OK, so I see that Danny O’s got a link to the White Horse Inn’s chat about worship. Obviously, I’m interested because there is a Bono clip in the session. I go the extra mile and buy the interview that they quoted from audible.com for 8.95. I listened to all 80 minutes of it almost immediately. All I can say is that he has got to be the coolest guy on the planet right now. He did make some comments that I didn’t know what to make of, though. He made an off-handed comment about the reality of karma which made all sorts of bells and whistles go off in my mind. But, he also said that grace bypasses karma from time to time for him. He said, “If graces doesn’t come, I’m fucked.” That couldn’t be more true. I guess it just seems like his message to people is not about Jesus. It seems like he loves Jesus, but it really doesn’t matter to him if anybody else does. I’m all about wanting to bring relief to the poor, medicine to those with AIDS and so forth. But people can do that and still go to hell. To promote moralism can help to a degree, but it doesn’t save anyone from destruction. If Isaiah 61:1ff. served as a paradigm for Jesus’ ministry (see Luke 4:16ff.), then it was not supposed to end in the physical but in the spiritual. Jesus was pissed off with the crowds time and again because they never got this (Mark 9:14). However, the content of his lyrics does give me hope that he may be yet evangelical.

Now for my interpretation of “Wanderer”. First of all, it was sung by Johnny Cash, who has been known to be spiritual, particularly in the past few years. I think the song is about wandering from Christ. Trying to find him in the emptiness of the world, but finding only emptiness. It really seems to be an indictment on the world (finally) as the world tries to mimic heaven without God, or maybe just a self indictment for seeking out the pleasures of sin. It is songs like this that make me have hope for Bono. “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” also seems very spiritual. Check the lyrical survey:

“Vertigo”: “a girl with crimson nails has Jesus round her neck,” “your love is teaching me how to kneel”

“Miracle Drug”: “I was a stranger you took me in” (straight from Matthew 25 even in Bono’s admission in the NY Times interview, it was one of many verses of Scripture he shared the George W. regarding money for AIDS)

“Love and Peace or Else”: “as you enter this life I pray you depart with a wrinkled face and a brand new heart,” “I’m not easy on my knees, here’s my heart and you can break it,” “…all your Daughters of Zion, all your Abraham’s sons”

“All Because of You”: “I was born a child of grace,” “an intellectual tortoise racing with your bullet train,” “I’m not broke but you can see the cracks, You can make me perfect again,” “all because of you I am”

“Yahweh”: give me a break, it’s a worship song

Other interesting tid-bits I’v gathered about Bono: he got nominated for two nobel-peace prizes in consecutive years, he was a fan of Philip Yancey when his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”, hit the market (aparently Bono contacted Yancey to talk about the book and it is one of his favorites)

Been feeling weird lately. So much I would like to write about. One very interesting U2 song I finally listened to tonight was “Wanderer” and I do not know what to make of it.

I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won’t turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye
Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can’t walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don’t want God in it
I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name
I went with nothing
But the thought you’d be there too
Looking for you
I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents
I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father’s right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don’t you wait up
Jesus, I’ll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I’d be back by noon
Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought you’d be there too
Looking for you
Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

It doesn’t even sound like Bono on the CD. Very interesting.

I have done my final update of my “Sovereinty” blog last week. It’s good to have some of my thoughts visible.

Guess what I got on Friday. I got sick. Finally. I was waiting for it all week. Like clockwork, 6 AM up and in the WC ready see the three previously eaten meals from the day before. Just before I’m ready to give way, all my thoughts run to God. I couldn’t believe how immediately God-centered I became. I prayed with all of my soul and God pushed everything down again. I was so thankful and so humbled. Fortunately I had a buddy covering me at work already so I didn’t have to call in sick for Friday. But most waking moments I had alone that day, I was thinking about Him. Thinking about how flagrantly I’ve been opposing his will for me lately. I was bathing in grace and it was reaching crevices I’ve forgotten about. Even now, I’m listening to U2’s “Grace” from their last album on repeat. I’ve heard the song about 20 times the past day. If ever I’ve had reason to be upset it would be know; Kalila left for school yesterday and yesterday I dropped my car off because the head of my engine is most likely cracked. I have no girl and no transportation. But grace has been absorbing and improving me. As much as I love my girl and being with her, God has caused me to believe that she is in my heart and with me all the time. Nothing can seperate me from her love or my love from her. It’s bigger than phones and distances and blindness. With regard to my car God is loving me through my family and friends by stirring generosity in others to help me get to where I need to be. It’s really remarkable. All my problems just seem so temporary and thin.

“Grace” by U2

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It’s a name for a girl
It’s also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she’s got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She’s got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma
She travels outside of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear her strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

The new U2 CD is unbelievable. The DVD that comes with it has some sweet acoustic and alternative takes of three of the songs on the album. “Vertigo” is growing on me more and more. When I first heard it on the radio I thought that it sounded so pop and I didn’t really like it. But when I was the DVD and a version of the song were The Edge is playing the banjo in an acoustic take with just him and Bono, you can’t help thinking that this is the best band of our generation (i.e. post 1980). Just about every album they’ve ever put out has gone platnum and they continue to crank out hits. They worked on their current album for three years and you can hear the quality. I’m particularly moved by “Miracle Drug” and “Yahweh” as their not quite disguised Christian side comes out. But what can I say, U2 is just cool.

Had an interesting chat with the lady last night about humor and comedy. She is not at all inclined to stand-up comedy. I have always been a fan since I was little. Her sense of humor seems to be a little more subtle, a little more darker. It’s interesting because I laugh at most of what she laughs at, at least when we are together. She doesn’t like physical comedy, which can be brilliant if it is done the way it should be. So I’m hoping that she’ll appreciate Seinfeld, even though Kramer’s physical comedy can be the focus of many episodes. We’ll find out. She’s never seen a full episode. I do know couples that have different senses of humor, but they seem work out fine. I was conversing with my pastor this morning about this very thing, and he suggested that a lot has to do with family and culture. I think there is some definite truth to that, and I hope as me a Kalila form a family and create our own culture that humor together will develop in that context.

OK, more musical acquisitions:

Phish (A Live One, Hoist-used to own both, and PhishLive 06)
Pearl Jam (5-disc concert done at Madison Square Garden in 2001)
Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here-tied for my favorite, also used to own)

In the hopper, or mail via amazon:

Pink Floyd (A Momentary Lapse of Reason and Dark Side of the Moon, used to own)
Lenny Kravitz (Baptism-per recommendation of Jonathan Dodson, a close friend)

Looking forward.