Almost, Caught In A Mosh! Thoughts Pt. 2

 Mosh Pit:

A mosh pit is an area in front of a stage at a concert, particularly at punk, metal, or high energy shows, where audience members engage in intense, physical activity, such as pushing, shoving, and jumping.

I have been involved in a few of these throughout my concert going career. Some directly, some indirectly! The ones I have actually been in, have not gone well. In fact they went so poorly for me that I always bow out when one starts and I am near it. I like my personal space. I don't like to be slammed into or against other people. For fun?? I don't get it.

The first one was at a small club in Chicago. Went to see a band on their first U.S. tour. The pit started and I got sucked right into it. Ended up kicking a guy in the head by accident when he went down. I never felt so bad for doing something like that, to another person. He recovered, got back up and continued moshing. Not me. I moved away from the front, closer towards the rear of the venue. I was done with that!

My friend and I went to see the Clash of The Titans tour at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. The bill was Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth & Alice in Chains. The show started off kind of mellow, but by the time Slayer hit the stage, the crowd had been whipped into a frenzy. The pit started (this was the craziest pit I have ever witnessed). My friend and I were in the 8th row. The pit reached the 7th row. First time at a concert that I was actually scared of what might happen. I was afraid that the pit circle would grow even bigger and encompass us. Thankfully it never did. It stayed right where it was. Whew!

My brother and I attended Oz Fest a few years ago. They had two stages going at the time. We got there early and stood on the outer rim of the crowd of the second stage. The band Slipknot had a huge pit going. It was actually unbelievable. So we're there watching and this dude comes out of the crowd with blood just running down his face. He was like "___Yeah!!" "That was awesome!!" My brother and I look at each other and we both kind of mouth, "awesome??" Right!

So I fast forward to last weekend when I went to see the Christian thrash metal band Deliverance. They were on the bill with three secular bands. So Deliverance hits that stage. I am standing front row, right in front of the singer. You guessed it, a pit got started. I wanted no part of it as mentioned before, so I moved over to the right, in front of the guitar player.

The pit was getting wider and wider. People kept bumping/ramming into me. Almost as trying to entice me to engage the pit. I would have none of that!

Then the intrusive thoughts invaded my mind, once again. I so wanted to stick my leg out to trip some of them. Time it just right and throw my shoulder into one of them and knock them into next week. Then I heard God speak to me. Over the volume of Deliverance, through my ear plugs. Could not have been clearer. "Keven, these people are not bumping into or running into you on purpose. They are having fun and releasing their energy. Do not retaliate against them."

1 Thessalonians 5:15 The Message

15  And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

When I heard God's voice telling me not to do anything back, I realized that He was right. Like He always is! It was a Friday night after a long week. The music was loud and aggressive. Kids just wanted to let off some steam. Who was I get in their way? I just moved a little more to give them some more room and viola, no more contact. They enjoyed what they were doing and I enjoyed the rest of the show in peace! And it was EPIC!! 

So after it was all over and the house lights came up, one of the people in the pit came up to me and actually asked me to pray for him. I told him of course I would. Just God showing me again that it wasn't personal towards me. I was just a little to close to the action.

Galatians 6:2 Living Bible

2 Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.

Moral of the story is this. Listen to God's voice, no matter where or what you are doing. He can even reach you though some loud, heavy music.

God bless.

Rev. Kev.