New Blog! :]
Hey Guys.
i got a call a couple hours ago from the manager of the band Sick Puppies. Sick Puppies are a band from Australia, and they were recently introduced to TWLOHA by Evanescence. Amy Lee from Evanescence and her husband Josh have been hugely supportive of TWLOHA - Josh has a counseling background and has become a great friend to our team and to me.
Anyway, Sick Puppies have been asked to headline a memorial/benefit concert in Omaha (this sunday) 12/16. The show is happening in response to the shootings at Westroads Mall in Omaha last Wednesday. The band said yes and this afternoon, they invited TWLOHA to be there with them. So it's looking like we're going to have a table at the show, and i will be speaking briefly before Sick Puppies take the stage that night.
i don't really know what to say right now. i don't know what i'll say on that stage sunday night. But the opportunity feels important, as i would like for TWLOHA to be an organization that runs towards broken places, rather than away. i would like for TWLOHA to be something that acknowledges and embraces people that are hurting, rather than ignoring them, or offering cheap answers. i just read a quote online that said "There were nine worlds shattered", in regards to the nine people who died at the mall last Wednesday. A pretty easy case could be made that those nine worlds collided with hundreds more, so suddenly, in one single minute, an entire community was wounded.
We exist to stop the bleeding. We as in TWLOHA, but more importantly, we as in you and me. To be people who don't live in bubbles. To be people who care about other people. To be people who push back at darkness, and wrestle with the questions that others run from.
i don't think the solution is for all of us to get on planes and fly to Omaha. i'm going on sunday because i was invited, and because we've been given a unique opportunity, a unique responsibility, to attempt to be leaders in broken moments, and to hurt with people who are hurting. It is an honor beyond words.
This is how it was explained to me on the phone this afternoon, and this is when i knew i had to say yes: "There's a lot of people who are really fucked up right now."
Translation: There's a lot of people that are hurting right now, a lot of folks mourning and feeling haunted.
This should have been written sooner... More than anything, i want to say on behalf of TWLOHA, that we are sorry. Sorry for the families dealing with these unimaginable losses, sorry for the pain and questions that fill their homes tonight.
This is a significant moment for us, with Casey's death and now this, and Colorado, and the show on the 29th in Orlando. We don't take any of it lightly. We also know that the holidays are a difficult season for a lot of people, as so many homes are broken homes, and so many people live with so much need. We're sold this idea of a two-story house and dad has a great job and dad loves mom and of course there's a pile of presents under the tree, but we know that's not the case for everyone... and i don't know about you, but December has a way of making me take inventory in my life. It's been that way for years now, and it tends to be a painful process. Tends to point out everything that's missing, everything i wish was different.
i guess i just want to say it's okay. It's okay to be honest. You're not the only one. Not the only one with questions and needs and fears and broken things. Not the only one in need of answers or love or help or hope. We're all in that boat. We're in these things together.
If any of you are in or near Omaha this Sunday, we would love to see you. The show info is below and we'll be around all night. It would be great to get to meet you, maybe get some coffee or something.
I'll leave you with these words from a Counting Crows song called "Omaha":
"Somewhere in middle america
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more"
Peace to you tonight.
jamie
PS: Show info:
Sunday 12/16/07
Omaha, Nebraska
Free Show, All Ages.
Sokol Auditorium
2234 S. 13th street, Omaha, NE 68198
Look for the TWLOHA table.
jamie speaking before Sick Puppies.
website: www.897theriver.com