Ten long years ago, I unleashed into the world a collection of songs titled Kyrie Eleison. Some of these songs had been percolating for a bit, but most of them were written in the wake of a season that ran deep with grief and turmoil.
In February of Twenty Ought Six, after years of attempting pregnancy with zero success, MJ had been heralded the message that she was at long last carrying new life deep within her belly. On the very same day, I was delivered the gut-wrenching request to leave the church where I had served as youth ministry equipper for three and a half years. No longer would we serve in the church family where we made friends and loved kids whose lives MJ and I poured ourselves into. Grieving this impending divorce and wrought with anger, I agreed to finish out the month in my position at the church during which time we had our one ray of sunshine snuffed out. After only two weeks, we suffered our first miscarriage. It was an emotional fustercluck that left us reeling for months if not years.
The months that followed would find MJ and I withdrawing from friends and the church at large. We retreated into the trees and coasted along the clouds. He hopped along islands where no one knew us but ourselves. We gave up the solitude of our home to house loved ones. We spent time with friends and family who were suffering pain of varying kinds. This season also found me articulating in sound and lyric the frustration, anger, and sadness that plagued me from the moment I'd received each punch in the gut. These were emotions immediately felt and translated to song. Together with a handful of songs that had been simmering for months already, they work as a narrative that serve to remind me of the hope that wins out despite the many many shortcomings of humanity.
November Twenty Sixteen marks ten years since I performed live with some friends in celebration of this record's release. Two of those friends, my cousin Jason and my friend Ryan along with Jason's son Tyler and Ryan's brother Jordan will be joining me at the very church that set me free for a performance of Kyrie Eleison in its entirety. I'm thrilled to be revisiting these songs and telling the stories of their inception. It's pretty incredible to be looking at them from ten years on the other side. We've done a whole lot of healing and forgiving and growing as human beings since then. We've still got a long way to go. So why harbor animosity? We have the choice to move forward with one another: Strangers becoming friends, friends changing the world.
Joel Rockey & Friends Perform Kyrie Eleison
Friday, November 11 at 7pm
Center Grove Church
Greenwood, IN
