Happy 2011.

Resolutions for the new year:
EAT Italian,
PRAY without ceasing and
LOVE unconditionally.

Our man-cub is 36 today.

Our firstborn male-child Derek James "Bud" Natalie turns 36 today. My wife Kathy and I were reminiscing about that first hour in our home after returning from the hospital. It was just the three of us in our living room. I (22) was holding my "Little Buddy" and I turned to Kathy (21) and said, quite seriously, "I can't believe that they let us take him home!" But with the help of our parents, siblings and friends we managed. And we are extremely proud of the man, husband and father Derek has grown to be.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUD! As your Grandma N says, "We love you too much."

This is thankful.

"Walter Hawkins & Donnie McClurkin" thankful. Oh Happy Day of Thanks to you all.

Fun music video for our daughter.

We are celebrating our daughter Julie's special birthday today. You can watch a music video tribute with my four brothers here.

Youngest brother Jeff shot the scenes with my suited & dancing brothers including himself, Peter, Joel & Alan. Then Jeff took video that I sent him and edited it. Thanks, Jeff!

Looking?

Lt. Dan & Forrest:

"Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?

I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir."

Jesus: "What do you seek?" Jn 1:28

Time.

I needed more cowbell so I turned to The Chambers Brothers. http://ping.fm/T61ew

Tha Fab Four & The NYC Bishop

So glad we have The Beatles at the iTunes store and Archbishop Dolan heading up the American bishops. It's getting better all the time.

I believe that "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together".

What is worship?

I was asked, “what is worship to you ... what is your hope when you sit behind a keyboard and strike the first note of a service ... where do you hope to be going?”

Worship is our response to God.

God has revealed Himself to us in creation, His covenant with Israel, and, most profoundly, in Jesus Christ. Worship, the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices to God, is our response to that revelation. We are the Lord’s and He is ours.  

The Christian assembly.

Jesus rose on the first day of the week. Sunday has come to be known as The Lord’s Day. “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” When I sit down at the piano in a Christian assembly, I hope to facilitate that rejoicing and gladness through music and words that become an essential part of the celebration. Psalm 68:4 exhorts us to, “Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; his name is the LORD - and rejoice before him.” I hope to assist in that rejoicing.

God centered worship.

We are dead. Our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. Our worship in this life is a participation in the worship of heaven where all eyes are on the Lord God Almighty. It is ongoing, continuous adoration and we join our voices with the choirs of heaven. Song selection, preparation and implementation are employed with that reality in sight. 

God centered worship is first an offering. Nobody in heaven is complaining, “I didn’t get anything out of worship” because it’s not about them. It’s not about getting a buzz or emotionalism. But how can we not be moved and touched in our soul during corporate worship? Experiences and self-realization are the result of our upward gaze, not the motivation.

If the medium obstructs, is it still a medium at all?

When a music minister gets in the way, s/he is no longer ministering. As a “chief musician” there are many ways that I can be a stumbling block in the celebration. Two major impediments come to mind: (1) seeking the praise of man; (2) being unprepared and making a mess of it. Both are gross distractions. Excellence of the heart and excellence of the art, rather than being mutually exclusive, are two sides of the same coin.

Who should lead the crowd?

Those who are gifted, called and seek to walk in a manner worthy of the calling should lead the throng in song.

No fall-back position.

I was an hour early for church Sunday morning because ...

Stoked about mid-term elections?

I am trying to stay positive about election day. Maybe these "totally stoked" voters can help. http://ping.fm/FxBZW

Happy All Saints Day.

Today I am singing "Oh when the saints ... come marchin' in!"

I am particularly inspired by the life story of Elisabeth Leseur which can be found here.

The pushing, striving & struggling of a seed.

I found this gem by Caryll Houselander (†1954) this week in Magnificat. There is no circumventing the painful process of the green blade bursting through the "hard, frozen earth".

Learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, to be kind to yourself, by looking outwards to God, by accepting the fact that you are infinitely loved by Infinite Love, and that if you will only cease to build up notions of the perfection you demand of yourself, and lay your soul open to that love, you will cease to fear, and you will cease to be exhausted as soon as you stop fighting one part of yourself with another.

Realize that in you is the power, strength, and love of Christ, that you can carry all that darkness and not go under. If you realize that in you Christ lives his risen life, you will soon be convinced that you will also come right up through the darkness into the light. Try to believe that life is in you like a seed, pushing, striving, struggling up to light. Instead of fighting yourself, let this seed of supernatural life fight its way out through the darkness, just as an ordinary seed fights up through the darkness and heaviness of the hard, frozen earth.

First it has to sharpen its own green blade in the night and cut through the ground, but suddenly it breaks into flower, and when it does that, it does not see its own beauty. The world outside sees that. What it sees is the glorious sun that drew it up out of the darkness and into Light.

-- The Letters of Caryll Houselander, Her Spiritual Legacy

Here I Am To Worship

I did a harmony work-up of "Here I Am To Worship" & posted it here on ReverbNation.

“Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen.“

A Few Words From My Italian Siblings

I am the second born of eight children to Alfonso & Giuseppina Natalie … 100% Sicilian-American from “testa a punta” (head to toe). October is Italian Heritage Month so [a couple years ago]I posted a question to my family about ethnic pride. The answers follow my post. My baby sister Nancy didn’t respond. I think her computer is down. I also got some great responses from aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces. Fahgeddaboudit! These seven responses are plenty.

Please don’t be offended with any subtle boastfulness you might detect. It’s all in fun. We love non-Italians. None of our spouses are Italian and all 22 of our kids are half-mozzarella/half-Velveeta. (Besides, being half-Sicilian makes you full-blooded Italian anyway.)

Oh … I didn’t get their permission to publish. But I got one question if they object: “What’s your problem!? Go sit down! Here … have a cannoli.”

  

Angelo’s question:

We all know there's the bad kind of pride that "goes before a fall" or keeps us from forgiving or bending the knee. But there is "good pride: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect; to be extremely joyful and delighted" in something noble ... like your ethnic heritage. So what is it about being of Italian descent that makes you joyful & delighted?

Personally? I'm in it for the food. ;-)

Peter:

One of the unique aspects about being Italian are the emotions that are so strong in all of us.   When we love, it is unparalleled.   When we hate, look out!   In a way, it's both a blessing as well as a curse.   Not easy dealing with those emotions sometimes.   I want to say that I love all of you to an extreme (usually ;-) and am so proud to be a member of this family, and 100% Sicilian!   Ti voglio bene, familgia!

Pietro DiNatali

Annie:

We're Italian????!!!!!! Seriously, all the posts so far have made me vaklempt. I know that's Jewish, but they’re cool too.   I have always felt set apart and somewhat special to all my mixed breed friends throughout my life to say that I am 100% Italian.   Aside from the olive skin and dark hair which sets us apart, all the things that have been written so far are so true.   Even though we can't go too far back in our Serpe history [Mom’s maiden name], I am so proud of our family and all that has been accomplished through our ancestors until now.   I have friends today that tell me they envy the closeness of our family.   So obviously our pride does show!

Connie:

Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen...always making people feel at home...feeding anyone that walks through your door...there is our kind of food on every corner of every city in the US...arguing if Sicily is really in Italy...knowing people are afraid if they cross you, you might be able to get a cousin to rub them out...the cookies...the lasagna...antipasto...pasta...Christmas traditions of family, food and yelling at kids...raising other peoples kids as your own...never being alone when you need people around...all priceless   Connie

Joel:

Being Italian sometimes gives you liberties to be loud and boisterous, in which I take plenty of license.   I find it funny how there are zillions of Italian restaurants but very few Irish or Polish ones, even though they probably out-number us...so the food is key. Big families and lots of cousins and great weddings and heart-wrenching funerals and slow metabolisms and wondering if you're somehow linked to "La Costa Nostra" and saying "butta bing" and having fifteen cousins named Angelo and being the guy in the room with some "character."

Alan:

One word:   "Amore!"

Jeff:

Who doesn't want to be Italian and better yet, Sicilian? I tell people in therapy "Don't make me break your knee caps" and they all know immediately what I'm talking about. There's a certain amount of street credibility you get when you say your 100% Sicilian and grew up on 18th Street. Even the big shots that I see in therapy give me my propers...

As for the really valuable stuff, like Pete said, who better knows how to love, to hate that's what I feel great about. We're not afraid to experience life, to really embrace people and love them. We do that so well. We feed others (as Connie said); there is no one better at hospitality. We care deeply.

Great post Gelo.

Oh...I almost forgot. As a result of being Sicilian/Italian...we get to meet amazing people who you end up marrying. Like my bride....

Ride "Secretariat" to a feel-good place.

We saw "Secretariat" this weekend. Excellent & inspiring.

I love that Walter Hawkins' recording of "Oh Happy Day" moved the horse's owner to keep on keepin' on.

Cristoforo Colombo

Best wishes for an adventurous Columbus Day ... a day when everybody is an honorary Italian.

Check out Fr. Hardon's article here.

10-10-10

I ponder the significance of Sunday's date: 10/10/10. Next year we'll have an 11/11/11 and then a 12/12/12. Then what will we do?

Michael Had A Motorcycle

I wish our youngest offspring Michael a very Happy 21st Birthday! ... a father's prayer that you will be a man after God's own heart.

Francesco

Have a a Happy St. Francis of Assisi memorial day: "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. "

AN is the artist-in-reverence at Buon Natalie Music.

Erie, PA: it's great on the lake.

I am on staycation through Monday while our Moms are visiting from Erie, PA.

My wife Kathy & I grew up in Erie, got married & had 3 of our 4 kids there before moving to Nashville (1982) & then Stamford, CT (1984). Both of those moves were music career-related and resulted in opportunities that are simply not available in a smaller metropolis.

I often wonder what life would've been like had we stayed in Erie. Erie will never be mistaken for a music center but I have many musician friends there who have managed to carve out happy lives for themselves. Most have "grown-up" day jobs and are still playing though gigs for live bands have dropped dramatically over the last 25 years thanks to DJs & karaoke.

I guess I'll never know the full ramifications of my decisions until my personal judgement when the archangel cues up the video of my life & hits the play button.  

The Pope's UK tour.

It comes as no surprise that British atheists are cheesed-off over the Pope's UK visit.

"If there were no God, there would be no atheists," said G. K. Chesterton.

Lift high the cross.

I could be ashamed about many things. The cross of Jesus is not one of them.
http://ping.fm/ebaKH

Winning Big.

I have decided to take the Publisher's Clearing House winnings in annual payments as opposed to a lump sum. (Trying to learn from MC Hammer's mistakes.)

Nine years later.

"Those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say." Pope John Paul II

Pizza Fridays

Growing up in Erie, PA's Little Italy, I could always count on Mom's home-made pizza on Fridays. Years later the Friday/pizza association remains. When I was very young there were no meat toppings because of the Friday abstinence. I loved anchovy pizza. And as strong as it is, the smell of anchovies in a Caesar salad takes me all the way back.

Falling flat.

I saw this in a recording studio thread: "A producer stopped a BGV [back-ground vocal] session and said in the talk-back mic, "Who's singing this note right here?" He said all of those words while singing the note that was bugging him. The BGV singer, to be funny, replied singing the same note, 'I am.' The producer said, singing the same note, 'You're fired.'"

Jewish-Italian Recipe.

I wishes my Jewish friends a "happy & sweet new year".

In hope we were saved.

Hope is the neglected middle child between faith & love.

I am grateful for gainful employment & pray for economic justice & hope for the underemployed. Restful Labor Day to you!

I love to hear the ladies speak Italiano in the check-out lane at the grocery store. La bella lingua.

[Not] The Last Exorcism

began reading "Exorcism and the Church Militant". The foreword alone by Fr. John Corapi is worth the price of admission.

The rule in music sales is not 80/20 but rather 91/2.1

The 80/20 rule applied to the music business would translate as 80% of the music sold comes from 20% of the artists. In 2009 it played out to be 91/2.1: 91% of the music sold came from 2.1% of the artists. that's a harsh reality check for do-it-yourselfers.

Vatican Paper Lists Top Rock Albums.

L'Osservatore Romano (The Roman Observer) is the semi-official newspaper of Vatican City that exists to spread the teachings of the Church and for information about related events. Somehow despite that editorial mandate, they came up with a top ten list of best rock albums.

A common error is to view the L'Osservatore Romano as if all of its text is approved by the Pope. Not the case. So, no, there is no official Catholic position regarding the best rock albums of all time. But check out the list for your self. (Where is Jimi Hendrix?)

Lenten Olympics.

It's kinda cool that the Olympics are going on during Lent. I was watching a story about American speed-skater Apollo Ohno showing his rigorous training leading up to these games as well as the investment he's made in his sport since he was a child. It is truly remarkable. 

Lent is like the spiritual Olympics for an audience of ONE where we practice the disciplines of prayer, fasting & almsgiving in an extraordinary & intense way. Yes, we're called to that life 365/24/7 but even Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit for 40 days & often got away for intense times with His Father. Check out the quote from Corinthians below about our call to "strict training".

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. W

Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

  1 Corinthians 9:24-27