, US, Singer/Songwriter

December 23. Rich Mullins. Rich grew up on a farm, but early on, he fell in love with music. His mother and great-grandmother were , and—when Rich was very young—great-grandma gave Rich his own Bible. Of course, she had ripped out Song of Solomon and told him he could read that when he was older.

About going away to Bible college, Rich wrote: “I felt sad, because I was getting ready to go to a Bible school …, and yet most of my friends didn’t even know about my faith. So … I sang for them … because I wanted them to hear the message about God.”

On this date in 1978, Rich performed “You Gotta Get Up” at a Christmas Concert. He won multiple Dove Awards, including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year.

When he was forty, he basically walked away from fame and went to live and serve on a Navajo reservation. When people accused him of being afraid of success, Rich said, “I don’t know if I’m afraid of success; I might be. I tend to think success is overrated, that it’s something everybody goes after until they get it, then nobody knows what to do with it. Your life speaks louder than your music.… I can make records for the rest of my life and talk about love, but it won’t mean anything until I love somebody.”

Pain can be life’s wrecking ball. Confront the pain and stop the demolition.

For singer-songwriter Rich, words typically came easy. But not tonight.

Rich threw the pen across the room. Yesterday, to kick-off this three-day retreat, his mentor Brennan Manning had Rich write a letter to his father—his father who had died some time back. Tonight, Rich was supposed to write from his father to himself.

But how could he? He had never even heard his father say, “I love you.”

Rich—his dad had called him Wayne—still heard the echo of: Why is it that everything you touch always ends up busted?

Rich tried to understand his dad. He even thought playing the dulcimer might connect him with his dad’s Appalachian roots. Rich loved the dulcimer, but music didn’t tame this demon. Neither did alcohol.

Rich had never done anything but disappoint his dad because Rich had not been created to be a farmer. Rich sank into the chair. He had once thought following was about being good. But now he knew the truth: the “highest pursuit was not to be good, but to be God’s.” In his head, he knew God loved him, but in his heart, it felt like God was as disappointed in him as his dad had always been. Disappointed and disgusted.

But he would do the assignment. He asked God to help him write as if from his dad, and Rich picked up the pen.

But uncontrollable sobs racked Rich’s body. An ugly, holy mess. When they slowed, he tried again.

Rich started the letter with the name his dad always called him: Wayne. On the paper appeared words Rich had heard his dad say: “being poor ain’t shameful—just inconvenient.”

He wrote out what he knew was true. That his dad didn’t know he was supposed to be affectionate. That his dad knew work. Machinery. Calves. More work. That his dad couldn’t imagine that Rich’s machinery and calves were rhythm and poetry and song.

Rich’s dad was sorry for causing him pain, and on the paper, he told Rich to be brave in his pain. Then he penned the words he’d waited a lifetime to hear: “I love you, your Dad.”

Rich put down his pen. Tears streaming, he ran to the cabin behind his. He burst through the door. “Brennan, I’m free!”

“‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2 NIV).

Do you allow pain to wreck any part of your life? Pain can be life’s wrecking ball. Confront the pain and stop the demolition.

Cox, Michelle. “Interview with the Producers of ‘Ragamuffin’, The story of Rich Mullins.” Christian Cinema. April 24, 2014. https://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/newsdesk_info.php? newsdesk_id=2826. Smith, James Bryan. Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.

Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/ Story written by Paula Moldenhauer, http://paulamoldenhauer.com/

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

To learn more of Rich Mullins story, watch, Ragamuffin, The Story of Rich Mullins, produced by his brother David Mullins and David Shultz, http://ragamuffinthemovie.com.