When I got to see RWM on Feb. 14, 1997, only 7 months before he was killed, I'd not known who he was, and only heard a few songs on Christian radio prior to the concert, but loved what I heard so I was delighted when my husband got us tickets. I was captivated by his brutal honesty on stage and I fell in love with his "St. Francis" spirit. In all of the concerts I ever went to, Christian or secular, his was the most amazing and phenomenal, and 'changed me' profoundly deep inside. I was "spellbound" when he came on stage. I was captivated by this 'seeker of Truth' (and his boyish charm,) which was made all the more charming simply because of his love for Christ that he unabashedly shared in his speech and music. (Eyes that twinkle that brightly are lit by Christ and nothing else.) His heart seemed to be constantly hanging on his shirtsleeve and to me, he was one of those guys from a cowboy movie-- the "loner who rides into town" and helps people out by working for them or bending his ear if they just need a friend. A man blown by the prairie wind - for all to either accept or reject...it didn't matter to him. What mattered was his walk with Christ and knowing Him more deeply. Rich was a real "diamond in the desert" on the Rez - living the Franciscan life, definitely "Catholic" by the baptism of desire.
I wonder how many lives and souls RWM touched? How many he still is touching? Isn't it great, that in the Catholic Church, our loved ones, though not present with us as they used to be, are even in a sense MORE PRESENT to us from beyond the veil? I know Rich is praying for us all to be one in the One who is ONE FOREVER. Let's get over our bickering, and let us love one another as Christ loves us. It's hard to be a Christian and hard to be a saint, but it's really hell to be anything else. Richard Wayne Mullins, pray for us!
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