"I am by nature a dealer in words, and words are the most powerful drug known to humanity."

-- Rudyard Kipling

Trust and Obey

"Supposing God tells you to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense, what are you going to do? Hang back? If you get into the habit of doing a thing in the physical domain, you will do it every time until you break the habit determinedly; and the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will get up to what Jesus Christ wants, and every time you will turn back when it comes to the point, until you abandon resolutely. "Yes, but – supposing I do obey God in this matter, what about...?" "Yes, I will obey God if He will let me use my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark." Jesus Christ demands of the man who trusts Him the same reckless sporting spirit that the natural man exhibits. If a man is going to do anything worth while, there are times when he has to risk everything on his leap, and in the spiritual domain Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold by common sense and leap into what He says, and immediately you do, you find that what He says fits on as solidly as common sense. At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad; but bring them to the bar of faith, and you begin to find with awestruck spirit that they are the words of God. Trust entirely in God, and when He brings you to the venture, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest


"O Lord, in Thee have I trusted; let me not be ashamed." -- Psalm 25:2

I See A Darkness

The Danger of Common Sense

"The danger with us is that we want to water down the things that Jesus says and make them mean something in accordance with common sense; if it were only common sense, it was not worth while for Him to say it. The things Jesus says about prayer are supernatural revelations."

-- Oswald Chambers

For Sale

Well, it's done: my house is officially listed.

http://caar.paragonrels.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=6f8ee2df-33cb-495b-8983-4367497ad284&Report=Yes

They did a great job with the virtual tour:

http://tours.scopephotosite.com/public/vtour/display/348607?idx=1

It's a pretty melancholy thing for me to sell this place. I'm excited about going back to school, and the calling that's on my life, but I love it here. And I regret that I didn't get to do much of what I had in mind when I bought it; that is, entertain and spend time with friends.

Anyway, anybody in the market for a great vacation home? I've got deer and bear and birds if you like to hunt or just watch wildlife, a trout stream at the bottom of the mountain, and wild raspberries and blackberries all over, and even a few wild strawberries. And check out this view:

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

For Memorial Day

Goodbye, Amy

I recently learned that another of my old friends has died.

Amy lived across the street when I was a kid, the sister of a guy my brother and I hung out with. She was pretty, and sweet, and kind, and vibrant. She made me dance with her in her living room. Disco dancing. To the BeeGees. Lol. First girl I ever danced with, though.

Amy: (dancing alone to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack) "Come dance with me, Michael!" She holds out her hands.

Me: "I'm eating." I hold it up as evidence.

Amy: "Put the doughnut down and come dance with me."

Thanks, Amy, for being my friend. You brightened everyone's life who knew you. Rest in peace, and may Eternal Light shine upon you.

"I have been in the shadow of death many times, but I found that the name of Jesus is deeper. I've been on the mountaintop of health, but I know the name of Jesus is higher." -- Stormie Omartian

"He is glorified when we offer words of adoration from a pained and bruised heart. Most of the verses written about praise in God's word were penned by men and women who faced crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other intolerable situations." -- Joni Eareckson Tada

"Behold, I make all things new."

-- Jesus

Hildegard Von Bingen - O Vis Aeternitatis

This pierces my soul. I keep listening to it over and over.

"Love...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

-- 1 Cor 13

"To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God."

-- William Temple

"If you really love, you're the only totally free person because you can always do what you want. You can always love people. They may snub you, they may persecute you, they may even try to kill you. But they cannot stop you loving them. The person whose motivation is love is the only totally free person in the world."

-- Derek Prince

"Greatness...is very simple: This is what I believe, and I'm willing to die for it. Period."

-- Will Smith

Early Musical Experiences

I was talking to my mother the other day about my favorite violin piece, the Meditation from the opera Thais;

...and about how, the first time I heard it, it stopped the whole world for me, and I was left shocked and speechless by its astonishing beauty. And when she listened to it she said that it reminded her of the Serenade from the movie The Student Prince with Mario Lanza;

...and that I had heard it over and over in my infancy and childhood, because she had the record and used to listen to it all the time. And that got me thinking about how our early musical experiences shape us and help form who we later become, our tastes, and according to some scientists, even our intelligences and aptitudes.

Here's another number from The Student Prince that I would have heard over and over again. In fact, I remember this one from when I became old enough to get into my parents' record collection. And it, also, had an...um...effect on who I later became. :)

And here's one more from that score, which I'll leave without comment.

"I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Then I said, 'I am cast out of thy sight'; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."

-- Jonah 2: 2-9

A Lovely Surprise

Got an unexpected visit this weekend from my friend Adrianna who, you may remember, I met in Florida last year. Good timing: I really needed a friend just now. She's one of those people I can just talk to, without any effort, and it's always interesting and sympathetic. Isn't it funny how we meet important people in our lives by accident in places we'd never expect?

She took this cool panoramic of my deck. I didn't know you could do that with a phone.

That's the Difference Between Whiskey and You