What could be better than Easter weekend in April in Mississippi?
Life is renewing. Blossoms everywhere. The temperatures are perfect. Everybody has a spring (pardon the pun) in their steps. The days are longer. The nights are exquisite. The mosquitoes are manageable. Even those horrible buffalo gnats (black flies) which made an unwelcome arrival in Jackson seven years ago are not that bad this year. I could go on and on. Did I mention it’s perfect sailing weather too and my 40-year-old boat still survives and is actually in pretty decent condition?
As I write this column, I have T. B. Ledford on my mind. Up until a month or so ago, I didn’t know this Northsider, who apparently teaches music to youngsters in the Jackson area. I’ve heard his own children are musical prodigies. I believe the T. B. stands for Thomas Brian.
But what I do know about T. B. Ledford is that he has written the best single guitar song I have ever encountered. And I’ve encountered a bunch, having played seriously for 55 years and having learned about 1,000 songs. The song is called “Blues for Jesus.”
I first heard Blues for Jesus through Mohammed, one of two Canadians (there used to be four) who live in my house. I call the Canadians the apostles because they wander the world preaching Jesus and helping people and, just like the apostles, everything seems to work out. Mohammed is originally from Palestine.
Sam is the other Canadian. I sometimes refer to them as political refugees since they fled Canada during its restrictive covid policies. They also aren’t a big fan of the current Canadian administration’s left-wing policies.
I first met them in February 2022, just as Ginny and I were to go on an eight-day vacation, leaving our 25-year-old son alone for an extended period for the first time.
For months, years, I had been praying for God to bring John some friends. And, lo and behold, they showed up, all four of them, the night before we left. Two of them have since returned to Canada, but Sam and Mohammed remain and have become fast friends of our family. They have been so kind to John. I guess we are sort of living in a group home and John has blossomed.
When you pray for God to bring friends for your son and he answers your prayer and they magically show up out of the blue, the least you can do is be hospitable.
Mohammed is a great guitar player and it’s been a joy to get to play with him so many nights. Mohammed and Sam have a wide variety of friends throughout Jackson. Ava is an amazing violinist. We’ve had some awesome Saturday night hootenannies. It’s like being back in college!
Mohammed kept playing this song called Blues for Jesus. I immediately loved it and it grew on me. “Who wrote that song,” I asked. Mohammed said, “Just some local guy in Jackson.”
As it turns out, T. B. Ledford plays around Jackson and currently is in the very fine band the Hustlers, who play at Fertile Ground every other Thursday at 6 p.m. Years ago he made a record, called Butcher Bird, which you can find on Spotify and Amazon Music. Blues for Jesus is on there. You can also go to Northside Sun Friends and listen to T. B. (and me) play our respective renditions of the song.
The melody and chordal structure are perfect for singing and playing on the guitar.
Here are the beautiful lyrics:
Blues for Jesus
By T. B. Ledford
They never listen anymore, not like they ever did before.
The only death that you could never heal. Do you remember how I made you feel
I got my crown. I got my cross. I once was found but now I'm lost.
How can I make it to that golden shore? I can't walk on water . . . anymore.
Oh Jesus. Jesus you're my only friend. Tell me where do I begin.
I'll sing your tunes. I'll clean your wounds.
I'll comb your tangled hair out from under your halo.
Oh Jesus, the long night’s nearly done. I think I see the sun.
Let's have another drink of wine. Before you go.
Nothing works out quite the way you want it.
Mom's got an orchid and a brand new Easter bonnet.
And all the world is new on Easter day.
He's got a message just for you. He's having trouble getting through.
So while you're waiting for your phone to ring won't you help me sing these blues for Jesus.
I suppose it’s the lyrics regarding Easter that have made me think of Blues for Jesus as I write this column, especially the line “nothing works out quite the way that you want it.”
Jesus wasn’t quite the savior that the people of Israel were looking for. They wanted a military leader, a king, who would gather an army and overthrow the Romans.
Instead they got a man riding through Jerusalem on a small donkey who would be hanging from a cross three days later. Nothing works out quite the way that you want it.
But the fact still remains, 2,000 years later, the streets of Jackson, indeed all of Mississippi, are lined with beautiful churches testifying to the awesome power of his will. There is no possible explanation for that other than Jesus Christ was God.
In my Sunday school class last week, we studied the Jewish perspective on death as seen in the Psalms. There was no hope of life after death. Death was the end, the pit, from which there was no escape. The concept of a physical resurrection in our own bodies was inconceivable. It was only when it actually happened that anyone gave such a concept any credence. Jesus’ resurrection caused a radical change in the way humans view reality and the possibilities beyond reality.
It is so clear to me that death is not the end. If nothingness is the state of the universe, why is there something in the first place? No, death is not the end. It is the beginning. And the beginning of something so wonderful, we don’t have the words to describe it.
All you need is faith. Faith is not logically derived. It’s a gift from God, which God happily grants. All you have to do is pray and ask. That’s the best deal in history!
As we think of all those who we have lost and all the tears we have shed, remember the resurrection. Remember Easter!
He is risen!
