DCFC: I will possess your heart.

First, you need to be familiar with the Death Cab for Cutie's song "I will possess your heart." (You can hear a short version here, or watch their video (which is a bit longer) here).

Here's the lyrics if you're into that sort of thing...

How I wish you could see the potential,
the potential of you and me
It's like a book elegantly bound,
but in a language that you can't read - just yet
You gotta spend some time--love,
you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love,
I will possess your heart (x2)


There are days when outside your window,
I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective,
when we'll be lovers, lovers at last
You gotta spend some time--love,
you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love,
I will possess your heart(x2)

I will possess your heart (x2)

You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won't let you, let me down so easily, so easily

You gotta spend some time--love,
you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love,
I will possess your heart (x3)

I will possess your heart (x2)

The first time I heard this, to be honest, it came off as a bit... stalkerish.

For all I know, perhaps it was written to be that way.

But there is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Sometimes he has something else to say in the midst of where we are.

It's like a hidden message of the gospel. When we are first presented with it, we may see it as

beautiful,

mysterious,

confusing,

un-wanted,

un-needed,

intrusive.

(Did I just have a kind of Mike Myers So I Married An Axe Murderer thing going there for a bit... (I couldn't find the rooftop poem... sorry.)?)

Anyway, back on track...

It has something in it that makes me think about "taste and see"...

It also made me think of Irresistible Grace... that Jesus Christ, the pursuer of our hearts, will win our affections, that the heart we try to hide from him, actually longs to be unfurled before him.

Even we as "Christ followers" have times where we "reject [his] advances and desperate pleas", but he doesn't give up on us. Alfred Edersheim in his book, "The Temple: It's Ministry and Services," refers to a story passed down from the rabbis:

For three years and a half abode the Shechinah' (or visible Divine presence) 'on the Mount of Olives,'— whether Israel would repent—'and calling upon them, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." And when all was in vain, then the Shechinah returned to its own place!

Another thought, "will" is a form of the verb "be"... which shares a form with the word "am".

I am.

Hmmm.

Anyway, that's about all I have for this one... for now.

Have you spent some time, love?
Have you spent some time... with Me?
I know that you'll find love...

and...

...I will possess your heart.

Falling Down

We are all apt to believe what the world believes about us.
George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

Have you heard the song "Falling Down," by Atreyu? Driving home from work Thursday night this song came on the radio. I'd heard it before, but that night it caught my ear a bit more than usual.

I've had some time to think about what I wanted to say about this song, and keep going between a few different(?) themes...

1. I'm falling down... We're all dying in the end.

The idea of depravity and death in sin was one of the first thoughts that came to mind when reflecting on this song.

2. It's in your head... All the voices mistaken. (Shake it off, shake it off).

Donald Miller has a book called "Searching For God Knows What," in which there is a bit about a lifeboat and the way that we as humans think that the size of the lifeboat is smaller than it really is, that it won't last, and that we try to justify why we should stay in, and others should give up their spot in the boat. I'd go into it a bit more, but I don't want to spoil that chapter for you. This book is worth the read.

2.5. What are the voices in your head?

When I came in the that night (or maybe it was the next morning), I saw the quote by Eliot. "We are all apt to believe what the world believes about us." Amazing quote, given the timing of it. Did you know that ol' George's real name was really Mary Ann Evans, and that she published under a man's pen name so that her work would be taken seriously in her day?

I found it interesting that the opening lines of the song were:

"You're always looking back / Running from the past / You're always sweating me / About the next big heart attack / You're always looking over you're shoulder / Staring down the path / I'm falling down, falling down, falling down"

Notice that it's "you" telling "me" about what to worry about, though "you" are "looking over your shoulder"... Something comes to mind about logs and splinters, and eyes.

The voices are, all to often, mistaken. They can be loud, however.

Do you hear the cries of "failure" and "@#$% up" louder than you hear the voice saying "My son. My daughter."? Can you hear the Father calling you a child of the king, or do you hear what a lost world is telling you that you have to worry about?

I'm still not sure I've unearthed everything that is hiding in my mind about the correlation between this song and this quote. I think that I'll go ahead and publish and come back to this some other time, perhaps.

Thoughts?

Graphics

I've been working at updating the header graphic for the blog. It's mostly what I had up before... before it randomly disappeared.

It kind of strikes me that sometimes work, and jobs, can be a bit like dating. With work, sometimes you can go quite a ways with a small or, rather, unengaging project. However, as soon as things may pick up a bit, several other projects will be vying for your attention.

When I took this job back at the end of January, a company I had interviewed with several times finally called to offer a job.

When it rains, it pours, I suppose.

What's the forecast?

Camp.

Running sound for a yearbook camp this week.

I never thought about there being a camp for yearbooks.

Looking around, there are kids here from what looks like junior high and high schools. Today is the first day of camp. We are still in the first real session.

This one is on themes. They are currently talking about coming up with themes, and theme spin-offs.

It strikes me as "how to be creative." I know that it isn't, but it's close. They are teaching brainstorming for concepts, building themes off of that, and how to prepare that for application across the yearbook.

I'm sure that at some point I had something like this in a classroom, once upon a time... but I can't remember it.

This could be long. It might be interesting.