It's my birthday today. As the number of years that lie before me become way less than the number of years in my rear view, it has become more and more clear what my purpose as a songwriter and artist is: To serve through song.
That's it - nothing fancy, nothing complicated. My purpose is to put the songs in service of inspirational and impactful stories, no matter their origin. Lately, I've been inspired greatly by people who have lost greatly - people who have been through the ringer, born the cross, suffered life's most difficult dealings, and have come up on the other side with some hope for the rest of us.
I've already written in my last post the origin of my latest single, "The Perfect Path". This new video links in another great part of that story, and shows the serendipitous workings of the Universe. After I met Azim Khamisa (the subject of the song), and got to know his story, we were chatting about an award-winning documentary that had been done on his incredible journey of forgiveness. In chatting about the documentary and who was behind it - turns out, the producer of the video was none other than MY NEIGHBOR who lives across the street from me!! His name is Ken Kebow, and I knew he was a documentarian, but I had no idea he knew Azim!! Out of all the crazy things!!!
When I presented the finished song to Azim a couple months ago, I shared that I wanted to release it on his son Tariq's birthday (which I did...), and Azim let me know at that time that he was also starting a brand new project that day, and asked kindly if he could use the song to help launch the Peace Through Forgiveness Project, to which I gave an enthusiastic "OF COURSE!!" Then he asked if I could make a music video for it for release day. That was 2 weeks away! So I said, "If Ken Kebow is willing to help me with something like that, I think I can get it done."
After lunch, I immediately reached out to Ken, and with fervor and willingness to help Azim, he jumped in to offer his help. We did a version of the video for the PTF launch date in March, and then we took the time to continue to sharpen up the message and impact of the video, continuing to work on it til it's arrived at it's current form, released TODAY, my friends.
So, if you can, please head over to YouTube to have a listen and a watch. We'd be so pleased if you could give it a like, subscribe to my channel if you haven't already, and please, please, please, if the video hits you or resonates with you at all, please consider sharing it with your family and friends.
I believe Azim's story and message needs to be heard. This world is pitted on destruction and the only way out is humility and forgiveness. I'm not saying this song has the answer, but I do believe it can help amplify that still, quiet voice in all of us that wants to be whole again, that wants to live in peace and unity, despite the tragedies that befall us.
Thank you for watching. https://youtu.be/WDtVDsE3gwM
