Here and Now

So, I'm doing it again... Oh, wait, I've been gone for almost two weeks now - our denomination's Annual Conference and a work trip in Pittsburgh (which was great, by the way)... Anyway, so, I'm doing it again, it would seem. Every once in a while I think about doing something really big for God. Something earth-shaking, faith-building, hope-spreading, light...um...beaming? Anyway, I think about doing some big things for God. And every once in a while I act on that impulse. Seems like a good idea, God will be honored by it, it might even sound like the right thing to do at the time. Thing is, and this is where the "I'm doing it again" thing comes in, sometimes when I decide to do these big deals, I don't really ask God what HE wants, you know? I mean, what if these big plans aren't really God plans? What if I set out to do the greatest thing ever witnessed by human eyes so that God will be glorified, but God really just wants something smal...

Earlier today I was trying to do a lead sheet of a song I had written several years ago. I have this cool program (Finale NotePad 2005a) that is really easy to use (though it crashes a lot for me on playback...) Anyway, I realized a couple of things as I was working the song out (bear in mind, that I can't read music - not with any proficiency - and I taught myself to play guitar). First of all, I really like syncopation. Took me forever to figure out all those dotted this and tied that... Second, there can be a huge difference between a melody written and a melody performed...even when the notes are the same. There's inflection, scoops and whatever... So, turns out that it's all about the details. When I was a kid I took some kind of standardized test. One of the parts of the test was to make as many pictures as I could out of series of circles in an allotted time. As I recall, there were maybe 30 circles. I probably used 5 or 6 of the circles. I was told that I spent too ...

Bet not too many people remember the band Undercover. Was looking over my CD collection the other day and I pulled out the Broken Records '88 compilation Undercover Vol. 1. Just about the only thing I every remember from the band is the song "God Rules." Bet not too many people remember it, either... (well, the other thing I remember is the GREAT Boys and Girls Renounce the World album cover and song...) God Rules Last time water, this time fire The day is getting down to the wire I've heard Jesus mocked and now I'm tired God is true and men are liars God Rules Jesus helps me day and night Took my sins and flushed them right outa here The devil lost the fight Jesus won with power and might God Rules There's more to life than getting stoned And sitting in the twilight zone He is coming to take us home Don't be left here all alone God Rules By Ojo Taylor Okay, it ain't Shakespeare - but two things strike me about it, even today. First is it...