A Tribute To Rich

As many of you know, Rich Mullins is my favorite musician of all time. I idolize Rich. I think I have all of his CD's (including interviews) and a few books about him. Unfortunately, Rich died before I became a fan of his. Anyway, I have decided that I will dedicate the month of March to Rich...that's right, all 5 Mondays. I will discuss his life, his songs, things I've learned from him, etc. Since this is the first one, I will simply tell you a little about Rich.


Rich was born on Oct. 21, 1955 in Richmond, Indiana. His father grew up back and forth between Kentucky and West Virginia because his father (Rich's grandfather) was a coal miner. One day when his dad was 14, his grandpa came home and announced they were moving. His grandma figured they were heading back to West Virginia, but when they started driving they were going the wrong way. She asked her husband where they were going. He told her they were going to Detroit. "Why in the world are we going to Detroit?" Grandpa answered "Because I don't want my boys to grow up to be coal miners." Well, they got as far as Richmond, Indiana and ran out of gas, so that's where they stayed.


Rich had a real appreciation for his heritage. "What I discovered is, heritage doesn't puff you up with pride. It really humbles you. If you look at the lives of the people you have come from you kind of go, 'If they had married anyone else, if they had moved anywhere else, if their lives had been one iota different, I wouldn't be here.' And so you have, not a big debt, not a crushing debt to pay, but you are part of an ongoing thing. You are not alone in the world. You are part of an ensemble."


Rich was the real deal. He was genuine. All of the money from his concerts and sales of albums went to his church. The church then paid Rich a small salary and gave the rest to charity. Once a church contacted Rich because their van had broken down. He called his financial guy and asked him if they had enough money to buy the church a new van. He didn't know it, but he could have bought that church a whole fleet of vans! Once early in Rich's career before he was too famous, he was invited to a music awards ceremony. There were tons of people there all dressed in their best. As they were going through the buffet line, only a few people recognized one of the waiters as Rich Mullins. He had relieved one of the servers from their duties and was helping in the kitchen. Rich would rather be behind the scenes serving than in the center of the spotlight getting all the attention.


On Sept 19, 1997, Rich and Mitch McVicker were travelling just North of Bloomington, Illinois to a benefit concert in Wichita. The Jeep they were riding in flipped and Rich was ejected. A passing semi swerved to avoid hitting the jeep but hit Rich instead. He was dead at 41.


At the time of his death, Rich had been living on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico teaching music to children. After he died, his agent went down to collect his things. All of his possessions fit inside an 8x10 storage room. His agent said, "In all the years I managed his finances, I noticed this: he never sold anything: he just gave things away. He gave away his vehicles, books, clothes...everything. I have clients who made less than Rich, who have seven-thousand-square-foot homes filled with possessions, and here was this guy who, in his entire life, could fill up only eighty square feet." Rich didn't store up treasures here on earth, but he is now enjoying the treasures he stored up in heaven. I think that today, Rich Mullins is a very wealthy man.


Make it a great Monday!