Derrick Porter.
He's the new guy in town.
For at least a few loyal fans of Music & the Spoken Word, I'm sure the transition from Lloyd to Derrick has been met with a little hesitancy and trepidation. After all, 34 years is a long time. Lloyd's style, his voice, his smile, his insights, and his convictions have all given way to a certain brand of familiarity and trust. And that's hard for loyalists to let go of.
But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Derrick started things out by greeting the audience members this morning. Shortly thereafter, the program started. His spoken word message was all about the transition, as well addressing topics of connection, joy, and focusing on Christ. Personally, I think he did a nice job and look forward to hearing more from him. I especially appreciated his message today about connection.
Having Derrick as the Spoken Word host wasn't the only thing that changed today. Elements of the program itself also changed. Instead of Derrick introducing the program like Lloyd Newell did during the first 30 seconds, there is now a woman's voice that does that. The same woman also closes out the program at the end. Some guys next to me today, after hearing the voice, said it sounded AI-generated. While I hope that's not the case, I can see why it might be. Since she only speaks less than probably 20 seconds total, using AI for timing and convenience purposes might have been why they chose to go with that option. I'll see if I can find out for sure.
For me personally, today's experience with the Tabernacle Choir was okay. I seemed to be plagued with fighting off some voices in my head telling me I shouldn't be there and nobody wanted me there. Also for some reason, I was in a very reclusive mood and didn't really say all that much to anyone. I did add one change of my own to the program though. It's the first time I wore glasses. The words on the teleprompter were becoming increasingly hard to see, so I thought it was about time. I've had glasses for years but just rarely wear them. Now though, with words becoming blurry, I had a definite need for increased clarity. And I very much enjoyed the change.
Looking to the future, I only have about 15-20 Sundays left in my choir service. It's a strange thought, but the time has come. The voices in my head are winning, my views about the Church are changing, and to be honest, I just really miss my friend Wes.
Until next time, God be with you.
Ryan: I commented on one of your blogs a few years back and have wanted to again but not sure quite what to say. I know you've been talking about leaving the choir for awhile and now it looks like the countdown is official. I will miss seeing you each week... I know you've not been feeing cheerful on the inside, but I appreciate that you've still been smiling during the broadcasts. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading every single blog you've written over the last ten years. I'm certainly not going to ask you to reconsider leaving the choir because there is a season for everything and I understand things come to an end, but I hope you get to feeling better during your remaining time in the choir and beyond. It's been a pleasure for me to get to know you--or at least, this small part of your life. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYour friend,
Evan from Ohio