This is one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on.  I cannot wait till Wednesday Dec 30th so I can show these guys off to y’all.   All movie soundtrack songs.   It really doesn’t get better.  Southport Hall, Dec 30, 10pm

Whenever Thanksgiving comes and goes, there is a certain select group of the population that begins to display the “Keep Christ In Christmas” mantra. My personal thoughts: I cannot stand the term X-mas. We could do a Marvel Comics “X-Men” holiday instead of Christmas. We could give everyone who works in the X-Ray tech lab a day off. X-Mas?! C’mon. The term has been selectively assimilated into our culture by claiming it’s an abbreviation. I can see that…it’s so hard to write “Christmas”…it’s a really tough word to spell….

Anyway, the term X-mas. …STUPID.

Even those individuals who are not actively seeking the demise of a christian culture in America and the world seem to have a fading sense of Christmas. Ask anyone coming out of a Catholic mass or high school religion class “Hey, what’s Christmas all about?” their answer will be, “JESUS’ BIRTHDAY!” The term will usually be said as though the mules and sheep had on party hats and the wise men came over with the crown royal. My point: there is very little concern among most Christian/Catholics/other about what that first Christmas was all about and why it’s so important.

The question I brought my fifteen juniors at a local high school the other day was “Why is Jesus..Jesus.” He worked some miracles. Great. He was on a cross. Great. Son of God. Awesome. The normal answer will be, “I believe in Jesus, …but I don’t know why.”

We worship Jesus Christ as the Son Of God because He fulfills the ancient Jewish prophecy that God Almighty would send a savior to the world. Every event from the Old Testament, from the Torah, from the prophetic statements of Ezekiel, Elijah, and Jeremiah, the mission of John The Baptist, and every event that we know leads us to the events of Christmas Day. It’s all one, long, continual story until Christ is born. This unbelievable story can be told through the eyes of faith and reasoned through the microscope of history.

This notion means little to both active Christians and non-church going individuals. The world ends up with the majority of the population MISSING OUT on the real story of Christmas and why it’s important to all of us, regardless of faith.

SO, here’s a guide for everyone as to a few things YOU can do this Christmas to remind yourself of “why the hell do we celebrate this Christmas thing anyway?”

1.) Get your ass to Church. Step one, hands down. If you haven’t been going. Go. That simple. “OH BUT ITS HARD AND I DONT HAVE THE TIME” bullshit. Go. You’re not going to develop as an individual in a positive way unless you go. If your Catholic, go to mass.

2.) Read scripture.
“Alright, Credo…I don’t have time to pee, and you want me to read scripture…you must be crazy.”
Do you own a Bible? If you don’t…there’s a christmas present for yourself that you need. Open it up and read the forwards to each of the books as to WHY the books where written and WHEN they written….and, most importantly, TO WHOM they were written. Start your education on the scriptures with the four Gospels: Matt, Mark, Luke, John. If you can realize what these people are talking about in the Bible…you’re half way there. This isn’t easy, it’s not done in a day, …consider it an ongoing self-enhancing personal project.

3.) If your Catholic, check out an Adoration Chapel. If you’re going to spend four hours in a mall, you can stop by your local church for ten minutes and say hi to Christ. The ancient Jews use to walk for miles to the temple to pray OUTSIDE the temple…we can spin around the corner. If you’re looking at a way to stop the “Christmas Rush” and after you’ve had ENOUGH OF CHRISTMAS…go stop in and say hi. You’ll find it’s not so bad after all.

4.) Give to the poor. Christmas is a time to selflessly give to those who are less fortunate. “Blah Blah Blah, who cares Chuck! “
If you reference the Nativity story, Christ entered the world in a “stable” which was really a cave full of animals. Christ did not enter the world in a nice little stable…he came to parents who were considered one step above slaves in a cave surrounded by farm animals in the desert. That’s pretty poor. Do not forget those who might not be in the same social class as you.
If any of us Metairie folk were alive two thousand years ago, with our caddyness YAT ways, we’d probably not want to associate with someone of Jesus’ class structure. What does that tell you? Would you be a Jew screaming at Pilate to let him go, or would you be a Jew that would scream to crucify him? The true answer would probably surprise you.

There ya go. Remember that Christmas is not just a holiday…it’s a time for personal self reflection..especially now in the season of Advent. It’s a time for us to grow as individuals and we CANNOT ignore our responsibility of personal reflection. How are we making ourselves a little better everyday?

Tough question. Tough Answer. But, we can get all the help we need from the guy upstairs.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Blogging and I have not gotten along lately. It’s been an intense few months, folks…so here we go.

Deep thoughts by Mr. Credo.

Here’s a song I wrote in 2005 from a hotel room in Baton Rouge, watching the water on camera on Carrollton Ave creep up to the second story at Tulane Ave. I’m JUST getting around to recording it….

God Save The Rock ‘N’ Bowl
by Chuck Credo IV, written August 29, 2005

It was early one morning when I woke up
and saw the rain come down
Looked out my window and saw the water
all over town.

The people were runnin’, the bells were ringing
The king done lost his crown.
And the people sang, a sad sad song
And cried without a sound

God save the Emperor
God save the Queen
God save all my friends down in New Orleans

Won’t you stop the rain from pourin’
and wash away my soul

Won’t you c’mon and smile on us Jesus,
and save The Rock ‘N’ Bowl.

“Don’t Look Back” I heard Him say,
just try the best you can
And the city streets sang “oh did he ramble”
played by an old brass band

And as I found John Blancher
in a town across the land
He stood up proud and spoke the word
and this is what he sang:

God Save The Emperor
God Save The Queen
God Save all them souls
Down in New Orleans

Won’t you stop all the rain from fallin’
don’t wash away my soul

Won’t you look down and smile on us Jesus
and save the Rock ‘N’ Bowl

Weeks gone by and the sun’s come out
with the water come and gone
and as I go to church on Sunday
to rid me all of wrong

I pray the Lord my soul to keep
and hold my cross so strong
until we can all dance in the second line
and sing them ragtime songs

God save the emperor
God Save the Queen
God Save all them souls
Down In New Orleans

Thank You Lord, for my life
you’ve purified my soul

But Won’t ya come down and smile on us Jesus
and save The Rock N Bowl

Copyright 2005

Four years after Katrina, the anniversary date of Aug 29th is becoming something of a cultural celebration day. A lot of people are ready NOT to remember the date…a lot of people are ready to forget the whole damn thing (and rightfully so).

However, I personally think that a celebration of the date is a very positive thing for our community. Celebrate a hurricane? No. Celebrate the resilience of LIFE in New Orleans! If you read some of my blogs from years ago, I often equate the seasons of Thanksgiving/Christmas/Mardi Gras/Lent/Easter as one big series of events in New Orleans. Unlike the rest of the world, these dates coincide each year to allow us the ability to reflect on our lives and celebrate our reasons for existence… literally starting with Thanksgiving and ending on Easter Sunday. Only here, IN THIS CITY, can you see this reflection of the soul on human culture..and only here can we celebrate life in this way.

August 29th is a reflection of this mentality.

Do we celebrate the hurricane…no.

But, like our tradition of the Second Line played at funerals across the city, we start the day remembering those we lost by playing a slow dirge as we mourn our loss…
But afterwards, it’s time to celebrate our lives and the lives of those who came before us to give us all the incentive to keep going and keep getting better. The band kicks it into high gear and we celebrate life like nowhere else. It’s a reminder to live now because we have no idea what tomorrow brings.

So, in my opinion, let us keep August 29 a memorial of those who died and a celebration of the undying spirit of our awesome culture in New Orleans.

(And as a side note to this….let us ALSO never forget the political nonsense that we went through during that time that led to so much of our problems. Let’s check our short attention spans and LEARN from our mistakes by electing the RIGHT people and HOLDING those accountable that should be).

~Reverend Credo…over and out!
CAN I GET AN AMEN!?

This was one of the first videos of EC I saw when I was 12. Just thought it was so cool that he breaks a string and keeps going. I wanted to be cool enough to have someone hand me another duplicate guitar when I broke a string one day….

I have two dear friends of mine that I really want you to get to know. These two guys have EVERY attribute that a leader needs to possess in order to be successful. The attitudes of these two men, as well as their philosophies on life serves as a continuing kick in the ass for me, and their drive and determination always prove to inspire me at the darkest times of life.

I’m talking about my buddies Abraham Lincoln and Gen. George Patton.

These two men are truly inspiring on every level. Why? Why should you care? What possibly do you have in common with a mid-19th century president and a WWII general? Well, dammit, I’ll tell you!

No matter what decade, time, or place you live in, the WORLD constantly tells you no. You try and jump, gravity says “stay down.” You try to go one way, the road says go another. You try to create, the world loves to destroy. Why is this true? Because, my dear Vulcans, our world operates on the logical philosophy of “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”
No one person matters in the scheme of life. No man can do beyond what the masses allow him to do. The collective controls the destiny and the inevitable.

Well, I’m here today to say that this is a bunch of bullshit.

The Bible says at many different times that the individual human is made in the “image and likeness of God.” How often do we forget this and how often do we seek acceptance of things that are only mortal instead of the Almighty.

Patton and Lincoln’s foundation…their STEP ONE….their core belief enlisted them to the judgement of one person only: The Almighty. While politics and mortality were the game that had to be played, both men ultimately saw their fate as being decided by God, rather than that of voters, fans, foes, the Germans, the Russians, The Confederacy, etc. All of their speeches and writings suggest that both men, even in the grips of bloody war, sought the guidance of God at every move. This mentality is almost forgotten now…we have people who either have no CLUE as to any religious beliefs or we have the crazies who sit in circles singing all day. These two men sought the guidance of the Almighty in a practical way that allowed them to lead teams of men into battle; a forced necessity of the world.

SO, leaders, STEP ONE: Answer to God at the end of the day.

Step TWO: Both Patton and Lincoln were men who saw the daily obsticles of life and refused to give in to the popular demands of the day. OR, in basic terms, they never listened to the bullshit. Even in Lincoln’s moments of doubt and suffering in the longest days of the Civil War, he often came back to the fundamental reason of freedom in his writings. The need and desire for the basic unalienable right of all men to be free was at the heart of what our country was founded on. After many Union losses in the early days of the war, and despite popular opinion to just let the Confederacy be as it is, Lincoln continued because it was THE RIGHT thing to do. Patton’s desire for a no-nonsense operation is noted throughout his career. One of his famous quotes: “Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way” often serves to military personnel as a standard of leadership and the overall need to complete the mission.

STEP 3: Never Say Die. “If I Win, I cannot be stopped. If I’m stopped, I shall be dead” (GP). Another Vulcan proverb, “There are always options.” A true leader must possess the ability to guide through the worst situations possible, to achieve success at times and places that are unexpected. “The test of success is not what you do when your on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” (GP). “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” (AL) “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” (AL) “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.” (AL)
That says it all….

So there you have it, a short sight into why I think you should learn about these two men. Never be afraid to engage the world when you believe your heart is right, stand your ground and don’t ever say die.

But…in our success, in our reward of leadership, in our victory, and in our brightest times, we must always remember this true fact of life that binds us back to desire to stand up and win:

“….All Glory Is Fleeting.”

~Gen George Patton
“Through A Glass, Darkly”

Hey YOU! Good to see ya. After a million years and a million miles, I’m back at the blog. What else is there to do at 12:55am?! Actually, lot….so much has been going on.

Before we get into all that, Word Press gives you an option to check to see the search terms that people find your blog. So, if someone types in “MR CREDO BLOG” it shows up on my “dashboard.”

Well, someone obviously looked up the search “Mr Credo Sucks”….HAHA! I love it. Hopefully, there is a Mr Credo at a school somewhere in Wisconsin who really is tough on his kids…thus resulting in the search term.

Or maybe this person is mad that I don’t blog more…?! what do you think?

OR MAYBE this person is having a moment of pure madness after an irritable bowel movement?

Perhaps all of the above!

I will answer this random search term (which I do find very funny) with my motto in life, that everyone should follow:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BELIEVE ME..
but I’m usually right!

Welcome back, blog!
Peace,
C

If you haven’t scored your 2009 New Orleans Beatles Fest Tickets yet, get them NOW because theyre going fast. www.ticketmaster.com www.hob.com
July 11, 2009 @ The House of Blues!

I am sure I’ve posted this before, but I love this talk.