Carry on Wayward Son Composer Showing Remarkable Progress After Massive Stroke

You can't hear it (unless you're my neighbor! Lol!), but I have Kerry Livgren's "No Standing" cranked up on my stereo right now. The soaring vocals, violin and acoustic guitar from the 1986, Reconstructions, recording are washing over me like a summer breeze: "As the potter's wheel is turning, we are molded. So the chisel of The Sculptor sets us free. Being fashioned in the image once intended, endlessly. No standing. No standing still."

The song hails from Livgren's early work, with AD -- a Christian based band he formed shortly after leaving the monster rock group, Kansas. You may be familiar with Kansas' radio hits, "Carry On Wayward Son" or "Dust In The Wind", but have you heard, "Slow Motion Suicide" or "Up From The Wasteland"? How about his work with Proto-Kaw? Most haven't. Finding those early AD albums (and later the Proto-Kaw ones) was like discovering a warm plate of cookies missed in the kitchen at a family get-together. Of course, that analogy breaks down, for there's more than just sweetness in Kerry's sound, there is a full course meal in his intricately woven spiritual messages.

Last summer it was with much surprise and shock, that I learned that Kerry had suffered a massive stroke on September 1st. Also surprising, and encouraging, is his remarkable recovery.

Kerry's Update Letter

On Christmas Eve 2009, Kerry posted on his website, a letter chronicling a battle that he never saw coming. On a typical day in late summer of 2009, Kerry was working on barn chores and doing some recording (Yes, he's still actively making music). He went to sleep around 10:30 pm only to rise and head for the bathroom around 3:30 am. His wife Vicci heard splashing water and then Kerry collapsed onto the floor. He didn't know it at the time, but a massive blood clot had formed in his carotid artery and was working its way toward his brain. 911 was called and paramedics rushed him to the emergency room where surgeons worked to open his arteries. Two stents were put in and blood flowed again, but a second clot then occurred. Throughout this ordeal, Kerry was unconscious, oblivious to the work being done to save his life. His memory, as he would learn later, had taken a severe blow.

Kerry would spend eleven days in the hospital before being transferred to a Rehab facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. After a week, and now being categorized as being in "out-patient" status, Kerry returned home to Topeka, Kansas, for a brief stay. Yet, because of the memory damage, when he returned to his home, much of what he saw was unfamiliar. Still, he says, he relished the time spent there.

On the trip back to Nebraska's Rehab, wife Vicci and he stayed at a local hotel where a bizarre incident occurred. Just as Kerry was falling asleep, he had a memory of the Bible having been very important to him. Yet at that moment, he couldn't recall anything about it. No book names, no verses, no Bible characters - nothing. It sent him into a slow panic. He needed to hear something, anything from this book. At his request, a puzzled Vicci pulled out a Gideon Bible and began reading from John Chapter 6, the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Says Kerry, "After thirty years of personal Bible study, I was hearing it for the first time! It was such a strange sensation. There was a faint air of familiarity about it, and yet it was all new. What a peculiar thing, that a stroke can destroy a portion of the brain, and be that selective. Though I had panicked, because I instinctively knew how important it was, this Jesus I was hearing about was soothing, and I was able to go to sleep."

After many more weeks in Rehab, Kerry is at home and recovering. In his letter, he thanked the many people who prayed for him. As I read that, I remembered the many times I'd written Kerry's name on the side of my water cup (Yes, the same type of styro cup featured in my "Singing To A Cup" story). I'm thankful for how God has helped Kerry through this difficult time. The way that he is recovering, the use of his speech returning, his piano playing abilities coming back, and even the hints of guitar playing... These are all great, great signs.

Finally, I'm grateful that Kerry's love and spiritual knowledge has returned, and that God continues to show up in his life. And I really think it's spiffy that God let Kerry and I experienced The Feeding of The Five Thousand(Read Article) in such cool ways! (Although -- as is classic with God's Spirit -- the message can have so many applications).

God's strength, Kerry.

No standing still.

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"Underneath the outer layers we're progressing
Like the rivers ever moving to the Sea
As the Earth and all of Heaven are declaring,
So are We
As the Potter's Wheel is turning we are molded
So the chisel of the Sculptor sets us free
Being fashioned in the Image once intended
Endlessly
As the wind is blowing, Spirit in us moving
For the work that's once begun will reach an end
And the end is really only the beginning,
As we ascend
No standing, no standing still"
-- No Standing from the album Reconstructions, Kerry Livgren