sorry, rich

so i'm still listening to that same rich mullins cd. i'm with you, sandra - we listen to the same cd over & over again until we're sick to death of it & then finally switch! she's currently into an old dave matthews. maybe we should switch?!
anyway, there's this one song that i've always skipped as soon as i hear the first note. this is mostly due to the fact that the beginning is some kind of super cheesy wind flute or something. i mean seriously, rich - what were you thinking?? it's so bad. it reminds me of this guy who always played @ the george v metro station in paris. he played some kind of funky wind instrument & the song was always something of celin dion. except maybe he did play, "a whole new world", now that i think of it. anyway the point is that the beginning is everything you hate in a song. but now that i'm a mom, i find that i don't always have the presence of mind to do things i used to - like turn off cheesy songs. i usually find myself singing along to them in the car until i realize - wait, what the heck is this??
so i ended up listening to this song, & now i have to apologize to rich! while you got the horrible wind instrument deal wrong, you wrote some really great lyrics, & i'm sorry i never listened to them before! i think they're super appropriate for the time we find ourselves in. if i were a singer, i would redo this song (sans wind flute!) & dedicate it to my sister, who i feel has a special calling in the world of government & politics. i'm really thankful for people like her who are passionate about something & live it out. it's an example i think, to all of us. we can't all be passionate about everything, so if we do what we can with what we have, & share it, i think we bless the world. i don't always have time to research & read all about important things like animal rights, bias media, whether or not capitalism is working for good, our food supply, etc... but i know my sister will be blogging about it & i can join the conversation there!
anyway, she wrote a couple of really good & truthful entries that reminded me that government, & really the human heart are never going to be the answer to our issues. only the love described by that jesus guy (you know, the one who washed people's nasty feet & loved on prostitutes) can suffice. anything else just stinks of the worst parts of our humanity.
okay & since i'm not a singer & won't be recording this song on an album, i'll type out a few of the lyrics. i feel this song is especially appropriate at a time like this when high ranking officials spend thousands of dollars on illigal prostitution, we're waging a horrific war in iraq & afghanistan(this is not a political statement - it's horrific whether you're for it, or not), the chinese government won't even let it's citizens view internet cites about how they're oppressing people in tibet, a young 17 yr old kid in our church was died last week from a drive by, & on & on. sometimes i think i could be depressed by all of the sadness in our world. where does one even start to help?

in these lyrics, i hope you feel just that - hope.


why do the nations rage?
why do they plot & scheme?
their bullets can't stop the prayers we pray in the name of the prince of peace.

things may look bad
things may look grim
but all these things will pass except the things that are of him.

where are the nails that pierced his hands?
the nails have turned to rust, but not so the man.
he's risen & he reigns
in the hearts of the children rising up in his name.

where are the thorns that drew his blood?
the thorns have turned to rust, but not so the love.
(line i can't understand)
it remains in the hearts of the children who will love while the nations rage.


the message to me is to remember that one day in the kingdom of god, all of this sadness, all of the death, the injustice, all of the horrific things that happen in our world everyday, ALL of it will be gone. it will be gone like the nails & thorns are gone. death & destruction will not conqueor us. and until that day, we strive to make the world a teeny bit better in our teeny little corner. and part of that is living out our passion. so thank you, johnna.



**alacrity news - 2 of the 4 onesies @ treehouse already sold!!!!!! yaaaaaaaaaaay!