The Journey pt. 1

“I’m not sure what to make of all this....show me something God!” Be still.

We all go through phases. We all have our own paths and our own stories to tell. We all have tests to pass and fail. These things are what shape and mold us into who we are, who we’re meant to be. I’ve eluded to multiple times via social media posts and in interviews that Beth and I have been on a journey for quite a while, and whatever this phase of the journey is, it is far from over. I don’t know what all of it means yet, but I know it’s time for me to tell the story. All of the music, all of the videos and imagery we’re creating, even these writings are our way to tell you about that journey in the most real and open way that we can. It’s amazing as time passes we can look back and see what our life has consisted of and how far or how little we’ve come in that time. In that moment, we have the power to change our future, we then have the power to effect how much or how little we grow. We all have to be born, we all have a chance to grow...we all have to die. The first and last ones aren’t as important, but it’s everything in the middle that really matters. I was born in November of 1992, but my journey didn’t begin until the summer of 1999.

July of 1999 (I was seven years old) my parents and I took a trip to the west coast, the Pacific Northwest, which is now one of my favorite places on the planet. We flew into Portland, Oregon that year, drove a little north to the state of Washington to visit Mt. Saint Helens, drove back to Oregon to visit the magnificent Mt. Hood, journeyed all of the way down and explored the sights of the Oregon coast, and then we finished our trip off in Klamath, California...the Redwood Forest...where this story begins.

My parents are awesome! They’ve always instilled in me the best values that there are to instill and through them raising me they’ve given me the best example of what it looks like to be real. A few years prior to this trip my parents were on a pretty big journey of their own, I guess you could say they were both “spiritually awakened”. I think they realized that God is a bit bigger than what they knew prior to that point. They gained a more grand revelation of who God is; a real healer, a real teacher, a real storyteller...(HA).  And, they were determined for us to enjoy at least one good vacation that year.  We were all so excited to take the trip. My mom mentioned to me that she prayed before we set out on this trip for God to be with us and to simply show us something, to reveal more of himself to us while on the trip. There are plenty of videos that my dad filmed on the VHS camcorder showing us the memories of the amazing time that we had, but the moment that would change everything wasn’t caught on tape!

As we journeyed towards the end of our trip we ended up in the extremely small town of Klamath, California. Mom and dad had come across a brochure of a local attraction called the “Trees of Mystery”. It’s this massive stretch of the Redwood Forest filled with so many crazy and intriguing trees. There were trees with half of its roots protruding out of the ground, fallen trees with multiple trunks growing off of it, and don’t forget the giant sequoias, some with a diameter of 20 feet. There was also a tree standing approximately 250 feet tall with other fully grown trees growing, living, thriving from its branches. This is the tree that this entire story is built off of…The “Family Tree”.  This Family Tree was a massive marvel with yes, actual other trees growing from that one tree. To look up at these trees it feels like you’re in the presence of dinosaurs, as most of them have been living for hundreds and even thousands of years and are still flourishing. The Family Tree was no exception. It was the first tree you saw as you entered the trail head, and it was the first peculiar tree that the owners discovered on the property and it inspired them to open these trails through this mystery forest. One thing that has allowed these trees to live for thousands of years is their close proximity to the ocean. The excess moisture of the climate and soil allows the trees to soak up and retain more water than normal. They literally thrive on fire. When a fire sweeps through, all the water that they’ve stored up for so many years helps to defend the tree. It’s just amazing! Obviously, as a seven year old boy none of this information meant much to me, I was just happy to be running wild through the California wilderness and looking up at wooden dinosaurs HA...but this trip blew my parents away, and later the importance of what we were doing would slowly be revealed to all of us.

After sightseeing in the Redwood Forest, we journeyed home to get back to our normal routines, just living life. Remember that my mom prayed before our trip for God to “show her something”.  After a week or two of being home and getting back to our pre-vacation lives, my mom had a dream, an extremely weird, seemingly meaningless dream.....

This story is going to take up multiple blog entries, so I’m going to have to stop here for now. If there’s nothing else that you get from this entry, know that at times things simply just are not what they seem. We should always be looking for a story, a learning experience, and an opportunity for growth in every situation that we find ourselves. It’s impossible to physically grab ahold of something with a clenched fist, and it’s the exact same way in a mental or spiritual sense. For me, every time a new song or a new storyline comes to me, it’s in a moment when I’m still and have no hustle and bustle left to do that day. Don’t try to live so fast that you miss what you’re meant to find. Be still and you will find what you’re looking for...it’s the only way that you can.

Be still and see what you can find.

Brennen Meek.

Written 5.21.20