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I’ve just experienced the Tokens Show. The Facebook ads that I so despise, had a picture of Amy-Jill Levine. Thinking that she would never have lent her image to any of the madness that typically interrupts my time on Facebook, I clicked just to amuse myself with whatever organization had pirated her visage. To my surprise, I was linked to the Tokens Show website. I learned that there is an old fashioned radio program a la Prairie Home Companion right in our backyard, on the Lipscomb University Campus. After perusing their previous offerings, I decided to not only attend their first show of the year but to purchase season tickets (the first season tickets I have purchased since deciding against subscribing again to the unnecessarily boring offerings at the Nashville Symphony…). I’m glad I did.

The Tokens Show is smart, satirical, funny and instructive without being a pain in the butt. Our most gracious host is Lee Camp who is a warm, engaging and effective director, singer, interviewer and obviously a serious thinker (I like this a whole heap!). And what’s more, he’s able to make his magic sans red shoes. The Most Outstanding Horeb Mountain Boys is the band led by Jeff Taylor who played an assortment of instruments and is, apparently, a John McCutcheon sort of a fellow (this is a high compliment).

Mary Gauthier (pronounced go-SHAY), who performed tonight, is quite a singer/songwriter. I’ll be heading to iTunes when I’m done here. She sings commentaries and life-stories that function as meditations and supplications and intercessions. (Click here for her site) Tyler Flowers has a much pathos and soul in his singing as anyone I’ve heard in some time. He can sing in my church (hopefully I can make this happen soon) anytime. With a few more years on that voice, you probably won’t be able to stand it. And he sang “‘Tis So Sweet to trust in Jesus.” Were I not one of the very few “Negroes” (nod to Senator Reid with whom I have no quibbles) in the auditorium, I’da just hollered out while that brother was singing. (Click here for Tyler Flowers MySpace page)

Anyway, this pretty heady content was presented in such an accessible way that I got emotional Yes, emotional. Fortunately, there was enough church and digestive humor so as to prevent me from feeling too heavy. Marcus Hummon‘s original song about a young Honduran woman and her struggles to get into this country, her deportation, and her determination to return to see her daughter who was born in this country would melt the coldest heart. Having spent most of the day at the Oasis Center (click here) and hearing about the struggles of young people here in Nashville, the Tokens Show’s offerings helps to solidify my resolve to engage the powers so that more children gain permanence.

Hope is the cord that holds the entire piece together. Amy-Jill is, of course, Amy-Jill. Enough said. Well, not quite. Amy-Jill’s chief challenge to people of faith seems to be to own your faith and to practice it without equivocation or apology. Of course, owning your faith demands knowing your faith… Hence, the Tokens Show, a way to engage our faith and enter into conversation with folk who do not believe as we believe without fear and without shame. This is a very powerful and transformative experience.

The next Tokens Show is Tuesday, April 13. You should come. In the meantime, checkout the Tokens Show website by clicking here.

Posted on: January 13th, 2010 in: Faith, Nashville, storytelling