Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Psalm 12:1, KJV
Indeed, I do need Your help, Father; Life hasn’t been very good for me – mainly because I haven’t been good to myself, slacking off and doing all sorts of sabotage to myself and, consequently, to all that involves me.
I need Your help, Father – Indeed, as David cried, ‘Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.‘ (Psalm 51:12)
For there is much to do, much that should have been done, and here I was, resting on the quickly-fluttering laurels of victories remembered in the recent weeks, and consequently, over the entire year; Indeed, Father, these laurels fade SO quickly – for who deserves the glory in all that I say I have accomplished? And, also, Father – who deserves the glory in rescuing me from pit after pit I’ve found myself in this year?
You are good, my Father, and even now, I take comfort and peace in Your promises. I give thanks, for indeed, all promises of peace and of what I’m calling the reprogramming and renewing of my mind – all these promises are ‘Yes and Amen‘ in no less than Your only begotten Son and my Savior, Jesus Christ.
I give thanks, Father, in these moments where I find myself pushing to get words out, in a move for me to ‘allow’ more of Your divine presence to work in and through all my being.
I give You thanks, my Lord, for by the power of Your Spirit, all that is misplaced is brought back to where it should be.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit, all that is lost is being restored according to Your wisdom. All that is forgotten is being remembered, according to Your insight. All that You deem detrimental is being eliminated, and all that You see as good is being installed, according to Your grace and glory.
Thank You, Father.
I know it’s late, but there are things I want to start to write about and unload regarding the month of November.
First, I want to give thanks to God for the opportunity to listen to Incognito, live in concert – with Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick, the man who started Incognito way back in 1979, in the forefront.
It was just so nice to hear them start with Parisienne Girl, one of their first hits, and then immediately follow it up with Nothing Makes Me Feel Better, from their most recent 2023 album.
It was awesome to participate in a crowd directed to harmonize in contribution to the reprise for Still A Friend Of Mine – Something I never thought I’d take part in, only listen to in the band’s previous live recordings.
It was fascinating to hear the back story to Colibri, starting off as a melody that couldn’t be shaken, and given so much priority that it had to be backed up with further composition.
It was also fascinating to understand that the story behind Deep Waters was one involving Maysa Leak, who sung the composition in mourning over a failed relationship.
It was great to hear new compositions, such as I See The Sun by Vanessa Haynes – She was given an audio sample by the band, and proceeded to gracefully fill in the tunes with words.
Furthermore, it was so humbling and inspiring to see that, as Ms. Haynes took the lead for this wonderful song of revelations and inner reflection – that Bluey understood he was to take a step back and to contribute as part of the band. He had a guitar on for the entire performance but in this particular song I remember him putting the instrument aside, and focusing just on back-up vocals. I was amazed by the sheer humility of this man, not only wanting his teammates to shine, but playing a proper supplementary role.
It was also satisfying to hear of how the band comprised of people all over the world, and, of course, as there apparently was a Filipino among them, they gave him a special mention, something the crowd did not let pass lightly.
And speaking of Filipinos, it was nice for Bluey to mention how we all seem to have some sort of musical inclination, and he often hears Filipino bands all over sampling Incognito songs.
I thank God for friends like Ian and Chrys who added so much more value from their own insights and observations. I kept telling Ian in particular, that I missed Incognito’s visits to the Philippines twice already – I was not about to be denied this third time.
I thank God for chance encounters, seeing good friends from the past, Chase and Enrico, and their wives – in the back of my mind I knew they wouldn’t pass this chance to watch Incognito live, either.
At the end of the concert, Bluey told the crowd that they would take a 15 minute break before going out and meeting whoever wanted to speak to them in person. Of course, we didn’t let this opportunity pass us by. Ian and I saw that a good number of folks who were lined up, Chase and Enrico included, had memorabilia for the band to sign. Ian and I just thought to have our cellphone cases signed instead. But I mention all this to give thanks to God for Chase, in particular, who at the literal last second decided to hand me a printout of their online ticket, right as it was my turn to see the man himself, face to face.
And, yes – I want to give thanks to God for the opportunity to have a quick conversation with Bluey.
At first, I just stared at him in awe, and he asked me – ‘is everything okay?‘
I couldn’t remember what I said, something to the point of me just taking it all in – and then he responded by giving me a hug. I told him that I was thankful for his works, and his music being a critical part of my personal development – He taught me that there was so much more to music than what the radio at the time insisted we all should be listening to.
I told him I was so thankful, and I didn’t have the words for it then, but I’ll make an attempt to share what else I thought about Incognito’s music – that it was executed with sophistication, and that it heightens anyone who happens to listen to them to the same (usually higher) level of sophistication. There was good jazz, but they were my path into GREAT jazz.
I know it’s December and I’m really just clawing into my memory to recall all I could about this encounter, but I do remember him talking about how all that he’s been doing through all this time, was as the song he had played at the very end of the concert – Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’; Incognito had the mission of spreading love.
Okay, this part I definitely remember, because I thought it was equal parts cringe and hilarious – something had me telling him: ‘By the way, I’m a Pastor‘.
Looking back I think it was because I was surprised to hear him talk about how, at a younger age, his mom told him about the Bible, and the story of Moses in particular served as significant inspiration behind Nights Over Egypt.
I think it was around that time that he gave me another hug. Before me, he gave everyone else an average of one hug, and I think I had three by the end of our conversation!
But, yeah, seeing as time ran out for me, I asked him to please give me something to hang on to for the next 20 years… and that’s where he wrote on the back of Chase’s online ticket.
I know I shared a scan of that note here on the blog, and here it is:
I think I’ll go ahead and just wrap it up here.
If you noticed, I’m doing a bit of reprogramming here myself, because I’ve been subjecting my mind and body to so much junk and outright filth in the past days and even weeks.
I’m hoping I could do more writing this week. I know, Christmas is coming up, but I need a lot out of my head and into other records – again, to allow the Holy Spirit to flow, inspire, and motivate in wider spaces in my being.
Lord knows I need that.
Until the next post, which I guarantee is coming very soon, God bless you.
385795/365000
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
Leave a comment