessions tucked away in a backpack. I still did not have a destination or a plan. I would just go to the bus station and take it from there. On route to the bus station I passed Mt. Royal Train Station. I have always been a fan of rail travel. I knew that commuter trains to DC ran out of that station. I had not visited Washington, DC since childhood and thought this would be a fine opportunity to do so.

Ok, the train ride was comforting and now there I was in Washington, DC. I felt pressed to come up some sort of destination. I remember being quite fascinated by the Smithsonian gem and rock collection as a child. So I was off to see the rocks. For those of you unfamiliar with DC, the various museums which make up the Smithsonian campus, outline the boarders for the grassy park-like area known as the Capital Mall. I had a great time visiting each museum in the area. Afterwards, it was back to the business of deciding where in the world I was going to.

While spending a few rough nights camping out in Norfolk, I came across a musical event that changed my life forever. A free laser light and music show was in progress. They tried to cover a variety of music genres. Never had I been so impressed by 'Achy, Breaky Heart' then to see it manifested by squiggly laser light men. Virginia is a part of that world known as the Bible Belt and to appease its constituents the promoters threw in a gospel song or two. One of the songs performed was ‘God is Watching You’ by Amy Grant. I was not familiar with the song beforehand yet I felt it reach into my very soul as if it had some special meaning to me. As if I had revered the song my entire life. As far as I knew consciously, the song had no relevance to me, yet tears of an unknown origin, uninhibited, flowed from my eyes. I could not stop them even as I tried. I was so embarrassed that I left the festivities. 

After a serious of mishaps and wrong turns I found myself in Virginia Beach. I became so reminiscent of my former home in Venice Beach, that I decided to stay awhile. I caught a buzz from a guy on the beach of a place where I could get score some free eats and possible lodgings. Money supply rapidly dwindling, I had no problem with taking advantage of this opportunity. Unfortunately my sense of direction did have problems - I got lost. 

I was just about ready to abort the mission when, a block ahead of me, a guy turned around and looked in my direction. I could barely make out his face yet I had an eerie feeling that he was beckoning me to follow him; and follow him, I did. I saw him turn a corner. When I got to the very corner there was the very establishment I was searching for. A group of guys had gathered outside. I was never really close enough to get a description of the man who I was following so I don't know if he was in the group or not. I asked if this was the place where they were dishing out the food. I was informed that it was, but right now they were doing a little bit of preaching inside. I was exhausted and hungry and in no mood to hear any preaching. I perched on the nearest vacant stoop.  The various conversations that were going on about me were so juvenile, petty and/or trifling that I decided that it must be better inside than out.

The minister's words were not of any significance to me but, he did say something that I thought was interesting. After his sermon and, the serving and eating of food, I thought to engaged him, one on one, in philosophical debate. After repeated attempts to instill a Christian point of view into my thick head, the minister decided to abruptly conclude the conversation. Yet he had said certain things that were not easily erased from the mind. Maybe I would go at him again, if I stuck around in Virginia Beach. 

Three years prior, while visiting my mother in Baltimore, I was persuaded by her to attend a church service. I reluctantly went along and even more reluctantly participated in a baptism, my own. I thought at the time that my mom was getting old and this would make her happy. As I recalled this event, a memory suddenly came forth as if pulled from the outer regions of my mind. At that church service the minister had mentioned that the mother church of this Baltimore congregation was located in Virginia Beach.

I puzzled at this, did that baptism have something to do with what was now happening to me? Why, after no Christian upbringing to mention, was I now so intrigued with any aspect of organized religion? Not to mention what I perceived as bible thumping brainwashing. I also recalled the elder who baptized me saying that I was entering into a contract with God.  Was the Christian God calling in the bond? Was it time to pay up? I'd better get to the bottom of this.

I asked a passer-by if they knew of this mother church, received directions and, was on my way. Oh - by the way, I haven't mentioned the name of the church yet. It was the Rock Church of Virginia Beach. I had gotten baptized at the Rock Church of Baltimore. I hope the reader is beginning to see a pattern here.

I made it to Rock Church, I was persuaded by members there to stay on awhile. By way of one of the church's special ministries, I participated in church function as well as learned about the bible. To earn my keep and lodgings I took up doing various chores and services around the church.  Ten months after being at the church I felt the time had come for me to move on. I had received a certificate for participation in the Nehemiah Ministry. I had attended many classes and had learned many things about the bible however, I felt no strong alliance or allegiance to the church or the area. As a final act of volunteerism, I was asked if I would help stuff envelopes with announcements to a large rally and concert which was going to take place in Washington, DC.

The event would be hosted by our church and was scheduled to take place the following year. Although I had no desire to hang around Virginia beach that long, I decided I would put in at least a few more weeks of work, out of gratitude. After only a few days of stuffing the envelopes, I was asked to do a little computer data entry. Shortly after that, the secretary had taken another job outside of the church. Guess who was asked to fill in? I did not have true secretarial skill but I did have people management skills and organizational skills. At this time the church was encouraging its members to volunteer their services in preparation for the rally.  I would assign people to do various assignments in relation to their particular skills. I wanted to leave on several occasions yet I was so drawn into the project that it seemed almost destined. The times I would consider leaving, circumstances would spring up preventing me from doing so.

I was elevated to Office Manager. Eventually I was promoted again and named National Transportation Coordinator for the entire event. Bear in mind I was still essentially an outsider, a rebel, not given to ritual and not known for regular church attendance. This was not a small event. We expected a turn-out of about a million attendees from every state in the country as well as foreign delegations. My commitment was intense often putting 12 hours days at work. And yes, it was still voluntary. I also stayed at the church until the completion of the event.

The event was a Christian Rock concert that was scheduled to take place in the grassy park area of the Capitol Mall area in Washington, DC.  Within the very same perimeter which I had walked, that day when I spontaneously got on a train and off a train to see the rocks. 

During this time although still a renegade, skipping as many church services as possible, I surprisingly did decide to take a course of classes that would afford one membership in the church. I was astonished one day, almost a year and a half after being at the church, to look at the cover of the text book used for church membership class.  The gold embossed script gracing the cover of the text, was the charter verse for that church.

Matt:16:18  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I don't know what it all means. Why was I slated to fill in that role, I am not a church goer now and was barely a church goer then. All I can say for sure was that during those times, God was surely busting some strange moves, using some strange players and the house was rocking.


© P.Ghee 2002