Culture/society/politics

Blinding Noise

May 10, 2016 — Leave a comment

Here’s my song for Week 18 of #songaweek2016. I took a poem I had written last year about my fascination and frustration with the Internet, and set it to music, sort-of loud music:

No no disconnect me

from the bluster and brooding

from the bright and blare

This is a hole in my heart

This is a tunnel to somewhere

I can’t remember

and can’t get back

and cannot banish

it

will not vanish

Thoughts transfer

from brain to brain

meat brain

to silicon brain

I have cut out the middleman

skipped the paperwork.

All this high-tech transcendence

makes me dizzy

I am falling down a hole

falling down a tunnel to somewhere

I can’t remember

and can’t get back

cannot banish

it

will not vanish

Sleep baby sleep

your dreams have all been written

watch the screen

breathe easy

lullaby

LOL-a-bye.

 

Pulse

March 8, 2016 — 5 Comments

The larger concern is not he who I shall not name, but the fear and rage pulsing through the crowds he’s riding on.

Here’s my song for Week 9 of #songaweek2016. I wrote the words and did my best to perform them, but Nathan Bloom did *everything* else to make this track work!

My finger’s on your pulse, America, I’ve got you by the throat

I say what’s on my mind, that’s all it takes to get your vote

I make the cameras flash and the crowds roar

I excite you, entice you, leave you panting for more

 

What’s my name? Say it louder

What’s my name? Say it prouder

Feel the fire, feel the power

I’m a demagogic tower

I’m the savior of the hour

and you love me

no matter what I do

yeah you love me even more

when they tell you not to

 

You’re an angry adolescent raging against the machine

I’m a millionaire maverick in a limousine

and you believe in me when I say I’ll make you great

You’ll disown your family for me ‘cause you never liked them anyway

 

You’re burning up with fever, there’s a beam stuck in your eye

but you don’t want a doctor, just want me to keep you high

Here, let me strip off all those bandages and salt your open wounds

and trust me, I’ll be here to seize you when you swoon

Ready for a Silent Night

December 4, 2015 — 2 Comments

In the news – more mass shootings than calendar days this year. Police brutality, Black Lives Matter protests, Syrian refugees, domestic terrorists, Islamic extremists . . . and my Facebook feed lights up with posturing and politics, fear, reactionism, polarization. So much of it is ugly, irrational, unkind, thoughtless.

I used to have a lot more to say about these things, back when I was smarter and more authoritative on everything, I guess. Now, I just feel softened, tender towards everyone, silent and sorrowful, observing the overwhelming ocean of humans trying to make their way in the world – a few take their pain and anger to destructive extremes, and the Internet ignites over these incidents. Behind our screens, scanning and clicking, we think we know, we’re sure we understand the heart of the matter.

But I for one am safe and comfortable, and it’s possible that until and unless I somehow become otherwise, I simply cannot understand, have very little that’s useful or constructive to tell you from my social media soapbox.

Maybe not every form of silence is violence. Maybe we could all use a silent night or two – shut down the devices and be still. Breathe.

I still identify as a Christian after all these years of living, all the crimes and abuses done in the name of Christ, all my doubts and grievances and downright embarrassment of the church culture I’ve been part of. And the biggest reason I can think of for my tenacity in this faith, is that I have learned I don’t know it all, don’t have it all, can’t get it right – and my faith remains in a God who loves, and loves, and loves us still – all of us, no exceptions – who holds it all together. And I don’t have to be afraid. I too can love unto death, can love my enemy, need not arm myself for battle. God is greater than all. And God is love.

And “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”

PS – If you take me up on the suggestion of a silent night, you might also want some cozy-dark holiday music to ease you back out of it. Halo in the Frost fits the bill, and it’s a free download.

An Article Worth Sharing: Being Gay at Bethel

May 15, 2015 — Leave a comment

I graduated from Bethel University (then Bethel College) after transferring there for my last three semesters. While I disagree with the institution’s corporate stance on homosexuality, this article from the student newspaper gives me hope that thoughtfulness, compassion, courage, and grace will move the conversation – and policy – forward in a way that supports and encourages everyone, including LGBTQ people who find themselves at Bethel.

(Full link: https://medium.com/the-clarion/being-gay-at-bethel-7ba07c8e5b9)