Page 2
By Danny Laurent
June 2014
The Comfort of Following
Everyone's heard the saying “Don't be a
follower, be a leader.” Yeah, you know what, I have
something to say about that, leadership is
OVERRATED. OK, before people start throwing things
at me and accusing me of having one two many at
Cajun Fest, let me explain.
So during Cajun Fest weekend, those that were
paying attention might have noticed that I performed
twice. Once as the leader of SoulSpirit, my traditional
role at Cajun Fest, and once as the bass player in the
Alexes Aiken Band. If I asked you which do you think I
enjoyed the most, most of you would have probably say
“SoulSpirit,” after all, I get to sing. I get to talk on the
mic. I get to lead. Shouldn't that be more fun? Well,
logically, yes, that should be more fun, but it wasn't.
Now, please don't get me wrong, I LOVE playing with
SoulSpirit. I even went and played at 7pm Mass after
going to the midnight fair workers Mass in the cafeteria
on early Sunday morning because I like being with and
playing with my group so much. I agreed this weekend
to be on the Cajun Fest Committee but wouldn't commit
unless I was assured that I could still perform with
SoulSpirit at Cajun Fest. It's something I look forward to
every year.
However, the Alexes Aiken Band performance I
enjoyed a great deal. Why?? Because all I had to do is
show up and play bass and I got to listen to the beautiful
Alexes Aiken do her thing. I had to make no decisions.
I had to worry about nobody but myself. Turn the page
to the next song and get ready. They even added a
song to the setlist that I hadn't rehearsed with the band.
No problem. Listening to and watching Kyle Mayes a
couple of times through the song and I had it. It was
wonderful. It was freeing. I even caught myself during
the break saying “OK, are you ready...ummm...I mean,
Alexes, I'm ready if you are...” Force of habit I guess.
On the other hand, with SoulSpirit, I sing. So I
have to worry about singing on key and playing bass at
the same time, not always the easiest thing. I have to
worry about whether or not my singers and musicians
are in position for the next song. I have to fill in a bit of
time if somebody is changing guitars or something. We
had an equipment malfunction during the show on one
of the guitars. Had to worry about how much time we
were taking or how much time we had left. All of this is
on top of the rehearsals and such to get ready for the
performance.
So what is my point?? Well my point is that
leadership is great, but it has a price. Sometimes it's nice
to just be and let somebody else make the decisions and
worry about things. That's what I keep telling my own kids
and my CYO kids. Right now you might think your parents
are always on you and you wish that you had the freedom
of an adult and you could lead your own life, but you know
what, it isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'd love to go back
and spend a month in my parents house again and let
them worry about everything and I could just be me: a
clueless teenager in a bubble unaware of how hard life
can be sometimes.
Therefore it is great that as Christians we have the
option to sometimes just give our problems to God. Many
times I have trusted in God and he has always provided.
Maybe not in exactly the way I asked, but he has always
provided. A couple of years ago, I was worried about
replacing graduating guitar players in SoulSpirit. I prayed
to God and he not only sent me Ariel Aguilar, Jacob Grey,
Kal Landry, and Raymond Nash, but he also let me keep
Kyle Mayes and Ryan Evans during summers, holidays,
and for some of the benefits we play. In addition, we have
had Ariel's dad, Ike, fill in for us for a couple of shows. My
cup runneth over with guitar players. Next year, I will be
losing a few, but I am sure God will provide others to
replace them. Jesus said “follow me” to his disciples, but
when he left them, it
was then their turn to
lead. However, they
still followed the
teachings of Jesus and
they still depended on
Jesus to help them.
So, in our lives, we
must be both leaders
and followers and that's
a good thing, but it's
not always easy. We
must trust in God that
he will lead us in the
right direction and in
turn, we must lead
others to God as Jesus
commanded us.
Danny Laurent, choir director for VOL’s
SoulSpirit, plays bass with the Alexes
Aiken Band at the 2014 Cajun Fest