(Today’s crazy schedule does not allow time to whip up a fresh blog from scratch. I have frozen this past favorite in an airtight zip-lock for just such a day. A quick pop in the microwave defrost setting and it is ready for your consumption…hope you enjoy). Welcome to the experiment known as the iPod devotional series. Here is how it works. On the old iPod is a “shuffle songs” feature. You hit the button and the iPod randomly picks a song.  I am writing a blog about whatever song the device selects on that day from the 1,000 plus songs on my iPod. My music list will further confirm my status as a Christian who makes others feel superior. My music goes from Al Green to the Youngbloods. Beatles to U2. Old hymns to modern praise music. Toby Keith to Frank Sinatra. Oldies to the soundtrack from Monty Python’s Spamalot. This could be interesting. Before we hit the shuffle button I have to share a series of questions from
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USA Today Columnist Craig Wilson noted that a new collection of quotes had piqued his interest. The book is called Not Bartlett’s and it is a compendium of thoughts on life, love, etc. Wilson listed a few samples and one caught my eye. “What a wonderful life I’ve had – I only wish I had realized it sooner.”  Collette That is true for most of us. But for some reason we tend to dwell on the disappointments, failures and hurts instead of the blessings most of us have in abundance. One reason was articulated by the Church Lady on SNL.    “Could it be (echo) SATAN?” Yes. Without question that is a factor for followers of Jesus. Satan’s battle plan is threefold. To cause us to dwell on past disappointments, to focus on current problems and to fear future events. Falling prey to any or all of those strategies robs us of joy and distracts us from the solution. Jesus. I
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Today’s winner is Matthew West and the song is called “Nothing Else”. You might better know Matthew West from a song called “Next Thing You Know”. His CD called History is one of my favorites and today’s song is an honest reflection on the journey to find happiness. Here are some of the lyrics to Nothing Else. I tried money I got as much as I could and I went to the store And I bought it all But it wasn’t enough ’cause I wanted some more But my house was full So I bought a bigger house and filled it up And there I was with all that stuff And empty. Been there. Done that. Just took the t-shirt in a bag of other stuff to Goodwill. We have so much stuff at our house. Other Christians are so convinced that God is angry over one or more of the top 10 sins on their personal countdown (gay marriage, alcohol, et al). I
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The shuffle landed on a song today that I had already written about in the last series. I went back and read that piece, and unfortunately, it still works. So here is a solid gold flashback… The tune is called Clumsy and it is written and performed by one of my favorites, Chris Rice . You can find the song on the CD Deep Enough to Dream. How interesting that the third song in the shuffle series is my anthem for my Christian journey. ESPN’s Chris Berman signature line for a football blooper is “rumbling, stumbling, fumbling”. That would have been how I described my Christian walk until I found this song. Here are the lyrics from Chris Rice that I could have written if I had any musical talent or ability to write lyrics. Those were the only two obstacles that kept me from writing this song.  You think I’d have it down by nowBeen practicin’ for thirty yearsI should have walked a thousand milesSo
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I have never understood opera. My entire exposure to opera until just recently was from Bugs Bunny. Everything I knew about opera was from “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “The Rabbit of Seville”.  To go from Elmer Fudd singing “kill the wabbit’ to having opera music on my iPod is an amazing transformation. Sadly, I haven’t gotten more sophisticated or cultured. My budding interest in opera came from an unlikely source. Today’s iPod shuffle landed on a song that I couldn’t even spell a month ago. The song is called Nessum Dorma and it is from the final act of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot. Believe me, I had to Google that bit of info. I also found out that the song has been a signature of famous Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti who, ironically, passed away today. Nessum Dorma is Italian and translates to “let no one sleep”. But the reason this music popped up on my iPod was not the song but the singer. A
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The return of the iPod Devotionals starts with a song by James Taylor. The shuffle landed on a classic by Sweet Baby James called “You’ve Got a Friend.” It is an appropriate place to restart the iPod Devotionals because friends have been on my heart and mind more than usual this week. Life is hard. Good friends are a big part of making it to the finish line successfully. Taylor’s lyrics resonated with me after returning from seeing friends in California. Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend. You’ve got a friend. Ain’t it? Real friends are a treasure. I hope I don’t insult your intelligence if I remind you it was 17th century French classical author François La Rochefoucauld that wrote, “A true friend is the most precious of all possessions and the one we take the least thought about acquiring.” That is too often true. Joni and I have many good friends and that is a blessing. But you will have
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Today was to be the renewal of the iPod Devotional Series. But a sick canine friend makes a trip to the vet today’s priority (nothing life threatening). So please be patient with another gently read preview. Regular readers of these humble ramblings remember a daring effort called the iPod devotional series. It was daring because I would hit the random shuffle feature and write about whatever song came up in the sequence. Because of my weird music tastes the concept was fraught with potential peril. My marginal integrity was challenged when a song by Toby Keith appeared on the screen but I gave it a shot. Today’s song is called Watching You by country singer Rodney Atkins. The song is reminiscent of a very poignant song by the late Harry Chapin called Cat’s in the Cradle. That song piled guilt on a lot of Dad’s in the 80’s, myself included. Atkin’s song recalls his shock when his little boy drops a mild expletive
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