It was a story and a song that touched my emotions.

Saturday evening Monieca and I attended a Marty Stuart concert with Duncan and Jan Futrelle. It was a blast listening to some of the most talented musicians on the planet play guitars. Stuart sang a song he had written as a tribute to Johnny Cash, his neighbor of several years. He was inspired by some squawking black crows in an orchard of trees standing tall between their two homes. Stuart had purchased the orchard from Cash shortly before the country legend died and promised to never build anything on it. Cash had purchased the land in 1968 from Roy Orbison for one dollar and then planted all the trees that were now large and attracting the crows.

Orbison once lived in a modern house on that land. Everything changed in 1968. That September Orbison’s two sons had been playing around with some kind of aerosol spray and a lighter, when they accidentally started a fire that burned down the house and took their lives. In his grief, Orbison decided he could never rebuild or live on that lot again. So he sold the land to Cash, who promised to never build anything on it. As a symbol of life, Johnny Cash planted fruit trees that grew as the years passed.

Stuart was in the orchard one day after Cash’s death when he heard those crows. That night as he laid in bed the words to the song he sang Saturday night came to him. He titled it “Dark Bird”.

One thing we all have in common, whether famous or not, is death. Some die young, like Orbison’s boys, while others die old, like Johnny Cash. But like the Bible says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

The question is…are you ready?

If your answer is yes, another question is…are your relatives, neighbors, coworkers, friends, and classmates ready?

Pastor Steve Hogg