The Top 7 Songs Meme

Random Yak tagged me with a meme. One does not skip on a Yak as its irritated and may charge. Then again, that may be an Oxen, but I won’t take the chance:

Like the Yak, I don’t have an Ipod, though I do have a program that plays songs, and actually made a list of my top 10 Favorite Songs, so my top 6 come from there, but my 7th is different because as much as I like Daddy Big Boots I wouldn’t like to loop it:

7) To the Moon-Sara Groves:

This quirky song is a personal favorite song of mine. Here’s how the words go:

There’ll be no one there to tell us we’re odd
No one to change our opinions of God
Just lots of rocks and this dusty sod
Here at our church on the moon

6) The Job Suite-Michael Card

An under-rated classic. Card does four songs from the book of Job in a row, and tells the whole 42 chapter book in about 11 minutes. Fascinating stuff.

5) Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

I first heard this in the PBS special, “Liberty: The American Revolution”. It was a hauntingly beautiful song. Click here for the lyrics.

4) Underneath the Door-Michael Card

Michael Card calls it his worst song because he has to explain it. In terms of a song that touches the human experience, there’s none other. It handles the subject of father-son seperation better than the sappy Henry Chapin song, “Cat in the Cradle”:

Its funny how we run from the things we need the most,
That a father would lock out his son
When his heart would hold him close,
But our wounds are part of who we are,
And there’s nothing left to chance,
Pain’s the pen that rights the songs
That call us forth to dance

3) Healer of My Soul- John Michael Talbot

Talbot’s best in my opinion. The song is a prayer for healing and hope in the midst of woes and dealing with sin. A beautiful call for God’s healing hand.

2) When the Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash

My absolute favorite Cash song. The mix of apocalyptic biblical images combined with a spot on mix of music and tone make this a classic.

1) It is Well With My Soul

A song that ironically comes from the depths of sadness. A Chicago lawyer who lost his belongs in the Chicago fire after losing his son sent his family to Europe to couperate, only to have his 2 daughters perish at sea. As he passed by the spot they’d died, he penned these words:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Then I’m supposed to tag 7 other people to tell us their Ipod (or non Ipod playlist). So here goes:

David at Third World County
Oblogatory Anecdotes

And:

Point Five which counts as five blogs.

The Power

Some will look at a rabbit foot,
Or wish upon a star,
Others will depend on luck and fortune,
Some will hope in hope itself,
Or believe in the power
Of their own personal superstition.

Yet, nothing will save,
The stars are balls of gases,
Burning in the night,
The rabbits foot wasn’t so lucky for the rabbit,
And our imaginations are vain,
Yet it is the Lord that is The Power.

He’s not a Power,
Or the greatest Power,
But he possesses the Power
Before which all others must bow,
It is the Lord who can cast down Kingdoms
With a word,
It is the Lord who can exalt in a moment.
It is the Lord who is able
To create in us
Things of which we’ve never dreamed.

We turn to You,
For before You all Heaven and Earth
Must bow,
For you have the Power
To do wonders,
The greatest of which is that you love us.

-Adam Graham

Christian Poetry Poetry

Shut Up and Let Him Swing

Courtesy of Can’t Stop the Bleeding, we have word on Carl Everett making a splash in Seattle with a Seattle Post-Intelligencer interview in which he was goaded by reporter Jim Moore into repeating some controversial statements.

Now, Everett is no Ken Hamm on Creation. (Note: Neither am I which is why the issue isn’t really discussed on this blog.) But then they get into the homosexuality issue:

Asked whether he had any regrets for what he said in Maxim, Everett said: “For what? Read the article. There should be no regrets.”

Well, what about your views on homosexuality, that being gay is wrong?

“It’s in the Bible,” Everett said. “A woman and a woman can’t have a baby, and a man and a man can’t have a baby.”

But what would you say to gay Mariners fans? Aren’t you concerned about offending them?

“I didn’t say nothing about the person,” he said. “It’s the act …”

First of all as to offending Gay Mariners Fans, did Carl Everett come into Seattle and deliver a speech on homosexuality? Did he protest a gay bar? Carl Everett came to Seattle to play Baseball. Jim Moore came to Everett to create problems. Carl gets asked questions and he answers them.

No one asks a movie actor who makes a far left movie, “Are you concerned about offending Conservative movie goers?” They just go and make the film and the media lauds it. Carl Everett not agreeing with evolution or homosexuality is now a federal case.

More fundamentally, who cares what Carl Everett thinks about homosexuality? Unless Washington’s Constiution has been amended to grant legal judgment on homosexuality to “the guy who goes to bat, and then sits down for three innintgs” its really none of the media’s concern.

Though, I have to admit Everett has some keen insights, including this:

Last seen on Wednesday afternoon, Everett for no good reason was asked if he watches “American Idol.” He quickly said that he doesn’t watch TV because there’s nothing worth watching on TV, including Gammons no doubt.

There’s nothing like “Bonanza” and “Gilligan’s Island,” shows he used to watch as a kid.

Perceptive.

Linked to Don Surber and Jo’s Cafe

Baseball

A Sign of Hope: A Word from Idaho Charter Schools

There’s a lot of doom and gloom out in the news and problems in our culture. But sometimes, you just read something that makes you say, “Wow, there’s some increbible people out there.” Such was the case when I opened Today’s Letters from Idaho Charter School parents. Writes Kerry Henringer:

This is in response to the Maughans’ Reader’s View in the Feb. 4 paper (“Views of charter-school advocate Deide are divisive, wrong”). I am a parent who chooses to stay at home and school my children. I work nights on the weekends, and my husband has a full-time job that allows us to do so. We have enrolled our children in a virtual public charter school, Idaho Virtual Academy. We love the IDVA because of its rigorous curriculum. If my children excel, it’s because of the school.

My husband and I choose to have children, and we want to make the choices in their education. I wish more parents had the freedom to choose, but the Maughans would rather have my kids back in mediocre schools instead of expanding choice for all. Why do they want to do this to my children and the children of Idaho?

Denise Nicholson of Nampa writes:

My American dream steps into reality as I spend 900-plus hours educating my four children by enrolling them in a virtual public charter school (IDVA). I do this not because our family is financially independent. It hurts the pocket when giving up a second income to devote hours to my children’s education. However, I don’t mind the repetition of peanut butter or mac-and-cheese when I see them succeeding in their academics.

Three of my four children, whom I teach through a public charter now, were at some point in a traditional public-school setting. In this setting they were pulled out of classes for special education because they weren’t able to keep up with the classroom norm. I have found through experience that special education isn’t necessary for a great deal of children when they are taught one-on-one and able to move at their own pace, mastering each concept before moving on.

Are my children the elite? Hardly. Would it hurt their education if this parental choice was not an option? Absolutely. If parents are willing to sacrifice their time and a second income, why take this option or American dream away? Why mess with something that works?

Tami Djneres writes:

I would like to respond to an opinion (Feb. 4) that charter schools “cherry-pick” the “elite” and “siphon off able students” leaving mainstream schools “ghettoized.” This opinion implies that academic success can be expected only from a privileged few. Charter schools are successfully meeting the educational needs of many students and parents who value educational choices. The lottery system ensures equal access. Busing is provided. The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches is about the same in charter schools as in traditional schools.

Anyone who spends time getting to know these kids will recognize that they are not “privileged elite,” but a typical public school spectrum. The charter school my kids attend does not offer the wide variety of classes and after-school sports that they would enjoy if they attended a traditional junior high or high school in their district. However, their school persistently teaches that success comes from hard work and perseverance. They are challenged and expected to succeed. It is a joy to observe whole classrooms of kids who have a vision of what they can accomplish, and who are successfully achieving their goals.

Wow! A lot of people say I’m a good writer. I’ve got nothing to add to such eloquence. All I can say is thank you to the parents and teachers of Idaho Charter Schools. They’re plotting a new course for kid’s education and pouring their heart, sweat, and tears into the lives of Idaho’s children.

They’re not leaving it to the system, they’re getting their hands dirty, they’re getting involved, and making sacrifices for a better future for their children. Such sacrifice and dedication is the type of thing that changes the world, one child at a time.

Charter Schools

The “Con” Game

First, it was the Neocons (those socially agnostic people who back a strong American effort to Democratize the world and defeat the far left.) Then there’s then we got the South Park Conservatives, those irreverent hip young Conservtives. Now its the Crunchy Cons, which are Conservatives who often live counterculturally. According to the Amazon review:

What do you call people who vote for Bush but shop at Whole Foods? Crunchy cons. And according to Dreher, an editor at the Dallas Morning News, they’re forming a thriving counterculture within the contemporary conservative movement. United by a “cultural sensibility, not an ideology,” crunchy conservatives, he says, have some habits and beliefs often identified with cultural liberals, like shopping at agriculture co-ops and rejecting suburban sprawl. Yet crunchy cons stand apart from both the Republican “Party of Greed” and the Democratic “Party of Lust,” he says, by focusing on living according to conservative values, what the author calls “sacramental” living. Dreher makes no secret of his own faith in Christianity, and his book will resonate most with fellow Christians.

Now some people are taking the stance that “Crunchy Conservatism” is an arrogant thing that actually disparages the traditional conservatives. I take a different view. All of these new Conservatism exist for a reason that actually should lighten the hearts of Republicans.

People who you don’t normally think of as Republicans are members of the GOP, which surprises some people. You go to an herb growing meeting and if someone finds out, they’ll say, “I can’t believe you’re a Republican.” Now the author’s a Conservative, but he stands for all this stuff: environmental concern, organic foods, and birkenstocks and he meets a few people like that and says, “We’ve got a book explaining who we are and why we are.”

Its that need to be understood because someone like that has to create a lot of questions from both conservatives and the organic foods buddies. Its really a desire to be understood by all parts of the Conservative movement.

What does a Conservative look like? What does a Conservative wear? What does a Conservative do in his spare time? Where does a Conservative shop?

The answer crosses a lot of lines. Conservatives are Black, White, Native American, and Oriental. Conservative guys wear Jeans, Khakis, Suits, Kilts, and Shorts, and I’ve known guys with Conservative politics with earrings, and ponytails. Conservatives play every sport except curling. (A wimpy liberal sport if I ever heard one.) We’re poets, writers, artists, and musicians. They shop at big box Stores like Wal-Mart, discount stores, farmers markets, or local overpriced Merchants.

Similar things can be said of liberalism, I’m sure. The point of all these books is to establish that its okay to be a Republican or a Conservative, because other people like you are. In establishing a more diverse image for the party all of these writers about the new “Cons” are actually doing the Republicans a great service.

Linked to Outside the Beltway, Right Wing Nation, Don Surber, Basil’s Blog, Jo’s Cafe, TMH Bacon Bits

Crunchy Cons