[LIF] Rest in Peace Larry

I had a few brushes with Larry Norman over the years. He is a veritable legend in contemporary Christianity. Larry will be forever remebered for not letting the devil have all the good music. Thank's Larry. I hope your embrace of eternity is sweet.

Larry helped me through a tough breakup, my friend Adam loaned me Only Visiting and I played it over and over letting Larry name my pain. Ironically I recently reconnected with Denise through facebook, both of us have new families of our own and it is nice to reconnect as friends after so long.

Larry came to the Vineyard in Ottawa and put on a great concert. Larry had the kind of stage persona you either loved or hated. It seemed like he was the eternal hippy on stage. It was loads of fun. If I hadn't run into him in any other setting I might have always thought that was the only face of Larry. I would have been wrong.

The last time I ran into Larry in the flesh was in Toronto. They had him doing worship at a conference??? Larry is great and all but his choice of songs for worship was interesting. I enjoyed the concert, but what really blew me away was the session he ran. There I discovered Larry as a deep thinker. He cut right through some of the flippancy that charismatics seem to revel in. I left that session with a tonne of respect for this legend.

The last time I brushed paths with Larry was in a dream. He showed me around the music scene in New York city and called me to embrace my fears. I wonder if now he knows he had a big impact on me. Larry I appreciate you.

You will be missed. Rest in peace my brother, rest in peace.

Larry Norman (1947 - 2008)