March 15, 2011
Ahh the banjo! I am definitely going tomorrow to Rydell! I feel like looking and listening to music with the banjo has consumed my day. Thinking of wedding presents, Easter eggs, and summer. I really hope I can play, it just seems so pure. Bluegrass and Singer/Songwriters have become more prevalent in my playlist selections. Keeping Mr. Martin company is a newly discovered band The Wood Brothers and an old favorite, the Dixie Chicks. The instruments and words carrying the emotion of a culture. I think you could say anything with a banjo and it would make it four-hundred times cooler or soften the blow of the most crushing of news. If I end up being able to play, I think I'll write a break up song with it, 'cause who could be THAT disappointed whilst being sung the bad news?
"You"
This song has so many great components. I am probably saying this waay too much, but I mean it has the banjo! And it also has the beautiful voices of the Dixie Chicks. And the marriage of the two is perfect. I downloaded the album "Rare Bird Alert" today and with it came a digital booklet, which proves that I purchased it from iTunes. The song is about "love lost without regret, but with a lingering frisson of memory." I know that I haven't lived very long, and have loved a lot less, and lost even less than that. I feel like I keep drumming this lament into my head, but you know what, I don't care. Life is too short to sit and be mad about or regret decisions that we have made or things we have allowed to happen. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and we're never alone when we are going through the repercussions of said decisions.
I don't think that it is bad or unhealthy to look back on things we've done, but what I want to change and encourage is what we're looking at. In these experiences we have been given opportunities to learn about who we are, who we aren't, who we want to be, and Who is the only one who can get us there. He also brings us joy everyday. Life would look pretty uneventful if we got rid of all the stuff that we weren't happy with, and even more so, we wouldn't be able to see the greatness of all the amazing things in life.
Think about it. Think about it. (for you Amo)
"Things have changed, rearranged. Everything is new. Spirit's high, all blue sky. I've someone to talk to. But when I night is blue, I will think of you. Someone who, loves me too. After you withdrew. Kinder ways, better days. Words exchanged are true, but winter settles in. Thoughts of you begin. Tell me how, I allow this memory to go on? It is done, on the run. Nothing else to do, I know this mood's unreal. The heart takes time to heal. Time goes on, days are long. Summer's gone, you. Saturday, sadder days. Silence plays, you. And when the night is blue, I still think of you."
Cinci
And to the Psalm. Parties are great! Unless you're the uninvited, then they stink...a ton. I have been blissfuly ignorant to many of the goings on in the party realm, but knowing about them and not being remembered or intentionally left out really beats up the ole self-esteem. But as David writes, we're invited to the most intense party ever! This sounds kind of dumb, but it's exciting! The desire to be wanted is something we all strive for, and having it lived out is one of the greatest feelings ever. When someone tells you that they miss you or that an event would have been exponentially better if you were there, goodness, those are some of the sweetest words anyone could hear (especially as a girl, young lady, or woman).
In this Psalm, David calls himself "An invited guest" and do you want to know what he thinks about that? "it's incredible!" Can you imagine receiving that invitation in the mail or even trumping that over the phone (I wonder what You sound like. I imagine a deep, knowing voice. I'm hearing a voice like Morgan Freeman)? That would be THE most incredible feeling!
I guess going back to what I was saying about the song, and kind of my take on the difference between Christians and non-Christians, recognizing that I have messed up and that I, Annie-Grace Maria Shaffer, can do nothing of my own power to fix it, is something He wants us to know. He knows how broken we are, and He still wants us. All of us, all the dirty, gross things. But the people who think they have it figured out, who don't need anyone to help, well there isn't any room for Him there. He makes us new, wonderful, He is the one who is realizing our potential. He's there the whole dang time, loving us.
He not only has saved us, but pursues us! And He wants us to pursue Him too, He not only wants us, but wants to be known by us (Deuteronomy 4:29). He's all about us, like it's going out of style. So what are we waiting for? Who else wants all of us bad and good...ALL THE TIME. We can be blissful, but not ignorant. We're invited to God's fiesta, and as David writes:
"You welcome us with open arms when we run for cover to You. Let the party last all night! Stand guard over our celebration. You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers, for decking us out in delight." Psalm 5:11-12 (The Message)
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