Mad Ramblings of Count Friday

It must be Friday again... cause here I am with more insanity...

My mind has been whirling, of late, and swirling, and dancing, and singing, and prancing, and poeticizing, over the issue of music. My church, stubborn as it can sometimes be, is now involved in Musicgate - an issue of what sort of music we ought to be playing within our walls. Some want a more contemporary and worldly music, and others want to stick with the tried and true classics. This is a deeply held issue in our church, but we are by no means the only ones living with this issue. Our pastor's wife recently returned from a women's retreat where she was the musical director and she declared with satisfaction that she managed to tiptoe through a minefield of musical selections so that most of the group was only mad at her selections less than half the time. As a singer and a lover of music, I find the issue very interesting. As a Christian, however, I find the issue rather silly. This is the modern equivalent of arguing over which end of the egg to eat first.

In theory, of course, we make music in our worship service to glorify God. Clearly, God has been around a long long time, and probably knows tunes much better than anything we've ever created - even Mozart. So to Him, the music doesn't matter so much as the heart behind it. I can picture Him in Heaven with his fingers in His ears smiling at our attempts to please Him. After all, He grew up on music from the lyre and lute and people banging quietly on cymbals and drums. This modern stuff with violin concertos and organs and harpsichords is just not really his cup of tea. But He appreciates the effort being made on His behalf and He enjoys the music no matter the content, the sound, or the creator. He probably even secretly watches the Ozzy Ozbourne show when nobody is looking (He really likes the dog). The point being that any preference in music in church is OUR preference, not His.

#B) Does Tom DeLay know something the rest of us should? He's claiming he can't get a fair trial because he's a Republican and his judge is a Democrat. So, should us Democrats be worried that we can't get a fair shake from a Republican judge? And what's a poor Independent to do? How does this shake out for the country with two new Republicans on the supreme court? And does this mean that justice is blind, but your voting record is available in braille?

Part The Third:
Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up
And don't let me fall.
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me.
Love rescue me.

Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me.
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal.
Love, rescue me.

And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea.
I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said, love, rescue me.

In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
I see the dark shades of what I used to be.
I see the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies.
Love, rescue me.

Yeah, though I walk
In the valley of the shadow
Yet, I will fear no evil.
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me.
Love, rescue me.

Sha la la la etc.
I said love, love, rescue me.

Yeah, I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love, rescue me.

I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see.
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me.
Love, rescue me.

A PSALM FROM U2

(Thanks, Heather...)

And on that note, have a great weekend.