Have a Groovy Day

10 Songs, Old and New(er)

Some days are like a dreamy purgatory, if I don't have enough solitary time, I know that it will not be good for me later. So please Do Not Disturb unless there is blood, vomit or a bump on the head. My Christmas tree is still up, the Three Kings have come and gone, and it isn't even losing needles and it smells good. Calvin stepped on my toe last night and I thought it was nothing much, but today the one that went weee, wee, wee is black and blue and broken(?).


Thank you "said the gramophone" for helping when I am stuck in a music rut. Leave feedback if you feel like it's the right thing to do. One more thing. Bleed is an incredible song, I never heard it before this week.

A Radical Test

Abraham and Isaac Climb Mt. Moriah by Gustave Dore

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

This is another potentially violent and disturbing passage of scripture, the Old Testament (OT) is full of them. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. Requests like that are the stuff of lunacy - if we heard of such a thing today we’d consider schizophrenia or delusions. Why would God do that? What kind of God would do that? I'm sure Abraham had such questions, but he must of kept them to himself and reasoned it out. Maybe Abraham's reasoning went something like this:

God told me to leave my father's country and I did and it has gone well for me. God has been teaching me not to lie, or to do any other sinful activity, and it has gone well for me. God seems different from - and displeased with the activities associated with the other pagan religions I observe around me. They commit human sacrifice, among other things, and this God who has called me, and brought me this far has never before made such a request. God told me that my barren wife would bear me a son, even in our old age, and it happened. God told me that I would have numerous descendants through that son, so...I must therefore trust God.

It must've been so difficult for Abraham to obey this command, but we see that he does and all the while, he says "The Lord will provide the sacrifice." And God does! He does not require Isaac's life and intervenes at nearly the last moment. It seems fairly clear that the Lord never intended for Issac's life to be taken this way. I once heard a very inspiring teaching that the entire time Abraham and Isaac were walking up one side of Mt. Moriah, God had sent the ram up the other side, allowing it to get caught in the thicket, and thereby being the sacrifice in Issac's stead. God had planed it and provided it all along! God asks for radical faith and obedience. He was simply testing Abraham's faith and obedience AND pointing to the fact that one day, God Himself would fulfill the covenant by providing His Own Son Jesus.

This was today's reading within my yearly reading from the LifeJournal plan at YouVersion.

Out of the mouths of babes...

So, just as I was thinking to myself last week, this Master Cleanse fast does really make my skin look and feel better, I was hit with an honest opinion from an outside source. Calvin, my youngest child was playing with the other neighborhood boys - a group of them ranging in age from 5-9. I called down to Calvin to ask him a question and he answered me, naturally addressing me as "Mom." To which one of the boys started laughing and said, “Mom? I thought she was your grandma!” So I rather think the fast has made me delirious from lack of food, and my earlier assessment of my skin was, ummm, unreliable. Edited to add: This also points to another facet of US culture. The age range of motherhood. I think Calvin’s friend’s mother was in her late teens or early 20’s when she had him. I was 35 when I had Calvin, so I am indeed closer to the age of the child’s grandmother than his mother.

The first book I've read this year is....

From Touching Rock Bottom To Touching The Nations by Nick Park. It's an interesting and encouraging account of how a young, alcoholic, inhalant-addicted punk from Ireland and England turned his life around through faith. I read it with great interest because I love biographies and stories of transformation and redemption (see Keith Green’s No Compromise and Brian “Head” Welch’s Save Me From Myself). Secondly, my interest was piqued by my husband, known fondly here as Big Daddy, having heard Nick Park speak at a Men’s Conference. He enjoyed Nick Park’s message at the conference immensely! We could both relate somewhat by having been teenage punks ourselves and all that went with it - partying, brawling, and varying degrees having a malcontented attitude with our lives. And then eventually with substance abuse issues. The book chronicles Nick Park’s life and transformation, and the many challenges he faced and overcame, both before and after his sobriety and spiritual change. From rubbing elbows with Sid Vicious to dedicating the babies of Nigerian refugees - it is an interesting chronicle! I recommend this book.

I'm also reading through the bible again this year, along with our denominational initiative, although I have opted to use the LifeJournal reading plan from YouVersion, found here.

Random New Year Ramble

"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend, inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

Groucho Marx said that. Yesterday I asked my Siri to search the web for a book, and "she" quoted that. It made me laugh. I am on a modified version of the Master Cleanse Fast (you can google if you're curious). Big Daddy and I try to do some sort of special fasting and prayer at the onset of the new year, as an act of reverence toward God. It's a time of sober reflection, thankfulness, and seeking His will and direction for the new year. I find today difficult, but yesterday was not. I was awash with inspiration and ideas yesterday. Today I feel sluggish and have a headache (caffeine withdrawal, I suspect) and I am distracted by the macaroni and cheese the kids had for lunch. But it's just today, and a little challenge, and it will pass and I am sure tomorrow will be better.

Welcome 2013, A Rebooted Greeting

It's been a long time. I can't promise a successful or consistent reboot, but for today, I am here. Happy New Year. I sit here with a heart that is happy with the promise a new year brings. A fresh start and clean slate is always a nice and welcoming thing, like a newly sharpened pencil and an empty drawing pad. So, I am resolute with myself to continue and build upon some good things and healthier and better choices. For today, I'm involved with a bit of praying and fasting, listening to some wonderful classical music and I feel like the windows of my soul are letting in a welcome breeze that is fresh with hope and contentment. I can't quite write that, though, without saying my heart goes out to those who are unable to muster such hope right now, and my prayers are with and for them. So, to anyone who is still lurking about, this is the place where I chronicle my spiritual and artistic journey as one, little and rather low-key person. I am not a spectacular writer or artist, or incredibly witty or erudite, but I am sincere, honest and opinionated. And I like to write and draw.

“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.”
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson