On the Way

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
~ Psalm 84:5

Sunday, April 26, 2009

When I Drink ~ Avett Brothers

I'm glad I only drink in moderation; My big mouth gets me in enough trouble without imbibing alcohol much. Lord, have mercy.

When I drink
I say things I don't want to say
I do things I don't wanna do
I talk mean to you
But if I think
I just might get something out of this
My parents taught me to learn when I miss
Just do your best
Just do your best

It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far

But when I drink
I hear things that aren't really there
I feel things when I shouldn't really care
Have fist fights with the air
But if I think about someone besides myself
I lived through the silver and the bell
With something to tell
Just do your best

It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far

But when I drink
I spend the next morning in a haze
But we only get so many days
Now I have one less
Just do your best

It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
Oh, at least a little better than I've been so far

Friday, April 24, 2009

Ellis County - Buddy Miller (Written in Chalk)

Take me back when times were hard but we didn’t know it
If we ate, we had to grow it
Take me back when all we could afford was the laughter
And two mules instead of a tractor
Take me back again

Take me back where there was nothing left to throw out
There was a light that wouldn’t go out
Take me back when we had swollen fingers we gotten
When everybody helped pick the cotton
Take me back again

Take me back to places where my memory tarries
Take me back to precious things that my heart carries

Take me back when daddy led the singing on Sunday
Nobody had to plow until Monday
Take me back when I could feel the kiss of my mother
I had all of my sisters and brothers
Take me back again

Take me back to places where my memory tarries
Take me back to precious things that my heart carries

Take me back when times were hard but we didn’t know it
If we ate, we had to grow it
Take me back when all we could afford was the laughter
And two mules instead of a tractor
Take me back again

From “Ellis County”
Written by Julie Miller

quote from nouwen

"Life is not a problem to be solved
but a mystery to be entered into."
Henri Nouwen

My friend had this as his autosignature; I like it.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Lord, Save Me From Myself

by Jon Foreman---who else?

My mind is dull and shattered
From these years of buy and sell
My mind has seen the glory
Of this hollow, modern shell
Sex is a grand production
But I'm bored with that as well
Ahh-ahh-ahh
Lord save me from myself

The electric sun keeps shining
Wrapping daughters in the chrome
This world is where I breathe
Let it never be called home
Well the vultures make the money
It's where my body fell
Ahh-ahh-ahh
Lord save me from myself

The vultures make the money
But I'm bored with that as well
Ahh-ahh-ahh (3x)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Shame ~ Avett Brothers

Okay so I was wrong about
My reasons for us fallin’ out
Of love I want to fall back in

My life is different now I swear
I know now what it means to care
About somebody other than myself

I know the things I said to you
They were untender and untrue
I’d like to see those things undo

So if you could find it in your heart
To give a man a second start
I promise things won’t end the same

Shame, boatloads of shame
Day after day, more of the same
Blame, please lift it off
Please take it off, please make it stop

Okay so I have read the mail
The stories people often tell
About us that we never knew

But their existence will float away
And just like every word they say
And we will hold hands as they fade

Shame, boatloads of shame
Day after day, more of the same
Blame, please lift it off
Please take it off, please make it stop

I felt so sure of everything
My love to you so well received
And I just strutted around your town
Knowing I didn’t let you down
The truth be known, the truth be told
My heart was always fairly cold
Posing to be as warm as yours
My way of getting in your world
But now I’m out and I’ve had time
To look around and think
And sink into another world
That’s filled with guilt and overwhelming

Shame, boatloads of shame
Day after day, more of the same
Blame, please lift it off
Please take it off, please make it stop

And everyone they have a heart
And when they break and fall apart
And need somebody’s helping hand

I used to say just let ’em fall
It wouldn’t bother me at all
I couldn’t help them now I can
[ Shame Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Nothing is Sound

Everyone dies
Everyone loves a fight
Nothing is sound
Nothing is right side right
Evening comes, when the sun goes down in red
Nothing is cool
When will all the fighting end
When will all the fighting end

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out (cash out)

Everything fails
Everything runs it's course
A time and a place, for all of this love and war
Everyone buys, everyone's gotta price, and nothing is new
When will all the failures rise
When will all the failures rise, rise!

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out

Happy is a yuppie word
Blessed is the man who's lost it all
Happy is a yuppie word (word)

Looking for an orphanage
I'm looking for a bridge I can't burn down
I don't believe the emptiness
I'm looking for the kingdom coming down
Everything is meaningless
I want more than simple cash can buy
Happy is a yuppie word
Happy is a yuppie word
Happy is a yuppie word
Happy is a yuppie,

Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound
Nothing is sound

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
Happy is a yuppie word (word)

So calm down, yeah!
So calm down, yeah!

~ Switchfoot
"Happy is a yuppie word"

Monday, April 6, 2009

Reasons for Burden-Casting

Psalm 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”

12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God's house we walked in the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol alive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.

22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

1 Peter 5:5ff

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

I've had roller coaster of a day and have had much need of casting my cares on the Lord and using some of the dear friends God has given me to share these burdens!
These words to pray and reflect on get at the heart of such heavy stuff that we face in a fallen world as sinful people seeking to love fellow sinners.

Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David on this Monday of Holy Week!