Faith & Other
Simple Things

by Jim Brickman

I like the word faith: faith in God, in yourself, in your family. It’s such an important thing to believe in something these days.

First, let me give you a disclaimer. At this point, I should be telling you about a terrible car accident where I escaped completely unharmed. Or the time when I was in a hospital room with a friend or loved one and I observed them taking their final breath. But I’ve actually been one of the lucky ones. Nobody’s ever been sick around me. I mean, we’re not even talking chicken pox, let alone far worse things. And I hate to bring attention to it because tomorrow . . . who knows? It’s almost as if I’m waving a flag at fate and saying, "Whoops, you missed me." And that’s where faith comes in — my faith is in a higher power. I credit my faith with why I’ve been so blessed with such a trouble-free life. And my faith tells me that eventually when times do get rough, I’ll be guided through it if I continue to believe.

I’m at an age where friends’ parents have died. My good friend Wendy has had such a rough time of it lately. It’s been one thing after another — cancer, sickness, death. And since we’re friends, we’ve talked all about how your faith is sometimes the only tool you have when the world makes no sense at all, and it just doesn’t seem fair.

But all of us have or will have something difficult happen in our lives. And sometimes you need to just believe. Believe in something bigger than yourself. Believe in something good lurking just around the corner. Believe that after you close your eyes and wake up in the morning, it just might be all right.

Actor Kelsey Grammer is someone who knows these things to be true. His beloved sister was murdered, and he lost his brothers in a swimming accident. One wonders how anyone can cope with such tragedy in their life. "There’s a song I love from Michael McDonald," Kelsey explains, actually singing a few lines of the tune.

The song’s message is that people can always give up, so McDonald suggests that you make that your last option. It should be the 31st of your 31 flavors — your bargain basement choice. Why not move on up with a little hope and a lot of belief? And if that seems impossible, a deep breath and a leap of faith can also do.

Kelsey goes on to say, "I guess I just have a great sense of joy in life. Even in the darkest days, there was always something to look forward to tomorrow. And it’s true that in our greatest adversity, we can sometimes find our greatest joy. But you can’t find that joy alone. I think my faith in God has gotten me through the tough times. That faith tells me that the next day will come and there will be a reason to go on living."

An old friend of mine, Molly Shannon, found this to be true. When she was four years old, her family was coming home from a picnic, when they were cut off by another driver. Her mother was killed before her eyes in a tragic accident that also injured her father and sister. A very young Molly was sent to wait for news in the hospital waiting room. That’s where she told her first joke. "I looked around that emergency room and saw people who might have it even worse than me," she says. "I knew it was my job to make them laugh. I don’t know why I thought this, or where it came from inside of me. I felt like something was telling me what to do."

People talk to me about how music hovers on the fringes of faith. And this is as ethereal as I get, but sometimes I’ll play something, and I truly wonder how this music came out of me. I really do honestly sit there with my hands on the keys, and I feel like something or someone else is guiding them.

It comes so naturally. And people will say, "Oh, you must have practiced so hard." I’m almost embarrassed. I mean, obviously, I’ve practiced, but I don’t feel like it’s been a struggle. I’ll just close my eyes in concert and the music simply flows. And I have to believe that there might be a higher reason why I’m supposed to share this thing with other people.

Fans will say, "Jim, your music helped me through a really tough time. When my heart was really heavy, a certain piece made me feel lighter." I’m not that mystical, and it’s hard to put it into words. But in those moments, I feel like the faith inside of me is being put to good use. I feel blessed.

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Simple Thought:

— The Bible

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About The Author

Jim Brickman's dazzling piano artistry and clever songwriting skills have led to sales of more than three million albums. Hits such as "Valentine" and "The Gift" have helped build his reputation as America's most romantic songwriter. Jim's Website is: www.JimBrickman.com
Cindy Pearlman is a nationally syndicated entertainment writer for the New York Times Syndicate and the Chicago Sun Times. Over the past 15 years, she has interviewed Hollywood's biggest stars, who appear in her column "The Big Picture."