Preoccupation

I spend so many of my days preoccupied-to the point of insanity-with trivial things, such as the order and number of songs that i'm to sing, and whether anyone's paying attention to them. And so often I forget about the very things I talk, pray, and sing about: the glory and majesty of God. I had spent the latter part of the night languishing in a state of...well, let's call it melancholy. And this state of melancholy was(and i guess, still is)accompanied by an overwhelming sense that God was not speaking through his written word in a time when i needed to be spoken to. Until I opened that Gospel of Luke and read the following words: "And all were astonished at the majesty of God."(Luke 9:43a)The words cut to the concealed question:"How often am i truly astonished?" When there's no room for words because of the overwhelming sense of wonder and smallness. My Old Testament professor(Dr. Garner)at C-N talks on so many occasions about the fact that "The Hebrews gained knowledge in order to wonder", and that statement rings so clear in the face of that verse. And so often, that's something that we discount, even to the point of laughing at it. And by we, i mean us as a nation, a culture, and ultimately, The Bride of Christ. I hope that our culture of apathy does not last.

  posted by Andy @ 2:36 AM

 
News: I got a place to host photos at finally so, go look at them...they're pretty cool. The link's on the sidebar.

  posted by Andy @ 11:25 AM

 
Yeah, that was awesome.(i'm speaking about the CMT crossroads show i talked about previously) So, as for today's events, i'm going to start by talking about last night. Sorry, i always have to be difficult. Last night, i went over to my favorite haunt(New City Cafe, of course), and played New Day Come, and along about the middle of the first verse, a peculiar thing happened. I broke a string. "Okay", you're saying,"the kid broke a string. Big whoop, we all do it, especially if you keep strings on as long as you do yours." Point noted. But do you ever break an e string?(mild laughter begins to break out) Not the high e, that's a given. But the LOW e?(collective gasp) Yeah...that's what i thought.

But i say all this as a segue to the following. This summer, it was looking like i would be leading music at a certain day camp here in Knoxville. But on Sunday night, after a very positive and encouraging(and looking back on it, misleading)interview the previous Monday, the director called me and informed me that they would not be able to give me a job. So the rest of the night, and partly the week, i spent wondering why this wasnt the thing for me. Fast forward to Thursday night. I had known that a friend of mine from New City was a counselor at this day camp, so i asked him about it, and got a wealth of answers for my questions. For example, to describe the quality of people i would be working for...the Head Director is marrying a former counselor whom he impregnated; one of the asst directors had a sexual relationship with one of the counselors last year, and another had to be fired because she was doing drugs on the campus of the camp. So what was disappointment about something that i thought i would be good at, is no longer disappointment, but relief.

So that brings up the question, "So what in the world are you doing this summer?" And the answer to that is that i will hopefully be working with kids at a Boys and Girls Club somewhere in the innercity of Knoxville. I'm looking forward to going where i'm needed, rather than somewhere where i think i'll be comfortable and safe. Because if i'm at a place where there is no need, then another place is looking for me to walk in their door. May i ever be reminded of that, and thus always set back in the arms of Christ. For i have been given that i may give and that i may serve.

  posted by Andy @ 11:25 PM

 
So, i'm watching CMT crossroads...guess who's on it? John Mayer and Brad Paisley. So good. More later.

  posted by Andy @ 10:24 PM

 
Everything's done,
Everything's done-

Then it all starts again

That's sort of how i feel. In fact, i wrote those words last night in my garage(at about 3:30 in the am, and inadvertently keeping up my brother in the process), and i feel they sum up what has been going on in my life. Everything is either winding down, or done already. I'm now at my parent's house(not my home, because i wont have that again until august)because school is done for the year(i escaped with a 2.0 for the year...not a good thing.), and free housing is a very good thing.

So, this summer is abounding with possibility. I'm planning on doing a couple things, such as rerecord my smash hit album(my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek), and also record a worship project of some songs that i've enjoyed playing and leading worship with. Speaking of cds, i was at mckay's on Kingston Pike and finally got my first U2 cd(long overdue, i know), Rattle and Hum, and also picked up an old David Wilcox cd(i mean old as in that it's something that's not even on his discography)called The Natural Edge...plus, it was a dollar. Well, 98 cents. And it's not bad...it's just really into the eighties...but taken with Rattle and Hum, a trip to the eighties doesnt sound half bad. Oh, by the way, if anyone could possibly get me The Joshua Tree by U2 for my birthday...that would rock(only 21 days, so get on it). Well, i'm going to post this new song that i wrote last night, and i'll play it on thursday at New City(since i'm back in town and all). I'll talk to yall again soon, and i mean it.

  posted by Andy @ 10:49 PM