Highnotes

"If you're tired of being yourself...
If you wanna be somebody else;
Change your mind."

Again, a late night posting, and despite my prolific, midday notes-to-self on what to write when I have a chance, I can't commit to a topic. I cannot pull together any higher-level writing at such an hour! (Well, not without caffiene, snacks & a committment to stay up all night....)

I'm trying to remember who sings the song I open with, which was just playing at the end credits of a bad movie. It is disarmingly familiar. I think I could actually sing most of it. Strange, I didn't know I knew that song until I heard it.

This brings me to music -- hey, as good a topic as any! -- and maybe serendipitously so, because I am realizing music has been much on my mind.

I have felt so... so... moved by Christian music in the last few days. So very... blessed. It seems every time I've gotten into my car or reached for a CD, I've stumbled into something completely appropriate and meaningful to what I'm struggling with or want to feel. OK, "stumble" is probably a bad word choice, because whatever my personal clumsiness, nothing about God's work is crude or inelegant.

I guess I'm saying God has graced me, directly, with the right words at the right time of late.
...Do I believe that God has actually "spoken" to me? To me? Spoken. Directly? (I am considering.) Well, yes, I do! Why can't a miracle be completely coincidental and supremely personal all at the same time? I think I've just experienced an everyday miracle.

I need to pull together the lyrics I have most repeated/ internalized during this brief window of awareness. I find myself singing when I wake up, in the shower, waiting for coffee to brew. I just love it! And now, of course, under the glare of "write it down and make it real," I cannot bring what I want to the front of my mind.

"I took this space that you placed in me/ Redecorated with shades of greed.
I made sure every doors was locked, every window blocked/And still you knocked....
Come inside this/ heart of mine it's/ Not my own./ Make it home."
That's one. "Welcome Home," from Shaun Groves' "Invitation to Eavesdrop" CD. I started at the bridge, but the whole 3 1/2 minutes is good. I also like the "dusty floors" and "empty halls" bits.

Oh, and Newsong's "Sheltering Trees" and "Red Letter Day."
"We all need sheltering trees;
Friends in our lives who get down on their knees.
Lift us up before the King of Kings..."
AND:
"I do believe it's gonna be another chance for me to step on out & walk by faith."
I used to hate that song. Now, it always reminds me of a wonderful man, named Nace, from my church. I don't even think I know Nace's last name, but I know he's a red-letter kind of guy! All to his credit....

Bebo Norman's "Disappear." (It makes me swoon. No, really.)

Mercy Me's entire "Spoken For" CD.
"Covered by your Grace divine, child of the risen Lord.
To hear you say that this one's mine...."

Mac Powell's voice when he sings, "I believe in/ A hope that carries on." (The words aren't really where it's at on this one. It's the voice. The voice and the rock and roll.)

Nichole Nordeman's "Legacy" -- "I don't mind if you've got somethin' nice to say about me" --and Ginny Owen's "Call Me Beautiful." "And you call me beautiful/ Say you've loved me all along...."

"Who Am I?" by Casting Crowns.
"Who am I, that the Lord of all the Earth...." / "I am a flower quickly fading..." /
"I am Yours."

"Space In Between Us" AND "Glory Defined" by Building 429. (I just looked up the name of this group. Had NO idea!)

"All I wanna do is fall into/ The emptiness that is
The space in-between us."
OR:
"Some day/ I'll wake up to find/ Your glory defined/
And I'll finally bow at your feet."

"Ancient Words," the Michael W. Smith rendition.
"More" by Matthew West.

Oh, I could go on and on! Guess I CAN recall this stuff. I've been writing for AN HOUR! Yikes!

I don't know how much sense I've made, but I hope my real, gushy gratitude comes through, along with the perhaps-not-your-cup-of-tea song choices. I'm just really grateful for messages that make me feel this way. The way of right now, today. Not perma-happy, but joyful under it all.

That's the point of Christian music, perhaps. Exhortations to joy, arising from our common walk of faith, made more powerful and palpable by song.

Amen, sisters and brothers! Sing it! Bring it! I'll be dreamin' of a Heavenly choir tonight....