I'm Always Touched, By Your Presence Dear by Blondie

I watched the film CBGB yesterday, a biopic about Hilly Kristal, the owner of the famous New York City club where the New York punk rock scene found its genesis. Hilly was so supportive of unsigned and creative punk bands that the whole country seemed to flock to CBGB's to hear the new wave of punk rock. Bands flocked there, too. Bands that made it big, Talking Heads, Television, and The Ramones, Patti Smith Group and Blondie all got started at CBGB's.

I was a top forty radio listener when disco took over the airwaves. I found punk to be a welcomed alternative. Between diving backward into classic rock and forward into the new wave and punk, I had plenty to listen to without turning to commercial radio. But in the late 1970's radio hits by bands like Blondie started to get my attention. I remember the first time I heard Call Me, the theme song to the film American Gigolo, I cranked it.

Needless to say, after listening to Dead Boys and The Shirts, I settled into some Blondie, choosing their first two albums. On their second LP, Plastic Letters, Blondie had a hit in the UK with I'm Always Touched By Your Presence Dear, reaching number 10 in 1978. The song was written by the band's bassist at the time, Gary Valentine (a/k/a Gary Lachman). He wrote it for his girlfriend, for he felt they had a telepathic kind of connection. While on tour, they shared the same dreams and had an intuition about what they other was up to. 

Give it a listen. http://youtu.be/xk-E3alcb2I

I'm Always Touched, By Your Presence Dear  - Blondie

Songwriting: Gary Valentine (1977)

Was it destiny? I don't know yet
Was it just by chance? Could this be kismet?
Something in my consciousness told me you'd appear
Now I'm always touched by your presence dear

When we play at cards you use an extra sense
You can read my hand, I've got no defense
When you send your messages whispered loud and clear
I am always touched by your presence dear

Floating past the evidence of possibilities
We could navigate together, psychic frequencies

Coming into contact with outer entities
We could entertain each one with our theosophies

Stay awake at night and count your R E M's
When you're talking with your super friends
Levitating lovers in the secret stratosphere
I am still in touch with your presence dear

I am still in touch with your presence dear
I am still in touch with your presence dear, dear, dear, dear, dear

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There's a lot going on in this song with references to mystical beliefs and experiences. The composer is using these concepts simply to talk about his intimate relationship with his girlfriend. Gary Lachman had a fascination, however, with the occult and all things cosmic. When he began hanging out with his bandmates in Blondie, he came in contact with books on the occult. Chris Stein and Debbie Harry both dabbled in the subject.  One book that influenced Lachman profoundly was Colin Wilson's The Occult. Lachman decided there is something more to life than what most of us consider. There is a mystical or spiritual aspect to life that expands human ability. Lachman has become quite an expert on the occult and modern mysticism and Gnosticism. When Lachman left Blondie he named his next band The Know, precisely because he was into Gnosticism at the time.

You will notice in the word "theosophies," which is a reference to mystical knowledge of God. 

According to Webster's Dictionary:

"The teachings of a modern movement originating in the United States in 1875 and following chiefly Buddhist and Brahmanic theories especially of pantheistic evolution and reincarnation." 

Lachman was into the mystical teachings of Alistair Crowley at the time, so it seems that his reference to theosophies is the more general definition. Lachman basically suggests he and his girlfriend share ideas about God, ultimate reality, and our ability as human beings, through meditation and other exercises, to become aware of deeper levels of consciousness. 

Another term in this lyrics is kismet, which means fate. The words has roots in Persian language. Islam uses the word kismet to describe the will of Allah, or the sovereign will of God. 

Lachman's mystical searching clearly influenced the song about his connection to his girlfriend. Aside from navigating psychic frequencies and contacting outer entities, the song expresses a closeness to someone in love. That's what I find most interesting.

My father died in 2004. I knew he was dying. He'd been suffering from cancer for six months. I woke around 1:00 a.m. on the morning of his death, and I just knew he was gone. I woke my wife. We went out to a 24 hour diner and when we got home we got the call that he had passed away around 3:00 a.m. I find that very interesting to be connected like that. 

All kinds of philosophies and religions seek to explain the spiritual reality with which we live. Some deny the spiritual exists. Some say, it's simply our brains. Others say there's a shared consciousness that we call God. Most of us don't ever tap into it. The New Age movement is filled with all kinds of teachings and practices.

Ken Mansfield, the former US Manager of The Beatles, became part of the New Age movement. George Harrison turned him onto it. He had a guru and himself taught transcendental meditation. But Ken became a Christian and will tell you there's no comparison to the life of chasing after experiences and the profound intimacy and peace that comes from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Some are Christians because they appreciate Jesus as a moral teacher. They want to do good and follow His good example. Others are Christian because the church gives them a social outlet. But true Christianity is marked by the spiritual transformation that occurs when Jesus takes up residence in the believer's heart.

The apostle Paul writes that those in whom the Spirit of God lives, they no longer are under the influence of their baser motives, but under the influence of the righteous direction of God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Rom 8:9-11)

God loves you. God acted in Jesus to make it possible for you to know Him as a loving Father. The presence that touches the heart of a Christian is the risen Lord Jesus and of God through the Holy Spirit. I know trinitarian ideas are confusing. Is there there gods in Christian thought? No. There is only one God known to us in three persons. When we experience one person of the trinity, we experience God. Our faith in God's love and power in Jesus Christ, opens us life lived by the Spirit. Rather than following rules and exercises, we experience God's love and love enables us to love others.

Time spent with God, either reading the scriptures or in prayer puts us in touch with His dear presence. My reflection on this song leads me to want to spend time with God and receive the touch with Love and Life through His amazing grace.

Through prayer and feeding upon His word, you can spend time with your "super friend," the Lord and be transformed from one level of glory to the next. For every touch of the Spirit of Christ draws us to a fuller reflection of Him. It is kismet, God's predestined will for you to become like His Son, Jesus Christ. (Rom 8:29)

Just as distance couldn't separate Lachman from his girlfriend, nothing will separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

If I could navigate my way to Christlikeness, I would. The beauty is that Christ is leading me. I just have to listen to the Spirit that dwells in me through faith.

Dear Lord, touch us all with Your loving presence and teach us to hear Your voice and heed Your guidance that we might become love. Amen