“Blues music reflects the fabric of the human soul.” I have no idea who I should attribute the quote to. I can, with certainty, talk about the different ways I know this to be true.
As I listen to a blues story, I find myself lost in a memory of a blues joint in Singapore twelve years ago. I was trying to capture the night on film, never easy when one’s rule in the quest includes no tripod or flash. Along the way, I got to know the lead artist, listening to his story which could be anyone’s. He was amazingly human, fragile, and on the verge of losing everything to depression and alcohol. As I found myself looking at one of the reflections in my mirror, I also heard the deep longing for love, compassion, forgiveness, and hope.
That night was a revelation. This flawed and very human artist “show[ed] that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them [him] that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong.” (Romans 2.15). He may have failed often, yet there was a resilience to struggle on, to keep reaching, to embrace, and to live out compassion and care.
I find myself remembering that night with darkness and light.
Everyone has a dark spot in their lives. Inflicted or self-created, there is pain, tragedy, and despair in each life. Being rich offer no protection. Power will not inoculate. The worst enemy is often within; however, evil is never satisfied.
The longing to be loved and part of something bigger than oneself is universal. I find that the difficult part of the solution lies in accepting the gift Life offers us. I mentally know I loved, starting with Divinity and beyond, and yet I often feel something else. I am part of a bigger story, even if I ignore it. The blues begin with candour of the darkness and finishes with hope. Hope endures because love, in the end, always wins.
