Are You Standing at a Crossroads?

April 16, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 2 Comments

Click above to stream Ancient Paths as you read. This track from Open Spaces features piano, percussion, French horn, and vocals to offer rest to your soul. If you enjoy the music, please consider supporting by visiting stantonlanier.com, iTunes, or Amazon.

Are you standing at a crossroads?

crossroads |ˈkrôsˌrōdz|
noun
an intersection of two or more roads.
• a point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences: we stand again at a historic crossroads.
• (crossroad) a road that crosses a main road or joins two main roads.

Each of our stories has many points of decision along the way. These can be small, medium, large, or huge. I can think of a few: Should I quit piano lessons? Where should I go to college? Is this shift manager job at a carpet mill the right one to begin my career? Should I ask this girl to marry me? Do I keep waiting or do I take a leap of faith?

It seems that a hope for “success” is present when we stand at a crossroads. We want to make the “right” decision, and not make the “wrong” move. When I was thirty my definition of success shifted from “striving to achieve” to “abiding to receive.” I began to trust God more with each crossroads, asking Him for guidance and walking in it by faith. In the beginning I thought I was starting to know His plans for my future. Instead, He started teaching me just to take things one day at a time, to listen for His voice with a heart of surrender. I think of it as trying to keep in stride with God’s pace. Sometimes this means waiting, sometimes walking, sometimes running, and sometimes sprinting to keep up. I don’t want to run ahead, but I don’t want to lag behind.

How is your pace right now, as you prepare for your next crossroads?

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

Crossing Waters – Taking a Leap of Faith

April 14, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 8 Comments

Click above to listen to the piano, percussion, violin trio Crossing Waters from Open Spaces as you read. If you enjoy the music, please consider supporting by visiting stantonlanier.com, iTunes, or Amazon.

Is an idea stirring in you that will require a leap of faith?

This is what I was reflecting on as I was composing Crossing Waters. I will explain in a moment, but first, here is a short story that required a big leap of faith…

A few summers ago my son and I were part of a high adventure Boy Scout trip to the Northern Tier boundary waters on the Minnesota-Canada border. Our group of five scouts, two adult leaders, and a guide canoed fifty miles in five days. Our route took us across a dozen cold water lakes, and included two miles of carrying three canoes and all our camping gear between each lake. The night sky was breathtaking, with more stars than I have ever seen.

The biggest “leap of faith” moment came when we all had a chance to jump off a 40-foot cliff into deep water. My son and I both took some time looking from the edge. If we made the leap, it would be a symbolic moment. We would bond through overcoming our fear, and we could call on this experience when facing life’s future “leap of faith” moments. There was risk. We were scared. But we jumped. One thousand one, one thousand two, splash — exhilaration!! Wow!

The uplifting, upbeat piano melody in Crossing Waters is symbolic of child-like faith, that anything is possible. The light percussion joins in, indicating there is a rhythm to life’s “leap of faith” moments and how we respond. We often have to jump into the unknown, to “get our feet wet” so to speak, before any results can happen. The violin represents looking back over our shoulder in gratitude and remembrance for all the times God has been faithful to help us “cross the waters” of fear, and revealed the exhilarating blessings on the “other side.”

What leap of faith “next step” is God asking you to take?

“And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing…The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.” Joshua 3:13-17

Practicing Silence

April 11, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 4 Comments

Click above to listen to Still Waters (title track from my album Still Waters) as you read. If you enjoy you can stream, download music, or find sheet music at the following links: Still Waters CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book, Still Waters PDF Sheet Music, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora.

Are you good at practicing silence, making time for quiet and listening? Or, does this continually seem out of reach due to the stresses, volume and velocity of every day life?

Either way, let this music and words allow you to breathe, to be recharged, to experience silence in a new way. Here are a few things that come to mind when I think about, and try to practice silence: Out of 88 piano instrumentals I have composed, “Silence” is the longest, and is on two albums (Still Waters, original recording time of 8:59, and December Peace, re-recorded time of 7:58). I have always found this interesting. It wasn’t forced, but maybe points to the importance of silence. The music was birthed from the idea in Habakkuk 2:20, “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” My grandfather “Daddy L” (short for Lanier – my Dad’s father) was one of the quietest men I have ever known. He was full of faith, love, and kindness, yet he didn’t say much. He had a long career in banking and was active in serving the community. He loved fishing, and he was absolutely unbeatable at every way you can play the game of checkers. He died the summer before I turned seventeen (I never beat him at checkers). His silence influenced me to be reflective, to take time to pause and take in the scene. It also inspired me to be more vocal with my children, to speak into their lives more intentionally, while also teaching them the value of silence. The disciplines of simplicity, solitude, silence and surrender have all impacted my faith, creativity and calling. I am quite content with long periods of silence. I set time aside to practice silence, frequently for short lengths of time, and occasionally for long periods from a half to a full day. God is always faithful to speak into the silence with His still small voice. His gentle whisper offers wisdom, guidance, and comfort. Do you need to take time to practice silence? What are some benefits you could discover?