The Bar Church

Friday night, I hopped on my bike and rode to the middle of the Tybee island combat zone because I wanted to listed to Sam Adams and Godon play live music at Bearnies. I strolled through the bar into the courtyard in the back and sure enough Sam was playing and singing...to himself. There wasn't a soul there.

"Hey Rev!" he said with an angelic smile, "if you can't play for yourself you can't play for other people."

I smiled and nodded and found a stool. Sam personifies "beach bum"... Shouder length hair, tanned, tank-topped, shorts and flip-flops... all of time! Guitar, sunglasses and laid back, the guy is the epitome of island character.

Within seconds, I was recognized by this guy from Atlanta. "You're Micheal, right?" he asked.
I said that I was, wondering who he was, but he went and got his wife, sister-in-law and mother and brought them to join me.

They were talkers and as I tried to listen to Sam and Godon, Walt just wouldn't shut up. And the sister-in-law was a competitive talker too. They shot words out of their mounths as though from a machine gun, one after another after another.

Then Sam used his microphone to quiet them for a second when he called my name.

"Hey Rev!" he yelled while playing his guitar in the background. Gordon softyl blew into his mouth harp.

"Why don't you come give the word on Sunday?"

Sam and Gordon are not normal musicians (I know, I know...has there ever been a normal one?) because one of the things that they do is conduct a Sunday worship service at 11:00 in the Windrose Cafe, which is a bar that serves food so that they can serve alcohol on Sundays. There is no dress code (there is really no such thing on Tybee anyway), smoking is encouraged and the music is acoustic.

I've never been though Sam has been after me forever to do so. Part of me has wanted to go but I listen to the "Acoustic Cafe" on Sunday mornings and have my routine so have never gotten around to it. Then the Bored meeting starts at 11-something (or whenever Johnny O says it does) and I attend every Sunday because Trolly Joe is there.

"Will you come deliver the word?" Sam asked again.

I delilver words most every day. It didn't seem like much of a stretch and its been awhile since I've gone to Church and a worship service in a bar going on at the same time as every other worship service in the world is funny. Why not?

So I yelled, "OK Sam, I'll do it."

"You will?" he genuinely seemed surprised.

Gordon sounds like the guy from Slingblade when he talks so when he dropped his harmonica and grabbled the microphone, mothers grabbed their children.

"Ladies and gentlemens," he announced, "we have a little service on Sundays at the Windrose, which is next door. Everyone is welcome as they are. Leave your pretence at the door. You can smoke," and he took a drag off his cigarette as he explained this, "and the Rev is coming this Sunday."

So.

That is what I'm doing today.

I explained to my friend John Tatum the other day that Tybee is an entirely different universe. And this is just another example of that. And why would anyone want to be anywhere else.