Friday, August 29, 2008
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Meet Mr. Willow!
Revelifers please say hello to our newest writer!!!
Mr. Willow, Chicago, IL
Age: 26
Occupation: Church Musician / Freelance Composer
About me: I was born in Illinois; I grew up in Wisconsin; I live in Chicago; and my heart (I presume) is in Ireland, where I've never been. That might explain a lot about me. Then again, it might not.My parents taught me to study the Bible and to love Jesus. The churches, ministries, and Christian school I was involved in taught me that there are a lot of Christians who are really rotten jerks, who will reject you and treat you like the odd one out. (This was taught by example, not as doctrine.) The tension between the two left me quite confused, and the rejection left me very depressed. Eventually I hit bottom, and found that there waiting for me was Someone who voluntarily chose to be rejected and treated like the odd one out, because He loved me and the rotten jerks too. The rest of that story is filled with a glorious and inexpressible joy that is best captured in music.
As it happens, I'm also a musician. When I was six years old, I discovered that I had a bit of a knack for playing the piano. When I was eight years old, I composed a musical that my third grade class performed. Eventually, I got my degree in music composition from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, where I also learned some interesting tidbits about the Bible and theology. Currently, you're most likely to find me writing music for choirs, movies, orchestras, ensembles, and soloists (or anyone who asks nicely, really), or leading worship for my church downtown.
I'm married to a beautiful woman I met through a Xanga blogring.
Random things I like: Old books, classical music, fairy tales, bad puns (the cornier, the better), web design, Christian musicians who are out of the mainstream, forests that look like Arthur Rackham paintings (see below)
"Folk-lore means that the soul is sane, but that the universe is wild and full of marvels." (Tremendous Trifles by G.K. Chesteron, ch. XVI)
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Comments (28)
And you like Chesterton. You're a keeper
Welcome to Revelife.
Woo hoo for bein' raised in Wisconsin! (I'm from WI, myself.) Welcome to Revelife! :)
Yay! Welcome and congrats.
Cool! Sounds interesting.
welcome! looking forward to reading more from you :)
Welcome! Looking forward to reading your entries.
Blessings
Karen
good to see you on revelife, mr. willow! i had a feeling you were going to end up on here after reading a few of your excellent posts. :D
go ireland!
Ireland! woot woot.
welcome :)
Why Ireland? I don't get how someone can feel
their proverbial heart belongs in a country they have never lived in.
I know a few people who feel that their 'real home' is in another country they've never been to (usually Ireland or Scotland or Japan, admittedly ). It's a bit confusing to me, especially as someone who has lived in multiple countries and knows that you can never really know a culture until you live there.
Explain?
Welcome! I live in the Milwaukee - Chicago corridor, and love the idea of someone from "my area" posting regularly on Revlife.
Love Moody. Many former Moody leaders are at my home church, now (not Harvest btw - guess again).
May God continue to bless your life richly =).
@bittersunday@xanga - It's almost impossible to explain in any concrete (non-musical) terms, now that I think about it. Just that whenever I look at pictures of Ireland, read Irish poetry or listen to Irish music, I have an indefinable sense of coming home that I don't get anywhere else. As a composer, I've also noticed quite an affinity for Irish folk music and poetry. (I composed a song cycle to texts by Padraic Colum, for instance.)
It might be that my parents went there on their honeymoon, so I've always been brought up to believe that Ireland was the most wonderful place on the earth. (And in case you were wondering, no, I came along a year later so I'm sure I wasn't conceived there! )
@UTAlan - @Pickwick12@xanga - @helpmetoLOVE@xanga - @missmarigold - @sugartomyhoney@xanga -
@shanella - @IMChurchmouse@xanga -
Thanks for the shout-out. As the philosopher Rogers once observed, "I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you!"
@mrwillow - There were some things you mentioned that made me go, "THAT'S HIM!" Haha.
@mrwillow - I thought that was Mr. Rogers (giggle)?
Hello :) Yay piano! I play too! It's fun, eh? And I look forward to reading your writing ^^
@IMChurchmouse@xanga - He was quite the philosopher.
@mrwillow - Rogers was a great philosopher .. *nod nod*
My good Mr Willow,
Cead mile failte! Hundred thousand welcomes! from one lover of the Old Country to another. I'm relatively new here myself, hoping to find a few people with whom to share my struggles and my joys of faith.
I look forward to reading your posts.
Peace,
Caleb
Welcome!
Lovely quote, by the way :)
@mrwillow - Ireland is certainly very beautiful. I was there for a short while, but I lived in its neighbouring country, Scotland, for 4 years and the countryside of the two countries are very similar. Ireland is also a very politically and religiously tense country, though. I'm sure you knew that, I just don't want you to have false idealizations of Ireland. I've found many people think Ireland, or Scotland, or Japan, or Canada, or the U.S., or whatever country they are interested in is an almost Utopia. They don't realize how difficult it is for them to adapt to the different culture, let alone the country's own problems. And then when they finally visit said country, they are bitterly disappointed to realize that it has problems and faults and that the people there are not as welcoming of them as they initially anticipated.
As for it being the most wonderful place on Earth...eh...it's a lot different visiting a country for a honeymoon than actually living there. A honeymoon is already an incredibly romantic thing. I mean...once I marry my boyfriend you could probably stick me anywhere and I'd probably think it was the most wonderful place on Earth! Simple because I'd be in that hyped-up romance phase, ya know?
You should live there for a bit. And I don't mean visit--I mean LIVE there. For a few years at least. Only then will you truly be able to figure out if that's where you feel the most 'at home'.
Hello Mr. Willow! :)
Love the picture and quote at the end...welcome!
Forgive the lateness of this but :
YAYY!! Welcome!!! You sound a lot like me (poor guy lol). Goo0d to have ya.
@bittersunday@xanga - Sound advice. In fact I have talked with several Irish nationals (one of my current pastors is Irish) and missionaries to get an impression of "real life" over there, so I promise I'm not completely starry-eyed.
We also get the occasional news broadcast from Ireland on TV over here (Chicago has a sizable Irish population who like that kind of thing).
At the moment I'm half-seriously looking into a graduate study program at the University of Limerick. It would be a couple of years down the road, but it looks nice. Meanwhile I can get reports from my brother, who's studying in Belfast... man, this is going deeper than even I realized!
@PeaceInTheLight - @iconspiration@xanga - @xXBuryAlltheNoisesXx@xanga - @Pariahtich@xanga - @x_simplysweet_x3@xanga -
Thank you all! It's great to be in the neighborhood.
You are interesting.