I'll be in the mountains for the next few weeks.  I'm grateful for so much beauty round us, for the friendship offered, and most of all for the opportunity to pass on a gift given.

We will have more firsthand information about the Revelation Ranch  when we return.  What a blessing to take part in a tribute to Rich Mullins by learning about his Appalachian forefathers at the Genealogy Jamboree while seeding the creativity of another generation by fundrasing for Revelation Ranch Ministries!  

In honor of Rich Mullins' vision, A Candle to the Sun, LLC plans to help support the work of Revelation Ranch Ministries through proceeds from books purchased on this website: Singing from Silence* by Pamela Richards and Going Home: A Sojourner's Appalachian Roots** by Beverly Hall Walker.  This is an offering made in faith.  We don't know yet if we can fund the publication of the next book, Let the Mountains Sing, but we know in whom we have believed, and are persuaded that he is able.  We seek your support in prayer.

I'll have limited internet access for a while, so I'll share a song here that keeps going though my mind.  It reflects the deep joy this opportunity awakens in me.  Richard wrote a different song with the same title, but these are the original lyrics, usually attributed to an anonymous Quaker writer:

How Can I Keep from Singing?

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth's lamentation,
I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
That hails a new creation;
Thro' all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul--
How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho' the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it;
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his--
How can I keep from singing?~

          

*A Candle to the Sun will contribute tweny-five per cent of the profits of the sale of Singing from Silence from this website to Revelation Ranch Ministries until further notice.   Unfortunately, the purchase of the book, Singing from Silence, in any version other than the paperback, sold anywhere other than on this website,  will not result in charity contributions at this time.  

**Beverly Hall Walker has generously contributed her years of hard work and genealogical research to assist the Revelation Ranch Ministry of Letcher County, Kentucky.  She will donate all the profits from her spiral-bound book,  Going Home, a Sojourner's Appalachian Roots, to this Letcher County, Kentucky cause.   She has only a limited number of books to offer.  To purchase her book, visit www.candletothesun.com again in July.

Beverly Hall  Walker is a genealogist who will be attending this year's Genealogy Jamboree with Pam Richards and Ted and Donna Yoder.  She has researched Rich Mullins' ancestral lines.  She discovered that although Rich Mullins was born in Indiana, he has deep genealogical roots in Letcher County, Kentucky and the surrounding mountains.  In the process of her research, she found she shares five of Rich's lines.  Many of his ancestors lived and died on the ridges of Pine Mountain in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.  Rich Mullins’ paternal southern Appalachian roots came from his Mullins, Wells, Lewis, Osborne, Whitaker, Kelly, Maggard, Short, Robertson, Boggs, Pennington, Caudill, and Adams ancestors.  His cousins are too numerous to mention.  

They came from hardy stock: explorers, pioneers, war veterans, farmers,
preachers and coal miners; all working hard to find their place in the world as they continued to give birth to the next generation of musicians, artists, and craftsman.  Such ancestors left us the rich legacy of their majestic mountain home.

Beverly Hall Walker has compiled Rich Mullins’ ancestral lines in the spiral bound book, "Going Home:  A Sojourner's Appalachian Roots/ In Remembrance of Richard Wayne Mullins 1955-1997."  In memory of Rich Mullins' dedication to funding charities for children and his devotion to developing the creative gifts of the next generation, and in honor of his Appalachian ancestors who gifted Rich with hands, feet and wings, she has chosen to donate the profits  from her research to the Revelation Ranch Ministries in Letcher County, KY.

If you come to the Jamboree, be sure to visit our booth!  We're A Candle to the Sun.   Can't wait to see you there!

National Hammered Dulcimer Champion Ted Yoder is widely known for his innovative approach and updated selections of hammered dulcimer music.  He was very kind when I asked him to play an old folk tune.  He jumped in and pushed his limits to perform a distinctly heartfelt version of this old Irish tune.  I found it very moving.   Ted will be offering three free concerts in tribute to Rich Mullins at the upcoming Genealogy Jamboree.  I can't wait!

Here's Ted performing the amazing music that's behind the video trailer for Singing from Silence:

of artistic partnership.  An artist shares her experiences with close friend Richard Mullins. . .(click on link to read more. . .)

". . . And I suddenly realized that my dad had been a kid once. At the time the most convicting verse in the Bible was "Honor your father and mother." And I realize now that that verse means that if you cannot honor your father and mother then you can't honor anybody. Until you come to terms with your heritage you'll never be at peace with yourself. That was a real breakthrough moment for me. So, what I needed to do was come to understand the Appalachian life, so that I could know more about my father, who had been a stranger to me all my life."  --Rich Mullins

What is a Genealogy Jamboree?  It's a great way for children--and their families--to learn more about history by studying their own fascinating ancestors!  It's an event that's taking place in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee on June 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2012.  There will be live re-enactors, exhibits, demonstrations, and lots of written material to help folks find their long-lost cousins!   The Candle to the Sun booth will be a busy place where Pam Richards will be signing books, Ted Yoder will be displaying his hammered dulcimer talents, and Beverly Hall Walker will be presenting a unique spiral bound book about Rich Mullins' ancestry.   Read on for more information:

Back in Appalachian Southwestern Pennsylvania, my family used to visit the country every weekend when I was growing up.  The tiny church we went to was too small to support a preacher, but the congregation sang enthusiastically, faithfully--and excruciatingly slowly--every Sunday.  I got to know the Holbrook Christian Church's top ten like like I knew the tops of my penny loafers.  The farmers' all-time top favorite hymn was "Bringing in the Sheaves."  When they sang, I looked at their faces tanned dark as wood, and I knew why the farmers loved that hymn.

When a farmer brings in his harvest, he knows what he's invested: the blisters, the calluses, the dry throat, the aching
back, the sore feet have paid off at last.  He also knows the gift he's been given, because the farmer can't make the sun shine or the rain fall.  Only God can make a seed, and only he can bring it to life.  So the farmer's smart enough not to sit down and eat every morsel of grain he brought in at harvest.  He saves some aside for seed to plant the next season, so that God can give the gift of harvest again.

Because I see creativity as a resource that keeps on giving, I see it as a seed.  A God-given gift, like a talent for creating music, or an artistic bent, or an eye for photography, or a very special friendship, or a knack for sewing or cooking, or an ability to write: each can be a seed. 

American Indians had a concept of giving a gift that differed from that of the Europeans.  When most of us think of gift, we think of possession.  When a gift is given, one person owns the object--and to dispute that claim causes discord.  But American Indians thought differently.  When they thought of a gift, they thought of sharing.  A gift was sacred.  A gift did not belong to one person, but to the whole community.  Consistently passing the gift from one hand to another, in fact, gave rise to a spirit of community.  The advantage one person gains from possessing a material object cannot compare to . the spirit the gift of giving imparts. 

In the spirit of sharing the creative gift that gave rise to Singing from Silence, I am praying about the most effective ways to pass the gift to the greater community.  Richard Mullins was a great example of "gifted giving."  He capped his annual income from his music at the level of the average American and gave the rest away.  One of the great miracles of that
arrangement is that as an artist, Richard had enough income to worry about what to do with it.  It just shows how great a gift he had been given.

 In so many ways, I hesitate to compare myself with Richard Mullins.  I don't have his talent, for one thing.  For another, I'm just beginning to sell Singing from Silence, so I'm not yet even able to meet my expenses in publishing the book.  There isn't any question of "average annual income" at this point, and realistically, perhaps not for years to come.  Or never.  But a gift from above is a gift, and I was given the gift of this very special friendship, just as I was given the ability to write the book.  And so I have been given the gift of setting aside something--however modest--from what the book brings in, to share with the community. I'll ask for your prayers that I can use my responsiveness to his Spirit and the creativity God gave me to figure out the best way to do it.

 I have advisors, and we are considering several spiritual and creative projects that can use a little seed money.  We expect to start locally and expand the reach of giving slowly, within the means God grants.  We are particularly excited about projects that are devoted to developing the spirituality and creativity of young people or children--so that their gifts can keep giving to the next generation.

Seeds for the next harvest . . .  

Last week, Michelle Centers, a Rich Mullins fan who lives in West Virginia, expressed her interest in reviewing Singing from Silence.  Here are her thoughtful and poetic remarks on the book:    

"As I began to read Pamela Richards' new book Singing From Silence I felt as if she was writing the lyrics to music composed by Richard Mullins' life.  The song that comes together through the long friendship of these lonely young kids through adulthood up until his death is inspiring, uplifting, emotional--will make you laugh, and cry.  It reveals how God does have a place for each and every one of us in life. God used one to create music, the other to tell the story. When Pamela finally listened and gave in to the prompting to write, God smiled--and the song that is now finished took flight and is no longer silent."

--Michelle L Centers

Singing from Silence is now available.  To purchase, click on this link.

To see a reiew by Beverly Hall Walker, click here.

Singing from Silence is now available.  Click on the link to purchase. 

It's been a long and eventful journey to bring this book to you.  I hope you have a chance to read it, and if you do, my best hope is that you get a glimpse of the Richard Mullins I knew--and the everlasting loving God he showed us all. 
--Pam Richards

Rich Mullins was one of the most gifted musical visionaries of the twentieth century.  He was thought by some to be a modern-day prophet.  Others thought he was a saint.  He was a radical believer, an original spirit devoted to a mighty God.

This book is the story of a friendship between Rich Mullins and the author, his close friend and confidante Pam Richards.  She presents Richard's more human side in an intense but sometimes broken relationship that called on him to demonstrate the love of God.  Through laughter and tears, despite differences and obstacles, their friendship brought
them both closer to God.