Metallica and preaching

This past Friday I spent 7 hours driving back and forth to Philadelphia for a software seminar. The day itself was relatively mundane. I picked up some good practical ideas on how to get the most out of our presentation software. The coolest part of the day was the ride home. I thought it was going to be an 8-hour marathon trip home. It took about 4 ½ and I had an amazing time of prayer that lasted from the end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Secaucus. I truly felt, in the middle of the chaos that is I-95, I connected with God at 70 mph. I stopped at one of those Burger Kings on the Highway and grabbed some health food. Then I believe that I heard from God…through a Metallica song. I was listening to their live version of One, recorded in Mexico City. I was truly inspired not by the words or deep spiritual meaning behind the song but by the intensity and passion. Four guys pound away at their instruments, in an incredible cacophony of guitar lightning and double bass drumming thunder and move me to the core. At that moment, I thought to myself these guys absolutely love what they do and they do it with everything they have. Why can’t I do what I love with the same passion and energy? Why can’t I teach on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night or Sunday night like that? To move people with the word of God like Metallica moves people with their music…the most asinine thing I have ever written? Maybe. So what if it is, I’m not saying I want their lifestyle, I want their passion.