Staying in the Well
In 1981, Lisa was completing her final year of in-residence training with the 9th Way Corps. Part of that year was spent at The Way Family Ranch in Gunnison CO. One of the speakers who came in to help with the training program was Bob Donaldson, a champion rodeo clown. Bob spoke about the principles used in rodeo sports, one of which is bull riding. As I understand it, the rider attempts to keep centered over the bull’s center of gravity to maintain balance (this is what is also called “staying in the well”). When the rider can stay balanced, there is an increased possibility of success. The bulls of course do everything they can to dislodge the rider. The renewed mind considerations are many (e.g. I Corinthians 9:27 – “I keep over my body”; Romans 12:2 – not letting your thinking get out of bounds, etc). Lisa was inspired by the presentation and being inspired, Lisa did what Lisa does – she wrote a song. Lisa has never recorded this song professionally. It was covered by Dave Lutz on the cassette album High Country. Because it was thought that the phrase “staying in the well” would not be meaningful to very many people, the title and the “hook-line” lyric were changed to “Staying on the Bull”. Dave did a marvelous job with the song. Here is Lisa’s original working copy of the song recorded in February 1981 upstairs in The Family Commons of Camp Gunnison. It was recorded on a small cassette recorder. Singing with Lisa is Vickie Allen.
