"INTENSELY AMAZING"
TODAY AS I WAS COMING BACK HOME FROM NEW YORK CITY, AND I FLASHED BACK IN MY MIND TO HOW MY RECENT JOURNEY TO RIKERS ISLAND ALL STARTED WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER. I STARTED 2014 WITH A RESOLUTION TO GET BACK TO THE HEART OF WHY I FELL IN LOVE WITH MAKING AND PERFORMING MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE. IVE BEEN SO BLESSED TO HAVE A CAREER FOR THE PAST DECADE WHERE EACH YEAR HAS BEEN BETTER THAN THE LAST. BUT IN THE MIDST OF ACHIEVEMENTS, I STARTED TO FEEL MYSELF LOSING THE JOY THAT I ONCE HAD WHEN I STEPPED ON THAT STAGE. I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT I WAS DOING MORE AND MORE MONEY GIGS, AND LESS HEART GIGS. SO I STARTED 2014 WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER... "LORD USE ME, BRING BACK THE PURPOSE AND JOY TO WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME!
NOT LONG AFTER THAT PRAYER I GOT A CALL FROM MY GOOD FRIEND AND FELLOW MUSICIAN, NATHAN LEE, THAT I HADN'T HEARD FROM IN A WHILE. HE TOLD ME HE HAD BEEN TAKING MUSICIAN FRIENDS IN TO PRISONS. WITHIN TWO WEEKS TIME I WAS LOADED UP IN A VAN WITH HIM AND A SOUND GUY/MUSICIAN, JOHNATHAN DAVIS. WE HEADED TO NEW YORK CITY TO A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY CALLED RIKER'S ISLAND!
I WAS BEYOND NERVOUS AS WELL AS EXCITED TO SEE HOW GOD WOULD USE ME IN THIS SITUATION. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY THREE DIFFERENT BLOCKS, AND EACH ONE HAD ITS ON CHALLENGES AND BLESSINGS. THE FIRST DAY I WAS NERVOUS ABOUT THE UNKNOWN SITUATION I WOULD BE GOING INTO. THE SECOND DAY THE NUMBER OF INMATES DOUBLED IN SIZE, AND THE 3RD DAY WAS THE MOST INTIMATE SETTING WITH ALL WOMEN.
EACH DAY I SHARED MY SONGS AND MY STORY AND MY GOD WITH THE INMATES. BY THE END OF THE VISIT EVERYDAY, I WAS EMOTIONALLY DRAINED BUT ON A SPIRITUAL HIGH! I REALLY DONT HAVE THE WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE, BUT THE PHRASE "INTENSELY AMAZING" KEPT COMING TO MIND! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE OF SERVICE TO SOME PEOPLE WHO MAY BE IN NEED OF HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT, BUT THATS WHAT RIKERS ENDED UP GIVING ME!
IT RESTORED MY HOPE IN PEOPLE BY THE WAY THE STAFF LOVED AND FOUGHT HARD FOR THE INMATES. I WAS INSPIRED BY THE HOPE I SAW IN THE EYES OF INMATES WHO WERE DOWN BUT NOT OUT! AND I FOUND MY JOY AND PURPOSE AGAIN BEHIND THOSE PRISON WALLS. I WAS REMINDED THAT I AM HERE FOR OTHERS. MY TIME AND TALENT IS FOR THE KING AND HIS PEOPLE! THANK YOU NATHAN LEE FOR YOUR SERVANT'S HEART! THANK YOU JOHNATHAN DAVIS FOR YOUR MEEK SPIRIT. THANK YOU WARDEN DUFFY, MS. SCUDDER, AND MS. EADDY FOR LOVING GOD'S CHILDREN. THANK YOU RIKERS ISLAND FOR THE JOURNEY BACK TO PASSION. AND THANK YOU GOD FOR USING ME!
-LET LOVE LEAD-
DAMIEN HORNE
