For most casual fans of music, the forty-five minutes that a band spends on the stage is all they can see. However, when the guitar cases are closed and the venue’s floor is littered with empty beer cans and trash, most bands load their gear into the van and return back to their normal lives.
Mother Church Pew’s Off The Stage is a series that celebrates a band’s path to where they are and the things they do behind the scenes to stay there.
Denver-based band MOUNTAINCITY has a mission: To shine a light on authentic love. For this married duo with kids, COVID-19 has brought a significant shift to which so many of us can relate – being thrust into juggling working from home, schooling from home, and concerts and public shows being canceled, bandmates Dave and Tara Powers have gotten even more creative in order to keep their connection with fans while finding time to write, to be present for their kids, to keep their sanity, and make an income in the process. In the midst of sheltering-in-place, they’ve released two poignant singles – “Home,” about finding “home” in each other, and “Shine,” about that goosebump-inducing kind of love and devotion. We caught up with Tara, who filled us in on what she and Dave have been learning during this time:
“Crisis.
I recently heard that the word, ‘Crisis’ in Chinese is two words, ‘Danger’ and ‘Opportunity.’
It is dangerous, no doubt that the spread of a virus has come and caused a pandemic requiring us to stay in our homes, away from loved ones, and potentially cleaning every surface before we touch anything. It feels dangerous to see playground equipment that’s been wrapped in caution tape. It feels strange that when we see a police officer we wonder if we are standing too close to someone or might need papers to explain where we are driving and if it is essential. The danger for us, our friends, and our families is in the unknown of job security, small businesses having to shut down, and the economy being affected for months and maybe even years.
There is some hope that can be discovered in crisis too.
It is the opportunity that we have to become close again with our families. The opportunity to offer small kindnesses like groceries or toilet paper to neighbors in need. There are opportunities to slow your pace on a walk outside to listen to birdsong or notice the flowers budding on a tree. There is time to talk to loved ones near and far at any time of day because it’s what we CAN do. The opportunity to dream again and to pivot in such a way that our business or ministry might come out of this stronger than ever before. The opportunity to share about the God we trust in and how we can believe in an outcome that is good. There is opportunity to be more grateful for what we have and to give more than we thought we could. The chance to have restoration with our spouse. The opportunity to never take for granted our simple pleasures – hugging someone when we greet, sharing a meal or a cup of coffee together, watching children play, worshipping together, dancing, music, and singing with others, nature and the beauty that thrives every single day, all around us.
May this crisis find you LOVING well.”
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