Continued…
They say confession is good for the soul, so here goes…
It was in the context of the increasingly popular genre of FM radio that I pined to be a disc jockey. I actually selected a college that had one of the best radio stations in New Jersey.
It did not disappoint.
The atmosphere was literally and figuratively cryptic and cool. Located in the dungeon of the performing arts building, it served the artsy pot-smoking radio staff very well. We thought the campus police couldn't find us because of those dark and dingy hallways. Or was it the thick fog?
It attracted quirky personalities that included newsmen, producers, jocks, station management and engineers that combined for interesting on-air production as well as staff meetings.
DJ’s were required to pass a Federal Communications Commission test. I studied, nervously went to lower Manhattan, somehow found the most obscure federal building in the city and managed to pass the exam.
I was now ready to take my place among the greats of radio. My GPA would hereon be sacrificed on the altar of radio fame even though I’d spend hours in the library;
the only trouble was that it was the record library at the radio station. And to think, my alma mater never gave me extra credit for that noble pursuit!
A four-hour slot would go like this: Once I carefully selected all of the hottest albums or tore the plastic off the coveted advance releases by the record companies, I’d lift the stack of records (yes, plastic vinyl circular things) and bring it into the studio that featured three turntables, cassette machines and a board with all manner of knobs, lights and meters.
Sitting in the honored studio seat, I could spin records until my head spun. Or was it from the thick fog? Whichever, the FCC never drug-tested.
TO BE CONTINUED…
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Pursuing an art form can be God-glorifying. Pursuing it with no particular end in mind is a work of the flesh.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.…It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory…For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Galatians 1:10 ESV, 1 Cor 10:31 NIV, Proverbs 25:27 ESV, 1 John 2:16 ESV