Sam's a great guy with a heart of gold, and you have to reckon that if he's standing there with a big-ass Remora stuck to his arm and he's laughing, he's probably somewhat of a character too. I went to grab a photo for this post, and I'd never seen this before. It made me lol. That's my boy. He's a trip.
Sam's a drummer, and drummers usually make good buddies anyway, but he's really something special. He claims that I taught him everything he knows about drums, and while I appreciate the love and respect, it's not true. He was already playing drums well before I met him and he certainly didn't need my help to be good.
We played drums together a lot, even live a few times which was a blast, and I'm sure I showed him a thing or two, but most definitely not all he knows. I'm glad he feels that way though...it's given me something to hold over his head, and if I ever need a favor, he'll already think he owes me one. I'm kidding. If anything, I owe him for being such an amazing friend.
We soon started hanging out outside of music, and we had some pretty serious adventures. We both had a slightly different way of looking at things compared to most people, and a bit of a twisted sense of humor. We weren't into hard drugs or crime or destruction of property or anything, but considering some of the situations we got ourselves into it's a good thing we made it out in one piece.
They say that not being able to socialize with people of your general age group can be just as bad for your mental health as a drug or alcohol problem, and I believe it. I saw a friend last December I think, but other than that I haven't seen a single friend so far this year.
I have something else going on that most people never deal with, looking after my folks, and that can drive you off the rails, so I can't blame my friends for my mental instability, but I do know I miss them. It's totally my fault...I never go anywhere or do anything, so I never see anybody.
So in the interest of improving my mental well-being, and also because I love him, I texted him and he called me this morning. I knew I'd get a nice buzz from talking to him, and as usual I did.
We caught up on what's going on...about two months ago he moved to a new place, actually an old house, but new to him, in a neighborhood where he's wanted to live for several years. He lives with his beautiful wife Liesa and their two cats. They live in the Sunshine State so I don't get to see him, but good for them. My situation hasn't changed.
After a while we got into some slightly heavier topics. Back in the day Sam and I weren't exactly Bible-thumpers and you could even say we raised some Hell, but we both believed in God. I just thought of this and I'll have to ask him, but I bet his deal was similar to mine in that he knew that the Rock & Roll lifestyle wasn't necessarily the way God would suggest we live, which is where freedom of choice comes in, so we didn't quit believing in God but we sort of shoved Him to the side. I'm just guessing but I'd bet so.
Sam is also "awake," and I was thrilled to find that out. He doesn't buy into the bullshit, and the reason for that is that he did his own research. He's like me in that he wants to get as close as possible to the actual truth, the one that stands alone and always wins in the end, even if it's not what any of us want to be true. Jack Nicholson was absolutely right...some people can't handle the truth.
It's interesting that we both went down the same road, or "rabbit hole" if you wish, without knowing about each other doing it. We both set out to disprove all the stuff that sounded crazy, but we just couldn't do it. We realized that at some point you can't disregard legit information just because it doesn't fit our box of how we think things are. You can't "cherry pick," as I've been accused of, by someone who should know better. That's not my style.
Anyway I was giving him my rap about believing in God, and if it turns out that God isn't real, then no harm no foul. We'll never be "saintly" people, and we all do bad things, intentionally or not, but unless someone is just an evil person, there's no harm in living your life as if God is real, and that we may have to account for our actions one day, that is if the biblical narrative is true.
It's not like you can't have any fun, or have to quit listening to "the Devil's music" or anything. Music is woven into our DNA and it can't fail to move us. God knows that. It's more about the Golden Rule thing, which seems to be way out of fashion these days. Neither one of us ever set out to hurt anyone on purpose, steal, lie like rugs, screw people over to get ahead and all that stuff. No harm, no foul.
I have to say here that Sam's brother is nothing like him. He's a self-centered asshole in fact. He doesn't believe in God, which is perfectly fine, so while he's certainly not a criminal or a bum or anything, he doesn't care much about trying to live a "godly" life. Sam's a sweetheart. He does believe in God, and he treats people way better than his brother does. Maybe it's just another coincidence, but I personally know and have read so many examples of this that I want to do a post about it. When enough "coincidences" pile up, according to statisticians, mathematically we must take it as something besides coincidence.
We talked about how difficult it is to comprehend eternity, and how many people have a problem believing that our earthly lives are just a blink of an eye, and that eternity is the real deal, and again that's if the biblical narrative is true. Speaking of, the biblical narrative has been largely replaced by the "Official Narrative," and the very same people who'll question, or outright deny the Bible, will never, ever question the "Official Narrative." In these days of "equality," shouldn't they both be questioned? In the interest of calibration, we should question even our own beliefs.
Sam said he hadn't really thought about the "no harm, no foul" thing but he liked it. We had a positive exchange of ideas. I've never thought about the word "mentor" when I think about Sam...he's just been an outstanding friend, and I look up to him in a number of areas in which he stands tall, but I suppose by definition I've mentored him a bit. Sam has been my "grasshopper." That's cool, and I can say that everything I've turned him on to, and vice-versa, has been for the positive.
The cool thing is that if our beliefs are true, and God is real and there's an afterlife and we go to the good place, Sam and I will be buddies for all of eternity. Nothing could make me happier. Cheers bud!
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