Moving On

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What happened?

[12 December 2008]

Walking to the video shop in the rain, I felt all of the world's hurt, pain, & lonliness on my shoulders. I walked past a house at which I know one of our young people live, and his mum was screaming at a man to get out, waving her finger at him as he defiantly strutted out the door, looking back in anger, getting in his car, leaving. A sight I've only ever seen in movies, it's so much scarier in reality. My heart goes out to the kids in the house, to their mum & her broken relationship with the man.

I walk in the rain, the dark & cold enveloping me and I think, "Even the raindrops have company." The Beatle's song "Eleanor Rigby" loops in my head, the line "all the lonely people, where do they all come from?" Because surely, we're all born to at least a mom. Nobody is supposed to lonely, that's not the plan. I even have Nickelback in my head (argh I don't like them), the line from their new single, "There's gotta be somebody for me out there." Though probably written regarding a boy/girl relationship, it's the same line for those without family, those without a friend in the world. There's gotta be somebody out there for everyone. What happened?

Relentless

Jesus heals the blind.

Matthew 9:27-31 is really interesting. Jesus is walking down the road, just after raising a girl from the dead, when two blind men start following Him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" They couldn't see Jesus, but they knew He was there. They couldn't see Him, but they sensed Him enough to be able to follow Him down the road that was probably busy adn noisy, with plenty of obstacles in the way.

The next part is awesome... v28, "Wen he had gone indoors..." Jesus doesn't turn around & make His way to the blind men. Rather, He reaches His destination & goes indoors, & it's up to the blind men to knock on the door & reach out to Him. Why did Jesus go indoors before regarding them? Did He just not hear them or realize they were following Him? Or, was it that He realized that this was an opportune moment to teach about faith?

The blind men didn't stop pursuing Jesus when doors were closed & it seemed like He was out of reach. They were Relentless, & their obvious Trust in the fact that Jesus could heal them made them this way. It doesn't say that they stopped & asked people around them what to do next when Jesus went indoors; no, they continued their pursuit to their Healer.

v28, "...the blind men came to him, & he asked them..." Jesus had just raised a girl from the dead & healed a sick woman. He was inevitable tired & looking forward to some peace & quiet, but that didn't stop Him from making Himself available to these men. He was inside, they were outside. However, no walls, no fatigue, no weakness can get in the way of us & our Jesus.

"Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"'Yes, Lord,' they replied."
v29, "'According to your faith will it be done to you,' and their sight was restored."

Trust, resulting in a relentless journey to get close to their Healer. And once they got close enough, their lives were powerfully transformed.

Love, struck at its greatest chord

Unfathomably awestruck.

The Swell Season, live at Vicar St, Dublin.

Unlike any show I have ever been to.

This show was different. It was more than a display of talent, thought talent was mightily displayed. On stage at Vicar St was a completely authentic exhibition of respect, love, humility, tenderness, and passion. Each and every person on that stage demonstrated raw talent for for treating people right, which, to me, overpowered the phenomenal sound coming through the amplifiers. 

None of the musicians on stage were getting paid. All of the money for the show was being given to Glen Hansard's mother- she works for an organization that helps disabled children, and they were in need of a bus to take the children on trips. So Glen's mom asked him to do a show to raise money, and so he did. 

Glen and Marketa opened the night at 8 o'clock on the dot with a sweet sample of what was the come. After their first song (which could have completed the entire night... they didn't save the best for last), there were about 7 supporting acts. Right up to midnight, artist after artist shared their music with the audience. Each singer or duo was obviously a dear friend of Glen and Marketa's- from where I was standing, I could see Glen standing backstage watching, encouraging, and thoroughly enjoying each of the supporting acts. And it was a family affair as well! Glen introduced his niece at one point, who was performing for her first time, and was absolutely brilliant (though has a strikingly different style than Swell Season... she sang two Leona Lewis songs)!

I had my first experience with true, traditional Irish music as well. One of the supporting acts was this crazy-awesome Irishman, who passionately banged on his boron, danced with his flute, and even threw in an Aboriginal (a culture from Australia's Northern Territory) dream song, on which Marketa harmonized. His music was absolutely beautiful and I used up a good portion of my camera's memory card by video-ing him to share with family at home! 

When it was finally Swell Season's turn (a little before 10 o'clock), most of my joy came from the prominent joy on their faces. Any listener of Swell Season will know that their music flows from delicate, close-knit harmonies to heated vocals accompanied by vehement guitaring. And it all works so, SO well!! And it was absolutely wonderful to witness all this first-hand, to actually see Glen's veins popping out of his neck as he pours out his soul into the microphone with Marketa serenely standing at his side, so pleasant in her red clogs. 

They did a new song (I think he said it was new? It might be on their actual album, which I don't have...yet) called "Moon" and Glen's introduction to it really made me think, and smile. He said it's about the best point of when you're off the path you're meant to be on, that being the point when you realize you're not on the right path. Of course, as the audience was a crowd of Irish, the "moment", if you will, turned funny as a boisterous "YEEEAAA" erupted when Glen alluded to drinking for two weeks straight. 

By the third-to-last song, as I watched Glen fix one of the strings on his guitar (in the middle of a song... no sweat...) I realized that my view walking into this show had been entirely wrong. I began deleting photos of just Glen and Marketa to make room for photos of everyone else on stage. My ticket says "Swell Season" really big, & in smaller letters underneath: "And Friends". But the show should have been "Swell Season & Friends", bolded together on one line with the same size of font. The night was not about Glen & Marketa at all.  The night was about friends making music together. Even we, the audience, were their friends for the night. If somebody shouted out the name of a song, Glen would say "OK", & play it. I don't know if there was even a set list. 

In continuation with the family-affair theme, the crazy-awesome Irishman brought his little daughter on stage during the very last song of the show, Bob Dylan's "Forever Young." His daughter sat on his lap while he played piano, but during the middle of the song she got up and ran around the stage, looking for her mom I suppose. Her mom had to come on stage and get her, and ended up singing with Marketa & Glen for a bit. It was evidently too beautiful for my own good as it brought some tears to my eyes =] Then again, my emotions were all hay-wire anyways because of the song right before "Forever Young", an epic "Fitzcarraldo". The violinist went nuts.

Usually after a show I find it really difficult to walk out & get back to normal life. I'm not saying that I wouldn't have liked to stay enveloped by glorious music of Swell Season & Friends all night, but the 4 hours of non-stop music was so great that I was completely satisfied by the end and felt excited to go out and share life and music with people I love, and inspired to befriend all the lonely people in the world.

I wish I could have just brought you there with me, so that you could understand what I am earnestly trying to illustrate.

God speaks his love to me through music, glorious music, and it is artists like those of Swell Season and all their friends, with their love and devotion, who make it possible for God to do that. 

A walk to the office

It is inevitable in a small town like Dromore that you walk down the street and see someone you know or are acquainted with. And every morning, as I close my front door behind me on my dander to the office, I ready myself for this.

First it's the two moms on the Circular Road. They walk one in front of the other since the footpath doesn't allow enough room for them to walk side by side whilst also pushing their prams (aka strollers). They are walking back home after dropping their older kids off at school, and I am walking into the square to the office. I walk past these two ladies each and every morning, rain or shine, and each and every morning I chuckle at the fact that, as we walk towards one another, none of us know where to look. It's like we cannot catch eyes until the last possible second or the day would be thrown out of proportion. And then once our strides are pretty much parallel, we finally offer a friendly "Hiya" or "Alright?".

After the moms I'll probably come across Cathy or Sheena, both of whom go to my church and walk their kids to school each morning. Cathy & Sheena are cool and it's always nice to wave hi to them. Never awkward, like the Circular Road moms.

Turn right onto Bridge Street and lately I've been crossing paths with the Thymes Square girl. I don't know her name, but she usually makes my salad box for me whenever I go there for lunch. Again, another instance of "where should I look before I say hi??"

Go through the square and I've made it to the office, where poor Bob is waiting outside in the cold, always. Jackie might be outside of his shop unloading a delivery, and if so then there's a bonus "ALRIIIGHT?!!" to my morning.

Happy day =]

The morning papers make the most out of nothing at all

(Skip to the last paragraph if you don't feel like reading but want something to think about)

I suppose the lack of blogs is due to the fact that I've had nothing to say lately. Or, that I've been doing so much that I haven't had time to ponder it all in a carefully worded blog. As I've been in Northern Ireland, I've gotten more in touch with my creative side. And upon embracing the right side of my brain more frequently, I've become a lot less organized. I realize that writing is an art form, but for me it's a way to organize my thoughts as well. Therefore, the lack of writing stemming from my lack of organization. Maybe? I'm thinking of printing out my blogs & stapling them into my journal, which is looking bare itself.

This blistery Sunday afternoon started out with good intentions to take a walk & say goodbye to a couple more of those leftover Christmas cookies. But then Lorraine sparked the fire in the fireplace, & the living room was so cozy, &, ahh, I kind of just sat & didn't get up. Sitting in a good way though; I'd like to take a picture of the living room at the moment because it is an array of colored markers, a couple notebooks, my violin, my mac (opened to garage band for music-making), and two books (my Bible & The Shack, to be specific). So despite being temporarily glued to the floor, it was still a colorful, musical, and wholeheartedly whimsical & productive afternoon!

I shared this whimsical productive experience with Sufjan Stevens. He's been playing from my computer all afternoon. My thoughts of Mr Stevens are only good ones; his uncoventional music makes me feel exuberantly frolicsome (...thank you, Thesaurus), and while it may seem idiosyncratic (mmm yes Thesaurus strikes again) to those who are less offbeat than myself, I'd recommend that everybody give him a listen. Not only are the titles of his songs outstanding by themselves, the lyrics inside each song envelop the soul. I never realized how spiritual some of his lyrics are until I heard his version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (a common hymn) and began listening to his lyrics more closely. Here's some of my favs:

"& I'm joining every thought to you, & I'm preparing every part for you" ["All the Trees of the Forest Will Clap Their Hands"]
I relate this line completely to my relationship with God, as I strive to make every one of my thoughts & every aspect of my life of & for Him. I won't ever accomplish the plan He has for my life without doing just that.

"Dear Mr. Supercomputer" --- What a song!
"Springfield with its freak and banter strike the cantor 'God is dead, God is dead'"
I'd say that line summarizes our world. The American ideal, "In God We Trust" remains just that, an ideal. As our world turns to horoscopes and underground magazines to find the meaning of life, the Bible is left in the dust. To try to gain wisdom, we have thrown true Wisdom away.

"I rejoice in what I carry in my heart. It overwhelms what a man, Great Emancipation plans."
And yes. The reason for the title of my blog. The freedom that God offers through his Son, Jesus... it is indeed overwhelming. It's what makes me so passionate. When Jesus was nailed to that cross, all of our burdens, worries, fears, sorrows, were nailed there with Him. They died with Him, &, unlike Jesus, they weren't resurrected. And so we are FREE from them! We are more free than we allow ourselves to be most of the time (Read Colossians 2:13-15 in case I'm wrong).

Check out these songs as well: "Carlyle Lake", "Woman at the Well", & "Chicago"

Love.

8 Things

Put your star in a bell jar.

Sit back and watch the bazaar 

whilst you smoke a cigar.

[What is more hypocritical than

chocolate in a salad bar?]

And as the acoustic guitar 

soothes your heart's scar

remember Myanmar.