JUNIOR REGISTRY MAN?

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

My last couple of postings have been in one way or another “heavy”, controversial, thought-provoking, spiritually oriented, etc. This one is going to depart from all that stuff.

Most of you know that my late father was a career employee of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (like the “D.M.V.” in most states). The Massachusetts Registry HAS changed in some ways. The driver license tests are now conducted by CIVILIAN examiners. If you stop over on Pearl Street, Framingham sometime and watch the examiners greet the folks coming to take their tests you’ll be surprised that most of the examiners are young, many are from minority groups, and these young people look more like they’d be bagging your groceries at Market Basket than conducting a driving test. Well, maybe that’s a subject for another day.

My main point in writing is to tell you there’s been a big change in the law regarding the annual state inspections all cars have to undergo. It went into effect on October 1, 2008. If you’re a Massachusetts AAA member, you can read all about it in the November issue of the AAA Horizons newsletter. Under the old system, your car had to be inspected once a year. Under the old system, the car had to undergo the major emissions testing (which a number of vehicles failed) every OTHER year. Under the NEW system, your car gets an emissions test EVERY year. Incidentally, you may have noticed the inspection stickers now look a LITTLE bit different. Instead of a big number in the center of the sticker, there is a smaller number in the center of the sticker with one of those computer bar codes under the number.

If you have an OLD car (as I do) the good news is that all 1995 and older cars are COMPLETELY EXEMPT from any more emissions testing! That means I never have to worry about that again regarding my 1989 Volkswagen Golf. IF an old car has a noisy muffler with thick black smoke coming out the exhaust or something like that, of course that COULD become an issue, but no more emissions tests, per se.

ANOTHER factor for whether your car will pass or fail is the LEGIBILITY OF YOUR LICENSE PLATE(s). That was not a factor before. I had a letter published in the MetroWest Daily News a little over a year ago in which I called for the old “greenie” series of plates from the late 1970s and early 1980s to be discontinued and recalled- largely for that reason. Incidentally, I DO have one of those plates on one of my vehicles. I’ve had that plate since 1983 and at this point it IS still legible. It’s not just the “greenies” that are a problem, however. I’ve got a friend who has Spirit of America series plates (which most of us have) with the paint almost completely worn and faded off. That car won’t pass. Take a look at your plates. If they’re not legible, I recommend you contact the Registry. It’s likely that if you have standard issue plates, they’ll issue you new plates, probably with a new number. IF you have “reserved” plates (like I do on the a Volkswagen- I have plate # 280) in that case, they’d have the prison make up a new set of plates for you. I’m sure there would be a cost, but I think we all agree with our law enforcement officials that for the safety of all, it’s important for plates to be clear and visible.

No, I’ve never worked for the Registry, but with the Registry history, knowledge, and insight I have, I feel like I could be called a “Junior Registry Man”!

OFFENSES

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10)

This posting may mark two FIRSTS:
1a. I believe this is the first time I have started a posting with TWO Bible references rather than one.
1b. I believe this may be the soonest after I’ve posted one entry on the blog that I’m back posting another one.

The last posting on the blog was very “spiritual” and kind of deep. I considered it pretty significant; something I wanted to be the lead posting on the blog for a few days for people to read and think about.

I did not realize that this evening’s dinner conversation would be, well, kind of like accidentally falling off the Golden Gate bridge, instantly being mauled by a sea monster, and then having the misfortune to wash ashore and somehow survive.

At supper, my wife Mary Ann asked me an innocent enough question:

“Did you send the Nelsons (NOT their real name) a tape of Sunday morning’s service?” (Yeah, I’m kind of embarrassed about it but we’re still doing tapes. We hope to begin offering CDs by early ‘09.) (The Nelsons are a couple who were away on vacation this past weekend.)

“Yes I did!” I calmly and kind of happily said.

She looked as though I’d announced that her mother had just been murdered.

Mary Ann then asked how I could possibly have sent the Nelsons a tape when there was material on it that they could find highly offensive and even insulting. My 25-year-old son Jon and I were incredulous.

“What material?...What could they possibly find offensive on that tape?” we both asked almost in unison.

Mary Ann reminded me that I had mentioned from the pulpit that another parishioner was on vacation in Seattle and then mentioned that they were on vacation at a small New England city just down the road from where they live.

“It sounded like you thought their vacation was stupid...like it was a stupid place to go...and I happen to know they had a great time.”

I realized I’d announced at prayer time that we needed to pray for those who were away and I did kind of make a “tongue-in-cheek” comment that one person was in Seattle and the Nelsons were in that small New England City. I kind of did that humorous smirking thing you’d use saying something like to a valet like, “Well, my friend here has the $38,000 2009 Lexus coupe, and you’ll have to be REALLY careful with mine ‘cause I’ve got the 20-year-old blue hatchback that looks like something a teenager would drive in a demolition derby!” (Incidentally, if you’ve seen my car, I really DO!) I tend to make silly tongue-in-cheek comments like that.

My son said, “Mom, he wasn’t REALLY meaning anything bad about their vacation! He was just kind of humorously comparing it to Seattle. No one would possibly take offense at THAT.”

She wasn’t convinced.

“You know, there were also a couple of things said in the course of the sermon that people could possibly take the wrong way.” she added.

Then, “Bob, what if they ARE offended? What if they are hurt? What are YOU going to tell them?”

I replied that I would certainly NEVER send a couple a tape if I thought it would hurt or offend them. I also said that if I’d really intended malice toward them in what I said, I’d make sure they never heard the tape; but again, I sent it because it never occurred to me that they could possibly be offended and that I had no malice toward them in anything said on Sunday.

It’s too soon to know if the tape really DID offend the Nelsons or not.

I know, I know. If Mary Ann reads this blog piece SHE will be offended. Well, MAYBE, but I hope not! In all fairness to Mary Ann, she DID have some valid points. It’s something I’m very troubled by and very ashamed by, but in the twenty-years I’ve been pastor of First Assembly of God of Framingham, MANY people have left the church saying I deeply offended them. In fact, I’d say that at least 60% of the people who have left First Assembly of God of Framingham since 1987, and there are lots of them, have left for that reason. In most cases I was shocked and surprised. In most cases, I was totally clueless that I’d said or done something that was offensive. Ironically, just a few days ago, someone who left the church told me they read something on this blog that intensely offended them. That was another huge shock.

This business of people offending people and being offended. Wow. It’s complicated. And, I’ve got to tell you, in most cases, I just don’t get it! My father died in 2000, and since he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s Disease when he died, to me it’s like he really died around 1994. Over the past few days, I’ve been really missing him- and we weren’t close. But I miss that fact that he’d “have it out with you”- he’d TELL YOU OFF, but then it was COMPLETELY OVER WITH like it never happened. There was NONE of this long-term “being offended” stuff. I miss him. I miss that.

Something happened in my life a few days ago that could have left me offended- that SHOULD have left me very offended. A person I think a lot of really let me down, in my opinion. Yeah, I started to stew about it a little bit. But then I thought about it and I prayed about it. I realized I’ve failed people many times. When I fail people, I want them to extend grace to me....to show me grace...to love me...to forgive me...to give me another chance. I decided to extend grace to that person, and it felt so good to just LET THE STUPID OFFENSE GO!

Yeah, I could take offense at things. I’m in a pastors’ prayer and support group that meets every other Wednesday morning. The guy who leads it is a very seasoned, classy, mature minister. He’s taught me so much. I’ll call him “Mike” but that’s not his real name. One time about two years ago, I showed up for the group. Mike asked me how I was doing. I just kind of calmly and matter-of-factly said, “O.K.”

All of a sudden, Mike launched into this big weird display of sarcastic, mocking behavior toward me. He’s never done it before or since. He called me EEYORE (you know, the Winnie the Pooh donkey?!) He kept saying,
“EEYORE, EEYORE, I’m O.K. I’m O.K. BOB’S EEYORE. BOB’S EEYORE. ..... EEYORE!! EEYORE!!”

I wanted to say something like, “Mike are you DRUNK or something?!”
I could really have gotten offended. I could have walked out and never come back. I could even have done that AND said a lot of nasty things about him to others. I realized I’d be wrong to do that. Maybe Mike hadn’t had enough sleep. Maybe Mike was under stress. Maybe Mike had problems HE couldn’t deal with and he was just venting. I still think it was inappropriate, but I’ve forgiven him. That happened ONE time in 5 years and all the others he’s been fine. Again, I extended grace, love, and forgiveness to him, as I’d expect to be extended to me.

About six months ago, I was at a social gathering and a guy I’ve known for many years asked me if I’d ever had a colonoscopy. I hadn’t and I still haven’t. He got kind of perturbed, looked me right in the face and said, “THEN YOU’RE A FOOL!!” Now, a lot of people would have taken offense to that one. And I admit, it was maybe a bit much. But I know this guy. I know that’s his way. A casual observer might think he had little regard for me. I know the exact opposite is true. He’s really a LOT like my late father. He says exactly what he thinks. He told me that because he’s concerned about my health. I know SOME people would have been really offended at that one. I wasn’t.

I suspect some of you are wondering if I ran this piece by my wife before posting it. I didn’t

Will she be offended?

I hope not, but maybe.

If she is, you guessed it, I hope she’ll extend grace, love, forgiveness, all that stuff to me.

And, I’m really hoping the “Nelsons” are not offended by anything on their tape, but if they are, well I hope they will too!

If you want to leave a comment, please do! I trust I won’t be offended.
(You just click on where it says 0 comments, or 1 comments, or whatever and then there’s a procedure to “set up a Google identity” and leave a comment.)
If you want to comment and you don’t want to set up a Google identity and all that stuff, you can e-mail me- the address is under “About Me” in the column at the right.

WORDS OF THE PROPHETS

“And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” (I Corinthians 14:32)

As I post this one, I realize it is NOT a typical “The Blog of Bob Baril” posting.
I am aware that it may confuse some people. I am aware that it may bore some people. I am aware that it may upset some people. All that said, I’m going to post it.

Right now I’m preaching and teaching through a series on Spiritual Gifts at church. I’ve preached about the Motivational Gifts of Romans chapter 12 and the Ministry Gifts of Ephesians chapter 14. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been preaching about the Gifts of the Spirit from I Corinthians chapter 12. Next Sunday I’ll be primarily in chapter 14 from which I quote about. This is controversial stuff in many circles. Sadly, even in “Pentecostal” and “Charismatic” circles, it’s getting to be considered controversial stuff.

Interestingly enough, I’ve had a lot of occasion in the past few weeks to talk and muse about the topics of “Prophecy” and being a “Prophet” with some Christian friends. “What does that mean?” “How is prophecy used?” “How can you tell if a prophecy is from God or not?” And a BIGGIE is, “Even in Christian circles, why are prophets and their prophecies so often ridiculed and rejected?”

I’m NOT quick to put the label of “Prophet” on someone; yet I’d have to consider The Reverend David Wilkerson a prophet. In 1958, 26-year-old Wilkerson, then the pastor of a church in rural Pennsylvania, felt called of God to the streets of New York City to confront the toughest and fiercest teenage and young adult street gang leaders and members and lead them to Jesus. Certainly this would seem to have been a FOOLHARDY plan. Yet, Wilkerson was AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL and the “Teen Challenge” ministry was born. In the early 1970s, David Wilkerson published the controversial book, “The Vision”, a prophecy of what would happen in the church and society of North America over the roughly 30-40 years following 1973. At the time, his prophecy seemed outlandish. Today, we know that it was real and most of it has come to pass. (Incidentally, he also has been prophesying the collapse of America’s investment banks and leading financial firms for OVER TEN YEARS.)

When God uses you as a prophet or to speak prophetically, it is NOT easy and you are usually NOT popular. Sadly, your biggest enemies and critics will often NOT be atheists nor agnostics, nor the average Joe down the street. Usually your biggest enemies and critics will be fellow born-again Christians who do not want their toes stepped on!

I’m on an e-mail list called “The Glory of God on Cape Cod”. It’s a newsletter calling for revival, and then people often send their comments and responses to the entire e-mail list. (NOTE: I don’t know for sure how I got on that e-mail list.) Today, I received an e-mail to everyone on “The Glory of God on Cape Cod” list from Rod Shepitka. I do not know Rod Shepitka. But I was touched by his e-mail, especially since I’ve been talking and wrestling with the kind of “stuff” he talks about here.

This is NOT light reading. If you are not a born-again Christian you probably won’t understand it. If you ARE a born-again Christian, I’d say there’s at least a 60% chance you won’t understand it. But if you’re “game” here’s the contents of Rob Shepitka’s e-mail:

A.W. TOZER on TRUE PROPHETS

Great industrial concerns have in their employ men who are
needed only when there is a breakdown somewhere. When
something goes wrong with the machinery, these men spring into
action to locate and remove the trouble and get the machinery
rolling again.

For these men a smoothly operating system has no interest. They
are specialists concerned with trouble and how to find and correct it.

In the kingdom of God things are not too different. God has always
had His specialists whose chief concern has been the moral
breakdown, the decline in the spiritual health of the nation or the
church. Such men were Elijah, Jeremiah, Malachi and others of
their kind who appeared at critical moments in history to reprove,
rebuke and exhort in the name of God and righteousness.

A thousand or ten thousand ordinary priests or pastors or teachers
could labor quietly on almost unnoticed while the spiritual life of
Israel or the church was normal. But let the people of God go
astray from the paths of truth and immediately the specialist
appeared almost out of nowhere. His instinct for trouble brought
him to the help of the Lord and of Israel.

Such a man was likely to be drastic, radical, possibly at times
violent, and the curious crowd that gathered to watch him work
soon branded him as extreme, fanatical, negative. And in a sense
they were right. He was single-minded, severe, fearless, and these
were the qualities the circumstances demanded. He shocked
some, frightened others and alienated not a few, but he knew who
had called him and what he was sent to do. His ministry was
geared to the emergency, and that fact marked him out as different,
a man apart.

To such men as this the church owes a debt too heavy to pay.
The curious thing is that she seldom tries to pay him while he lives,
but the next generation builds his sepulcher and writes his
biography, as if instinctively and awkwardly to discharge an
obligation the previous generation to a large extent ignored...

[-From the Foreword to Leonard Ravenhill's "Why Revival Tarries".
A brilliant book!]

The historian D'Aubigne writes: "A great work of God is never
accomplished by the natural strength of man. It is from the dry
bones, the darkness and the dust of death, that God is pleased to
select the instruments by means of which He designs to scatter
over the earth His light, regeneration and life." [- D'Aubigne's
"History of the Reformation"].

Another writer has observed: "In the various crises that have
occurred in the history of the church, men have come to the front
who have manifested a holy recklessness that astonished their
fellows. When Luther nailed his theses to the door of the cathedral
at Wittenberg, cautious men were astonished at his audacity.
When John Wesley ignored all church restrictions and religious
propriety and preached in the fields and by-ways, men declared
his reputation was ruined. So it has been in all ages. When the
religious condition of the times called for men who were willing to
sacrifice all for Christ, the demand created the supply, and there
have always been found a few who have been willing to be
regarded reckless for the Lord. An utter recklessness concerning
men's opinions and other consequences is the only attitude that
can meet the exigencies of the present times." [Quoted by Frank
Bartleman in "Azusa Street", pg 46. (Also published as "Another
Wave Rolls in"). - Another brilliant book!]

God bless you all.

NIGHT TERROR

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

There’s something about being awakened by a strange smell, sight or sound in the middle of the night that can be, well, a night terror. Last night, I woke up around 1:30. It was one of those times that I was exhausted but wide awake. Admittedly, I’d had a very stressful day and I’d had too much caffeine to drink. I went on the computer for about ten minutes to check my e-mail, and I went back to bed.

We have gas forced hot air heat at home. I could hear the heat running, but suddenly I could also hear a loud, shrill, electronic tone which also was making a weird grinding sound. This is not the kind of thing you want to hear in the middle of the night. I have a basis for being concerned about what I wake up to at night. In 1991, I woke up to a burning plastic smell. It got stronger and stronger. It was strongest in the basement. I could not find it and ended up calling the fire department. At first the fire department had a difficult time finding it! Ultimately it was found. We had a freezer in the basement. The relay on the freezer was shorting out and burning out. Thank God I woke up! In a couple of hours the whole house could have been on fire! About two years ago, I woke up to a problem with the furnace and had to get Nstar Gas out for an emergency call in the middle of the night.

My gut feeling was the noise was probably coming from the heating system. I got up and walked around and as I got away from the bedroom, the noise became fainter. Going back to the bedroom, I listened at the window. It really seemed to be coming from OUTDOORS. I walked downstairs and opened the front door. Yes, outdoors on Harrison Street was a loud, shrill, electronic tone which was also making a grinding sound. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything close to our property, which it was not. The noise WAS kind of loud and kind of scary. I wondered if anyone else was hearing it. It seemed like it was coming from the distance, maybe at least five houses away.

I went back upstairs and lay down. For about 45 minutes I heard that loud, shrill, electronic tone which was also making a grinding sound. Sleep? Are you kidding? Suddenly, it stopped. After about fifteen minutes, I was asleep.

I know, I know, some of you are thinking this thing with the loud electronic tone really didn’t happen- that it was a dream. No, it happened! In the morning I thought of it. I’m one of those people who tries to see symbolism in just about anything. I thought about that NOISE- that noise that caused night terror. It was like a haunting alarm in the dark and no one was responding.

How many shattered lives are out there? In my experience LOTS. How many people as it were are (in some way) “sounding an alarm”- crying out even hauntingly- and are we listening, and what do we do about it? .....

Well, that’s my philosophizing. And, finally, on a physical and emotional gut level: I’D BETTER NOT BE AWAKENED BY THAT NOISE TONIGHT!

AOL MAILING PROBLEM ON WED. OCT. 22

"I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:" (III John 13)

I arrived home from the Assemblies of God ministers' retreat this afternoon a little before 4. It was a good time. There is SO much I could write about it, but suffice it to say, it was a good time in many respects. I got to walk a beach yesterday; something I love to do, and I was very grateful!

I had not been on-line in over 48 hours.

I went on to discover that AOL has "launched" a new "upgrade" to AOL mail. I had 46 e-mails at revrbaril@aol.com and I WAS able to read them with no problem, but I was not able to send any e-mail. It just WOULD NOT SEND e-mail! One e-mail was from an out-of-state friend who'd experienced a crisis involving his teenage daughter. I wanted to let him know I'd received his message, but I could not. (I actually tried phoning his house and the call didn't even go through!) I also got several e-mails from the Convener (the leader) of the Framingham Interfaith Clergy Association. I am this year's Secretary, and there was one of them I really needed to respond to. I finally ended up calling his office and leaving a message with his Secretary. (At 4:45, I assume he'd probably gone for the day.)

I know we're all spoiled by these modern electronic "gadgets". Ten years ago, I did not even know what a "blog" was. (Did they even HAVE blogs ten years ago?) Fifteen years ago, I was just learning how to turn on and use a computer, and I was not on-line in those days. Now, like everybody else I'm completely dependent on e-mail. It was hard being away from it for over 48 hours. And, then the AOL Mail not working! Well, I was "not a happy camper".

(Although AOL Journals "goes away" after Oct. 31, there is a site on AOL blogs were people can comment on the new AOL mail upgrade. MANY left comments that they could not send e-mail today and are not happy. I also left such a comment! I hope this is all fixed in less than 24 hours!)

THE SEA CREST

“And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” (Luke 9:10)

I’ll be attending the Ministers’ Retreat of our Southern New England District of the Assemblies of God from Monday through Wednesday of this week. The Ministers’ Retreat was called “Ministers’ Institute” until a few years ago, and it always takes place in the Fall. I haven’t been to an Assemblies of God Ministers’ Retreat (or “Institute”) for at least seven years. For a number of years, I’ve attended Vision New England’s “New England Pastors’ Prayer Summit” every November in the Keene, New Hampshire area. I’ve thought that two ministers’ retreats in “back to back” months was a bit much, so I’ve opted to attend the Prayer Summit only. This year, I’ve decided to go to both. Originally, the church was paying for the Prayer Summit, and I was paying for the AG Ministers’ Retreat. I’ve already paid for it, in fact, but several people were nice enough to offer me money to offset my expenses and I’ve been very grateful for that!

The AG Ministers’ Retreat is taking place in Falmouth on Cape Cod at a “resort” called The Sea Crest. I THINK we may have had another retreat at The Sea Crest, but if we did it was sometime in the 1990s and I don’t remember it too well. I DO have memories of The Sea Crest, however! In 1971, my father was an “Assistant Supervisor” at the Registry of Motor Vehicles which was the highest rank of a “uniform man” and he was assigned to the Public Relations branch of the Registry’s Boston headquarters. (You may know, he started out giving driving tests at the Registry in 1956 and he retired as the Supervisor of the Medical Affairs branch in Boston in 1982.) Each year, there is a big national convention of “motor vehicle administrators” held somewhere in North America. The organization is known as the “A.A.M.V.A.”, that is the “Association of American Motor Vehicle Administrators”. In 1971, Massachusetts was hosting the A.A.M.V.A. convention and all the “setup and breakdown” was essentially “my father’s baby”.

At the time, I was a Junior in high school and my brother Eddie was a Freshman. I remember my Dad let us skip school, and we went with him in a rented U-Haul truck to bring some desks and tables to The Sea Crest to set up. At the time, this U-Haul truck was the first decent sized truck I’d ever equipped with automatic transmission. I think that even surprised my father. Eddie and I worked hard, but we got to be included among the guests at the banquet that night, eating all kinds of fancy foods and feeling like a couple of big shots. My father was always talking about a woman named “Gert” that he worked with. He was constantly putting her down and talking about how much he didn’t like her. Eddie and I expected Gert to be a 1971 version of the wicked witch of the west, but to our surprise we found out she was O.K. and we really wondered why my father couldn’t say a good word about her. One thing I remember is that my father got loads and loads of “A.A.M.V.A.” pads of paper. At my parents’ home, they were using those pads of paper for phone messages seemingly FOREVER!

That was thirty-seven years ago. At the time, my father was forty-eight-years old. To me, it seems like it was MAYBE ten years ago. Now, I’m fifty-four, six years older than Gene Baril was in 1971. And, I’m a minister on retreat. Maybe this time I really AM a big shot...or not! Actually, it’s a “not” but sometimes we like to pretend!

Yes, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I’ll be making some new memories at The Sea Crest!

YOUNG @ HEART

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father...The elder women as mothers...” (from I Timothy 5:1-2)

My twenty-five-year-old son Jon and I went to the showing of the 2007 documentary “Young @ Heart” at the Costin Room of the Framingham Public Library. What a moving and powerful film!

[I’ve first got to say as sort of a “disclaimer” and in the interest of full disclosure, that several people who are very close to me, and that I respect very much, strongly disagree with me EVER recommending secular films or books, especially any which contain swearing. It DOES bother them when I (an Assemblies of God minister who holds to very conservative theological and social positions) seem to be hypocritical and/or dishonoring to the Lord by doing so. This IS a secular film. I think I counted a total of five swears in 108 minutes. I don’t swear and I don’t care for swearing, but my experience is that a person can and will hear far more swearing if you walk through the streets of downtown Framingham on any particular afternoon!]

“Young @ Heart” is the name of a chorus of senior citizens from Northampton, Massachusetts who (primarily) sing rock songs, and I mean ROCK songs! I read a short blurb about the film in the paper and was very curious about seeing the film. I expected it to be very funny, and parts of it WERE very funny. Watching senior citizens, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s singing the stuff you usually hear played on “Boston’s Classic Rock”; well, it IS a riot! These are people of my parents’ generation and even a little older! The film was NOT a comedy, though. At times, it was very sad. Most of all, it was one of the most inspiring films I’ve seen in a long time.

Musician and artist Bob Cilman created “Young @ Heart” at a senior center in Northhampton in 1982. Originally, the members sang mostly pleasant songs of their generation, but when the group was several years old, they tried one rock song of MY generation which was very popular with their audiences, and the rest is history. Young @ Heart has toured, not only around America, but has also toured Canada, Australia, and Europe!

The documentary was shot by British filmmaker Stephen Walker a couple of years ago, and originally broadcast on “Channel 4” in London. It was so well received on television that Walker got it into some British theaters where it was also a big hit. Last year, Fox Searchlight, a subsidiary of Twentieth-Century Fox, acquired the film and tweaked it to make it “more cinematic”.

“Young & Heart” not only showed a number of the group’s rehearsals and perfomances, but there was also footage of interviews of the group’s members and their families. In addition, it included following some of the seniors on difficult trips to the hospital where very real issues of life and death were being discussed. One of the most moving parts of the movie was watching a concert of “Young @ Heart” at the Hampshire County Jail.

There’s a LOT more I could share, but I’m afraid I’d spoil the film for you!

Really, this was GREAT! I had no idea the group “Young @ Heart” even existed, but if they ever perform in the MetroWest area, I’ll be there!

The film “Young @ Heart” just came out on D.V.D. this month. As you can tell, I highly recommend it!