My illegitimate brother Mark Berry calls me several years ago from Las Vegas so I can listen to "Three Dog Night" sing live.
Only one of the dogs remain in the band.
The others left a long time ago but the one guy is still on the road giving it everything 's he's got to recapture a glory long gone.
There are some exceptions ... the biggest stars who always fill stadiums ... but for the vast majority ... their run at the top only lasts for a little while.
You read about their lifestyle and how most do themselves in with sex, drugs and rock and roll.
It makes me wonder about Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
His aunt once famously said, "I picture nuclear war with only two things surviving ... cockroaches and Keith."
You can only ask God ... "How?"
I've had several great runs at the top ... as a "Professional Christian" of all things at the Jefferson Street Baptist Chapel ... as a C.E.O. of a diverse empire heretofore unmatched in the non-profit world ... as the author of ten books, one award winning.
These days I'm the Semi-Professional Christian guy running Bar Church ... no longer desirable in the corporate world ... and a writer who mostly writes for himself.
"I'm worried about you," Sarah says last night.
I understand her concerns.
I don't seem to be accomplishing much ... at least not when compared to things I've done before.
But I'm no longer willing ... perhaps I no longer have the drive ... or the ability ... to be everything for everyone.
You can only spend your life once and I don't have as much capital as I once did.
What I am doing is loving where I am right now in deeper ways than I've loved before ... cautious when others make demands ... having long talks with God ... and simply appreciating everything I have because ... unlike Keith Richards and cockroaches ... either it's not going to last or I'm not.
Chances are it'll be me.
So I'm awful slow right now ... enjoying ... or trying to anyway ... everything.
