Soundtrack to My Life-Part 13

Hello all!

I know you've been absolutely desperate without the updates to my blog soundtrack, right?  Well...here they are again!  Let all the people rejoice...or at least all those who read this blog ;)

1) Everlasting God-absolutely my favorite worship song of all times barring a few great hymns...I'm still trying to decide whether I like Chris Tomlin's version or Lincoln Brewster's better

2) The Only Song-If you've never listened to Sherwood...do so :)  Especially if you listen to Mae, Waking Ashland, We Shot the Moon, etc. (little tidbit-the lead singer of waking ashland and two other musicians from Sherwood now make up We Shot the Moon)

3) Awake-first, Josh Groban has the most beautiful voice on this earth...second, this is an amazing song about friendship, love, and making the most of every moment we're given.

4) God Is God-Steven Curtis Chapman-an amazing song...Steven Curtis Chapman has an amazing way of writing songs about God's sovereignty amidst our changeable human emotions.  This song is a good reminder that even in the midst of our sorrows, God has a plan for our lives.  Plus, we're using it for an amazing new Speechless pantomime :)

5) Chopin's 15th Nocturne-I'm playing this for Certificate of Merit on Saturday...difficult song but beautiful melody :)

New story :)

Hello :)  Per the request of a dear friend, Megan Moghtaderi, I have decided to start a new story on my blog.  The fairy tale is on hold for a while as I wait for the creative juices to begin flowing on that end, but in the mean time, I've started a fantasy about a grey mouse who goes out in the world as a knight errant in search of honour.  I'll post a new episode every few days, or as often as they get written (the more you comment, the more I'll write ;)  

So here goes for the pilot episode as well as episode one.  I'd like to give each episode a title, so if you have suggestions for them, please please please comment and let me know.  

Pilot Episode...

Once upon a time, in a land filled with danger and damsels in distress, with noble knights and lovely ladies, in a land where a man was valued not by wealth or stature but by the character of his heart, there lived a mouse who dreamed of great deeds.  This mouse, though small, was noble and brave, chivalrous and courageous.  But though the small grey mouse yearned to do battle with giants or dragons, he was but a mouse, considered too lowly and insignificant to be able to do anything.

Charlemagne the mouse was a mouse of honour though.  When the other mice sneered at his high aspirations, he did not deign to retort.  And when they were starving in winter, he graciously shared his cheese with them without comment.  But one day, Charlemagne had finally had enough of the other mice’s teasing and bickering and never aspiring for anything beyond their hidden holes and stolen Swiss.  

Early one morning, as the yellow sun, round as a ball of chedder, rose above the horizon, Charlemagne strapped his small sword around his waist, penned a note of farewell to his family, and set off in search of adventure and honour.  As a knight errant, Charlemagne, being of a somewhat imaginative nature, had even written a code of chivalry for himself to follow, which ran as follows.

“I, Charlemagne, a true knight, have sworn to defend the innocent and helpless, to protect true love, to pursue goodness, truth, and beauty, and to never betray a friend.”

Though some might scoff at the grey mouse’s high ideals, Charlemagne would hold to this code of honour throughout all of his adventures, never once caving to the pressure of the world or giving up chivalry for comfort.  And so, armed with a toothpick sword, some toasted chedder, and a wit sharper than either, Charlemagne headed towards the rising sun, a small grey knight against a world of compromise and cowardice.

Episode 1

After walking along the dusty road for several hours in the growing heat of day, the mouse began to grow weary.  Stopping along the side of the road, Charlemagne sat down beneath the shade of a blackberry bush to rest.  As he sat daydreaming of the adventures he might have, he heard a small voice calling, “Help me, please.  Won’t somebody help me?”  

Certain that a noble deed awaited him, the mouse leapt to his feet and swiftly followed the voice to a small stream.  At the edge of the stream sat a young mouse, calling for help.  

“What be the matter, little one,” asked Charlemagne kindly.  

Attempting to dry his tears, the little mouse sniffled, “My boat, it’s going down the river and I can’t get out.”  Looking down the stream, Charlemagne saw the large leaf floating down the stream out of reach, its flag fluttering bravely in the breeze.  As he dove into the stream after the toy boat, Charlemagne had to smile.  Here he was dreaming of adventures and deadly perils, and the first deed he was called on to perform as a knight was rescuing a child’s toy?  What a queer sense of humor life had!  Skillfully swimming down the stream, Charlemagne seized the leaf in one paw and paddled himself towards shore with the other.  

Breathlessly he bowed and presented the smaller mouse with his boat.  “Your boat, sir,” he gasped.  

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” the mouseling squeaked.  “It was my pleasure,” replied the courtly mouse, and with a shake of his rather bedraggled tail, he went on his way.

Mexico Trip report

Hello all!

I know it's been a really long time since I've been posting, but since I actually have something noteworthy to talk about, I'm back.  For those of you who don't already know, my family and I went on a trip down to Mexico this weekend with YWAM to build a house for a needy family.  

We left this Friday morning and drove down to the San Diego base where we met the three other families and drove down in two large vans across the border to the base outside Tijuana.  This base that we were staying at for the weekend was their brand new base, so we were the first team to stay in it...it was so nice that it barely felt like being on a missions trip at all :)  We had heaters in the rooms, oh so comfortable mattresses, flushable toilets (nonexistant in Mexico), and potentially hot showers!  Friday night we had a very American dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes) and played some icebreaker games with the entire team. 

Saturday morning after breakfast we drove out to the work site where we would be building the house.  It was about an hour's drive, partly along the beach and partly up in the hills...it was some of the most gorgeous country out in the hills, especially after the rain.  Yes, it did rain...almost the entire weekend.  It was raining pretty steadily when we arrived and only stopped occasionally before starting up again throughout the entire day.  The house building was able to continue despite the rain, but the painting had to stop each time, only to be resumed again to touch up the paint the rain washed off.  Twas quite an adventure to be sure, working in the mud and rain and freezing cold.  Before stopping to go back to the base, we had the walls up and most of the roof on, and had started painting the walls outside.  Although typically the house would be much further along by that time, we were still over halfway done.  Getting back to the base, we were dismayed to learn that the water was out and that there would be no showers for us.  Praise the Lord for the base director's wife...she graciously allowed those of us who wanted to, to come over to her apartment and use her hot showers.  Wonderful!!!!   After a delicious meal of carne asada tacos, we hung around and played card games until bed.

Sunday morning dawned cold but sunny.  Driving out to the house was much easier this time around as the roads had dried up quite a bit.  Although it rained some, it was quite a bit drier than Saturday.  Finishing the house took a bit longer than expected, so we weren't completely done until 4 or 4:30.  When we gave the family the keys to their house, it was absolutely amazing to see their reactions as they saw the house, and the furniture and groceries.  It really made me stop and think about how much we are blessed with here in America, and how much we take for granted.  Since we left the site about 5 or 5:30, and still had to pack up our things back at the base, we didn't get home until after midnight...but it was an amazingly wonderful experience for the entire family.  

Also...pictures will be up shortly at www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethbush/   

Term Paper

Hello all faithful readers...

As promised a month or more ago, here is the term paper to go along with the two descriptions I posted on here in December.   

Physical Beauty: Dangerous Passion or Divine Pursuit?

Today, physical beauty is an all-consuming passion.  For some, the drive to appear beautiful becomes an obsession leading to sin.  Observing this alarming trend, the Church has downplayed physical beauty, labeling it a worldly pursuit.  In movies, books, and fashion, Christians have come to equate beautiful with worldly.  Although contemporary Christian culture rejects beauty as a superficial distraction from spiritual matters, the Church should regard beauty as an essential element of Christian virtue because beauty reflects the glory of the Creator, inspires men to worship the Lord, and guides them in a right understanding of the nature of God.  

Modern churches are designed to be practical as opposed to beautiful.  Many congregations have moved away from the ornate tradition of more orthodox churches, constructing their sanctuaries without regard to style or appearance.  John Wesley’s philosophy of a Christian’s use of money agrees with that of modern churches.  He exhorts Christians not to “waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the desire of the eye by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless ornaments” (Wesley, “The Use of Money” 245).  By purchasing only what is necessary rather than ornamental, one saves money for what is important and has the ability to further God’s work through financial gifts.  Contemporary churches, built with the intent of providing a meeting place for the congregation without concern for embellishments and empty adornment, appear to fully meet Wesley’s standards of the proper use of money.

Not only is physical beauty an impractical use of resources, it is also considered a distraction from spiritual matters.  Within church buildings as well as Christian media, beauty is looked down upon as a worldly pursuit that will deter Christians from following the Lord wholeheartedly.  When considering the typical Christian movie, the basic plot-line follows someone who is homely or plain through various trials until their true inner beauty finally shows through, while the beautiful or attractive characters turn out to be evil and manipulative.  Christians have developed a distrust of beauty and regarded it as a worldly evil.  Once again Wesley reminds men that when they “lay out money to please [their] eye, [they] give so much for an increase of curiosity, for a stronger attachment to these pleasures which perish in the using” (Wesley 246).  Beauty is not only unnecessary in pursuing God, but it can distract from Him by causing men to become too attached to worldly, perishable items.  Superficial beauties are considered to detract from the true worship of God rather than enhance it.  

Contrary to this belief, the Church ought to embrace beauty as a quality of true virtue.  Beauty is not merely a physical attribute, but also a spiritual one.  In The Nature of True Virtue, Jonathan Edwards eloquently argues that true virtue consists in beauty.  Virtue is “the beauty of those qualities and acts of the mind that are of a moral nature” (Edwards, “The Nature of True Virtue” 244).   These spiritual attributes or virtues are considered praiseworthy on account of their beauty.  Beauty is not only an outward quality, but one which characterizes the inner qualities which the Church so prizes.  

Furthermore, beauty stems from one of the greatest virtues, love.  The essence of love “is the thing wherein true moral or spiritual beauty primarily consists” (Edwards 250).  True spiritual beauty is that which stems from a virtuous love of benevolence.  Far from rejecting beauty as superficial, Edwards considers it not only an exalted virtue, but the root from which all virtues stem.  As beauty is the root of virtue, it ought to be an essential part of Christianity.

Because beauty reflects the glory of God, it is a crucial means of proclaiming Him to the world.  The Psalms are filled with vivid descriptions of nature displaying God’s glory.  The psalmist proclaims that “the heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the works of His hands” (NASB, Psalm 19:1).  From the beauty seen in nature, man can learn of God’s glory.  The glory seen in majestic mountains, in roaring ocean waves, in the overarching dome of deep blue skies studded with diamond stars, is a mirror projecting an image of the even greater glory of the Creator.  Hence beauty can be instrumental in revealing God to others.  Since the beginning, His creation “has been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that [men] are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).  Beauty reveals God’s glory to men, so that they have no excuse for not trusting in Him. By implementing beauty into their buildings, the Church would be able to point even more clearly to the Creator.

Furthermore, beauty is a powerful tool to inspire awe and reverence towards God.  The beauty in magnificent churches-high arched domes frescoed with Biblical scenes, towering pillars overlaid with gold, stunning stained glass windows-inspires awe in men which leads them to worship God, the Lord of beauty.  

For as God is infinitely the greatest being, so he is allowed to be infinitely the most beautiful and excellent: and all the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation, is but the reflection of diffused beams of that Being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory. (Edwards 252)  

God’s beauty is so far superior to any man-made beauty, that all other beauties merely reflect back to God His own majesty.  Thus beauty found in churches, by reflecting God’s own beauty, will lead men to contemplate the most beautiful one of all. 

Finally, beauty is crucial in aiding men to further understand the nature of God.  Through observing natural beauties, one can better understand God’s spiritual beauties.  As God is supreme ruler over all, and mankind is dependent upon Him, “there is the resemblance of a decent trust, dependence, and acknowledgement in the planets continually moving round the sun, receiving his influences... an image of majesty, power, glory and beneficence in the sun in the midst of all” (Edwards, “Beauty of the World” 14).  The sun’s glory and brilliance mirror the majesty of its Creator.  Also, the softer beauties of flower and tree reflect “every grace and beautiful disposition of mind, of an inferior towards a superior cause, preserver, benevolent benefactor, and a fountain of happiness” (Edwards 14-15).  Beauty can reveal some character of God, pointing men towards a deeper understanding of His nature.                  

As beauty reflects God’s glory, stirs men to worship Him, and reveals His nature, beauty should be an essential part of Christian virtue and worship, regardless of the fact that modern Christians have abandoned beauty to the world.  First, beauty is crucial because it reflects God’s glory.  Furthermore, beautiful objects inspire worship of God in men’s hearts.  Finally, through contemplating the beautiful, one can come to understand God’s character more clearly.  Beauty is not merely a physical attribute, but also a spiritual quality which is essential to true virtue; therefore the Church should be willing to reclaim beautiful things for Christianity and re-incorporate beauty into worship.  Though modern churches sacrifice beauty for the sake of utility, the Church ought to strive to beautify their buildings, not for their glory, but to further God’s glory.

Enjoy!  And please, leave comments with any critiques or further questions you may have :)

A Fairy Tale-Part 4

Now all the world was sunny to the princess, for she was in love with her knight, and he with her.  In her mind, all was well for she had found her one and only at last, and never would they be parted again.  All that remained to do was to be married and live happily ever after.  Or so she thought.  But a cloud was moving that would soon block her sun and potentially mar her happily ever after.

One night as the princess was talking with her lover, she noticed that he appeared particularly distant, almost cold, to her.  Inquiring whether all was well with him, the only answer she received was a sigh.  At last her knight spoke.  He told her that all though he loved her very dearly, he was as good as engaged to a maiden in his hometown, and that he still loved her too.  For so many years he had believed that his heart lay with this maiden, and now, his whole world was being rocked.  He still desired to remain with his lady, but at the same time, he could not bear to leave his princess.

The princess listened to the knight's words with an ever-sinking hear.  She tried to tell herself that it was truly she whom the knight loved, but deep down inside, a voice whispered "You knew this was too good to be true.  You knew you weren't really going to get a happily ever after, after all."  Between the knight's sad countenance and the nay-saying voice within, the princess began to despair.  Tears welled up in her big brown eyes and she turned away from the window with a sigh of regret.  Vainly did the knight implore her not to weep.  Vainly did she attempt to be strong and not show how much she was suffering.  But the tears continued to roll down her cheeks, tears of sorrow for losing the one she loved, tears of regret for giving her heart away to him, tears of anger at the knight for loving her and yet leaving her, as each of the other men had done.  

The knight, after attempting to soothe the princess with no success, began talking, almost to himself and not to her.  He reminded her of times they had shared together as friends, and how they would always have those memories.  When there was still no response from the broken-hearted princess, he sighed.  "Farewell, princess.  Remember, that I will always love you."

Without another word, the knight climbed on his horse and rode away, back to his hometown and his ladylove, while the princess sobbed her heart out under the moonlit sky.

To Be Continued...

A Fairy Tale-Part 3

For many months, the princess had attempted to keep silent about her true feelings for the knight.  But one night, she decided.  She simply could not keep silent for one night longer.  This particular night, her knight seemed particularly silent.  Several times the princess ventured a topic of conversation, only to be met with brief one word answers or silence born of deep thought.  Sighing, the princess despaired of ever working up the courage to speak of her deep love for this knight who had captured her heart.  She turned away from the window, when a voice stopped her.  

"Princess," her knight halted her.  "Please, if you will, I must share something with you."  Turning back, the princess stopped and stood with an air of expectancy.  

"Princess," the knight began slowly, choosing each word carefully.  "For some time now I have been struggling against these feelings.  But it will not do, I can no longer keep silent.  Your beauty, your wit, your charm and grace, all these have captured my heart.  Now I know that you must hate me for speaking to you like this.  Me, a humble knight, daring to fall in love with the princess of the kingdom and future heir to the throne.  But...I must speak out.  I must be allowed to tell you how deeply and desperately I Love You."  

With tears shining in her eyes, the princess gazed down upon her knight, for he was her knight in truth now.  "As it is the time for confessions, sir, I have one of my own to make.  For some weeks now, I have felt myself falling ever deeper in love with you.  I truly did attempt to stop it, for I knew of your maiden back home, and never dared to think that you could love me too, but tonight I knew I could not keep silent one moment longer.  You have made me so happy, and I Love You."  

Their emotions overflowing too great for words, the princess and her knight did the only thing they could.  Running swiftly down the winding tower stairs, the princess flew into the arms of her one and only.  As they stood together in the moonlight, they could think and speak of nothing but their newfound love, murmuring words of affection to one another.  When they finally bid one another goodnight, the princess happily climbed her tower steps, certain that she could need nothing more to be truly happy.  But in the back of her mind, a nagging thought persisted...how long would this dream come true last?

To be continued...

Soundtrack to My Life- Part 12

Well...here we go again...and this is actually on Thursday, hurrah for me!!!

1) So Close-Jon McLaughlin...not only does this song have some meaning for me right now, but it's from one of the sweetest movies ever :)

2) Hosanna-Hillsong-we did this song in worship, but quite a bit heavier than this recording...amazing song, and that e minor chord is absolutely gorgeous :)

3) Hope-We Shot the Moon-love this band...it was started by Jonathan Jones, lead singer of Waking Ashland

4) Under the Sun-The Swift-I'm actually trying to write a Speechless pantomime to this song, about how Christians should be counter-cultural and living oppositely to the world.-this song isn't on the website though so you dont get to hear it unless you look it up :P

5) Fugue 2-JS Bach-amazing fugue although I hate it right now because of CM...*sigh* oh Bach why must you be so difficult and yet so beautiful?