Now it's technically the time of night where I start to get sleepy. I'm not sleepy tonight, of course, because my body still thinks it's an hour ago.
Thanks, daylight savings time!
Actually, I do love DST, once I've adjusted. For now, it's a pain.
Okay, on to the shuffle blog!
For those who don't remember/don't know how we play, here's the way it works: You put your iTunes or WMP to "shuffle" and hit play. The first song comes up, and you start blogging the first thing that comes to your mind. You're supposed to blog on that topic for as long as the song lasts, but I usually give myself 2 songs instead of one because I can't type nearly as fast as I think.
(Post-post note: I actually kept it to one song for all except one of the excerpts below, so go, me!)
Got it? Great. Here we go!
#1: My New Philosophy from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Shuffle blogging has a tendency to bring out the songs you haven't heard in years and have forgotten you owned in the first place.
I went through a BIG musical theatre phase back in high school, and YAGM,CB was probably a huge part of the reason why. It was my first high school musical, and a phenomenal experience, and to date one of my favorite theatre memories. I've actually been a part of this show three times, once as a principal, once as an added ensemble member, and once as a light crew. The last time I did Charlie Brown was at The Huron Playhouse, where I was in the chorus. (The show doesn't actually have a chorus) We did the newer Broadway revival version (the version of the show this song came from) and I had a LOT of people after the fact say they'd wished I'd played Charlie Brown instead of the guy who did.
Didn't change anything, but that's still always nice to hear ;-)
#2: Fade Away by the O.C. Supertones
This has one of the coolest intros the band has ever concocted, IMO.
This song also seems to really jive with everything that's going down in my life right now. I know I mentioned it once or twice, but last week was trying (though not necessarily in a bad way. It was confusing). I don't anticipate the week ahead being quite as rough, but then again, who knows? I do have a meeting ahead on Friday that I'm particularly dreading, so I need to remind myself all week that sovereign God is in control. And this song just sort of reflects the idea of struggle and really wrestling with challenging ideas and situations and coming out stronger.
I don't know what's happening. My prayer is that I'm becoming stronger for it, that my family is becoming stronger, that my friends are growing stronger, and that my workplace is growing stronger.
#3: Fireflies by Roper
One thing I miss about the Midwest: fireflies on a summer's dusk. We used to sit on the porch and watch them light up the evening air two or three at a time. Really fascinating, captivating little creatures. I remember one time, my sister and I went out to try to catch a few to put them in a jar. (We may or may not have gotten this idea from the Noah's Ark level of the NES classic Bible Adventures) We didn't catch too many, and the ones we did catch didn't fare too well. We never saw a great number of fireflies the rest of that summer.
(Warning: this next paragraph is kinda gross)
Have you ever hit a firefly with your windshield? Man, that makes you feel guilty. Most bugs leave a blot or a smear; fireflies tend to leave a glowing bulb, fluorescently lighting their own remains until, very gradually, the glow flickers out. You feel terrible.
What?? It's true!!
#4: Everything I Hate by Smalltown Poets
I wish I had gotten into Smalltown Poets today. I think I really would have gotten into them if they'd shown up on the scene at this stage of my life rather than during my high school years.
It never ceases to amaze me how vastly different our tastes can be as we grow older. I'm not necessarily talking about music or entertainment, but paradigms. I remember being in college and looking back at high school and thinking, "Wow, all that stuff that I thought was a really big deal was really, really unimportant." And to an extent, I look back at college and think the same things about that season of life. What's really hammered this point home recently, however, has been watching my son. The kid will be stacking some blocks when he comes to one that just doesn't fit atop the others like it should. It's the end of the world. He gets mad, he starts to cry, he throws the whole tower down and cries for me to fix it.
Dude. Not a big deal.
Anyway, all of this tied in nicely with this morning's sermon, and I'm fairly certain I'll be looking back on my Earth-life when I'm in Heaven and I'll realize that all of it--newlywed, adulthood, mid-life, senior citizens--was simply a series of paradigm shifts, worldviews gradually changing until I reached the shadow of this existence is obliterated by the light of true existence, resurrected and living forever with the one true God.
And that does bring a bit of comfort when considering the uncertainty of the present and near-future.
#5: World Without End by Five Iron Frenzy
Well, this is a nice way to wrap up after that last bit of ruminating.
This song is crazy fast. And you know how everything is always faster when you play it live? Listening to The End is Here recording, I have to wonder how Chakka's hands didn't fly off.
I love this song. And I don't care if the intro sounds kinda circussy. It's just awesome. It's one of my favorite worship songs, and I don't think I've ever heard it used as such in any service at any church.
"The very spark that burns the stars drew near to me today; the God of everything that is whispered in my ear that His love is boundless."
Words fall short, indeed.
