A Less Bearded Man among the Saints

It may surprise some of my more musically inclined friends to learn that my favorite Wilco album is "Sky Blue Sky".

I don't care if Pitchfork said it was "Dad-Rock".

One thing I love about the album is it's almost like we're meeting a new Jeff Tweedy.

Around the time that Wilco was releasing "A Ghost is Born" in 2004, Tweedy went to rehab for his addiction to painkillers.

I like to think that we get to hear Tweedy experiencing a new world with the material he wrote for "Sky Blue Sky", which came out in 2007. (While I was working at Side 1 Records, the greatest store ever.)

I have to think that going through rehab gave Tweedy a chance to see the world with new eyes. We get to hear this new perspective on the world with "Sky Blue Sky".

At this point you're probably wondering why in the Hell am I talking about Wilco so much...

I shaved off my mourning beard, and I chose "Sky Blue Sky" as the soundtrack of the occasion. 

(If you don't know the purpose of the mourning beard, refer back to this earlier post.)

Like Tweedy going through rehab in his journey of life, cutting the mourning beard was a new milestone in my grief journey. It's time to start seeing the world through new eyes. "Sky Blue Sky" really speaks to a lot of what I'm going through. Especially in these two songs:

I'm sure as Tweedy stumbled to find his new footing, he needed people to be patient with him. I know the feeling...

And then, there's the beautiful song at the end about the loss of his mother...

The lyrics from the aforementioned "On and On and On" always stop me in my tracks:
One day we'll disappear together in a dream
However short or long our lives are going to be
I will live in you or you will live in me
Until we disappear together in a dream

Please don't cry 
we're designed to die
You can't deny 
even the gentlest tide
On and on and on 
we'll be together yeah
On and on and on
On and on and on
We're going to try

Okay, that's enough about Wilco.

But, hopefully you catch my point on why this was the appropriate album for the occasion of trimming the beard.

I didn't make the decision to trim the beard alone. I spent much time in prayer, discernment, and conversation with close friends about it. 

It was time.

I felt that if I kept the beard any longer, it would start becoming a hindrance in the grieving process. It would have changed from an outward sign of my grief to shackles of grief keeping me chained to one place.

You can't stay in one place with grief, you have to keep moving. 

Sometimes you go back to places you've already been. And that's okay, as long as you keep moving.

I also decided that if I was going to trim the beard, I needed to mark the occasion with something more involved than a careful soundtrack selection.

So, I decided it was time to visit the Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics in Maria Stein, Ohio that I've always wanted to go to.

Surprise surprise, the religious dude wanted to do something spiritual to commemorate a big moment in his life.

I had a very good visit.

I went through the museum.

I went on the guided tour. (led by a nun)

I spent time in prayer in a chapel with 1,000 relics!

...Including three pieces of the True Cross.

I attended the noon prayer service.

I toured the statues on the grounds.

I wept as I prayed at the statue of Saint Jude.

I bought goodies in the gift shop. (Catholics have the best gift shops.)

And then I came home.

It was everything I could have asked for. A good morning of prayer and reflection.

Now, two of my best buds are coming over to record podcasts one last time at the Abner Ranch. Fun will be had.

The beard is gone, the journey continues...

Grace and Peace,
Robert