Ska Mania ‘98 is the first concert I ever attended. The Orange County Supertones, The Insyderz, and Five Iron Frenzy were there. Reese Roper and his bandmates in FIF were dressed as Star Trek characters and I was hooked on Ska music. But all things end.
Being invited to write for The Middlings was unexpected. I knew both Ben and Stephen when we were at Trinity, but we were different majors and at different stages of our college careers. I got married between my Junior and Senior years and moved off campus. We were friends on Facebook and, looking back, I see that we would interact randomly from time to time over the years. But I did not know that there were people intently reading the things I wrote on social media. I didn’t consider that it mattered. In fact, I get extremely low interaction with most things I put on Facebook. I’ve been in Facebook jail a few times (don’t know why) so maybe my account is throttled.
I had read a few of the blogs posted by The Middlings before Stephen contacted me about writing. What I enjoyed was finding two people who truly believed that not everything had to be dichotomized. It didn’t have to be “If you vote for Trump you love Jesus, but if you don’t, you are bringing about the downfall of America” (circa 2016 and coming again in 2024). There’s nuance. There are options. There’s room for personal convictions. And it isn’t that I never take a stand. It is just that sometimes the middle of the road is the best place to be standing.
For example, I’ve always felt there was a more biblical place to be than “God hates fags” or “Love is love.” There is a biblical ethic that allows us to treat people with compassion - if not understanding - while refusing to compromise. There has to be. But increasingly, all issues are polarized. The extremes are voiced the loudest. Those refusing to bend the knee are often labeled traitors to the cause. From both sides.
The top of our blog states: “In a world where compromise is the word no one dares to say. In a country where every belief is instinctively labeled left or right. And in communities where every person must pick a side even if they once claimed friendships with those on both. This is where you will find those scripting the entries of this page. We welcome you to MIDDLINGS.”
I’d like to think we’ve done that. In my first year of writing, we attempted to reclaim a biblical understanding of words and concepts. In the second year of my writing, the blog tackled the task of bringing the Ten Commandments into the modern world. If you were with us even then, you may remember that I caught quite a bit of flack for declaring The Chosen to be a violation of the second commandment. This even from my co-bloggers.
Which, by the way, seems weird to say (co-bloggers). I’ve always had nebulous feelings about my place in The Middlings. Stephen had the idea, and he and Ben had been steadily building a following well before I came along. Not that I never felt like I fit, but it wasn’t mine. Not my idea and not my “baby,” as it were. This is why, when talk began about shutting things down in December, I believe my comment was, “Listen, this is yall’s B-B-Q.” This is also why the last post you will read from The Middlings will be written by Stephen. Rightfully so.
As I said, being asked to write for The Middlings was unexpected. I did not know how impactful it would be. I did not know how much I would need it. I did not know that God would use the blog in so many profound ways in my own life. When I was at my lowest point in recent years, and I mean low, low, low (read about it here), Stephen invited a guest to record a video with us. A few months later, I reached out to that guest about significant things, and I don’t know that I can overstate how essential that contact was to my personal well-being, marriage, and family. The Middlings did that. Or, rather, God did. Because while writing for The Middlings was unexpected for me, it was part of God’s plan for my life.
As this season comes to a close, I am certain that God’s plan for my life will continue to be lived out. It will just look different. For a while, at least.
In 2013, I was looking through Spotify and was surprised to find an album called Engine of a Million Plots. What was so surprising about this, is it was a new Five Iron Frenzy album. I had never heard of it. I didn’t know that the band had come back together. All the happy feelings! I was a teen again! But they hadn’t. Not really. Nothing else from Five Iron until 2021, when they released Until This Shakes Apart.
But they weren’t the same Five Iron that I grew up with. They were angry. It was Covid. They cussed in several of their songs. Something changed. Something happened. To quote Scott Stapp and the band Creed, “time, you’re no friend of mine.”
But all things end. And although the end is near for The Middlings, the end is here for my time of writing. And who knows? You may stumble upon a Middlings post in a few years that you never saw before. And you might think the band has come back together. And maybe we will. But this I know with 100% certainty: the Lord keeps His own.
The One that began a good work in Stephen, and in Ben, and in me, will be faithful to complete it. If, in some future endeavor, the Lord brings us back together, it will be for our good and His glory. As all things ultimately are.
If I could leave you with a thought: Believer, He loves you, He loves you, He loves you. Never stop coming home.
Stephen and Ben, I love you both. If nothing else, your blog was for me. Our blog.
Deep breath. All things end.
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