If you have $10…

 

If you have $10 burning a hole in your pocket, you must buy Mary Chapin Carpenter’s latest album, The Calling.  Patty’s latest made me all warm inside; Chapin made me cry, clench my fists and sigh deeply.   It’s very, very good stuff.   I will, however, admit my bias.  This woman’s music has been walking me through life since 8th grade.

Song of the Week

More often than not, I’d choose NPR over K-LOVE, but every once in a while I do come across a great song on Christian radio. Natalie Grant’s Held is by far the best song playing on contemporary Christian radio today. Can’t say that I’d recommend the rest of the CD, as it is a little too positive, encouraging and all things K-LOVE for my taste.

Anyway…so many things as of late have been speaking the same message to me about what it means to acknowledge pain and disappointment while at the same time acknowledging (and responding to) God’s dependable faithfulness. Last weekend’s sermon was one of those things; this song is another.

Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling

Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
Were asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

Song of the Week

In keeping with the blog’s theme, I hope to consistently post a song of the week. Music has always been something that sustains me and I love sharing my favorites with others and getting the chance to hear new tunes as well.

This week’s song his been instrumental in keeping a smile on my face and minimizing the heartbreak of a recent break-up. Mostly, I drive around with it cranked up, sing along (with the lyrics altered for contextual appropriateness), and then laugh to myself. Now, after much ado, here’s the song of the week: Song for the Dumped on the Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen album.

1! 2! 3! 4!
so, you wanted
to take a break
slow it down some
and have some space
well, f@#* you too!

give me my money back
give me my money back, you b*%#$
I want my money back
and don’t forget
and don’t forget
to give me back my black t-shirt

I wish I hadn’t
bought you dinner
right before you
dumped me on your front porch

give me my money back
give me my money back, you b*%#$
I want my money back
and don’t forget
and don’t forget
to give me back my black t-shirt
hey, hey!

so, you wanted
to take a break
slow it down some
and have some space

give me my money back
give me my money back, you b*%#$
I want my money back
I want my money back
and don’t forget

While I did censor the naughty lyrics to try to keep the blog umm…family friendly, it should be known that when I said “change the lyrics for contextual appropriateness” I still swear in my car, but instead of black t-shirt I sing gray sweatshirt. Instead of money, I sing tickets (specifcally, James Taylor tickets). I also make up other various lines about meeting his family, but those tend to change from day to day.