Jesus and James Dean

I thank God for the friends that come around when you need them most. You know the ones. They are the ones you aren't expecting to be there and show up and say, "Hey it's all gonna be alright."

An occurance like this happened to me last Saturday night. Mark David Manders was in town performing. We interviewed him for the new Texas Country LIVE! radio show and had a blast. He invited us to go see his show. I expected to only watch the first set and then say my goodbyes and leave. But something kept me there, captivated with the whole ruckus. Good friends were all around.

After the show, Mark invited us to the motel public balcony overlooking the pool to play music and visit. While there, The Charlie Shafter Band showed up after finishing their gig. Shafter's band has a bass player who looks just like Jesus: Slightly tall, skinny and with a full black beard. Somewhere Jesus acquired a stand-up bass and he and Charlie played some songs off their just-released CD, "17th and Chicago."

One of those songs was called "Jesus and James Dean." Man what a beautiful song. I am still trying to digest the meaning of the lyrics, though. Does it mean that worldly people are more interested in shallow stardom of James Dean and ignore Jesus? Or is the song sacreligious by admonishing people that James Dean is all that matters, even to Jesus? The part that really gets me are the lyrics that say:

It's all in the way that you walk.
If you don't draw attention then nobody's gonna talk.
If you're alone in your room or at a crowded fair,
I'll be there.

These things get me by.