NOTHING IS EVER QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS

I logged onto my favorite band's myspace site today and found they had added a new live recording of one of their many beautiful moving songs. It brought many things to my mind this afternoon. The first being this: "What may at first seem fragile becomes instead a journey towards a rendezvous with grace" which speaks to me about nothing ever being quite what it seems. The first line sets the stage for this song and I have found this to be such a perfect description for much of life. Unfortunately it seems most people miss the transformative power of it all and spend their lives fighting it, deny it or attempting to control it all. What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.

The line that struck me today in a way that I had never seen it before was this one: And if the music starts before I get there. Dance without me, you dance so gracefully....

What I saw in this today was how we can encourage others in things they might be experiencing even if we aren't yet and how seeing grace play out in other people's lives can bring us a bit of joy and give us hope to press on. Too often, with the competitive nature of the fallen mind, we don't want others to have what we don't have and that's really not helpful for anyone.

What I love about this song is it's redemptive message that includes every space we can find ourselves in this life of uncertainty. It's honest and it is hopeful in the face of what seems to be a difficult time. God's grace is at work at all times in every situation and nothing is ever quite what it seems...which leaves me (and hopefully others that might be reading this) with these words from Papa ringing our ears: You have no idea what I am doing right now... I have found that to be very true, but I also have grown to trust and know that it is most definitely redemptive.

You can hear it here

Latter Days

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.

Lord knows we’ve learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.

And I use these words pretty loosely.

There’s so much more to life than words.
There is a me you would not recognize, dear.

Call it the shadow of myself.

And if the music starts before I get there dance without me.

You dance so gracefully.

I really think I’ll be o.k. They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin’ like sleepin’ on a bed of nails.

Nothin’ much here but our broken dreams.

Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin’ is ever quite what it seems.

And I’m dyin’ inside to leave you with more than just cliches.
There is a me you would not recognize, dear.

Call it the shadow of myself.

And if the music starts before I get there dance without me.

You dance so gracefully.

I really think I’ll be o.k. They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it’s real.

Tell them it’s really real.

I just don’t have much left to say.

They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

DON'T MISS THIS....THIS IS CERTAINLY A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF HEARTACHE...these were just added to youtube

PART 1

PART 2