Ok guys and gals, this is about to get a bit... I won’t say weird, but at least unexpected. First, let me tell you I am a filthy rotten sinner. I ride a Harley. I have spent many nights playing music in smoke filled bars, and will again. (Thankfully there is not as much smoke these days.) I’m not exactly clean cut, and certainly not clean shaven. Not that any of those things make me a sinner. They don’t. But they also don’t fit the image many have of a “Christian.” I certainly don’t consider myself to be “religious.” I don’t wear any church denomination label. But.. I know that I have been saved by the grace of God. What you are about to read, some of you may discount entirely, and believe that I am way off base. And that is fine. But I just read a book and, because of that book, I am compelled to say what I am about to say.
Yesterday I told my wife the following... I know that God wants us to be generous, and spending the money I did getting my old bass back may not have been part of His plan. I could have used that money to help others, to pay our own bills, to put towards our kids’ college, etc... And goodness knows I risked all of that money, because the bass might not have made it back at all. BUT... for all of the circumstances to line up as they did... here is a recap...my bass playing was recently rekindled... my kids are now out of the house and I have more time, about three months ago I HAPPENED to be at a hotel bar (again, probably not the place “Christians “ hang out!) and saw a great player live... Quintin Berry (please check him out, unique style)... and all of this got me thinking about my old bass, the greatest playing and sounding bass I ever saw. Then I HAPPENED to see my old bass on eBay, the exact one, after trading it away 20 years ago, the wonderful people on this site found exactly where it was... half way across the world, in Japan, then I happened to have a cousin on military duty in Japan, who happened to be flying home for Christmas, and the customs/FWS folks, I guess, happened to be busy, or not care, and never questioned the CITES issues, which were so worrisome, and the baggage handlers handled the 43 year old case, made mostly of duct tape, with great care... well, all of that just seemed to work together too well to be happenstance, or a coincidence.
I’ll continue with my conversation with my wife in a bit. Now, add this to the equation, which I have not told before... two years ago I was rear-ended while riding my motorcycle. Fortunately I wasn’t injured badly. I did not file a law suit, but the insurance company sent a check to me, so that I wouldn’t. Guess when I received the check... two days before my cousin Clint needed the money to purchase the bass, in order to have it in time for his trip home. Guess the amount of the check... without giving the specifics... the check was enough to pay back my health insurance what they paid for my doctor bills, the purchase price of the bass, something for Clint’s expenses and for his time and efforts, and there is a bit left over to buy back the custom made flight case... oh yeah, which just HAPPENS to still be sitting at Elderly Instruments, waiting (for eight years) to be reunited with the bass.
So I continued telling my wife... we have a son. And while I want to teach my son good life lessons, I also get a lot of joy when things happen that just make him happy, bring him joy. In fact, he is just getting into the guitar, and I will get a lot of joy when he opens his Christmas present this year, which is a used Squire Strat, with a few nice upgrades. Well, I believe that God is my heavenly father. So, wouldn’t He get joy from things that make me happy? I think He does. And therefore, I think He had something to do with this whole bass thing!
And... while I pray to God for my family’s safety, that he heals my son’s roommate from Cancer, that he helps me live my life in a way that will be a blessing to others, and so on... I must admit to you, we all know the many things that could have happened to the bass, so I also prayed ... “God, I know it is certainly not important in the big scheme of things, and I know you are very busy with things that really matter, but, if you could help that bass get back in one piece, and without being confiscated by the FWS, I would appreciate it.”
I expect I may receive a few responses to this that say that I am nuts, or that this isn’t the place to discuss religion, or even some that agree that some “Providence” may have helped me get the bass back, but it might be attributed to the stars alignment, or “Karma”... or whatever, and that’s ok. I hope you believe me that I am not the preachy type, and I am not trying to convince anyone here of anything. The book I just read this morning (another coincidence?!) was about a farmer that needed a new (used) truck. Like my story, many things lined up just right for him and when it was all over, he looked back, and said he believes it was not only a blessing from God, but that God created all of the circumstances, not just so that he could get the new truck, but so that he would have a story to tell, about how God blessed him. After all that happened to me with the return of the prodigal bass, and just reading that book, this morning, how could I not do the same thing?!
So, though I may be marked as a religious fanatic on this site, and this posting may be turned over to the forum moderators and removed, I feel I must share. You can read this as just a nice story, or you can believe that I am giving too much credit for something that is only circumstantial. But hopefully there will be at least one person that will receive some kind of blessing from this, that it will make someone feel good. And if it does, you don’t have to respond and admit it!😊. I’m not looking to “out” any other believers.😉.
God may be up there saying “Allen, I don’t have time for those kind of things. Nice of you to give Me some credit, but I had nothing to do with you getting your bass back.” Maybe He didn’t. But maybe He did. In the Bible there is a story of a blind man that Jesus healed. The “religious” leaders questioned him about it, how, why, etc... He said “I don’t have answers for you. All I know is that I was blind, and now I can see.” All I know is that I enjoyed playing my new old bass for several hours yesterday, and I thank God (literally) for that opportunity!
Thanks for reading! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Allen
