From Lee Alexander (recorded recently by Norah Jones...what a fabulous voice!) This so perfectly describes my mornings. Except she doesn't mention Cooper dropping a ball under my chin while I sleep.

The sun just slipped its note below my door
And I can't hid beneath my sheets
I've read the words before so now I know
The time has come again for me

And I'm feelin' the same way all over agian
Feelin' the same way all over agian
Singin' the same lines all over again
No matter how much I pretend

Another day that I can't find my head
My feet don't look like they're my own
I'll try and find the floor below to stand
I hope I reach it once again

I love this song. I thought I'd post it in the hopes that it will give a particular someone something to look forward to and maybe some hope that God really does know the man for her and won't let him get away. Isn't it great that we can trust Him?

I have rediscovered Natalie Merchant recently. I just love her voice and creativity. I thought I'd share one of my favorites, one of every body's favorites...Wonder seems to get great reception when ever it is performed.

Doctors have come from distant cities just to see me
Stand over my bed, they're disbelieving what they're seeing
They say I must be one of the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explanation

Newspapers ask such intimate questions, want confessions
They reach into my head to steal the glory, of my story
They say I must be one of the wonders - God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explanation

Chorus:
Oooh I believe, Fate, Fate smiled and, and Destiny,
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
And laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted,
with love, with patience, and with faith,
she'll make her way, make her way"

People see me, I'm a challenge to your balance,
I'm over your heads how I confound you,
and astound you to know
I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as you see you can offer me no explanation

Oooh I believe, that Fate, Fate smiled and Destiny,
And laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted,
And laughed as she came to my mother
"Know this child will not suffer"
with love, with patience, and with faith,
she'll make her way, she'll make her way"
"She'll make her way." Mmmmm, mmmmm

Yeah, I know...you're sick of hearing about WaterDeep.

But I am just loving their music! I listened to several CDs last night and discovered that I prefer them post-Lori. She really adds a twist I like...I mean, Don is great, don't get me wrong, but Lori adds that upbeatness, or maybe a little sweetness to the music and the lyrics. Don just seemed a little, uh, down before he meet her. His voice has a bit of darkness in it, like a 70s doper taking the wrong drugs. Not necessarily his lyrics, although he talks an awful lot about anger, so I think he knows something about it. Take 'Long on Diagnosis, Short on Cure'...I mean, even when he gets to the hope and cure at the end he sounds unhappy about it. (The lyrics are below this post.)

If you like at least one or two songs by Edie Brickell, or if you can put up with her, you'd like WaterDeep's Lori Chaffer. And I like actual whole CD's by Edie.

Don Chaffer, of WaterDeep, from his album 'What You Don't Know'.

The Lyrics

Last night I heard this old guy play guitar
He could push you with the music. He could take you far
But he would push you with his right hand
and always hide his left
I just had one question for him, "Mister,
Have you ever been convicted of theft?"

CHORUS
Cause He'd (They'd) say "This one's close to dying
This one's fine
This one's past the turning point.
He's crossed the line."
Now he was awful good at triage,
that's for sure,
But he was long on diagnosis,
and short on cure.

A long-winded conversation in a dorm room late at night
Not so much about the truth as whether you said it right
I raised the prospect of hope eternal. I was laughed at and scorned.
They rolled their eyes like dice on a table
But their number was forlorn.

BRIDGE
Now, you can take your chance
Beat your fists on the boards of despair
You end up with splinters in your knuckles
thinking, "unjust, unfair."
Or you can fall on the altar of sadness
and call for the knife.
But either way you're just denying your hearing.
Put your ear to God's chest, and clearly
it's the pulse of life.

CHORUS
Now you been close dying
In fact you've crossed the line
You done sailed right past the turning point,
thinking everything's fine
But when the gas runs out
and your sitting there stone cold
You think, "I was young when all this started
Now I'm old."

But when the doctor pushes the triage crew aside
he says, "You're all long on diagnosis
short on cure."
And he turns to you and says,
"Come on, Darlin' we can make this
Yes, I'm sure."

Yeah... them again . I just got a CD (Everyone's Beautiful ) on sale from Christian Book Distributors .

I'm really diggin' this female lead singer, who I think is Lori Chaffer. I'm still a little brain dead from the food poisoning or flu or whatever I've had and am having trouble deciphering that info from their website.

They have a very unique way with words. Very cool.

An example:

He Will Come

Soon it will be hammered into what she calls her silly head
That she really isn't silly but she's beautiful instead

But every time she gets a hold of something pretty, it slips away
So she keeps hoping that someday soon

CHORUS

He will come. He will come
He will comfort all that's hardened
change the deserts into gardens
and we all will see His face.
He will come. He will come.
He will soften all the starkness
Break the chambers of our darkness
and we'll all be overwhelmed

She spilled her coffee in her Chevy on the way to work at 8:05
She always thought that she was clumsy and she hated it and wondered why

She can handle any tragedy that happens but not little things like this
So she keeps hoping that someday soon

Within the world of a girl, the words she hears they mean an awful lot
And the music in her mind when she gets older has the lyrics she was taught

and when she gets to heaven all the right things will be said
And He will look on her with favor

All my scars will turn to fountains
All my valleys into mountains
And we all will see His face

All you watchmen lift your voices
Then every boy and girl rejoices
when we'll all be overwhelmed

I got to listen to a group I haven't heard before last night, Water Deep . I enjoyed their sound, but the song "Eighteen Bullet Holes" really grabbed me. Click on the 'read more' link at the bottom to see the lyrics.

The line "I'm living in a bone grinding mill...one more body from the valley of the dry bones getting ground up into powder" is such a vivid, frightening image. (Remember the valley of dry bones from Ezekial 37:1-14?) It seems to say that this life has been taken and all hope is lost. I know that we always have hope in God, but once a life is taken, the opportunities for that person to affect the world or to come closer to God are gone. (Wow...Michael Card's 'Valley of Dry Bones' is just now playing on iTunes! Hmmm...)

The second verse talks about a girl getting destroyed...'She isn't always blinded, she isn't always far astray; she just might not be thinking, she might be having a bad day; but when you choose, you choose, and when you drown, you drown.' Another almost hopeless line, but there is a great deal of truth here. Choices have consequences, even if you weren't really paying attention, or if you thought it was a small choice.

Of course, the final verse about a dream is the clincher. The writer is basically Jonah, swallowed up because he's not paying attention to God, and is pretty much forced to acknowledge Him and realize that God IS aware of all this destruction and pain. What isn't mentioned, but I think is kind of implied between the lines, is that there IS hope because He sees us. But it definitely is more a song about realizing that, yes, we will have pain but that God sees us and HAS experienced more pain. He will get us through this, too.

If you get a chance to hear the group, have a listen. They're better live than in the studion, so you might want to check them out in Athens on April 11th!

Eighteen Bullet Holes

18 bullet holes in the body of a priest
They say he was eating a hot dog when the ammunition was released.
They say he was always fat and lazy but he was an awfully nice guy.
That's just one more death to show you you never know when you're gonna die.
You might be facing the beast

Sometimes, God, I feel like I'm living in a bone grinding mill
And every time I hear the sound I can barely stand still
It's a thing I can't quite make out sometimes but it seems to keep getting louder-
One more body from the valley of the dry bones getting ground up into powder
Against Your holy will

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Why don't You come and help me out?
Cause I can't even see clear

The funny thing about the way a girl gets destroyed
About the way that deal goes down
Is that everybody pretty much sees it coming at the sister
From all the way across town
And she isn't always blinded, she isn't always far astray
She just might not be thinking, she might be having a bad day
But when you choose, you choose, and when you drown, you drown

Last night I dreamed that You swallowed me into Yourself
And I was floating on the sea inside
When I landed on the shore, I saw all these people that I thought had died
I hadn't seen some of them for ages
They had left without a single word
And when I said something to them, not a single one of them had heard

They were all looking right through everything like it wasn't even there
Some were full of anger, some full of fear
And then I recognized that something very sad
But very beautiful was happening right here
They were all caught outside standing alone in a very heavy rain
And when a raindrop landed on my tongue
I didn't need You to explain
That these were Your tears

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Oh, that's right, You know so well
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear.

I'm jammin' to my tunes again in my office and heard this song...it's from Ginny Owens' CD Without Condition and, of course, this is the title song. It made me think of someone I know who I pray for often. Well, more than one person, really.

But then, reading through the lyrics I realized that it also describes me. I don't think I'm condescending, usually, but I do tend to look away from things I don't understand rather than puzzle through them. The chorus sounds like it was written to me, and the idea of putting people in boxes is one I've thought about for a long time. It's so easy to look at people and see the things that make them different from me, and it is too easy to put them in a box and treat them according to my pre-judgments instead of accepting them as an individual with unique traits.

To label a person as a 'depressive' or an 'extrovert,' or any number of other ways that I use to describe people or deal with them is unfair to God's power in their lives, His unconditional love and work in them. Maybe I should stop and listen more. If you want to read the lyrics, click on the read more link.

Without Condition

You find this situation just a bit uncomfortable;
You'd rather stay far away from reality.
For you to understand would be clearly impossible;
So you shut your eyes and swear you can see.
Claiming there is a God, but does that mean anything?

So condescending to those that you don't understand;
Just too easy to make them your enemies.
Like an ostrich, you bury your head in the sand,
And then shout about all the things you believe.
But if there is a God, don't you think He can see
What you really mean? What you're doing?

Chorus:
You can't find the answers Till you learn to question;
You won't appear stupid Just ask for direction.
You're insecure and it clouds your perception So stop and listen
And learn a lesson in love without condition.

So place all the souls that you know in their own little box;
Quite convenient to handle them that way;
You're the only one you know who carries a cross;
You don't care what they care about anyway.
And You talk to your God, Prayin' for those who sin,
For their eyes to be opened.

Words and Music by Ginny Owens: BMG Songs, Inc. (Gospel Division)/Above The Rim Music (Administered by BMG Songs, Inc.) (ASCAP)