Lunar Boulevard

Sometimes an album comes into your life and totally changes everything. Sometimes it comes into your life and simply becomes part of your collection but never makes a life-changing impact, going by relatively unnoticed. Then there are times when a record comes into your life as a life preserver, telling your story and resonating with you in a way that it otherwise would not have been able to. For me, this is where The National's 2010 release High Violet comes in. Near the end of 2010 I went through the darkest and toughest period of my life, a desperate struggle for survival and purpose whose effects I still feel today, thankfully in smaller doses. Obviously God was the first person I turned to but music was also a tremendous help, as it always is. The National is one of my favorite groups and it wasn't until later that I realized just how much High Violet synced up with my life at that time. Isn't it eerie how music can do that sometimes? This album brings back a lot ...

Quite often I write about the feeling of being left behind or simply going through the motions. It's a frustrating and often confusing feeling that I've encountered frequently over the years. I love when a song really speaks to this condition and isn't afraid to confront it head-on, which brings me to Switchfoot's "Thrive". On the surface it sounds simple, and musically it is in some respects (although it's still amazing). What really stands out for me here are the lyrics and that's ultimately what cuts deep and haunts me long after the song is over. Been fighting things that I can't see in Like voices coming from the inside of me and Like doing things I find hard to believe in Am I myself or am I dreaming? I've been awake for an hour or so Checking for a pulse but I just don't know Am I a man when I feel like a ghost? The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes The first couple verses describe an experience I've encoun...

Okay, I have to rant a little bit here about something that bothers me: cover albums. You know those, right? It's where an artist puts out an album of them covering other artists. Over the past few years these seem to be more common and honestly I'm getting tired of them. Let me state my case for this: First off, I'm not totally opposed to them. They can be interesting and it's always wonderful to see artists paying tribute to those that have inspired them. In this respect I can understand their value and I'm sure they're fun and fairly easy to record, thus making things easier for some musicians and giving them a much-needed break from writing their own material. I can totally sympathize with that. However, I do get a bit irked when a covers album is released in the place of original material. Here's the difference: Back in 1981 Elvis Costello released Almost Blue , an album of old country covers. It was a puzzling and unconventional move but it worke...

So last week I talked a bit about love and how God has really been teaching me what true and selfless love is about. Our sermon this Sunday dealt with the foundation of love and that without love "everything else fails". It included testimony from a married couple that consists of a wife who has taken care of her husband after he lost much of his speech ability and mental functions. If you want to see an example of true love in action, then it doesn't get any more real and touching than that. It made me really think about how I love and whether or not I really have the capability to love someone that way. Honestly, I believe God has given me that capacity but it only comes from relying completely on Him and making a conscious choice to love as He does. I'm not saying I would ever want to be in that situation but if worst came to worst I would hope that God would continue to help me love and to step outside myself and my wants and needs. I'm sure this is much ...

So this week our church begins delving into 1 Corinthians 13. Yes, I'm well aware that this chapter pops up frequently and some Christians are probably tired of talking about it all the time. It may seem like it's overused but it's possibly due to the fact that it sums up exactly what love is so perfectly and how we as followers of Christ should love those around us. One thing that always astounds me about this chapter is its actual length: it's only 13 verses. This isn't unusual for 1 Corinthians; some of the chapters are fairly short and Paul gets to the point pretty quickly in many of these sections. However, for a chapter dealing with love you would expect much more, yet these few verses cut right to the heart of the matter and Paul says exactly what needs to be conveyed in very few words. It's impressive, yet also easy to spend countless hours pouring over these verses and really meditating on what God is saying here. Paul wastes no time in explaining and d...