about how it affects our lives and how it can matter more in different life seasons...
i've just had the incredible blessing of getting to see Sara Groves in person...all the way up in Green Bay, Wisconsin of all places! it was such a worthwhile event...such a beautiful, talent-filled night of non-flashy but so very rich music. And the night and weekend was made sweeter by getting to share it with my dear friend Jenny.
This year, especially, i believe Sara's music has sung truth into my life....has made me more open to living honestly in my own skin...and has made me want to at least try to stay open to a future of sweet possibilities. Her music has helped me trust God more....in a realistic way that doesn't demand all the answers.
Traveling itself and attending this concert where experience lived up to expectations have put me in a reflective mood ~ so here's some simple thoughts:
~ it's good to be with all types of Christians who share a love of music...drawn together from different places to a common ground of worship.
~ i know there are all sorts of things wrong with the world....but when i encounter others of likemind and likefaith it encourages me....things might not be as bad as some think....if we get out of our little boxes just a little, maybe we'll find there's plenty of good things happening around us...people love God....and are not as unthinking and uncaring as devisive voices might say. Good music enlightens us, i think...(whether that's Sara Groves, Mozart, Sondheim, Fanny Crosby, or Johnny Cash:)...opens ours eyes a little to the wonder in humanity...helps us focus on the good and the bad...but not always the negative.
~and just to clarify: "likemind and likefaith" doesn't mean that everyone seemed exactly the same... & that's a good thing....
~ i so appreciate Sara's focus on the little things... amidst the bigger truths...her recognition that it all matters. that's tough for me to explain unless you've listened to her music...but it's there. And i think that full focus is often missing from our lives...we so often get it all out of whack...often overly self-focused or super-spiritual.
~ as someone who "does music" so much but certainly knows my own limitations, i'm always astounded when i observe the writing and creativity of true artists...what a gift! i've spent so much time enjoying and perfecting music myself...and thankfully, it's currently serving as a little source of income...and sometimes i wish i had pursued even more musical training...but my eyes and mind and heart are always so impressed by those few individuals who possess true creativity and musical grace as well as musical skill.
~ i know a lot of musical thinking boils down to "taste"...preference. i try hard to not be judgmental and honestly, that's not very hard...i like a lot of things. But what i don't like is the shallow, the gaudy, the "cheap" sorts of music that tickle emotions....but say...N O T H I N G...or next to it. again, i know that's mostly a matter of opinion.....and that's why it's important to not knowingly insult the musical loves of another person. but i do have opinions:) The Sara Groves concert was so very, very refreshing in it's lack of pretentiousness and showiness.....and in it's abundance of genuine warmth and sincerity. I believe God was honored.
before the concert in downtown Green Bay...there was a statue so i had to take a pic:)
the concert....(not a great pic)...
Mostly i'm just rambling tonight...processing what was for me a truly fun and uplifting time....and also just writing out some thoughts about life that are floating through my mind. This is certainly not an exhaustive thesis on music! And i hope i do not seem overly starstruck or stalker-like!:)...that's not how i feel! i could write much more about the whole good weekend of observing the beautiful family life of Jenny & Tom and their precious children....and of the blessing of longtime friends who know me and love me anyway...but writing more about those things feels more private....
so i'll close with some words from another song from another writer that's been on my mind...
tonight it's my prayer....
"Make my life a prayer to you
I want to do what you want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers no compromise...
I want to shine the Light you gave
Through your Son you sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know you're really there"
(Keith Green)
