The Guitar's Christmas Song...

Political and religious beliefs are perhaps two of the most profound topics that each of us will encounter in our lives. Some of us have comfortably grown up in the long-held traditions of family faith and political beliefs, while others among us have become seekers or free thinkers, either because our own political and faith traditions have in some way been unsatisfactory for us, or simply because it's apparently the nature of humankind to constantly question things.

The 1960's ripped the rug out from under the traditional values and institutions that so many of us now in our 50's and 60's grew up with. For perhaps the first time in history, the concept of mass media allowed us to look beyond our living rooms to the world beyond, and many of us did not like what we saw. The struggle for world peace, for civil rights, and for a better understanding of our greater human family caused many to abandon the relative comfort of traditional beliefs and go forward into the unknown world of the future with open minds and little else. The combined opiates of societal relativism and the hope of social change brought both communal and individual experiences into some kind of schizoid brew that left some of us shaking our heads, trying to find the meaning of it all, and... at the last, finding little, if anything, left to grasp at in this all-too-transient world.

Whether people explored the esoteric through tribal mysticism or through some drug-induced haze, the end of the '60's brought little peace of mind for many. With the onset of the 1970's, the oil crisis, and many other events of international importance, there came the somber reality that we lived in a world that was much more interconnected and interdependent than any of us might have realized.

Politics entered our lives in a bigger way than ever before. In a way, politics tried to become the new "American religion." You were expected to declare either your conservatism or your liberality, and the other side then attacked you with every fiber of their being. The middle ground virtually disappeared in our country as countless family dinners and cocktail parties were ruined when political activists, young and old, ran rampant over traditional civil decorum and good manners in order to bring their own parochial version of political correctness into every fiber of our lives. After a while, it even made many people wonder whether there was any point to any of this at all.

Fortunately, there are always a few people who are able to see the higher vision... and make no mistake about it, there is always a higher vision to be seen. It's just... well... higher up than many people want to look, that's all.

Human problems are almost always eminently transient. They come and go faster than the late fall winds that are blowing through my driveway right now. The truly wise among us tend to seek out those ideas, dreams and visions that are rooted in timeless truth, and that's where religion comes into play. Of course, the humanists among us would probably remind us that morality, common courtesy and decency are not traits unique to those having religious viewpoints, and they would, of course, be right. Still, all in all, and particularly around Christmas time, it's those timeless reminders of faith that inspire so many millions of people.

The Christmas Story is so filled with promise and joy that it will resonate forever in the hearts of those who believe, and even in the hearts of many who do not. Each year, there are also countless brand new "Christmas stories" of all kinds in our world that continue to inspire our human family.

Here's just one more of those stories for you.

Remember the wonderful Christmas tale of the origins of the hymn "Silent Night"? It began with the legend of those little mice that supposedly chewed up the bellows of a church organ in Austria. A priest, Fr. Joseph Mohr, had composed the poem having those timeless lyrics, and his friend, Frans Gruber, penned music to the piece, so that it could be performed by the choir, with guitar, that night. The exact story, as to whether mice really chewed up those bellows or not, may never be known. Since that time, however, the singing of "Silent Night" accompanied by the classical guitar has become a wonderful tradition around the world.

As a guitarist, I've played "Silent Night" many times in many churches, as you can see in the photo. When I've done it in the past few years, I have been fortunate to be able to use a very special guitar. This column is about that guitar, and a guitarist named Marcel Dadi.

Marcel Dadi seemed to be able to play anything well on the guitar. The young Tunisian-born musician even began a collaborative friendship with Chet Atkins, and their work together marked a superlative milestone in country music. Marcel got together with the famous Spanish guitar builder, Jose Ramirez III, in order to build the young genius a special classical guitar. They started by making the guitar's soundboard from red cedar, a sacred tone wood long used for the making of our Native American flutes. The guitar's fingerboard width was reduced, and a cutaway to the body was incorporated. An electric, under-saddle pickup was added, as well. Many in the traditional classical guitar world raised their eyebrows at these innovations. Like many new ideas, acceptance came slowly. Later on, similar guitars would be built for the public to purchase, and they did so gladly.

Unfortunately for Marcel, only days after being honored at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame, the 46-year-old perished in the explosion of TWA flight 800 over the Atlantic Ocean skies near Long Island, New York.

Passing the torch is very much a recurring theme in messages of hope, and in the message of Christmas itself. The innocent babe in the manger must live on in us, as indeed do all of our ancestors and those who are gone who, in some way, inspired us. I have been blessed to have been able to use a "Marcel Dadi" Ramirez guitar these past few years, and to me, that instrument represents that message of continuity and hope in a world filled with so much anger, doubt, and fear. When I play "Silent Night" on it, it's as if that very song itself stands alone to defy all that is evil and wrong in this world.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, whatever your particular political or religious persuasion might be.