Saturday, March 24, 2018

Kevin Matthews and Broken Mary

Like so many Chicagoans, I was a huge fan of WLUP back in my youth.  In the middle of the Loop lineup was Kevin Matthews (and Jim Shorts) and I was definitely a KevHead.
All good things come to an end and Jonathan Brandmeier, Steve Dahl, Garry Meier and Kevin eventually left the Loop and have gone on to various other projects.  Coincidentally, WLUP was recently sold and is now a Christian station, really ending the era.
I have kept up with the ex-Loop folks as much as possible.  Kevin was the least visible though.  I knew he was back in Michigan and unfortunately was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.  I really didn't know much more, but when I heard he would be speaking at a church near me, I went to see him.  Although my original main goal was to get a picture with Kev, I got so much more out of the encounter.
Kevin talked for about an hour about his journey through life.  That path led him to Mary.  His spiritual journey was already forming, when he came upon a broken statue of the Virgin Mary.  What followed was an awakening in Kev.
As he spoke to the packed church, you could feel and hear his emotion.  His voice quivered several times as he told his story.  Tears welled in my eyes and I was not alone.  Many people broke down and cried.  There was no shame in any of this emotion.
Since that day, I have thought often about Kevin, Broken Mary and my own spiritual journey.  I don't exactly know where I am, but I know I am on a mission to learn and understand more.
Along those lines, I have carefully read Broken Mary, the book written by Kevin.  While I heard some fo the stories during Kevin's talk, some were new and the others were more detailed.  It was a wonderful, peaceful journey.  I looked forward to reading bits each day and I stretched it out to make it last longer.
I wanted to learn more about Broken Mary and Kevin's message.  I also wanted to spread the word.  HeroTV would be the perfect avenue for both.  My co-host PL Myers and I are trying to work it out with Kevin for an interview to discuss all of this.  It will happen, hopefully sooner than later.
Until then, check out BrokenMary.com to learn more about the Broken Mary Project.  You can also follow Broken Mary on Facebook.
Kevin Matthews and me in Chicago, IL-March 2018.

2 comments:

JediJeff said...

Did you share a V&V with him?

Jean Parker said...

Sounds like a touching story ....