Blue Skies and Rainbows – Gary Mabry

He says it was a special moment, which had been building for several days during a summer trip in 1971. Thanks to Gary Mabry being an alert believer and gifted with a music gene from above, he was in a perfect position to craft “Blue Skies and Rainbows” in just a few moments. Do you suppose Gary felt a little bit like Noah (seen here in this Joseph Anton Koch painting, circa 1803) when he saw a rainbow once? In my e:mail conversation with him recently, it was clear that this was a moment Gary won’t ever forget. And now, we have access to that moment through the song and the story he shared with me. Here’s a piece of it below in what I call a ‘fresh scoop’ of song (see some other ‘fresh scoops’ in the label-cloud for this blog, which are generally unknown stories that I’ve managed to dig up and provide here)…so thanks, and blessings Gary for what you’ve created!

He (Stanley Shipp) encouraged me to sign up to go on a Christ in Europe (trip) then next (1971) summer.  Through the financial support of people like Moses McCook, owner of Athletic Supply and my across the street neighbor on Peach Street, I was able to go.  We spent the first leg of the trip in Lisbon, Portugal.  The second part of the trip happened in Lausanne, Switzerland, culminating in a short stay in Geneva, where he had worked several years before.  The experiences of the campaign: a Gospel Meeting in Lisbon with Glenn Owen preaching in Portuguese, Bible studies and conversations on the street with youth, experiencing the universal language of music as our chorus (partially populated by a group from Lubbock Christian College), singing at the meeting each evening, leading singing in French in the Switzerland part of the trip, seeing the beauty of the Swiss Alps at a chalet owned by Highland member Jack McGlothlin had filled my head and heart and was just incubating to find a meaningful form of expression.  I had experienced Jesus being alive in people and in nature. It came on the flight back to the states.  I looked out the window and saw a rainbow on this clear day far above the earth.  I had a small notepad with me and began to jot down what I feel was an inspired few moments.  In my study of music so far, I had learned to notate rhythm and use the solfege syllables for melody.  “Blue skies and rainbows, and sunbeams from heaven are what I can see when my Lord is living in me…Jesus is well and alive today!  He makes his home in my heart.  Nevermore will I be all alone, since he promised me that we never would part.” From the time in Lausanne: “Green grass and flowers, all blooming in springtime, are works of the Master I live for each day.” From the Swiss Alps, as we slid down a meadow slope on sheets of cardboard: “Tall mountains, green valleys, the beauty that surrounds me, all make me aware of the One Who made it all.”

Keep looking for those rainbows and other ways He speaks to us in nature, everyone! Gary’s words say all that needs to be said further here today. Keep those antennae up! 

Thank You, Lord - Gary Mabry

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)


What’s your favorite holiday? Lot’s of people say Christmas, because of the gift-giving, or maybe because of the spirit it engenders. Others pick Halloween, especially if they like handing out candy to kids standing at the door in adorable costumes. Maybe it’s one of the patriotic days, and the holiday from work that you really relish. I know I like holidays because it’s then that I get to do what I like – sleep in a little and skip the traffic! How would it work, though, if you were ordered to take a holiday to do something you don’t really like to do, or told to do something you’re not good at? Consider Ebenezer Scrooge, that thankless Christmas-time curmudgeon who was finally compelled to be kind. We think of him usually just in December, but maybe his story would also fit well at Thanksgiving, whaddya think? The ultimate complainer converted at Thanksgiving…yeh, that would be poetic justice, right?  I have to admit, I have lots of reasons to be happy and grateful, but too often I’m forgetful about expressing my thanks sincerely…I’m Scrooge. If that’s you too, Gary Mabry has written us a song to remind us of gratitude, to draw this emotion out of us. He also shares how he came to compose this tune, and how God uses unlikely people to teach us profound truth.

Gary Mabry spent his high school and college-age years in Abilene, Texas, where he met Stanley Shipp, a Christian missionary who became a link to Gary and the song “Thank You, Lord”, though probably neither of them suspected how this would come about in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After his conversion to Christ, Mabry continued to grow in the Lord’s work at his local church in Abilene, becoming a song leader and then youth director through Stanley Shipp’s encouragement. Although Shipp moved to St. Louis to start a campus ministry, he and Mabry kept in touch. Gary sometimes was the song leader during National Youth Outreach Campaigns that Shipp organized, and on one trek to St. Louis Mabry began to write “Thank You, Lord”. In Mabry’s own words …” One of the men from Abilene who moved to St. Louis to work with Stanley Shipp was a cerebral palsy victim (although he never considered himself to be a “victim”) by the name of Robert Reid. … I drove Robert from Abilene to St. Louis as he relocated. He was such a positive, fun and funny person….His spirit gave new meaning to thankfulness to God. …I began to have an idea for a song and jotted down the words and melody on a pad I kept close by. Robert was the first person to hear it…” If he didn’t know it before, perhaps Mabry had discovered something about how God translates a song to a composer. Could it be that the Creator places special people – like Robert Reid - in one’s way to spur and craft something unique, something extraordinary and long-lasting?

God is bountiful. However, sometimes, given my circumstances, I could easily curse and wonder ‘where’s God’s blessings in my life?’Robert Reid could have brought gloom, but instead he brought cheer to others – was that providential? Mabry’s first verse in the song tells me to thank God for “making me whole”. It must have been something to hear Robert sing those words, and know he counted on God to make them true. Mabry’s song and its story remind me that our Father’s “whole” gift comes in heaven, and in an unexpected way here on earth too. I need to find people who have little, seemingly, but who still manage to smile. They have what I often lack, although to the secular world the opposite appears true. “Thank You, Lord” communicates something elemental about my God and me. If I dwell on the essentials – Godly love, His blessings, and the full life He promises here and in Eternity – I have all I need. My frown turns upside down, I cast off Scrooge, as I think upon the song’s message, and let its music indwell me. Thank the Lord for Gary Mabry, for Robert Reid and Stanley Shipp, and the musical Spirit that collaborated on this song!

The above story was acquired via an e:mail with Gary Mabry on 3/31/2009, and through his association with the University of Texas at San Antonio gary.mabry@utsa.edu.