...I'll hold onto you if you hold onto me.
Happy Sunday, everybody:
Here's the lyrics from Over the Rhine's cover of Angel Band that got me thinking of them. And are a bit more geared for a Sunday:
"Bear my longing heart to him, who bled and died for me. Whose blood now covers me from all sin and gives me victory. Oh come, angel band. Come and around me stand."
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Antsy in Vail
An intensely awesome at Newport Folk Festival with little sleep followed by a crazy busy week followed by a lipid conference in Vail, CO has me worn out. Add to that two piling frustrations: 1) I missed the deadline of the rigid ten day window to turn in my classmate's thesis after he left for a roadtrip and this conference and 2) who knows what I'm doing for housing come September and I'm flattened. Not to mention my flight back tonight is a redeye flight getting me to Boston at 5AM tomorrow morning and...I definitely have to go into lab tomorrow. Needless to say, in this 5 hour waiting period between the end of the conference and my ride to Denver International Airport, I'm rather antsy.
So I'm going to take time to reflect on three things:
1) God's provision. The Psalms have become my friend the past few days as I need to rely on God's ever-sustaining provision. If God "raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap" and "gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children" (Ps. 113:7,9 ESV), I must put my absolute faith in God to get me through these situations that seem stressful in the moment. And He is abundantly worthy of my praise, in all circumstances.
2) As a reflection of God's provision, my day in Denver was a testament to that. Going for economy, my motel 6 was on the outskirts of Aurora, the sketchy part of Denver. It took me three public buses to get from the airport to the hotel. While waiting for the third bus, I started to realize I may not be in the best of areas. First, I let a stranger use my cell phone. Probably not the smartest thing, but if she took my phone I didn't really care. Second, I got advice on when the bus comes from a woman going for food stamps. And, finally, walking up (with my luggage) to the motel 6, a woman and her dog ran up to me, hoping I was a fellow homeless person. Her stuff had been robbed from the rundown motel next to the motel 6 and she was looking for a church or a shelter to stay at. Sadly, with my lack of knowledge of the area, I couldn't help her much. From there, I took two buses to get to downtown Denver and spent the entire day there, going to a Rockies game at night. But, let me tell you, I was praying for safety on my bus rides back at midnight. God watched over me.
3) My dreams. In Colorado, I have had a vivid dream every night I have been here. And different friends appear in each one, so you've probably been in one. They've ranged from interacting with Elvis Costello (last night) to waking up (in my dream) to find that a bomb had been thrown through my motel 6 window into the building behind the motel 6 (my night in Denver). That dream had heavy Sherlock Holmes influences as I've been reading some Conan Doyle quite recently.
So I'm going to take time to reflect on three things:
1) God's provision. The Psalms have become my friend the past few days as I need to rely on God's ever-sustaining provision. If God "raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap" and "gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children" (Ps. 113:7,9 ESV), I must put my absolute faith in God to get me through these situations that seem stressful in the moment. And He is abundantly worthy of my praise, in all circumstances.
2) As a reflection of God's provision, my day in Denver was a testament to that. Going for economy, my motel 6 was on the outskirts of Aurora, the sketchy part of Denver. It took me three public buses to get from the airport to the hotel. While waiting for the third bus, I started to realize I may not be in the best of areas. First, I let a stranger use my cell phone. Probably not the smartest thing, but if she took my phone I didn't really care. Second, I got advice on when the bus comes from a woman going for food stamps. And, finally, walking up (with my luggage) to the motel 6, a woman and her dog ran up to me, hoping I was a fellow homeless person. Her stuff had been robbed from the rundown motel next to the motel 6 and she was looking for a church or a shelter to stay at. Sadly, with my lack of knowledge of the area, I couldn't help her much. From there, I took two buses to get to downtown Denver and spent the entire day there, going to a Rockies game at night. But, let me tell you, I was praying for safety on my bus rides back at midnight. God watched over me.
3) My dreams. In Colorado, I have had a vivid dream every night I have been here. And different friends appear in each one, so you've probably been in one. They've ranged from interacting with Elvis Costello (last night) to waking up (in my dream) to find that a bomb had been thrown through my motel 6 window into the building behind the motel 6 (my night in Denver). That dream had heavy Sherlock Holmes influences as I've been reading some Conan Doyle quite recently.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Miles
That day your kindness shown through.
Pictures and stories told of you.
I felt as if I had known you for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
-Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Miles
Buy this album if you don't have it, I think it's my frontrunner for album of the year.
With the terrible traffic to get into Newport, I was lucky enough to catch the last four songs of Sallie's set (Cage, Danger, Miles, and I Swear) first off on Saturday. And, boy howdy, they were a delight. I also hear she powered through a power outage, belting Dolly Parton's "Jolene" in the meantime.
P.S. I took that picture; more Newport pictures to come...eventually.
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