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06.06.03 - David Meece - Here he goes again!
By Lynne Stringer, courtesy of The Queensland Baptist.
Christian recording artist David Meece released his first album in 1976, at
the age of 21.
Late last year, after more than 25 years in the industry, he released album
number thirteen, There I Go Again, and embarked on a world tour, visiting
Australia in April and May.
A childhood prodigy, David did not become a Christian until he was training
as a classical pianist at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
"I was going to get my bachelor's degree and then my master's and my
doctorate," he says, "I was going to go the road of most and try to have an
artist in residence teaching position at a major conservatorium, touring
while I was doing it. That was my whole goal in life."
Forced to go to church by his mother when he was a child, he had previously
thought that Christianity meant little more than regular church attendance.
"I grew up with the whole concept that being a Christian is simply believing
Jesus was who He said He was, and trying to be good. I had never thought of
the idea of having a personal relationship with God through Christ as
Saviour.
"It was when I finally realised this that I really became a Christian,
because when I started allowing God to be the central focus of my thought
life, that was when the changes began."
Although trained in classical music, David had a love for contemporary
music, which soon led to an album contract and the beginning of his career
as a Christian recording artist.
"[My mother] encouraged me to do classical music because that's where you go
to get the best technique. So I started out doing that, but it got so I
really loved classical music, and as I got older, pop music.
"All of the classical training I had was a preparation for something far
greater that God had in mind for me, that allowed me to use all my gifts
instead of just one."
During his childhood music also provided David with an escape when things
got a little too rough at home. His father, an alcoholic and a drug addict,
would often abuse and threaten his mother, making life a constant struggle.
"I could play the piano and drown out all the other noises," he says, "So
the piano and the music became a way of escape, and it was a way to express
my deep frustrations and anger and sadness. I could play those emotions on
the piano.
"I think that was one of the things that allowed me to get through that
period without having a nervous breakdown, as my sister did. God's grace
provided me with that outlet."
David's father was always unpredictable and dangerous, and David developed a
hatred of him.
"When you're dealing with someone who's under the influence of a substance,
they're capable of doing anything because they're not under the control of
their own wits," he says, "He was crazy when he was drinking and drugging.
"One night, when I was about ten years old and I was nearly asleep, my
father crashed his car into the side of the house, which happened to be my
bedroom wall. Maybe ten feet further down, he would have hit me! It barely
missed my bed.
"He got out of the car and he had a gun. His intention was to kill everybody
in the family and he was starting with us [David and his brother, who shared
the same room]."
David's father came up to him, pointed the gun at his head, and shouted
"You're worthless!".
"Fortunately," he continues, "my grandmother and my mother wrestled the gun
from him and we survived."
David's father died when he was one of the top selling Christian artists in
the world, and it was at that point, he says, that he realised he needed to
forgive his father.
"I didn't realise how much I hated my father, because I was brought up by a
mother who said we're not supposed to hate anyone. We're supposed to love,"
he says, "So sometimes we can convince ourselves that we are not doing
something wrong, when in fact we are.
"The fact is, my whole life I hated my father. I just wouldn't face it or
admit it. I said I was disappointed, or something like that. But I really
hated my father."
Finally owning up to his feelings, David embarked on what he calls his
"wilderness experience", as he tried to figure out how to forgive him.
"I did everything I could to forgive my father," he says, "I went to
counselling, I went to therapy groups, I memorised Scripture, I read every
book on forgiveness you could find, and nothing worked, until I finally
broke down and realised, through my pastor and my therapist, that the stuff
I was doing wasn't going to heal me. The only person who could heal me was
God Himself.
"So I stopped all the jumping through hoops I'd done for two years to try to
forgive my father and just prayed. I prayed and prayed for six months.
"Finally, one night I'd come in from a concert and something came on
television that made me think of my father, and suddenly I saw a vision of
him standing in front of me as a little boy, shaking and crying, who had
himself been abused. A little boy who had so many insecurities and feelings
of inadequacy that he had no idea how to deal with them. So he began running
anywhere he could to numb the pain and he tried everything
until he found alcohol and drugs, and it did numb the pain, but it also
killed him.
"It was like God suddenly gave me an understanding that I'd never had
before. I started crying and I realised I was crying for my father. I wanted
so much to put my arms around him, but I couldn't. All of a sudden, I felt
all of that anger and hatred I'd had in my entire life flow out of me and I
knew right then that I had forgiven my father. And I realised that the key
to it was looking past my pain and seeing his.
"[The key is] being other-centred, because that was what Jesus did when He
hung on the cross. He said, 'Father forgive them, they don't know what
they're doing'. He was looking past His pain, and He saw their pain. He
understood why they were like they were. And He showed us the secret to
forgiving others - praying for them."
Forgiving his father has helped David a lot in his spiritual walk, his
career and his personal life, as has making God's will his central focus.
"I'm having more fun now and enjoying what I'm doing, and I feel like my
concerts are so much better now than they ever were," he says, "Forgiving my
father is part of it, but I think a lot of it's just maturity. God has given
me a real assurance that I'm acting in His
will. I'm doing what He wants me to do.
"A few years ago, I quit trying to please people. That was a big load off my
back! A lot of us spend so much time trying to please people, only to
realise that no matter how hard you try, some people will never be pleased,
and even the ones that you do please, if you hang around them long enough,
they'll soon not be pleased!
"People are fickle. Jesus said as much. That's why we should put all our
trust in God. If you want to live a less stressful life, you live with one
agenda; and that's God's agenda. You say, 'God, I am so frustrated from
trying to please people', and you finally focus your mind and say 'God, if I
can just please You, I'll be satisfied'.
"That was when my confidence went up by miles, because I knew what I was
supposed to be doing, and I knew who, most of all, I wanted to please, and
that was God, and that's a big part of it, too."
David's world tour will continue for the rest of this year. He is currently
touring throughout America, and will go to South Africa in August and Europe
in October.
There I Go Again is available from all Christian music stores now. |
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