Mickey's Music & Faith Diary

Happy Father's Day

Mickey Itchon — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:12:00 GMT

Happy belated Father's Day....

When I got back from the hospital last Thursday, visiting our brother, Ray de Cerce, I felt so strongly about the struggle with cancer that he is going through.

Later that night I was thinking about my dad, Domingo, who passed almost 3 years ago. I envisioned being in an open area, like a meadow, standing in the shade of a large tree in the early afternoon sun. I saw dad, walking towards me and these words came out... "Father, come and rest". Here's the song that came from that vision. The song was completed last Friday, 6/17.

Song - Father Come And Rest - 3.5 MB file

Father come and rest
Let me play you a tune
You’ve been working so hard
That’s what I see

Can you stay for awhile
Let me tell you my story
Don’t you know that you are
Important to me.

Oh, so many times
When I’ve felt all alone
Yes life was harder
Than I’d ever known

It wasn’t easy, you see
To change my heart
But then I’d think of you…

Cause you’re my courage, my comfort,
You didn’t have to say much, to reach my soul
My anchor, my mirror
And sometimes, oh sometimes, even my friend.

No, don’t be sad
Cause my life has not been perfect
And you’ve walked your own road
We are so much the same

I still need you time again
Though I know things have changed
Even though you can’t be here….

You're still my courage, my comfort,
You didn’t have to say much, to reach my soul
My anchor, my mirror
And sometimes, oh sometimes...

Cause you’re my courage, my comfort,
You didn’t have to say much, to reach my soul
My anchor, my mirror
And sometimes, oh sometimes, even my friend.

Father, come and rest.

Faith Hope Charity Love

Mickey Itchon — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:09:00 GMT

I googled the Faith, Love, Hope and Charity for Images...

It struck me that Hope and Charity had so few graphic or pictoral representations while Faith and, of course, Love had so many.

I think that Hope and Charity are trully invisible.

Hope - one either receives or experiences - it can be gifted to another

Charity - an act of will to others with possibly different intentions - one receives with different effects

Neither Hope nor Charity is aptly represented in graphics or photos / possibly because they are either:
1. difficult to represent
2. not considered a viable subject - not as much as Faith and Love

One might think that our world focuses more on Faith and Love because these are easy concepts to relate to, while Hope and Charity are, possibly, uncomfortable to deal with.

What would our day (week) be like without hope and charity?
What would our lives of faith and love be like without hope and charity?
How would Christ's Life - Death - Resurrection have played out without hope and charity?

If you encounter a stranger that you cannot relate to - what gifts could you give in a quick moment - before you part ways forever?

Christ's love, manifested by the charity of His blessings and grace, strengthen our faith and hope, that we continue to change this world.

Pre-Pentecost Shout Out

Mickey Itchon — Sat, 26 May 2007 02:56:00 GMT

Can't believe the week is gone... I've been trying to finish a podcast before Pentecost Sunday... however... I realize that I'll easily split up my focus on multiple projects and then not be able to really focus properly on any single one. Well I'm prepping the playlist for Pentecost Sunday's mass @ St. Timothy and after several hours of gathering materials for the podcast, I just realized I should be finishing up preparations for the mass and then bring my digital recorder to mass and capture the music there. Hey, if you're in town and haven't decided on a mass to come to - well come on by. St. Timothy is right on the corner of S.W. 56th St. and S.W. 112th Ave. west of downtown Miami. Then we can celebrate together...

This Saturday night (5/26) I'll be setting up the PA system for Paulinas CoffeeHouse. Saturday night Gary Camblin is leading the worship. Gary is also known for his cover band "Recess" which has been around doing incredible music for years. He's now full time into music ministry and is music director at Holy Rosary Church, 9500 SW 184th St., Miami, FL 33157. This is going to be so sweet. Check out the latest invite right here... Click here for the CoffeeCup MySpace site....

We got lots of stuff coming soon... The Emmaus Medical Mission came back from Guatemala last Sunday... man, they're all totally on fire. Unfortunately Maria had to leave on another trip, Daima and Cesar are both down with a cold... So, we're setting up a follow up conversation on their trip next week - plus we get to see some cool pics from the clinic and the orphanage... wahoooooo! If you want to check out some info on the Guatemalan orphanage... click here.

Here's a cool pic of Maria and Daima who helped me with the songs in Diary 1 and 2... This pic was taken at one of the CoffeeHouse nights...

Okay so see you soon... if everything goes well...I'll record on Sunday and post it on Monday... Peace out...

Music and Faith Diary

Mickey Itchon — Fri, 18 May 2007 17:07:00 GMT

I've got Hyper Static Union on Rhapsody. Lifegiver is playing in my earbuds and I'm thinking about how music ministry has given my spiritual journey such a jump start. When I listen to some Spirit music, I almost always connect with the energy and the inspiration that comes through the music. Each recording is a captured Spirit event. One can even get beyond the post production elements to the heart of the words and the melody. Imagine when these first hit whoever was in the Spirit at the time.

When I am tagged by the Holy Spirit there is an instant awareness that I have to make a decision. Be obedient or not? Act on the inspiration or not? Podcast #1 opened with "A New Year" which came to me @ 7:30 am 1/1/2004. Nick was still asleep and I had just brewed some java and was just sitting down to enjoy some quiet time early in the morning. I was edged by the fact that I hadn't put together my new year's resolution. So I got pen and paper and had all the intention of doing just that when the words started to come and the melody started to flow... so the rest just happened, writing it, trying out the song at the next CoffeeHouse, etc...

There's a lot of this that happens and the next moment passes and it is history. I've been dabbling on sample audio recordings and journals, praying on what would be the right thing to do. Flying back from Manila 3 weeks ago, I realized that I need to start this podcast thing and get more milleage out of the music, the events, the experiences and the conversations.

So here it is... Mickey's Music and Faith Diary... so much left to do... write back to me your own thoughts as we continue this story of redemption, journey, joy and faith.

Peace - Mickey