We just finished the gig in Newark, Delaware and we’re heading for NYC. It’s late but we’re excited to get Zach Williams back to his Brooklyn and his bride. We’ll spend our day off in New York tomorrow. Friday night is DC and then we’ll be back in Brooklyn Saturday afternoon. The road’s been great so far. The colors of the Carolina Fall have had us staring out the windows, considering beauty. The brights are giving way to browns and grays, and we know it won’t be long before they fade to white and winter. We are here before those storms. We’ve been pushing north, moved more than anything by the conversations we’ve been having. It’s been a privilege to be in these rooms, each night a little different but the same in how they fill with songs, and same in how they fill with people kind and caring, people brave enough to bring their stories and their questions. The nights keep surprising us – we never know exactly how things will play out, who will show up, where the conversation will go, but we leave each night encouraged – humbled by the honesty and kindness of strangers, inspired by the stories.
It’s not all easy. There’s been talk of loss and losing. There are questions met with silence. There are moments when it’s appropriate to cry. But the road and life are lots of things and so some of it is also light. We get to laugh and smile, at Josh and Zach finding jokes in their new friendship, or at the man in Asheville, who wore a fur coat and told us that his hometown is “the Paris of the South”. He talked for ten minutes about things we knew nothing about but he thanked us in the end. He thanked us for the conversation and we walked away reminded – reminded that life is better less alone, that people need other people.
More than anything, we’re finding folks who want to break the silence. We’re finding people willing to wrestle the questions, those their own and the ones that haunt their friends. We’re finding people who are daring to believe in things as brave and bright as hope and help and community.
We’re humbled, and i can see Manhattan in the distance. Jimmy the intern has never seen this place at night. There aren’t words.
We hope to see you soon, somewhere along the way on this surprising journey…
Peace to you.
jamie