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I am coming to realize how much I second-guess God’s faithfulness, even though He constantly proves Himself to me in little and big things, often times before I’ve even prayed about it. Even the silly things, like when I lost the little plastic stick that holds the card in a bouquet of flowers I was delivering to someone who had just lost their mom to cancer. I NEEDED to have that stick in the bouquet ‘cause the flowers were not from me, so I had to make sure that card was visible and wouldn’t get wet since, knowing me, the first thing I’d do is drop it into a puddle if it wasn’t on that stick thing. I could NOT find that thing. I seriously emptied my entire bag looking for it. It was NOT there. I prayed and literally seconds later it just dropped out of...I’m not sure where since I’d just looked EVERYWHERE. God. Or how I’m running late to work and my Jeep happens to be the ONLY vehicle that doesn’t have stuff frozen to the windshield so I can just start it and go. God. Or how I wake up at night with God telling me exactly whom I’m supposed to be praying for right then. Or who needs my help. Or just a hug. God. Or how He uses reading assignments for secular college classes that I have a bad attitude about doing in the first place to not only admonish me for my attitude, but encourage me, out of nowhere. Incredible. He constantly surprises me when I lose faith by the most amazingly random things happening that prove to me over and over again that my life is not my own and that, once again, I’ve sold my God short. I feel rightly ashamed of myself, and yet, I find myself doing it again and again. Thank you Lord for your patience with a stubborn, forgetful, ungrateful child. And for still calling me a princess. Unbelievable. Even in times when all I can see are the obstacles in front of me, God directs my attention to what He is doing as He goes before me and is with me the whole way. And He has already forgiven my lack of faith before I realize I’ve been selling Him short. Now THAT is true love. I know these are just midnight ramblings of a very tired mind, but I hope that if you bother to read this, you feel somewhat encouraged. God is here and so very involved in your life and my life, and is always faithful, regardless of how much we sell Him short. I’m making an effort to train my eyes to the scavenger hunt that should be the easiest ever. The goal? To see God working everywhere. Because He is. The Holy Spirit will open your eyes if you’re looking around to see it.
Book Review
Brian Jennings has an extensive history in talk radio and was around before the explosion of media availability in radio stations, satellite radio, internet, television stations, etc. Naturally, he has a vested interest in keeping radio alive, along with every other station manager, radio host, disc jockey, and musician. Jennings wrote a book entitled, “Censorship: the threat to silence talk radio,” to address some glaring concerns about the future of radio, talk radio specifically.
When most people from foreign countries think of the United States, one thing that predominantly comes to mind is the freedom Americans have; specifically, freedom of speech. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, the press, and religion. The problem is that the First Amendment is in serious jeopardy, yet again. The “again” I am referring to is the Fairness Doctrine, enacted in 1949 to promote balance and encourage political debate on the radio. Unfortunately, the Fairness Doctrine failed miserably and ended up throwing a wet blanket over any controversial discussion whatsoever. Radio personalities avoided mentioning even the smallest issue that could produce a contrary opinion for fear of having to provide free airtime to any and all dissenters, which was extremely expensive for the stations, and also for fear of being fined and having their broadcasting license revoked. The problem was that if one side of an issue was broadcasted, anyone from any radical point of view could report them for being “unbalanced” and demand equal airtime on that station to present their point of view. At first glance, it sounds just fine, except what happened was that free speech was put in chains of fear and oppression. In response, President Reagan had the the Federal Communications Committee review the Fairness Doctrine. They declared it unconstitutional and when they “revoked [it] in 1987 by a unanimous vote in the FCC, there were congressional attempts to restore it. President Reagan vetoed one effort, and a later attempt was dropped when President George H. W. Bush also threatened a veto. (79)”
Jennings happens to be a diehard political conservative, and he addresses liberal efforts to restore the Fairness Doctrine or some semblance thereof. He cites statements from many different prominent politically active liberals that support reinstating government regulation of the airwaves and oppose the Broadcasting Freedom Act; new legislation that would protect freedom of speech on the radio permanently. “New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter...stated that conservative talk radio was a threat to American-- ‘a waste of good broadcast time, and a waste of our airwaves.’ (80)” Even former presidential candidate John Kerry states that conservative talk radio’s goal was “to squeeze down and squeeze out opinion of opposing views...(80)” However, when one takes into consideration that the sheer mass of available information in the current media is overwhelming, and that all viewpoints, even the most extreme, are available to everyone, this argument seems passé at best. Not only that, but the prominence of liberal media is incredible as opposed to how few conservative-leaning media resources exist. In the mainstream, talk radio represents less than 17% of radio stations, and lots of those are in partnership with National Public Radio, a left-leaning organization. Not only that, but conservative-leaning media apart from the internet consists of solely FOX News, and the few hundred talk radio stations. Liberals, on the other hand, have Air America, NPR, CBS, ABC, and 90% of journalists in the country on their side. According to Jennings, his fellow talk radio personalities and research that was done, in a large part, the only reason that the liberals have a problem with conservative talk radio seems to be about the ratings: conservative talk radio rakes in the top ten ratings consistently, while liberal talk radio struggles to keep people listening. That is the irony of radio: it is a marketplace, and supply and demand dictate who survives, especially since funding for radio stations is largely provided by advertisers, and advertisers only want to use stations that have a large audience. Basically, those who tune in decide who stays, and conservatives listen to talk radio much more than liberals do. Why? Entertainment. Conservative talk radio personalities are fun to listen to, as I have discovered by spending hours listening to both left and right leaning stations. Liberal talk radio hosts tend to be a lot more condemning and negative of anyone who disagrees with them instead of presenting their own opinions and backing them up with facts. Conservative talk radio is also known to broadcast things that are kept out of the liberal media and news; information about the war in Iraq, for example. Jennings says that while all of the liberal mainstream media were condemning the war and claimed we were losing it, we were actually winning it by a large margin, and the only ones broadcasting this were European airwaves and conservative talk radio hosts.
What Jennings claims the liberals intend to do by introducing legislation that would create a new type of “Fairness Doctrine” through the “back door” is legislate themselves onto the air and persecute conservative talk radio until it is just too expensive to keep up with demands for airtime, defend, in court, statements that personalities made on the air, and having to deal with fines for being “unbalanced” or not serving the “public interest;” the euphemism favored by liberals. There is a lot of talk currently about establishing “programming advisory boards,” which are a collection of people from the community in which the radio station is located that the government considers knowledgeable of what the “public” thinks is important. There is a huge risk and a high probability that these boards would essentially become arms of the government to control what the stations broadcast and use them to silence opposition, as politicians and presidents have done in the past under the Fairness Doctrine. Another problem is, when the government has the power to regulate one freedom already guaranteed by our own constitution, what is there to stop them from slowly becoming more and more totalitarian? Nothing. Freedom of speech is essential to the American way of life, and for the government to meddle in it for the sake of “fairness” would be completely counterproductive. What those who support the “balancing” measures need to realize is that conservative talk radio would not be the only format affected. Liberal talk radio would be virtually eliminated as well as Christian radio, music stations (after all, a lot of music has political leanings and messages within the lyrics), and even news stations would be muzzled.
I believe that the points that Jennings makes in his book are extremely valid and are a call to action, not just for conservatives, but for liberals, because they would find that their own legislation had turned on them like a rabid dog and was rapidly eating away at their guaranteed freedoms. Jennings not only covers the conservative viewpoint in his book, but interviews liberals who understand the volatile nature of the fight for freedom of speech. He encourages the readers to become involved in the fight and to be aware of subtle ways that various groups, foreign and domestic, and not just liberals, are penetrating politics in order to use them against the American people. He addressed the issue of censorship very thoroughly, including the history of it in relation to broadcast media and and the current ways it is being addressed in all areas of government.
In conclusion, Jennings’ book outlines the basic threats that Americans face to their constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of speech and, after giving almost overwhelming amounts of proof for his points of view, uses his book as a clarion call to action for liberals and conservatives alike to forget certain differences and band together to defend our freedom of thought and both spoken and written word. I could continue for countless pages to emphasize the necessity of unity to fight those who would muzzle American free speech, because I completely agree with Jennings’ point of view and found my resolve to get involved strengthened by his passion to defend everyone’s right to say what they will, whether or not he agrees with them.
Bibliography
Jennings, Brian. Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio. 1st ed. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2009. Print.
I think that the civil liberty that is coming under the greatest threat currently is that of free speech, particularly speech broadcasted over the radio. Currently the liberal majority is threatening conservative talk radio with censorship because of how much weight conservative talk radio hosts have with those that listen and how much encouragement they give to people, specifically Republicans, to get involved in the fight for political offices to insure that the conservatives regain the majority. There are many liberal politicians that are outspoken about re-instating the Fairness Doctrine that was established in 1949 but repealed in 1987 by President Reagan. It requires radio programs related to public affairs to feature all points of view about issues, or they’d lose their broadcasting license. Basically what happened back then was that producers avoided controversial programming altogether, because if even one person complained about them not being completely “fair” in allowing equal airtime to persons from differing viewpoints, they’d lose their license, pay fines, etc. Now, since it was repealed, there was an explosion of radio stations because people no longer feared the government’s “punishing” radio stations that spoke out in support of one side. The problem is that, now that the liberals are once again in majority, they want to try and either reinstate the Fairness Doctrine (which is totally unconsitutional) or in some back-door kind of way, to have another bill that censors radio. The reason is that liberal talk radio shows have never garnered good ratings or much support at all. They just don’t do well, so, naturally, the liberals feel threatened because of how well conservative talk radio gets their platform across to the people. I think that, despite the popular liberal leaning toward this kind of censorship, the government should take active steps toward an understanding that freedom of speech guarantees that freedom over the radio waves too, and that the government should actively support a bill that would make it impossible to censor radio broadcast, save in the occasion of a “clear and present danger” situation or if someone is intentionally slandering another “on the air.” After all, no-one is forcing anyone to listen to conservative talk radio. There are plenty of music, weather and sports stations for the “sensitive” listener.
I am the only person in my family whose first language was English. Everyone else grew up primarily speaking a dialect of German. They attended schools taught in the formal type of German called “High German” and their church conducted services only in High German as well. Outside of our small community, however, English was predominant, and so my family had to adapt, especially when we immigrated to the United States. It has been found that non-English-speaking immigrants who refuse to learn English cheat themselves of many opportunities for success.
First of all, many immigrants stubbornly refuse to learn English for fear of becoming too integrated in society and losing their cultural distinctiveness. While all multi-cultural ventures result in a small amount of adaptation and syncretism, it is possible to actively maintain the distinctive cultural aspects simply by continuing to speak the native language in the home and by observing family traditions. It is purely a matter of willingness to put forth the effort of learning English and still preserve ethnic roots. Believe me, the effort is far outweighed by the benefits.
Some immigrants claim that learning English is too hard, especially on their own. I agree, learning English solo is not an easy task. However, this excuse still doesn’t hold water. There are literally millions of opportunities for immigrants to learn English at little or no cost whatsoever. In a simple Google search for “learning English free,” there were 240 million results. I sorted through a large amount and refined my search further to “learning English free, U.S. Government programs.” I got another 38 million results. I came across “welcometousa.gov,” the official government website for new immigrants, offers links to opportunities for immigrants to learn English, both online and in free classes- both for adults and children, while “free.ed.gov” is another government site that has many resources available for learning at no cost, including actual classroom setting-classes for adults as well as many online learning opportunities. Yet another resource for online learning is “eslinusa.com”.
There are many benefits to learning the English language that can change the life of countless immigrants, should they choose to take the opportunity. Very important is the opportunity to become a U.S. Citizen. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, the ability to “read, speak, write and understand English” is necessary for naturalization. Many argue that because the United States doesn’t have a declared official language, they should not be required to learn English. According to strictlyspanish.com, however, twenty-seven states HAVE declared English to be their official language. Simply refusing to adapt to the status quo and thus keeping yourself out of a decent-paying job and barring the door to further education is not worth “making a point” or “having pride in your home country.” What it DOES do is keep considerable intellect and skills out of the marketplace and puts all immigrants under unnecessary negative stereotyping and keep the standard of living in the United States from staying the best in the world. The U.S. is a land of immigrants, yes, and there are hundreds of languages spoken here, but a “trade language” is necessary in order to keep the country functioning as it was intended from its formation, which was by immigrants.
Another issue of importance is the opportunity for further education, like a technical or college degree. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on average over 30% of people born outside of the US, aged 25 or older, that have immigrated here have less than a high school education whether they’ve been here less than 10 years or more than 20. This totals almost 22 and a half million people, and that was just back in 2001. Of that almost 22 million, over 40% are not citizens, and 1 in 5 have less than a 5th grade education. This lack of education restricts the kinds of jobs that immigrants can have, since entry-level jobs are for low pay and very few benefits, as opposed to the higher paying jobs that usually include full benefits that are available to those with college degrees.
The U.S. Census Bureau research also shows that, among immigrant men, the unemployment rate was about equal to native men, because they fill the service, fabrication, operation, and manual labor positions. For immigrant women, however, there is a 20% difference between the labor force participation rates with those who are naturalized citizens. Almost 80% of citizens participate in the work force as opposed to just over half of those with less than 10 years of residence and no citizenship. Across the board, immigrants that have become citizens have similar occupational opportunities to natives. The differential across the pay-scale for citizens and non-citizens is drastic as well. The large majority of non-citizen immigrants, both men and women, make around $20,000 a year, while citizens average between $30 and 40 thousand and the very large majority make more than $25,000.
By no means does this mean that only English is useful in the American workforce. Indeed, speaking two or more languages well is almost a guarantee of higher pay. My sister applied for a job and, because she speaks German as well as English, got her starting pay rate raised by several dollars which, in the present economy, is a HUGE help. Being multi-lingual can actually get a naturalized immigrant chosen for employment over a native who speaks only English.
While the English language is not an easy one to learn, since it is a “trade language” made up of a bunch of different languages that have been syncretized and consequently butchered into complete irrationality, learning it is, as I have shown, an immensely important thing for immigrants if they want to have a higher standard of living with plenty of diverse opportunities for their various skills and talents, and there are plenty of resources available to assist those willing to learn.
Response 2
The Puritans and Pilgrims were religious groups that traveled to the New World to establish utopian societies based on their interpretation of Scripture, a large part of which included dwelling on the characteristics of God. One particular characteristic of God that was prominent in Puritan and Pilgrim literature is that God is a strict disciplinarian; that is, He punishes those that profane His name, persecute His followers, and those of the believers that stray from righteous living.
William Bradford, the man who coined the term “Pilgrim” in application to those who came across from England to the New World on the Mayflower in order to escape religious persecution, was self-educated and deeply religious. He governed the Pilgrims in Massachusetts until the last five years of his life. During his time as governor, he wrote a history of the journey to the Americas and of the development of the colony. Within this history were accounts of affliction given by God, according to Bradford, as punishment, one of which occurred on the journey across the sea and was specifically a punishment for persecuting the Pilgrims and cursing God’s people and, through that, cursing God.
“And I may not omit here a special work of God’s providence. There was a proud and very profane young man...and he would always be contemning the poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations...and if he were by any gently reproved, he would curse and swear most bitterly. But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner...and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him.” (pg 59)
Later on, as the colony grew in prosperity and numbers, they shrank in unity and began displacing themselves from the general populace, striking out on their own in a kind of pompous independence that prompted Bradford to say “And this, I fear, will be the ruin of New England, at least of the churches of God there, and will provoke the Lord’s displeasure against them.” (pg 75) Bradford figured that their pride would lead God to discipline the Pilgrims in order to bring them either back to the fellowship or to destroy them completely.
Very little is known about Anne Bradstreet’s early life except that she came from a Puritan family and got married young to a Puritan man who took her with him to the Americas only a year after they were married. Anne was very much of the mindset common to Puritans about the character of God as a disciplinarian when it came to His followers: punishment in order to save and restore. Late in life, Anne wrote a short testimony to her children of God’s dealings with her throughout her life, and mentioned several times that God had to bring her out of her sin into righteous living through trials. Before she was married, “About 16, the Lord laid His hand sore upon me and smote me with the smallpox. When I was in my affliction, I besought the Lord and confessed my pride and vanity, and He was entreated of me and again restored me.” (pg 111) A while after Anne and her husband had moved to the Massachusetts Bay colony, she again came under God’s discipline. “After some time I fell into a lingering sickness like a consumption together with a lameness, which correction I saw the Lord sent to humble and try me and do me good...” (pg 111) Near the end of her life, she finally came to this conclusion:
“Among all my experiences of God’s gracious dealings with me, I have constantly observed this, that He hath never suffered me long to sit loose from Him, but by one affliction or other hath made me look home, and search what was amiss; so usually thus it hath been with me that I have no sooner felt my heart out of order, but I have expected correction for it, which most commonly hath been upon my own person in sickness, weakness, pains, sometimes on my soul, in doubts and fears of God’s displeasure and my sincerity towards Him; sometimes He hath smote a child with a sickness, sometimes chastened by losses in estate...If at any time you are chastened of God, take it as thankfully and joyful as in greatest mercies, for it ye be His, ye shall reap the greatest benefit by it.” (pg 112)
A slightly younger contemporary of Anne Bradstreet’s was a Puritan minister’s wife named Mary Rowlandson. At the age of 40, her town was attacked by Native Americans and she was captured and subsequently held hostage for eleven weeks, enduring many hardships and outright cruelties at the hands of the Indians. She, like Anne Bradstreet, also believed that any trial in a believer’s life were meant to show them where they were going astray, to chastise them, and then return them to fellowship with God. Early in her account of her captivity, she quotes Psalm 46:8, specifically giving God the credit for the hardships. “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made in the earth.” (120) She recounts what her thoughts were at the time;
“I then remembered how careless I had been of God’s holy time; how many Sabbaths I had lost and misspent, and how evilly I had walked in God’s sight; which lay so close unto my spirit, that it was easy for me to see how righteous it was with God to cut off the thread of my life and cast me out of His presence forever. Yet the Lord still showed mercy to me, and upheld me; and as He wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other.” (pg 122)
At one point in her captivity, Mary becomes hopeless and depressed, but one of the Indians, back from a raid on some colonial town, finds a Bible within his loot and offers it to Mary in a rare gesture of kindness. In her account of the captivity, she recalls how the Bible helped her remember that the trial was from God as punishment but also was given to her in order to purify her and redeem her, and that she would yet be brought back and the trial would cease.
“...There was no mercy for me, that the blessings were gone, and the curses come in their room, and that I had lost my opportunity. But the Lord helped me still to go on reading till I came to Chap. 30, the seven first verses, where I found, there was mercy promised again, if we would return to Him by repentance; and though we were scattered from one end of the earth to the other, yet the Lord would gather us together, and turn all those curse upon our enemies.” (pg 124)
Rowlandson even went so far as to believe that God had not wiped out the Indians yet because He was preserving them to use as a tool to inflict trials on the Puritans in order to keep the Puritans in the way of righteous living. “But now our perverse and evil carriages in the sight of the Lord, have so offended Him, that instead of turning His hand against them [the Indians], the Lord feeds and nourishes them up to be a scourge to the whole land.” (pg 130)
Puritan and Pilgrim literature expressed many different characteristics of God, but one of the chiefest was the discipline that He would exact upon His disciples and unbelievers alike; upon the disciples to return them to a life of righteousness should they chance to stray, and upon unbelievers in order to show them His power and protect His children. Near the end of her account, Rowlandson quotes Hebrews 12:6, a verse that very effectively sums up the Puritan view of God’s purpose as a disciplinarian: “For whom the Lord lovth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth.” (p 134)
Works Cited
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter 7th ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008. Print.
This is a response to a reading I had to do for my Early American Lit. class about the history of early American development and interactions between the ethnic groups. We just had to name three things that we didn't know or that specifically interested us.
I was extremely surprised to learn that "the Natives at first found the scale of European warfare appalling. (2)" I knew that the way Native Americans are often exhibited as complete savages was probably a very narrow, biased opinion, but I knew nothing that could back up an opinion depicting the invading Europeans as "savage." I was also unfamiliar with the idea that the Natives were part of large organizations of multiple tribes that interacted on a highly official level with the European appointed government members in the colonies. (3) I loved seeing an allusion to a theory I've always had about the English language on page 11. I lived in the third world country of Papua New Guinea for awhile and learned their trade language, called "Tok Pisin," which is pronounced like "talk pidgeon." This language is a conglomerate of the hundreds, even thousands, of tribal languages, or "Tok Plece" that are prominent, along with many words taken from the various languages of countries they've interacted with, such as Japan, who occupied P.N.G. during W.W.II, Holland, another occupying country, the United States, who does some business there, and various bits of Australian and British slang all mixed in and distorted into an entirely new language. I view English as a version of "Tok Pisin." It can not truly claim to be a romantic language descended from Latin, like Spanish, French, and Italian, nor is it entirely Germanic, or any number of the other languages that have influenced it. Some words are distortions of words that were made up in the not-too-distant past when English was even more highly restrictive than it currently is, by none other than William Shakespeare. His plays required a larger variety of word choice for the sake of keeping an audience's attention. English is a language still in its developmental stages, as is the nature of trade languages: to adapt over time to the societies that adopt it in order to interact with a larger number of people, most importantly within the economic circles. Some English words today, if the etymology were to be traced, would find their roots in Native American words that the settlers adopted and probably massacred, and various foreign words from other settlers as they sought to communicate in order to survive the harsh reality of life in an underdeveloped country.
Keep in mind, it's a narrative story, so some things may not be totally accurate. They all happened, just not necessarily in that order or on the same day. And I'm not actually sure what age I was. I wrote it this morning, my last English essay, on 4 hours of sleep that was interrupted every hour by JJ. So it's...probably not as good as it could've been.
The Unexpected Gourmet
The only grandparent I ever had the honor of having a relationship with was my paternal grandfather. He passed away rather suddenly a few years ago, and I will always miss him; gruff, grumpy old man that he was. Not only do I look like him, but my personality is somewhat modeled on his when he was a young man. I suppose that is the reason we got along so famously.
The assisted living home he resided in was located just down the block from my elementary school, and I used to ride my bicycle over to there after school and spend time with him in his apartment, watching television or poring over his extensive collection of rare postage stamps and foreign currency, or sitting on the porch. We did not even need to speak. Sometimes simply sitting together was enough for the both of us.
On one particular occasion, I biked over to Grandpa’s house after school and had the entire evening to look forward to spending with him. My parents had to attend a meeting at church, so Grandpa was doing something he had not had an opportunity to do since he moved into the assisted living home: babysit. I could tell he didn’t quite know what to do with this change of events, since I usually came and went as I pleased.
His first dilemma was one that he solved in a way I have never forgotten: what to feed a 10 year old? I was not a picky eater, but that night I got a treat that has become one of my absolute favorite meals: frozen chicken nuggets and Pepsi. There are very few meals in existence that are more simple and foolproof: throw the nuggets on a pan and stick them in the oven for the time it says on the box, and while they are baking, pour the Pepsi into a few glasses over ice. It has been eleven years since I had that meal for the first time and it is still one of my favorites. I always get nostalgic when I eat it. The chicken was crispy on the outside and warm on the inside, and the Pepsi fizz was tickling my nose as I drank the rare treat. I am now reminded of how habits get passed down from generation to generation, because I remember my father having a similar meal with me, simply because he enjoyed it.
Grandpa’s second dilemma, how to entertain a ten year old for a few hours, was quickly solved since I knew how to play our family’s favorite game: cribbage. The rules of the game can get quite involved depending on whose rules are being used: the official rules, or Uncle Shorty’s rules, that he made up as he went along but insisted were actual rules. Grandpa and I whiled away the few hours my parents were gone playing highly competitive games of cribbage and poring over his coin collection. I actually ended up inheriting part of that collection and some of his rare stamps as well when he passed away.
I remember that when I left that night, I surprised him by the first real show of affection that had ever passed between us besides the cursory hug: I planted a kiss on his wrinkled, weathered old cheek. Affection is not something commonly displayed in my family, so it shocked Grandpa when I kissed him, but I remember that in the few seconds between that and me walking out the door, his face had lit up for the first time that I had ever seen in my entire life.
That evening, spent over frozen chicken nuggets, Pepsi, cribbage, and coins, was one of the best experiences of my childhood, and also one of the last times I had to spend with my grandfather before he died because shortly thereafter I moved away. I will always remember his eyes, so like mine in shape and color, twinkling for a split second after I kissed him on the cheek and walked out the door.
I love indie and reggae music, but good stuff outside of the mainstream has been hard to find. Until now. Amazon.com has a bunch of samplers from indie labels of mostly unknown artists for FREE. I'm in the process of downloading probably close to a gig of music right now and paying NOTHING. YAY!!! Yeah, I know, shameless plug for amazon, but they give me free music, so I figured I'd pass on the joy. Look it up, people! :-)
Since the development of the Mozart Theory back in the early 1990’s (Rogers, Part 2), high school music programs have been thrown into the spotlight of debate. Continuing budget cuts for public high schools have created a dilemma on the part of administration: how to spread the money to keep the educational standards high enough that graduates will have every chance of success? According to Nicolas Johnson, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 36 states so far have proposed or enacted severe cuts, numbering in the billions of dollars per state, to educational funding for public schools from kindergarten through secondary school (Johnson). One area that has seen significant value debate has been music education. One high school vocal music and music theory teacher was told that, after a survey of area schools, his program was considered “fluff” (Subik). School districts across the country have been largely downsizing or entirely eliminating their music education programs for various reasons.
First of all, some feel that music education takes up time that could be used for other, more academically stimulating electives that would better prepare students to begin their intended college majors. Studies show, however, that after listening to Mozart for only 10 minutes, college students showed a remarkable improvement in nonverbal reasoning on a standardized test over those who listened to meditative sounds or nothing. This developed into a theory known as the Mozart Effect. More recent studies of that same theory have shown that learning to read and play music, whether vocally or instrumentally, improves verbal memory while simple exposure to music increases the production of certain proteins in the brain that prevent neuronic death and improve the ability to learn positive behaviors. This is especially evident in young children and can build strong nerve pathways in the brain, but if the child should lose interest or stop being encouraged or have access to participation in music, those neural pathways will begin to break down (Rogers, Part 2). In other words, “use it or lose it” (Rogers, Part 2).
“Whether we are seeking ways to build brain connections in young children or ways to prevent at-risk students from dropping out, music makes a difference. Earlier research showed that music students consistently scored higher than their counterparts on the SAT, but nobody really knew whether that was because the brightest students gravitated toward music or because music was making kids smarter. A more recent study in which students who studied piano or voice for nine months were compared to peers without musical training showed gains in IQ scores for those who took music lessons” (Schmidt).
This benefit to the cognitive development of students is why it is extremely important that music education programs not be cut from high school curriculums.
Unfortunately, some people are concerned that if a student chooses to take music education in high school, they may be psychologically hampered by insecurity if they consider their talent inferior to that of another student. They are also concerned that the insecurity would subsequently challenge the student’s self-confidence when it comes to the rest of their education. Representatives from the Vh1 Save The Music Foundation studied students across the nation and discovered this:
“As we examined the music education system throughout the nation, we found that music education is not only important for its intrinsic value, but research consistently demonstrated that students who study an instrument enhance their critical thinking skills and their ability to work together as a team. They are more engaged in school and less likely to drop out; and they do significantly better in all of their academic endeavors” (About Vh1 Save The Music Foundation).
Another advocate of music education is the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. In a recent speech, he said,
“It’s so important to me that we give our students a reason to be excited about coming to school every day, to be passionate. We have to dramatically drive down our dropout rates in this country. We lose 30% of our young people before they graduate from high school. They have no options in today’s economy. None. For me it was sports. For other students, it’s dance, or drama, or music, or band, or chess, or debate, or yearbook, or all those things that are seen as “extras” or extracurriculars—those are actually the heart of giving our students a reason to get up and go to school every day and to be excited.
The only way that happens is if our children have exposure to a broad range of activities, and music is a huge, huge piece of that” (Duncan).
The beauty of music education courses being electives is that, if a student truly dislikes music, they have the option not to take it. There is no reason for any student to feel threatened or insecure because of the superior talent of any other student. Choirs and bands are made to sound good because of the sum of their parts, not from the talent of any individual student. If a student truly loves music, their self-esteem will not be hinged on whether or not they sound like a professional, but that they are doing their part to make the entire ensemble sound as it should. Students in Brooklyn, New York, have become so involved in the family that musical ensembles often become that when their music program was severely cut, they and their parents gathered on the streets to protest (Monahan). Upon hearing of budget cuts to happen in Johnstown, New York, students and teachers alike shed tears as advocates of the music program formally protested (Subik).
The most often cited reason for the insignificance of high school music programs is that they fail to have impact on students’ intended college majors. Many people feel that music is unimportant academically because it does not obviously incorporate mathematic, scientific, or linguistic application or development into the subject matter. Luckily for music students, the people that feel that way are mistaken. Mathematics is a subject very intimately woven into music, so much so that if it were taken away, modern musical notation would not exist. Musical notation consists of a series of notes that are based upon numeric values and fractions of numeric values that add together to create a certain whole number in a somewhat complex system of measuring beats per section, or measure, and which fractional note gets the emphasis. Measuring beats per minute is another way mathematics is integrated with music. Science is another subject not easily seen to be related to music even though it is so intimately related that modern musical instruments and vocal techniques would not exist without scientific study and developments. The flute, for example, has a very unique sound that is created by the action of wind, (the breath of the flautist), over a hole that creates vibrations contained by the body of the instrument and allowed to escape at certain intervals in the body by holes covered by felt and metal dampers, thus creating higher and lower sounds depending on which damper is lifted (“flute”). Music and linguistics are, again, very intimately linked in various manners. The texts of many operas, musicals, and many single vocal or choral pieces are based off of or directly taken from classical literature and poetry. A huge number of musical pieces with vocal parts are in different languages, enabling those studying foreign languages, especially those based off of Latin, such as French, Spanish, and Italian, to practice pronunciation and fluency. Music and language are tied together in a much more complicated way as well: neurologically. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “music and language are stored in separate parts of the brain but utilize the same neural resources and neural networks for the processing of complex information. This organization, which so far has been supported by the results of several studies, enables rapid processing of information” (Rogers, Part 1). People that suffer from aphasia (speech confusion associated with a stroke or brain tumor) can regain some speech ability by being taught to sing the words they want to say, a form of therapy known as Melodic Intonation where words are associated with musical pitch. This therapy actually rebuilds the lobe in the patient’s brain associated with speech. “[This] ability of the brain to shift speech representation to an adjacent region through the formation of neural connections based on music (Rogers, Part 1)” is solid proof that music is a very important part of the progression of a student’s linguistic skills and can definitely aid their academic development.
Music education is an important part of the high school education process. It is indeed beneficial to the students’ personal and academic growth and success, as shown by scientific research. The United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, says that he is “...absolutely convinced that if more students had that kind of exposure, test scores would go up, and much more importantly, graduation rates would go up, students would feel better about themselves, and long term, their success in life would be dramatically better because they had those basic opportunities” (Duncan). The budget cuts occurring in high school music education programs are hampering students’ opportunities for success. People, parents especially, need to become more aware of the budgeting changes at their area high schools and take any opportunity offered to protest the short-changing of the importance of music education programs. The success of generations of students to come depends on it.
This is just the paper I was writing for my English prof...enjoy if you wish...
Opera- Lost in Translation?
Many believe opera to be either a guilty pleasure or a lost art. “I would not be caught dead listening to that!” is an exclamation I have heard time and time again over the years, even from fellow vocalists. The few friends I possess that do enjoy opera consider it “too ‘geeky’ to admit” that they listen to it. What would surprise parties from either side of the spectrum is that opera has infiltrated popular culture in a way popular music has yet to aspire to.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, opera has shown up in everything from cartoons and movies to television commercials for everyday items like toothpaste, laundry detergent and diapers. In fact, Aqua-fresh uses Ponchielli’s “La gioconda,” Cheer detergent features Rossini’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” and Pampers diapers toddle along to another Rossini piece; “La gazza ladra.” Avid movie-watchers have the unfortunate tendency to forget that a lot of their favorite films would be devoid of emotion were it not for the soundtracks; many of which contain operatic works. For example, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Castaway both feature Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” while Toy Story 2, Match Point, Armageddon and Twister all utilize Rossini’s “William Tell.” “The Lone Ranger's theme music is perhaps that most famous use of an opera. In fact, upon hearing Rossini's “William Tell” overture, most people think it originated as a TV theme song, rather than as a classical opera” (National Endowment for the Arts).
Opera is not contained to being merely background music, either. Many television shows used opera pieces as primary plot lines, including Frasier, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The West Wing, and Seinfeld. The Looney Tunes, The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Veggie Tales have all used operatic pieces as major plot lines as well. The writers of Sesame Street have even go so far as to base a character (Placido Flamingo--a pink bird) on an opera singer named Placido Domingo along with featuring many opera singers on the show as themselves, such as Luciano Pavarotti, a world-famous vocalist.
Italian is widely considered the language of opera, but in reality, opera comes in many languages, including German, Russian, English, Spanish, French, Hungarian and Polish. This has made it more accessible throughout the world to a variety of audiences.
Operatic works are not confined to ages past, either. Many movies and stage works in the modern era have had operas written specifically for them. John Williams, the composer of countless movie scores, has written operas primarily for use in various movies, including Star Wars and the Harry Potter movies. They’ve also been used as theme music for various video games; some have independent stories, some are based on movies, but many video game soundtracks have either been heavily influenced or directly taken from opera. Originally, this was because classical music was public property, so entertainment companies were spared the expense of hiring a composer or paying for the music copyrights.
Opera was first introduced to the world of entertainment at the end of the 16th century by Jacopo Peri’s opera Dafne, which was unfortunately lost. It spread throughout Europe during the 17th century, but by the 18th, Europe was dominated by Italian opera. It continued to evolve through the 19th and 20th centuries into a few chief formats: “reform” operas, opera seria (serious operas), comic operas (such as The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute), and the bel canto style (fast, high notes). These works of Italian composers are chiefly those that come to mind when most people think of opera. They have endured time and the development of different musical cultures throughout the world because of the universality of their themes and the way that music reaches the heart.
The best way of describing the emotion of opera that I have found is a quote from Red in The Shawshank Redemption: “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.”
Opera deals with universal themes like love, loss, courage, cowardice, tyranny and selflessness. Whether or not the listener can understand what is being sung, when a production is watched and not simply listened to, the actor-singers communicate the emotions through their actions and facial expressions. Often, as I have experienced as I studied and performed opera, the emotion that the vocalist infuses their singing with is enough to get the message across to the audience.
John Ruskin (publication unknown) said “Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.” As evidenced by the power of “invasion” that has been opera’s influence on popular media, I would consider opera to be a fine art indeed, rather than a lost one.
Works Cited
"National Initiatives: Great American Voices Military Base Tour - Opera is All Around You!" National Endowment for the Arts. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2009.
"Opera." Wikipedia. N.p., 08 July 2009. Web. 08 July 2009. .
The Shawshank Redemption. By Stephen King. Screenplay by Frank Darabont. Perf. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1994. DVD.
Life is a crazy weird trip. Sometimes you just have to step out and take a stand against something. For me, that something is apathy. I’ve been in complete warfare mode against it for as long as I can remember, within myself and people I come in contact with. People were created to be passionate creatures. My passion? Music.
A recent scientific study revealed that a sense of music and beat is inherent in everyone from birth onward. The study monitored the brains of 3-4 day old infants when exposed to a rock beat that was consistent. After a few times through listening to it, they began removing every fourth beat. When the infants’ brains registered this, they literally “twitched.” Music is inherent- separate from language or circumstances. For all those Darwin supporters out there, chew on this: the concept of steady beat is isolated to humans. Monkeys, lab rats, goldfish, dogs- none of them have it. Just thinking about it really encouraged me because of how unique we are as humans. Some scientists try and throw us into these boxes as a species and classify away the wonder we should have at God’s creation, for we are made in His image. I was just reading last night in Psalm 139, and verse 14 really caught my attention because of how much of my life I’ve spent dealing with insecurity:
“I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”
My sister Kara once told me “Tami, God does NOT make junk.” To this day, I can barely say that aloud without tearing up. For me, to say that is to state very clearly whom I belong to; the thought alone makes me tear up in sheer awe of the care that went into fashioning every part of me- even the parts I don’t like. Infinite love created every bit of who I am, and placed into me the one element that reaches into every human being at the deepest, most vulnerable levels: music.
It seems to be one element that can break through every wall that we as humans erect around our hearts in order to keep the rest of humanity out and prevent ourselves from the inevitable: pain. When I lived in the dorms, I’d have my music fairly loud and every once in awhile someone would pass my door and pause briefly to catch a few bars of whatever song happened to be playing. Some sighed, some quickened their pace, and still others popped their head in to give me an enthusiastic thumbs-up. People that I had never before had a connection with or had any reason to have a connection with were suddenly on a very personal level with me. It was almost as if my personal walls had never existed in the first place. THAT is the power of music. Or, rather, the power of God exhibited through music.
Certain songs catch me so completely unawares that I forget to breathe as I strain to capture every note, every nuance of the sound. Colors explode in my mind as emotions collide within my imagination and a mental picture forms. That image is what I will forever associate that piece of music with. Still other songs are too overwhelming for me to capture the mental picture right away and I’m forced to get out pastel and paper and draw as I listen to the song repeatedly until the image forms under my fingertips. I’m never satisfied until every possible color has been exhausted and I am often surprised by the picture revealed when I finally look down at what the music “looked like” to my mind, or, if you will, to my heart.
I am convinced that every individual has one particular instrument that pierces them to the core when played masterfully. We all have memories attached to music; favorite movies, a song played in a restaurant when hanging out with friends, a song sung at a wedding or a funeral, and the albums our parents listened to when we were growing up. I think the worst crime committed by the world of popular music is overplaying a song that tops the charts. Sure, the general populace enjoys it, but does that entitle it to copious amounts of airtime? The correct answer is no, by the way. All that is accomplished is that the “self-destruct” button on the tune is pushed. After that, the only song played should be “Taps.”
Tangents appear to be my specialty, but I’m sure by now the topic of this tome, “passion,” has been clearly portrayed by my unchecked enthusiasm toward the subject of music. I may shy away from politics, large groups of women, and onions, but when it comes to music, be prepared for the long haul. It’s all I can muster to shut myself up sometimes.
Recently I discovered something that I find very interesting about the way I view music. I went through a “punk” stage when I graduated from high school; loud music, dark clothing and the attitude to go with it. The volume on my iPod got turned louder and louder, and the earbuds were rarely further from my ears than the distance from my head to my backpack. It wasn’t that I was trying to prove anything to anyone. On the contrary, I was trying to hide from being noticed in the first place. I was just another punk kid with loud music. Voila! I got left alone.
Honestly, I’m extremely relived that I pretty much grew out of it. I faced my emotional issues, got help for my health issues and finally turned back to the only One who could heal my spiritual issues. There’s still that part of me that enjoys punk rock and at this point, I highly doubt I’ll ever stop wearing chucks, but we’ll see where I’m at ten years from now. What I love about the place I’m in right now is that I know where I stand with my Heavenly Father, regardless of whether or not my earthly one is on board with what I think He wants for my life. Knowing where I stand with (or should I say IN) the Father opens up a whole different lifestyle and manner of thinking for me. I am finally fine with being exactly who and what God made me, and I’m enjoying the sweetest, most intimate relationship with my Lord that I’ve ever had. All through His grace and mercy, too. The Lord knows I don’t deserve it. Another beautiful thing about this transformation is the new avenues of musical tastes, interests and opportunities that it has opened up for me. To be continued...
Hey, I've been working on a new post for the LONGEST time and haven't quite gotten around to finishing it since my life decided to explode for a bit. It's starting to quiet down now so I'll put it on my to-do list to get that sucka done!!
...is to break us, show us who we are, sort through the pieces, discard the undesirable, and re-build us in the image of our Maker. The whole process is, in the most simplistic terms possible, NOT fun. Ever. And if anyone says they’re having fun, they’re lying. I’m not saying joy is impossible (for we are actually told to be joyful in the midst of trials in Ephesians), but happiness (which is dependent on positive circumstances) is extremely rare and generally a trait only possessed by the extremely masochistic. I was reading in a favorite book of mine last night, Streams in the Desert, and came across this passage by Ruskin that applies music into the subject of trials extremely well.
“There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by “rests,” and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the “rest”? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.
Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the “rests.” They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, “There is no music in a ‘rest,’” let us not forget “there is the making of music in it.” The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson!”
In Ephesians, Paul writes about some of his experiences and how, even though he’s going through some intense trials, he has joy. At one point, while jailed, he and a few other guys sang praises to God! Crazy as it sounds, it’s the most incredible thing to be compelled to do while under stress. When it happened to me, it took me utterly by surprise, but I’ve never felt such absolute joy and peace. When I encountered situations that ordinarily would have me frustrated, angry, and biting my tongue to hold back curses, I found that what bubbled out of my heart instead were constant songs of praise to God!
It’s so amazing to know that, even when we take out our frustration on God and may even feel betrayed by Him, He is still in constant control. It’s comforting that He never changes- His word stands and His standards never fluctuate. Steadiness. Calm in the midst of the storms of life.
Odd as it may seem to some, Daniel 3:25 is my life verse.
“He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods (NIV).’”
It actually came from the book I mentioned above, and, ironically enough, the accompanying text on that particular devotional day really didn’t mean much to me. In fact, I had a hard time finding it just now because the page had the anomaly of not being all marked up.
I love the way this verse says so clearly, so applicably that when life throws you out of the frying pan and into the fire, you’re never there alone. Jesus is with you, the completely qualified, sympathetic High Priest who has gone through everything.
I can totally empathize when David says “Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?” in Psalm 10:1. It’s crazy how quickly forget all that God does for us and how easily we think that if we’re walking with the Lord, everything will be roses. It’s SO not the case, because when we’re walking with the Lord is when Satan is TICKED and throws everything he’s got at us to make us fall.
“You’re not there, way out there, wandering in Your great Unknown. You are here, ever near. In my heart You found a home. You are living, You are breathing, I can feel Your presence in me.”- Jaci Velasquez
Even when we DON’T feel His presence, though, He is here with us. Always.
“Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in His unswerving fidelty; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him. Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as being literally present, though His presence is veiled, there comes an answering voice which shows that He is in the shadow, keeping watch upon His own. Your Father is as near when you journey through the dark tunnel as when under the open heaven!”- Daily Devotional Commentary
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” -Romans 8:28
George Mueller puts it really succinctly- “In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside.”
“We must die before we are turned into gentleness, and crucifixion involves suffering; it is a real breaking and crushing of self, which wrings the heart and conquers the mind.”-G.D.W.
“The Lord hath sent strength for thee.”- Psalm 68:28
I know I’m barely writing anything that hasn’t been said by someone else, but I find that, most times, the wisdom of the ages speaks for itself.
“Should Sorrow lay her hand upon thy shoulder,
And walk with thee in silence on life’s way,
While Joy, thy bright companion once, grown colder,
Becomes to thee more distant day by day?
Shrink not from the companionship of Sorrow,
She is the messenger of God to thee;
And thou wilt thank Him in His great tomorrow--
For what thou knowest not now, thou then shalt see;
She is God’s angel, clad in weeds of night,
With ‘whom we walk by faith and not by sight.’”
So....
“Let us run with perseverance (patience)”- Hebrews 12:1- George Matheson commented that “It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!”
“When all our hopes are gone,
‘Tis well our hands must keep toiling on
For others’ sake:
For strength to bear is found in duty done;
And he is best indeed who learns to make
The joy of others cure his own heartache.”
Another hard thing? To wait FOR God. People so often think that God is in this eternal NOW, and He is, but the thing of it is, He works our His purposes in His time. So says Isaiah, “Blessed are all they that wait for him.” And again in Daniel, “Blessed is he that waiteth.”
Now THIS I really love...it’s such blunt truth, but wow!
“The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man’s business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is what we shall lose if we flinch or rebel.”- Maltbie D. Babcock
“So suffering is rough and hard to bear; but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities, which no only leave us nobler, but perfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation, according to the will of God”
“Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing.” -J.R. Miller
AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF!!!!
“His soul entered into iron.” -Psalm 105:18 (in English, “Iron entered his soul”)
“Do not flinch from suffering; bear it silently, patiently, resignedly; and be sure that it is God’s way of infusing iron into your spiritual life. God wants iron saints; and since there is no way of imparting iron to the moral nature but by letting people suffer, He lets (does not inflict) them suffer.” -F.B. Meyer
To satisfy the singer in me...
“Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, REJOICE!” -Philippians 4:4
some lyrics from an old negro spiritual...
“An’ when He hears yo’ sing, He bends down wid a smile on His kin’ face an’ listens mighty keerful, an’ He says, ‘Sing on, chile, I hears, an’ I’s comin’ down to deliber yo’: I’ll tote dat load fer yo’’ jest lean hawd on Me and de road will get smoother bime by.’”
...has one of those nifty red phones that usually connect people to the President, except his connects him to God. I'm not talkin' little meaningless one-sided conversations. Theirs are those talks that would put teenage girls to shame with their length and depth (well, I doubt the girls would miss THAT, but you get the idea...) His lyrics never fail to paint the most amazing pictures in my mind, grab my heart, take me by the hand, and bring me to the throne room of God in worship. Incredible. His lyrics are so genuine and obviously from his own experience. He can truly empathize with all the crud that goes on in people's lives, and he knows the TRUTH about sin and salvation and speaks it boldly. He thinks about things commonly taken for granted and gives them a whole new perspective, and is not afraid to try something new with the musical style, because he's never put himself into a concrete genre box. God is truly using this man, and has blessed him with such a distinctive voice and talent. Some of the most significant times in my life have been emphasized by various songs he's written (HE wrote 'em!!! Not someone else!! That is way too rare nowadays). No other musician's work has ever been able to draw such intense emotion from me- tears, sobs, grins, outright laughter, spontaneous dancing, you name it. I can't NOT sing along! Ever since I got my noise-canceling headphones, I can hear even more clearly the finesse of the instrumentation, complexity, and sheer musicianship.
"There's just today, that's all we've got. Tick tock, the past is locked, the future's far away, we can't go back, can't hurry it up, we've gotta learn to live today."
"I'm always talkin' bout a change, but talkin's all I've done. I'm gonna start tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes- there's just today."
"I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I get so stupid and then I feel so useless. But you're sayin' you love me, and you're still gonna hold me and that you wanna be near me 'cause you're makin' me holy, still makin' me holy"
"How can I be so prone to wander, so prone to leave you, so prone to die? And how can you be so full of mercy? You race to meet me and bring me back to life!"
"I wake to find my soul in fragments, given to a thousand loves. Only one will have no rival, hangs to heal me, spills his blood."
"O praise Him all His mighty works! There is no language where you can't be heard! Your song goes out to all the earth- Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!"
"God if you're there, I wish you'd show me. And God if you care then I need you to know me. I hope you don't mind me asking the questions, but I figure you're big enough."
"But the stillness moves and the silence yields and not a single beat is lost. You can hear the chorus in the fields taking up where we left off. And Your praise goes on, rising to Your throne, where You guard us while we dream. Past the stars they fly, Your praises fill the sky till You wake us with the dawn. And Your praise goes on."
"Now rise up everything that lives, flap your wings and leap for joy. O Forest lift your arms and sway, clap your hands you ocean waves!"
"And when my final breath You lend, I'll thank You for the life You gave. But that won't mean the praises end, 'cause I won't be silenced by the grave! And Your praise goes on! I'll be runnin' to Your throne with every nation, tribe and tongue! To Your arms I'll fly, I'll gaze into Your eyes and then I'll know as I am known. And Your praise goes on!"
"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. And blessed are the hands that keep giving and never receive and blessed is the heart that gets broken, but keeps holding on, holding on for another day. 'Cause that's what it means to live by faith."
.....I could go on for pages, but I doubt you want to read that much! Suffice it to say, the way God spoke through the words of the apostles is the same way He's speaking through these lyrics. I have 7 albums already, but there are more. Crazy. That's the amazing thing about God. He's not like country music- you know, all the songs are about pretty much the same thing- dog, truck, girlfriend, boyfriend, betrayal, love, blah, blah, blah. *flinches as I'm hit by every country music fan out there* Sorry! But it's true, you know. But God...well, there's never a shortage of things to sing about Him, because we will never truly know on this earth everything there is to know about who God is and the stuff He's doing in the lives of the people He loves- EVERYONE!
I can't even begin to imagine all the ways He orchestrates my life because He cares for me and wants the best for me, even if it means pain along the way. Refiner's fire. I love that term. The actual process, honestly, sucks. But it's my own fault that it sucks. It'd be fine if we'd just give in the first time and learn the lesson and move on, but no. Stubborn and insolent is what God called Israel, and that is still true of the entirety of humanity. After all, we are all related to the first Adam and carry his sinful nature. Thankfuly, the last Adam has come to set us free from slavery. Sweet freedom! How I wish that more Christians today realized that they are free to be bold and fearless. Insecurity, pride, selfishness, "finding ourselves" (a common worldly practice for a rebellious world that yearns for God but refuses to yield) These should be out of place for us because our true identity is not wrapped up in ourselves and what we do, but in the person of Christ. Incredible. I don't even know how to describe that lightheaded feeling when the weight of, literally, the world is lifted off your shoulders, when you can truly say "it is well with my soul." God is good.
Sorry...tangents are my forte! And I can't talk about music without talking about God, who came up with the idea in the first place. In Zephaniah 3:17, it speaks of God's nature-
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will REJOICE over you WITH SINGING!!!"
I love that verse. Another favorite concept of mine is laid out in, I believe it's Revelation, but I could be wrong. It's a passage that speaks of the end times/eternity. Everyone always has this vision of the angels singing, because in the account of Christ's birth in Luke, they are. In eternity though, the angels don't get to sing. They get to chant. BUT God's people are the ones singing. WE GET TO SING!!!! For all eternity. How crazy cool is that?!?! But I need to go be productive and not just rave over this stuff all day (I definitely could!); plus, you're probably tired of reading by now. Until.
