Occupy Sandy Concert

Real Estate. Vampire Weekend. Walkman. Dirty projectors. All names of amazing bands I heard for the first time yesterday.

Yes, I know. Some people say I live in some detached la-la land. But I think its generational, as I asked some folks at church today and they'd never heard of them either.

But we should hear about them. Vampire Weekend, for instance has a number one hit song! Fortunately there is nothing to do with vampires that I could tell. The music was soulful, witty and connected in a nice way. And the band members are all really nice men. I was sitting in the section reserved for band members when they weren't playing and exchanged smiles and thumbs up with them.

It has been a long time since I was 22 years old...

Yesterday (Saturday afternoon) Br. Eric and I went to this great concert that was staged to raise money and awareness for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. It was Br. Max's idea, and he got his brother, who works for a record label (not sure which one), to help. They put tickets up for sale Wednesday afternoon, and within two hours the concert was sold out! They raised $18,000!

Max functioned as a kind of friendly presence, popping up between acts telling the story about Occupy Sandy, and the needs of 1000's of people (still!) without power, water, food, heat in the city. He also celebrated the community of people who came together in the historic Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn. It was a heart warming experience to see so many young people who obviously cared about the cause, were delighted by the music and were willing to spend a brilliantly sunny afternoon sitting on lumpy pew cushions.

I learned other things about Occupy Sandy. Some brilliant young women set up a wedding registry account on-line so that people could see what the needs were and send a gift directly. Refrigerators, stoves, clothing, dishes--you name it. I don't think I'd have ever thought of a wedding registry. The great thing is that the warehouse is filling up.

Google Sandy, check it out. Help if you can.

Pray for the people who still suffer.

And pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I'm supposed to be going there next Saturday.