Moments of Truth and Leaps of Faith

A lot of guys I know grew up living compartmental lives. I know I did. We all have or each had our reasons. There are some defining moments that can help explain it. There is that one when we are little guys wanting desperately to be big, and we hear a voice saying, “Big boys don’t cry.” So at an early age we learn to be two faced. There is a tearless one we try so desperately to show to the world, and another (often un-faced and in the shadows) known only to ourselves. I believe one reason a movie like “Citizen Kane” continues to resonate is that most of us have had our “Rose Bud” moments. Those often unexplored, unexplained moments can leave us afraid (of our own shadow.) What I realize now, as a man of seventy, is that I spent a lot of years trying to avoid my fears before finally being able to begin facing them. It took a long time to find and explore and in some way connect all the different places they lived in, compartments I’d put them in. A lot of times it wasn’t easy seeing what I found. Eventually I discovered what I was most afraid was myself. Once I faced that, loving became a whole lot fuller, richer, and more possible.

Mike McCoy turned 70 yesterday. In 1995 he and I had been friends for thirty years. That November he trusted me with parts of himself he had not shared before. For the next eighteen months we reached out to each other nearly every day. Over that time McCoy opened himself in new and trusting ways to faith, family, and friends. In this video he shares a part of his amazing story.

The audio recordings of the songs McCoy sings on the video are also included here. They are part of an album called “Between Old Friends.” Here is a link where you can download the album or order the CD. Thank you.
https://markpearsonmusic.com/store/between-old-friends