Theme Song Thursday: Sweetly Broken

We sang this song last weekend in church. It's so powerful for me.

The best part about it, I think, is that it so clearly states the Christian gospel.

"Christian." "Gospel." "What Christians believe." -- terms that are tossed around often. But if we were put on the spot and ask to define them, I'm not so sure how many could pass the test.

And after expressing the core of the Christian gospel, the song sings out a response to it. It's my response, too. What a song for worship, to be able to sing out to God, "This is what I believe and this what it means to me."

Theme Song Thursday: The Stand

Beautiful metaphor in this one.

How is it that I can stand?


I'll stand with arms raised and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I'll stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

Theme Song Thursday: Ohhhhh. . .Sweet Thing. . .

Practically any song by Van Morrison would be a great song to listen to on any given day. I wanted to post "The Philosopher's Stone," one of my all-time favorite songs ever by anyone, but it's not on Youtube.

Come on, Youtubers!

Here, instead, is a live version of the ever-lovely "Sweet Thing." He performed it along with other songs from Astral Weeks, one of his earliest albums. I read up on this concert and learned that

a) He led this full orchestral band through several improvisations that night and
b) They had only one rehearsal before performing.

Finally, one of the things I enjoy most about Van is his voice. It's not great. It's in tune, of course, but other than this, he just. . .sounds like Van. And sounding like Van never stopped him from singing. He didn't get someone else to do that job in a band for him.

This means a lot to me because I, while I can carry a tune, sound like Amy!. Granted, I don't perform at the Hollywood Bowl, but I play my guitar at home pretty often as I worship the Lord. And if Van's voice is good enough for him to sing, then I'll keep on singing, too.


Here is the link to the youtube video. It won't permit me to embed it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BYvoH2_XuA


And this is an interview with the man himself, for all you Van Fans out there. Pretty interesting in that it is mostly music industry talk, and Van's experience with it.

Theme Song Thursday: Feed Me!

Guess what I bought today!

I so want to make this a 20 Questions game. Hey. I'd give you 50 questions and you still wouldn't guess. But I don't plan to check in often to keep up my part of the game, so I'm going to have to tell you.

Part of the reason I won't be online is that Thursday is Joshua's Big Day. Yes. Time to use the toilet. We are done with diapers and we are not going back.

This is bold because, to date, nothing from his body has ever gone directly into a toilet. But I believe that potty training happens when either the kid or the mother is done with diapers. Or both. At the very least, this mother is done.

And because Thursday is his big day, I spent Wednesday evening buying some prizes to motivate him. I know. Surprising, isn't it, that I need something more than a bag of m'n'm's? This is Joshua we're talking about, right?

But we tried the candy thing last time and he couldn't have cared.

So the ante goes up. If he learns a bargaining lesson in this, so be it.

There I was, at the cash register of the PX on Peterson Air Force Base, buying the pile of prizes, when the cashier directed my attention to something at her station.

It cost $6.98.

Given an entire year of thinking, I never would have thought I'd ever see this item for sale in a military department store in Colorado Springs.

I've heard of this thing all my life.

If pressed, I'd have guessed that one would have to be in South America to see a real one.

And it reminded me of a movie from 1986 that I liked and that I now think I'm going to have to watch again because I couldn't possibly have appreciated it back then. Do you have movies like that?

So I told the cashier, "I have to buy that!" and she said, "No way. This one's mine. But just scoot yourself around the corner and see if there's any more left."

I told her, "Good thing you're not running a for-profit store here. . ." and I scooted around the corner and got one of the remaining 4.

What is it?

A venus flytrap.


How awesome is that? My very own venus flytrap!!!!

When I stick my finger into one of its. . .flowers? Leaves? I have so much to learn about my new plant!. . .it closes up on me!

Am I going to have to feed it flies? Does it actually digest protein or just trap it till the protein is dead?

How big is it going to get? Right now, I have a double planter (so I have two venus flytraps!) and each one is about 3/4 cup.

What must I do to take care of it?

And why is the PX selling these things??? I have so much to learn!

I'm keeping it a secret from the kids until next week, whence I'll show it to them right before going to the library. We already have our project for this week lined up. But I have a feeling this venus flytrap is going to be a big hit with them. Let's hope I can keep it alive for at least that long.

In the meantime:

"I don't know anybody who deserves to be cut up and fed to a hungry plant."

"Sure you do!"

Theme Song Thursday: Revelation Song

Have you ever read a book that changes you? There have been a few in my adult life--mostly works of literature--that left me different, and for the better, when I closed the cover.

One of those books, which I first read about a year and a half ago, is titled Heaven. As you see here. It's a book of theology in which Alcorn exegetes all that the Bible tells us about Heaven. What will it look like? Will pets or other animals be there? What will we do there for all eternity?

It was a big deal for me to read because I had very little idea of what I was actually looking forward to. We have cartoons that give us a certain version: old men with halos standing on clouds with quill pens checking through a book. . . There are a few movies that offer a version, and usually include the suggestion that human beings "earn wings" and become angels.

But none of this matches up with the version of Heaven presented in the Bible. Nor do they even match up with the version presented in the sacred books of other worlds' religions. (And here might also be a good place to point out that people who suggest that the worlds' religions all boil down to the same basic content need look no further than each religion's vision of the Other Side. To suggest to a Buddhist that his "heaven" is the same as the Christian's is a profound disrespect to the very core of Buddhism. Let's not even start on what Islam teaches. . .)

Anyway. Alcorn does a terrific job of teaching what the Bible teaches, and as I believe the Bible is the truth on these matters, after reading Alcorn's book, I had a much fuller hope and vision for what awaits me.

And it's very, very cool.

Did you know we are going to have jobs in Heaven that will be pure joy for us with no toil??? I'm hoping to be a lecturer on the History of the World Now that We Can See Heaven's Archives on all Matters for at least the first 100,000 years. You are all invited to my presentations. Free to the public.

Another part of our time in Heaven will be corporate worship. I don't know how that will work--maybe there'll be schedule for which band will play when. Bands from all over the world, and I am so looking forward to the Reggae sessions. I picture Jesus dancing on stage with the band as they play and as the rest of Heaven worships Him.

And I have the recurring hope and vision of holding hands will all my family, all worshipping together.

So.

The song that brings Heaven to mind more than other is Revelation Song. We sang it in church this past Sunday and I thought, "This one is for this Thursday!" Most of its lyrics are taken from the Book of Revelation (the book that shows us more of Heaven than any other). I am certain this will be on the of the songs we'll all sing together on day.

Them Song Thursday: To Live is to Fly

I'm a huge fan of the Cowboy Junkies. The lead singer has a gorgeous voice, their main song writer is brilliant, and those two plus one other are brothers and sister, making them one of the great family bands of all time.

I saw them in concert once and they sounded terrific live. So many of their songs are mellow and lovely, they can't help but sound romantic. And, as I was single at the time of this concert, I remember feeling very lonely. Maybe I should try to catch them now that Bryan can take me.

This song, "To Live is to Fly" was written by someone else. And this live version is with only a guitar whereas the studio version is full-band and wonderful. But this is all that was posted on YouTube.

It has been a theme song of mine for a long, long time. Between graduating from college and this past year, I had never lived in one state for more than 2 years. So yeah, to live was to fly.

Now that we've been here for 3 years, and hope to be here for several more, I'm beginning to feel a little nostalgic for the flying-life. But we can take this song to be metaphoric, and while in one place, living still requires flying.

Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away

Everything is not enough
Nothing is too much to bear
Where you've been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there

Theme Song Thursday

I've been singing this song for years. It's a popular one in our kind of church. And every time I sang it before this past June, I had the same thought about it:

"Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise"

Yeah, this is easy I can do this, I would think

"When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say: Blessed by Your Name."

But what do I know of darkness? What do I know of the desert place? What do I know of God taking away?

I would wonder: If a dark time ever came along, would I really still bless His Name?

Well. Here I am. First I must say that this isn't that dark a time. This isn't so rough a road to walk. Of all the trials that could befall us, this one is pretty minor.


But it is a trial. And I know the answer for myself now. Would I still bless His Name? In my heart would I still bless Him?

The answer is "yes," not because of how "strong I am" or how "strong my faith is"--has nothing to do with me. In my heart, I am blessing His Name now more than ever, and I love Him now more than ever because of how Good He is.

I fancy myself a wordsmith, but I don't have any better words than that to explain it.

Theme Song Thursday

This week's, ahem, theme song:

Hopes and Dreams

It's Thursday!

Today's theme song is one that never fails to makes me feel bright and hopeful. Friends who know me well are thinking, "I can't believe it took you 3 songs to get to Springsteen,"--but please note, there is no order of ranking on Theme Song Thursdays.

Yes, I could write--in fact, have written--a great deal about Springsteen's song writing. He's the sort who takes the time to develop a metaphor and make the music match the point of the words. There are not too many rock n' roll songs that could stand alone as worthwhile poetry without the music, but a lot of Springsteen's can.

Two things to note about this one:

1. It's a great example of the E Street Band's "wall of sound." So many instruments at work here, all of them perfect.

2. Listen for the band's vocals towards the end. It's not a chorus. Not well-trained enough to sound like one. It's a group of friends crooning. Perfectly.

And it's pretty obvious how I personalize these lyrics.

The first is a better audio recording that someone put up on Youtube with the lyrics.

The second is the recording from The E Street Band's concert in Barcelona. Not as good of an audio, but it's fun to see the band, and at about 4.30 into the song, you can see the crooning I'm talking about.

On this train, dreams will not be thwarted
This train, faith will be rewarded
This train, steels wheels sing
This train, bells of freedom will ring

Theme Song Thursday: Mighty To Save

The word "Savior" is tossed around a lot. Maybe this is a little interesting to people outside of the culture that does the tossing. I want to de-code the term a little bit so at the very least, all can see why the theme song I've chosen should mean so much to me lately.

Savior. Saved from what?

Here's a keen illustration of the point taken from this past weekend's trip to the County Fair.

I reported earlier that no one has stared at my body and noticed anything amiss. This wasn't an entirely true statement. Some one did stare. We were just outside the gate, on our way back to the car when this woman, from a good 20 yards away, locked onto my chest. That's the only reason I noticed her. I noticed, at first, that there was a person, from kind of far away, staring at me.

We both continued walking towards each other. She was. . .intent. I checked her face. But it wasn't a compassionate face. I know compassion. Many breast cancer survivors have looked me in the eye and I know what that looks like.

This woman was snarling. Judging. She really was. We got closer and closer and I started to look her over with a little judgement of my own. She was a huge woman. Wearing pants that were too tight and a tank top that showed too much. And even when we were close enough that--surely!--she'd have the shame to look away, she kept staring. Her head was now turned in order to stay locked on.

And I thought, "What are you looking at, you heffer?"

A lot of you are thinking that you'd have thought the same--or worse--if you had been in my shoes. Some of you are probably applauding me in some sense.

Here's the thing: That's what my ugly heart thinks. This is not what God's heart ever thinks. This is not what Jesus ever thought towards anyone.

It's seems like a small infraction. It seems like something "completely natural" and "totally understandable." Yeah. It is. But it's not loving.

And let's not be coy, either, people. Is this even the worst thing I've ever felt towards someone? I'm 34 years old. How many un-loving thoughts have I managed to rack up in that time?

When I die, how can a heart that is not loving be united with God's heart that is totally and perfectly loving? It can't. Unless a Savior has come along to make it possible.

But I'm thinking about more than just the death moment. I'm thinking about right here on Earth. I don't like that I thought of this woman as a heffer. I need a Savior to save me from being ugly right now. I needed a Savior to save me from being angry with my children--and He delivered. I needed a Savior to save me from a debhilitating streak of pride that was tearing through my work--and He delivered.

Now, there are days when I need a Savior to save me from falling into an abyss of fear and self-body-loathing. I need a Savior to protect me from some horrid lies that come up--Will Bryan have little thoughts in his head every time he sees a "complete" woman in the movies? Will Joshua have a story to tell one day of a mother he has photos and some vague memories of because she died while he was so young?

Is Jesus mighty enough to save me from all of this?

It's a real question, friends.



*Note on all the people holding their hands up

This might be different from what your are used to thinking of as worship. I remember a time when I saw this kind of thing and thought these people were faking something, or getting caught up in hysteria.

But this is what I look like when I worship, and for me it's not hysteria and I'm not faking it. You know, when people hold their arms out and cheer at a rock concert, we don't think twice. When people in the stands cheer wildly over a homerun, it's totally cool.

If I believe that Jesus IS Mighty to save me from everything I mentioned above, of course I'm going to raise my hands to Him and cheer like this.

Theme Song Thursday

Introducing what may well become another regular category.

I've always been into lyrics. Before I had the Bible in my life, I used to pour over song lyrics like I believed they held the key to the universe. Suzanne can back me up on this. She was totally my partner in crime. Remember how we obsessed over "Until the End of the World" off Achtung Baby?

This was probably a pretty normal teenage thing, to mine through music looking for meaning. It made me a better thinker, a better reader. I remember the feeling that something about certain lyrics fed me. It never satisfied, I see now. But it always felt like a real treat.

The inheritance from that habit is that music still has a very powerful role in how I mark each season of life. I'm among those who experience music biographically, and I'd like to keep track of which songs are part of this season. I want Gemma and Joshua to know what kind of things helped me smile each day, and what reminded me of the hope I have.

The inaugral theme song is "Crazy Tonight" by U2. They are an Irish band of magnificent fame. Yet, despite their 22 Grammie wins (not just nominations) and their world-wide concert tours that sell out, they are, as far as rock n' roll bands go, easy to admire.

But their music! Album after album of mysteriously and wonderfully searching songs.

Here's the chorus from "Crazy Tonight" that strikes me as for this season. I know it had nothing to do with me as Bono wrote it, but it feels every time like it's just for me in this moment:

It's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubtin?
We're gonna make it all the way to the light

Here's their performance on Letterman's show: