I read today that it has been 34 years since the record, Unforgettable Fire, came out. Hard to comprehend. On April 30, 1985 I saw this concert at the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum. I was part of the first generation of MTV watchers. I wore checkerboard Vans before they were ironic, I knew the difference between piercing your left vs. your right ear and I thought the Keytar was cool. At that point, I liked U2 but I only really knew the songs Sunday, Bloody Sunday and New Years Day because their videos were being played in ruthless rotation. The night of the show, Red Rockers opened (anyone remember the song China? #stillamazing) and my friends and I listened as we snuck bent cigarettes out of a soft-pack of Marlboro Lights someone had stolen off their parent’s bedside table.

“...Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame...” Hebrews 12:2

I was a 20 year old college student when I bought the first thing of real significance with my own money. It was a 1967 Harley Davidson Chopper that was white, had straight pipes (that means no muffler) and was so loud it set off car alarms when I drove it. I named it Raul and it was every bit the obnoxious, two-wheeled monument to my 20-year-old ego that you’re probably imagining right now. I loved it with every fiber of my being.