Notes for a Future Travelogue

The oceans, the heavens, and the narrow space between life and living - I’ve seen it all. Sophisticated and experienced, a man born of a woman. Assume the

world and reality shudders. 

Now something is out there. No voice, no familiar voice. A stranger beyond. Happy reflections in a mirror. A sudden illusion makes everyone a stranger. 

Rattled and knocked. Surprised again by his heart bursting forth more breathlessly than before. Rattle, adapt. Try to understand and nothing will surprise for very long. 

This is interesting and magical, but wait and see. I’d like another change.

Through the Clouds He’s Lifted Up

I wrote a short hymn to share with my church yesterday, Ascension Sunday. And now I’ll share it with you.  In the video the song starts at about the 10 minute mark. 

This the day when Christ ascends 

Space and time around him bends 

Through the clouds he’s lifted up. 

Down from Heaven he condescends  

The grave and hell now transcends 

 Hymns of praise be lifted up. 

 And if we falter here, 

 In our weakness and our sorrow 

Still he will receive us. 

 All our error he amends 

 Lonely people he befriends 

 Let his name be lifted up 

 The weak and poor we’ll defend 

 The grace of God we’ll extend 

 In our lives we’ll lift him up 

 And if we falter here, 

 In our weakness and our sorrow 

Still he will receive us.

The Precious Irony of AM Band Preachers

I was scanning the AM radio band for something to listen to when I heard the preacher say, “the end is coming soon, my friends. Christ is coming and it won’t be long” 

I listened as I drove home from work and was alternately amused and irritated

by the preacher’s description of the ‘depravity of the godless left with their cultural Marxism and their evolution and their religion of tolerance.’ He continued to describe the ways in which this all pointed to the immanent return of the Lord and the rapture of the faithful. 

And because one must exit through the gift shop, even in a radio broadcast, the preacher invited his listeners to go to his website and purchase the illustrated end times timeline that he had written. He said, ‘It will be a treasured resource, one that you will consult for years to come.’ 

 Oh, precious irony.

In the Night (I Was Dreaming of You)

The other night I had a strange and terrible dream about my ex-wife. It left me unsettled. Not sad. Not angry. But … on edge and ill at ease. Discomforted.

I shared the dream with a friend of mine and he encouraged me to maybe write her a letter (even if I had no intention of sending it to her) about the dream and how it made me feel - as a sort of therapy I guess. Or at least an exercise in self reflection. 

I didn't write her a letter (she wouldn’t respond even if I did). Instead I wrote a song about it as I carried the mail and delivered packages. 

There was more to the dream - it was long and complicated, full of absurdities (as dreams usually are.  But this was enough to make me feel better about it  

The World So Dark