Spotlight on: System of a Down - Aerials

This in my opinion, is an amazing song.  Its close to perfection.  But that's just what I think.

Song Lyric of the Day

Sometimes when I wake up I have a song going through my head.  This morning some lyrics were playing on repeat:

"O hound of heaven hear my cry
Remorse for things that I have justified
My life a book whose pages are well read
Of actions good and evil
And thoughts inside my head"
Consequence by Circle of Dust

When I woke up, I couldn't remember all the right words or even the band.  But I managed to find the lyrics and the band.  Google is an amazing thing; what did we ever do without it?  You can hear the song here.

In Quotes

I love quotes and sayings.  Here are some great ones:

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” - Saint Augustine

“There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

“I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy” - Ludwig van Beethoven

 

Why non-beach loving parents go to the beach

I don't love the beach.  Jo does, but I don't.  I don't hate it by any means and can think or much worse places to go, but am really not into sand and sun.  But photos like this make the sand and sun and salt water worth it for me.

Separated at Birth? - Pigeon John and Thierry Henry

Pigeon John (Everybody's favorite rapper)                                                              

                             

Thierry Henry (Footballeur extraordinaire)

            

New (wet) Life

Today, Tasha, one of our beloved Greenleafers, was baptized in the Haw River.  We sang a little, somebody prayed, then Tasha was taken out in to the water and baptized.  After that we sang again, somebody read from the Bible, some people prayed for Tasha, then everyone had lunch together.

But in short, Tasha got wet.  I mean, isn't that what it boils down to?  She went in dry and came out wet? 

How crazy, even absurd, that baptism, the dunking of a person in water, is a sign of the new life that person now possesses!   It seems like God could have come up with something a lot better.  A better ritual, a better display, something with a bit more pizazz!

But in reality, I can't think of a better picture of what God has done to Tasha than what happened this morning.  She stepped into the water dry and came out wet.  In that action, we see an embrace, an immersion into God's presence and an enfolding into His family.

For ancient Jews, baptism was an outward show of their awareness of their need to turn/ return to God (a.k.a. repentance).  It was a display of the cleansing that God had done and was doing in them, a cleansing of thoughts, motives, desires, and behaviors.  John the Baptizer preached, 'Turn to God, the kingdom of God is close, even here right now!!'

For followers of Jesus, it is all of the above and then some.  Baptism is a picture of death and life.  As Tasha went under the water, we saw a picture of her 'death' to her self - selfish ways, self-centered thoughts, not doing things God's way, etc.  As she emerged, we saw a picture of her 'live' again - new life lived in Jesus, with Him taking first place in all things and all the other things that were not as important or not good for Tasha either taking a backseat to Jesus or being cast completely away.

I was so moved by the scene and I know lots of other people were too.  Tasha did much more than just get wet.  She told all of us, Greenleafers, family members, and all her friends that came to see her get dunked, that she has 'died' and now 'lives' again.

Song lyric of the day - King's X

"We have heard the man and devil...lies

We've heard it all for far too long.

This is not the time to be weak,

But if you are then you're not alone."

Don't Believe It (It's Easier Said Than Done), King's X - from Gretchen Goes to Nebraska