How a Resurrection Really Feels

Thanks Michael and Fr. Phil (go Jesuits!) for the rec...



her parents named her halleluiah, the kids all called her holly. if she scared you then she's sorry. she's been stranded at these parties. these parties they start lovely but they get druggy and they get ugly and they get bloody.
the priest just kinda laughed. the deacon caught a draft. she crashed into the easter mass with her hair done up in broken glass. she was limping left on broken heels. when she said father can i tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?

holly was a hoodrat. now you finally know that. she's been disappeared for years. today she finally came back. she said: st. louis had enslaved me. i guess santa ana saved me. st. peter had me on the queue. the st. paul saints they waved me thru.
i was all wrapped up in some video booth. when i heard her say i love you too.

she said i've laid beneath my lovers but i've never gotten laid. some nites she felt protected. some nites she felt afraid. she spent half last winter justa trying to get paid. from some guy she'd originally thought to be her saviour. they wrote her name in magic marks. on stopsigns and subway cars. they got a mural up on e.13th. that said halleluiah rest in peace. halleluiah was a hoodrat. and now you finally know that. she's been disappeared for years. today she finally came back.

walk on back. walk on back. she said don't turn me on again. i'd probably just go and get myself all gone again. holly was a sexy mess. she looked strung out but experienced. so we all got kind of curious.

joy

Yesterday I drove out to Villanova under fast moving tarnished silver clouds and as the rain began to pelt, Patty Griffin began to sing and I thought, "Yes. Sometimes life really is sublime."

hurricane party music

One of my friends came over for dinner last night and my roommate has been really excited about the prospect of "surviving" Hurricane Hanna. I'm from FL so I've been reminding here that by the time it hit us it was barely even a Tropical Storm. But I also explained the concept of a hurricane party (not that difficult, if the power goes out you have a party with the whole neighborhood and eat all the food in your fridge, plus drink the cold beer before it gets warm!).

When I was home last weekend my dad was listening to "No Shoes Radio" on XM which is apparently a monthly series they have which highlights one artist (in this case Kenny Chesney) and plays only that artist, plus artists who have influenced them, and artists they've influenced. This sounds like a great idea to me, but I doubt they ever highlight anyone I'm interested in. The cool thing about it is that you can't help but dig down to deeper cuts of an artist if you're playing them all the time. The fact that I really like "She thinks my tractor's sexy" aside, I had the chorus to Kenny's "Key Lime Pie" song in my head for several days and our attempt at a Hurricane Party definitely included me grabbing a pie myself. I would have made one but apparently key limes and/or their juice are hard to come by in Philly?



Other not-to-be missed Hurricane Party classics...

Cowboy Mouth- Hurricane Party



Jimmy Buffett- Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

John Mayer

JM is just the artist I hate to love. He won me over in May of 2002 when my friend Kristin made me listen to a bootleg of him singing "Love Song for No One."

Now Morgan and I both discuss how we refuse to go see John Mayer in the venues he plays now- way too expensive to see a show with way too many people. We've agreed that we wouldn't pay more than $15 to see him with 10,000 people but would be willing to pay a lot more to see the John Mayer Trio in an intimate venue. (This is in a fictional alternate reality where I have money.) So that alone should tell you I much prefer his acoustic and Trio sets.

Anyway, I previously claimed that somehow JM managed to OWN a Tom Petty song, but here's the evidence. My favorite bit is 1:56ish, that guy on the right is my favorite, his harmony just adds a total dimension of awesomeness.



This is the other song I love- I immediately loved it for the harmonics he plays in the beginning and then just the whole song- ugh! It makes me want to do nothing but lie in bed staring at the ceiling with the fan on and drink iced tea and listen to this song on repeat. I could happily do just that for HOURS. It's that sublime and I HATE that I would use that word to describe John Mayer, but just listen and you'll know what I mean.

i thought i said this but maybe not

Well it's a little late now, I thought I posted that I was going camping for a month- 14 National Parks in the Rocky Mountain region and then moving across the country and that is the reason I have been absent and haven't shared any musical excitement recently. So anyway, I just spent a month in a tent and driving a lot and therefore listening to a lot of music. This segues nicely because one of the happy surprises of Lifest was how much I enjoyed Switchfoot.

I really enjoyed their songs on the Walk to Remember soundtrack (never saw the movie but LOVED the soundtrack) and then when they "resurfaced" a few years ago I remember my friend Kate being like, "now is this the same Switchfoot that was that Christian band?!" I think I just shrugged. So I was looking forward to seeing them in concert and Anne really wanted to get over to see lead singer Jon Foreman play some of his solo stuff.

I think I was most impressed by how authentic they seemed despite being a band that has seen it's share of hype, in a sense. So when my friend Emily (companion of the epic camping trip) showed up with Jon Foreman's EPs to listen to while we drove I expected good. But it was really REALLY good. These songs are SO scriptural! I found myself on the verge of giggling because he does such a great job of artistically interpreting the scriptures he focuses on and giving them extra emotional tension. I like a lot of them and could listen to these EPs over and over (and have!) but the one that I latched on to immediately, turned up every time it came on and after listening to once told Emily I plan on listening to everyday for the rest of my life was the Amos inspired "Instead of a Show."

The verses he draws from haunt me often when I'm gathered with others to pray and sing so this reminder is really gutsy, I think, an indictment of guilt for all of us. But beautiful, beautiful, I genuinely wish every worship leader would open with this song.

Almost Lover

I really like this song, some great images, beautiful sound, and poignant without being TOO sentimental.

Just today I was wondering if the title and main idea are in any way related to Emily Dickinson's phrase of "fleshless lover," which would make it even more interesting. (sourcetext!!!)

Both of those thought led me to ask people (mainly to Morgan since she's the one person I appear to influence via blog) what songs they would put on that CD, you know, that's part heartbreak and part trying-to-get-over-heartbreak.

Off the top of my head comes "Real Good Friends" by Blessid Union and "Last Tears" from the Indigo Girls.

obsessions

I tend to be obsessive-compulsive. Hopefully not in any extreme or truly unhealthy way but it just runs in my family.

Case in point. My sister got really into the Master and Commander novels when we were in college and read all of them. This is not an easy piece of work, especially if you ask me. Napoleonic naval fiction complete with detailed ship geography and vocabulary? Anyway, a feature of the two main characters (some who have seen the movie may remember this) is that Aubrey plays the violin and Maturin plays the cello so many an evening on ship they will play together to pass the time. Morgan somehow got her hands on a CD that is a compilation of duets mentioned in Patrick O'Brien's series. Which she actually listens to.

Recently I watched Last of the Mohicans and then another book I was reading mentioned western frontier archetypes, particularly Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumppo of the Leatherstocking Tales, so I found myself reading the book whilst listening to the movie soundtrack.

You may be wondering what the point of this post is and I tell you: HOUSE, MD.



Yes, ever since my college roommate introduced me to the joy and hilarity of BlackAdder and PG Wodehouse I have been a devoted fan of Hugh Laurie.

He's a musician. I just saw a snippet today of the episodes where Dave Mathews guest stars as a patient, who just so happens to be a musician, a classical musician on the show. And the interview cut back and forth to Hugh Laurie talking about how amazing Dave Mathews is and Dave Mathews commenting wryly that for the piano bits he had a hand double while Hugh had not. No one questioned their respective guitar skills. Although, the episode where House has spent all the time he's supposed to be hiring a new team learning Van Halen riffs is pretty amusing. But back to the show! And to Dave Mathews. I don't know who picks the music for this show but I always love it! Since I've been watching again it has struck me AGAIN how well selected it always is. Particularly whatever song is chosen to sum up the emotion at the end of the episode. I don't even remember what episode it was but I was led so far as to look up the song (Dave Mathews: Some Devil) and finding that it wasn't on iTunes and wasn't in any of the stores I visited in the next day or so I ended up having to buy the entire album on the internet- and NOT in mp3 format. Then wait forever for it to come in the mail. Geez.

It was worth it. This is a great song.




and a bonus of a Hugh Laurie original (he's SO funny):

the kind of musical giddiness this blog is really for

Don Chaffer is insane. I mean that in the sense that he's doing something really crazy, all out, and I LOVE IT. I mean, it's conceptual, it's performance art, it's no-holds-barred, it's (literally) kind of epic. Don says this about the attempt within the context of his usual Christian audience (although I am loathe to label his audience "usual"),

"The broader problem with broad swaths of evangelical subculture is dishonesty at an emotional level," Chaffer adds. "I was at a point in my life where I couldn't afford that. I had to get this stuff down."

Let's back up, before I left on my trip I mentioned that I was going to commit some more time/effort to listening to Don Chaffer's latest offering "The Khrusty Brothers" (likeminded blogpost here).

The Khrusty brothers is a concept piece centered around a fictional group of brothers in Appalachia. Like most good art, you sort of have to get into it to understand. Eventually Don wants to turn the concept into an off broadway rock musical. The play sounds AMAZING. Not only does the whole idea just make my head want to explode but the songs are SO GREAT for this story, not to mention the story would incorporate "Both of Us Will Feel the Blast" which I was just reflecting on the other day what an amazing song that is. If you were here I would be jumping up and down and trying to incoherently explain why everything about this is so awesome.

This is one of those moments where my friends claim they feel a lot of pressure when I'm like, "LISTEN TO THIS SONG IT'S AMAZING." Then I rave about why I think it's utterly unique and indispensable to the human deposit of art and then just look at whoever it is. (Liz. Claire.) They look back at me, uncomfortable. "Um, it was a good song." I sigh.

But I do it anyway.

So.

I LOVE THE BEGINNING. This song is funky from the beginning and draws you in right away, I think it captures the whole album the most easily if I had to pick a single song. The scene is set so well. Danny busts into the room and angels stop him in his sputtering anger.

Jesus says he can see him face to face if he thinks he's got the balls. YES! I love that! I really feel like that's true to Life! There is so much truth in this song!

The other part I think is just utterly wonderful is when Jesus pours himself a drink (I just shake my head in wonder at how artfully this is put together.) and explains that his fiancee is supposed to speak His mind and just doesn't get it. I so resonate with that, it's so earthy.

Then when Danny says he just gives up and the ANGELS SING IT UNDER THEIR BREATH- HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH. To me that little bit might be the most crafty part of the song because it's really the moment of revelation and the angels are rejoicing even though the narrator doesn't even really see what's going on.

With that you just have to try to appreciate it. This is from the CD release show including an intro from Cowboy Jesus (interestingly I've had a note on the side of my comp for a few years now to spark a poem and it just says "Jesus in red cowboy boots.") and then "Sympathy for Jesus" live.

I came stumbling into church with a hot gun in my hands.
I was ready to talk to Jesus, to tell him my demands.
Jesus ain't no fool, he's seen this kind of thing before,
And he had a couple of angels stop me at the front door

I said now come on, that ain't fair, you should be accessible to all.
He said, "everybody gets a secretary even just to take their phone calls.
So address me to my face if you think you've got the balls
but i ain't playing around boy at all."

Well this is not what i expected so i stiffened in my stance
and tried hard to remember every single shitty circumstance
then i quivered like a victim with his predator in sight
I was ready now to vindicate, I was ready to start a fight

Now you can stand right there and judge me.
Shoot, you can send me straight to hell.
I now you've got the power, I know that fact full well.
But before you do explain to me, why suffering? and why death?
and why did i pray all those years and waste all that good breath?

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

the angels sang it under their breath by the door

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I give up, I can't go on like this anymore.

"Well I appreciate your kind," he said, and then Jesus poured a drink.
For my face must have looked funny 'cause he said, "it's not like you think
you see I'm saddled with the job, oh, of interpreting my dad
to a bunch of frightened people, frightened or just mad."

"most of them think they've got it right,"
and then he threw some ice cubes in,
"but most of them are just dead wrong
about death and life and sin."

"And then I've got my fiancee, she's supposed to speak my mind,
sometimes she's just chicken and then she messes it up other times."

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

the angels sang it under their breath by the door.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I give up, I can't go on like this anymore.

A great article about the Khrusty Brothers live.


More evidence why I think you have to listen to any of Don's songs at least ten times before you can start to appreciate them. I've been listneing to "You Were At the Time for Love" recently. Between that and learning more about this album I decided I couldn't go any longer without having "What You Don't Know." Thoughts to come MUCH later (like after I've listened to the album at least ten times.)

i love louie

really, this is just genius.

I wouldn't trade this girl for a soul

This is a song for Lau, who I will see in less than 24 hours!!!






we cried over boys and we laughed over beers...

a trio of songs for trinity sunday

first the complement to Misty Edwards' biblical usage: the first time I heard this song it was to run an errand for my friend Aleya and the CD just happened to be in the player. I was all, "Jennifer Knapp, how did you KNOW those were all my favorite verses?!"

The song is called "Trinity"



I went and saw the new Narnia movie tonight and it was actually a lot better than I expected. The song at the end was really good so I'm going to share it. It's Regina Spektor which is a sort of pleasant surprise.



I don't have a youtube for this last one; it's a song I've loved dearly since I first heard it and it just felt right tonight.

All I know
100 Portraits

today if there's ever been a day when I needed a rescue
I've been digging with all three hands a hole that I can't climb out from
someone throw me a rope
woven with the rounds of history
something I can believe in

someone told me a lie
someone told me
I should climb, so I tried
but I'm not that strong

someone found me, yeah
someone found me
He came down, pulled me out, bandaged me

Oh, all I know is
Love found me broken
Oh, all I know is
the Healer has freed me
from all of my shame
legs that were withered
are under me walking
I'm leaving this pain that I built with my pride
hands that were broken, now are waving goodbye

someone sold me a lie
someone told me
I should be in myself, but I'm not that tall
someone showed me
someone showed me
that I fall down
and call out, He will rescue me

Oh, all I know is
Love found me broken
Oh, all I know is
the Healer has freed me
from all of my shame
legs that were withered
are under me walking
I'm leaving this pain that I built with my pride
hands that were broken, now are waving goodbye

Oh, all I know is
Love found me broken
Oh, all I know is
the Healer has freed me
from all of my shame
legs that were twisted
are under me walking
I'm leaving this pain that I built with my pride
hands that were broken, now are waving goodbye
They are waving goodbye.

and the Hands that just healed me
draw me close to His side

I was broken, I was broken
Oh, this Hand has healed me, came and touched me, came and made me whole.
I said now I have to dance!
I lift it up
Oh now, all of my life I will sing!
Oh now, join me, join me, join me
Oh now, join me, join me, join me

Oh, all I know is
Love found me broken
Oh, all I know is goodbye lonely!
Goodbye, goodbye broken!
Goodbye, goodbye to blackness!
Goodbye to lonely!
Goodbye to hear my sin all in my mind
This Hand come around my left and
this Hand come around my right and
draw me close to the face of God!
I feel the kisses, I feel the holy something, the kisses from the mouth of my God!
And the sweet tears rolling and they hold me closer, sweet tears roll, hold me now.

whoa

If anyone knows me they know that 48 hours is more than enough time for me to become totally into something new. MISTY EDWARDS. I can't speak for the weird dance going on but this song is SO UNBELIEVABLE. It seriously makes me want to freak out- not many songs make me want to kickbox and pray in tongues at the same time, in fact this might be the only one. It's like some of the most powerful ideas and scriptures all rolled into one song. You have to listen to it to understand how crazy incredible it is.

People Get Ready
Misty Edwards

I can hear the rhythm
of the Lion of the tribe of Judah

He's doing a new thing
So we're singing a new song

He's not a baby in a manger anymore
He's not a broken man on a cross
He didn't stay in the grave
And He's not staying in heaven forever!

He's alive
He's alive
He's alive
He's alive!

People get ready!
Jesus is coming!

We join in the song of the ages
It's a new song
It's a new song
It's a new song

We say to the One who was slain,
"You have proven Your love,
And You have shown us, shown us
That You can be trusted."

So take the scroll and open
And open, and open the seals
We trust You, Jesus
And we want you to come back
So take the scroll and open the seals
So take the scroll and open the seals

I can hear the rhythm
of the Lion of the tribe of Judah

He's doing a new thing
So we're singing a new song

He's not a baby in a manger anymore
He's not a broken man on a cross
He didn't stay in the grave
And He's not staying in heaven forever!

He's alive
He's alive
He's alive
He's alive!

People get ready!
Jesus is coming!

People walking around
With their fingers in the their ears
Singing, "Da da da da da."
"I don't want to hear the sound of the coming King."

But He says, he says,
"Well, I have held my peace for
A long, long, long, long time
And in my silence you thought
That i was all together like you.
And in your heart you were settled in complacency
You said, 'He won't even respond.'
You said, 'He's not interested."
You said, 'He's dead and gone."
But I've been silent for such
A long, long, long, long time
But I'm about to gasp, to pant,
To cry out, to cry out,
I'm going to shout!"

Once again I'm going to shake
Everything that can be shaken
Once again I'm going to break
Everything that can be broken

Are you ready?
Are you ready for this?

Are you ready?
Are you ready?

People get ready!
Jesus is coming!

He's coming!
He's coming!
He's coming!
He's coming!!!

even if your hands are shaking: john mayer and more thoughts on conventional romantic ideas...

So part of me really likes this song. I mean, oftentimes I find it incomprehensible when people don't like the same music I do so maybe that should be taken into account but really it's a theme commonly expressed in the young(ish) and angsty- it's better to say too much than to never say what you need to say

And I couldn't disagree more, John. I will go ahead and speak as a young(ish) and angsty person and declare that I have often really resonated with this sentiment: I don't believe in having regrets, I'm probably more passionate about things than is prudent, and I'm (sometimes brutally) honest to a fault. So I speak from experience when I say that, really, sometimes, it is better to keep your mouth shut. Seriously, not everything that we feel like NEEDS to be shared, really needs to be shared. I genuinely think we have an unhealthy societal obsession with the dramatic, romantic, last-ditch, everything-hangs-on-this-moment, sort of confrontations and monologues that make for good TELEVISION. Not so good real life. Why have relationships and communication deteriorated to the point where this is necessary?

I'm not totally against the sentiment in "Say." Once you've screwed up a relationship and need to apologize or have been untruthful in some way, sometimes it does come to the point where you have to risk something for things to be made right. If your brother has something against you and you are getting ready to make a sacrifice- go leave your sacrifice and make amends with your brother.

But there is still something about this song that feels emotionally manipulative. Actually maybe I just resent that John Mayer feels emotionally manipulative. He is a classic example of why I usually steer clear of reading interviews with musicians/actors of a certain celebrity: I always end up disliking them. Or worse, sometimes they come off as someone cool who you might have a good conversation with, drink a few beers on the swing and really connect. Then you have this good feeling toward them and then the next interview you read you're like, ONLY A JERK WOULD SAY THAT, YOU ARE SUCH A JERK! Is consistency too much to ask?

Or perhaps that's the whole crux of any kind of artist: the first person you portray in your music isn't necessarily "you." Even the "I" of one's own work isn't necessarily "me." It's who I choose to be, it's what I choose to portray, and most of us prefer to portray ourselves with our best foot forward. Maybe that's why I like really confessional songwriters, because it resonates as more authentic or something.

While I'm in the vein of pop music of a confessional nature, maybe the aforementioned is why I like Kelly Clarkson. As a group of my friends used to tell each other with mock-serious, knowing looks, "Kelly understands." This song DEFINITELY qualifies as emotionally manipulative, but DAMN, if you're going to manipulate me the dizzying changes of keys and octaves HAS to be the way to do it.

I think these songs have some dialogue together. Listen to both of them- am I the only one who thinks there are threads woven between the subjects?

high fidelity, natasha bedingfield, and "soul mates"

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music? (Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity")

(full video here, it's interesting actually.)

I read an article at BustedHalo.com the other day about the obsession in our culture with finding your "soul mate". I was intrigued by the discussion, statistics cited, etc. Back when my sister got me to listen to Natasha Bedingfield's hilarious and all-too-true "I Wanna Have Your Babies" I made my friend Marci listen to it because it's so ridiculous and yet hits close to home (if you knew what I was thinking/it would make you like, "whoa!") and she was looking at the other videos from Natasha's new album and said that she liked "Soul Mate" better. I watched the video (v. intelligent, imo) and listened to the words and found myself more disturbed than entertained. I think the chorus kind of says it all:

who doesn't long for someone to hold?
who knows how to love you without being told?
oh somebody tell me, why I'm on my own
if there's a soul mate for everyone?

It's a difficult lyric because I think Ms. Bedingfield speaks the truth: who doesn't want those things? At the same time the other half sort of infuriates me; the suggestion that there is someone out there who can love you effortlessly, "without being told." I'm sorry, my general idealism loses out for a moment, this is just pure fantasy. Relationships take time and effort. My friend Nick holds that anyone can marry anyone else because love is a decision (he also claims his two non-negotiables for a wife are that she doesn't want a diamond and will let him wear jeans to the wedding, but I digress.) I won't go so far as Nick but I believe there is a grain of wisdom in his thinking here. Love IS a decision and requires sacrifice, so the idea that there is this ONE person out there who it will be easy to love. None of us are easy to really love.

Anyway, all this came back to mind because I heard this song overhead while reading at a Barnes & Nobles and I was just thinking in the midst of stupid "chick lit," unbelievably improbable romantic comedies, ADVERTISING, and just the whole facade our culture tells us is the "good life"I wonder how much we buy into it. How much we should buy into it. I speak from the middle, I think. Any friend of mine can tell you how vehement I am against girls "settling" for relationships that aren't good for them but at the same time expecting perfection from ANYONE (including oneself) is just a recipe for disaster. On the other hand I am one of those lovers of books like "A Severe Mercy" and really believe in the tremendous power of two people becoming one person.

One of the questions the article brought up was how comfortable you are with being someone else's "soul mate." The object, I suppose you could say, as opposed to the subject of such a tight relationship. I thought that was an interesting question. Lots of pressure, huh?

I told my friend Lauren last night and concluded by saying that I think the idea of seeking out "The One" (as LG says, we're really looking for "The Two" anyway) is totally unrealistic and this is the crux of my issue with the "Soul Mate" song. I genuinely believe in a relationship of becoming with the other. One of my favorite people, TomNeal, who taught me Christian Tradition in college gave us one Friday off because he and his wife were going away to celebrate their (12th?) anniversary and he commented that the more he knows his wife the more of a beautiful mystery she is. Now that's what I'm talking about.

if Lindsay influenced the liturgy...

I would have somehow worked Over the Rhine's song "The Trumpet Child" into the mass for today's feast of the Ascension.

David Crowder @ GMA Awards

I just love the Crowder band. I can't help it. They are awesome and hilarious.

*Hogan rocking the violin, just makes me unreasonably happy.
*Jack's hair is almost as crazy as Crowder's beard. (which apparently it was suggested that he band it whilst filming new song cafes, a la Charlie Hall- he declined)

Full Dove Awards Listings

Matt Maher, Identity Politics, and some final thoughts

Identity Politics

I was talking to one of my friends about this album yesterday and she brought up a contradiction of sorts. She was annoyed that in a review she had read of this album the reviewer had specifically noted that Matt was a worship leader at a Catholic Church. She felt like that might turn some non-Catholic Christians off by the possibility of their prejudices. At the same time she said she was disappointed that this album wasn't more "Catholic." I thought that was an interesting set of responses.

First, I am a proponent of Matt's affiliation with St. Tim's being known. I pointed out that, for most people, it's a major plus for a worship leader to actually have a home church where they are actually involved with leading an actual congregation in worship. So I think Matt's credibility is strengthened by that being known and celebrated.

Second, while there isn't a "Litany of the Saints" or a "Lamb of God" or "Adoration" on this album it seems laughable to me to question Matt's Catholicity. Apart from his extremely close relationship with organizations like LifeTeen, ADORE (and with that CRS), YouthArise, the Steubenville Youth Conferences, etc he is just totally Catholic! I don't know what else to say! It's so much a part of his identity and work, it seems like a step in the wrong direction to demand that his work have some sort of "Catholic" boundaries. I feel this way in general about all Christian artists: let's let them be ARTISTS instead of demanding some sort of saccharine, boxed-in, idea of what it means to express one's faith.

My point is that this brings up well the place Matt, his music, and his band find themselves in as minorities in the CCM scene. I rejoice, though, because it's so exciting to have the opportunity to build bridges in the way something as unthreatening as music allows us. I really celebrate the opportunities Matt has had to dialogue with people like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, JD Walt, and other influential Christian artists. Jesus prayed that we would be one and I think we're all called to find our commonalities and celebrate our shared faith in Jesus Christ.

A Few More Things

Here is the first part of an unabashedly Catholic (and candid, I did NOT need to know anything about Kenny's bowels...) discussion of Matt's new record; he talks with LifeTeen's Greg Iwinski. The thing this interview reminded me of was that a LONG time ago Matt had mentioned this album would have some thinking centered on Augustine and his Confessions. The first time I heard the album streaming on his website I thought, "I didn't hear anything about Augustine. Am I missing something?" Then I promptly forgot all about it. I was looking forward to hearing that song. Someday I think we will.

When I opened my jewel case and saw the actual CD I think I actually said, "Oh. Cool." out loud. I really like the design!


This recording is downright awful but it's SO "Catholic" that I couldn't resist adding it- Welcome to Life's thunderous opening of TRANSUBSTANTIATION! complete with band in front of crucifix and Our Lady of Guadalupe print? I love it.

Empty & Beautiful

I have a love/hate relationship with St. Paul. Well, I guess it's something like I LOVE Paul and I hate that I am not more like him. Paul is probably the most fascinating Christian in all of history. That's a big statement but, lest we forget, this is the man who held cloaks while the first follower of The Way was stoned to death, purportedly dragged people out of their houses to denounce them as Christians, and then became the apostle most zealous that no law, minimum standard of behavior, or "sin-management" strategy could ever save us and, in one of the biggest turnarounds in all of history, rejected what he had been most passionate about in favor of TOTAL FAITH in the crucified and risen One who spoke to him, blinded him, and gave him sight again. For Paul there was no one and no goal but Jesus Christ. I love Paul.

So this song is quickly becoming my favorite on the album. There are so many brilliant things about it, some I already mentioned; Matt singing in a more intimate style, it's from the viewpoint of St. Paul, it is so relatable, it is so biblical. This is an example of Matt's poetic ability as an artist really shining through- to take one of Paul's epistles and inhabit it in a really emotional way, that is a gift.



Here Matt shares a snippet of his thoughts about this song.

Empty & Beautiful: Unwavering

I remember reading Matt's notes on the evolution of this song when he first released it as a fundraiser for Katrina victims and I resonated with his discussion of the poor we saw literally struggling for life in New Orleans and the nudge of the Spirit (I think somewhere he said he was at a gas station in AZ) that these people too were the poor, in a different way.

And I love the way he takes the lyrics both ways in this song. I think my favorite lyric has to be alive in the promise/to be dead to the world. I like the unexpectedness of it, the PARADOX (my favorite thing after concrete imagery and possibly even more appropriate for anything dealing with the Christian life), and, let's admit it, "unwavering" is good word choice, it's straightforward and interesting at the same time.

I also appreciate the way this song evolves from the teaching of the beatitudes to the sending out. I read Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy recently and as he outlined his reading of the sermon on the mount I couldn't help but think back to this song. Willard's discussion of this teaching contradicts the common interpretation of these sayings as some kind of injunction to be poor, meek, in mourning, etc in order to be blessed and receive good things by God. He even rejects the idea that there is some kind of cause and effect at work within the dynamics of the beatitude. Rather, he reads these as completely counter cultural to the crowd Jesus was speaking to (not an uncommon observation) and completely turning their world upside down by announcing that EVEN the very least and most shattered, most rejected have a place in the fold of the kingdom, and not just standing room but a place of honor and abundance. All of this is based on faith and discipleship, just an extra thought.

Empty & Beautiful: Shine Like the Son

My missionary heart LOVES this song. :) Seriously, it fills me with joy. Perhaps because it brings to mind my friends involved in full time mission work, those I know working in the darkness of America's inner cities, people flung across the globe to joyfully proclaim good news to the poor, those working with young people to give them hope, and people whose hidden lives of prayer, sacrifice and SATISFACTION in Jesus Christ make their lives radiant.

here is my friend KT, a missionary in Venezuela. This song makes me think of her the most.



I love all of Isaiah but I really love Matt's decision to wed the scripture of beautiful hands and feet with the great commission- in my mind there is a flow of something like the beauty of the apostles feet even though they didn't even take sandals, the beauty of Mother Theresa's gnarled hands, the beauty of the light in someone's eyes when they really understand their freedom from captivity, the unglamorous and abundantly joyful lives of those who give everything they have to the Gospel.

Well, I could gush about all the lyrics. I like the celebration of the BEAUTY of being in love with... someone so much greater than themselves. I like the discussion of equipping in the second verse; we will never be ready to be missional on our own. This is on ongoing discussion in my life, definitely, a classroom, more scripture study, even more prayer cannot totally prepare you for hitting the pavement, the dirt road, the airport terminal and starting to genuinely share the truth of God's rescue with people. Only God can give us words and the Spirit to make those words fruitful.

Also, anything remotely quoting Isaiah 61 is automatically awesome in my book. I love not just the emphasis in the last verse on FREEDOM but on freedom coming through the WORD- which in my mind is not just the living and effective word of scripture but the living and effective WORD made flesh who dwells among us and in us.

Finally, this song is best listened to LOUD. :) And I love the little pause at the end and fill of...violin? It almost makes me giggle because I just think it's a bit of pure fun and I could even go on and say how that little musical arrangement within the greater context of the song could be seen as a clever mimic of the Christian walk. But I'll spare you.