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

I Dreamed a Dream

John Michael Talbot - The Pleiades and Orion

Johnny Cash - Flesh and Blood

“Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me.”

-- J.K. Rowling

"I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision"

"The only test as to whether we ought to allow an emotion to have its way is to see what the outcome of the emotion will be. Push it to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something God would condemn, allow it no more sway. But if it be an emotion kindled by the Spirit of God and you do not let that emotion have its right issue in your life, it will react on a lower level. The higher the emotion is, the deeper the degradation will be, if it is not worked out on its proper level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many things inevitable as possible, let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay on the mount of transfiguration, but we must obey the light we received there; we must act it out. When God gives a vision, transact business on that line, no matter what it costs."

-- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Faith that has Stood the Test

"The final stage in the life of faith is attainment of character. There are many passing transfigurations of character; when we pray we feel the blessing of God enwrapping us and for the time being we are changed, then we get back to ordinary days and ways and the glory vanishes. The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. It is not a question of sanctification, but of something infinitely further on than sanctification, of faith that has been tried and proved and has stood the test."

-- Andrew Murray

WWII vet's love letter found in thrift-store record sleeve