It’s a Wendell Berry morning, for sure.

Like The Water

Like the water
of a deep stream,
love is always too much.
We did not make it.
Though we drink till we burst,
we cannot have it all,
or want it all.
In its abundance
it survives our thirst.

In the evening we come down to the shore
to drink our fill,
and sleep,
while it flows
through the regions of the dark.
It does not hold us,
except we keep returning to its rich waters
thirsty.

We enter,
willing to die,
into the commonwealth of its joy.

"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'" – Luke 2:10 (ESV)
 

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art, dear Desire of ev’ry nation, joy of ev’ry longing heart.

Joy to those who long to see thee, Dayspring from on high, appear; come, thou promised Rod of Jesse, of thy birth we long to hear! O’er the hills the angels singing news, glad tidings of a birth; “Go to him, your praises bringing; Christ the Lord has come to earth.”

Come to earth to taste our sadness, he whose glories knew no end; by his life he brings us gladness, our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend. Leaving riches without number, born within a cattle stall; this the everlasting wonder, Christ was born the Lord of all.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.

But I had hardly seen a thing
Until I gave that golden ring
To the one who gave her heart to me

And I became a world traveler
That’s the day I hit the road
I walked the hills of the human soul
Of a tender girl

I’m a world traveler
She opened the gate and took my hand
Led me into the mystic land
Where her galaxies swirl

So many mysteries I never will unravel
I want to travel the world.

- Andrew Peterson, “World Traveler”

Happy Anniversary, Mika.  I love you.

Boundary

I am searching for the beginnings of evil
As in childhood I sought out the rain’s edge.
Running with abandon to find the
Place where
I might lay on the ground and ponder the
Rainfall on one side and not the other
The drops slowly subsiding as
I discerned the boundary
And increasing again before
I saw clearly.
I grew up for nothing.
With all that I am
I run to discover the place where
I might lay on the ground and ponder the
Brink of good and evil.
Yet evil always ceases before
I discern the boundary
And builds again, before
I can place the good.
I am searching for the beginnings of evil
In this land
Overcast and sunlit,
Step by step.

- Ana Blandiana

Here’s the original.

Hotarul

Caut începutului raului
Cum cautam în copilarie marginile ploii.
Alergam din toate puterile sa gasesc
Locul în care
Sa ma asez pe pamânt sa contemplu
De-o parte ploaia, de-o parte neploaia.
Dar întotdeauna ploaia-nceta înainte
De a-i descoperi hotarele
Si reîncepea înainte
De-a sti pâna unde-i seninul.
Degeaba am crescut.
Din toate puterile
Alerg si acum sa gasesc locul unde
Sa ma asez pe pamânt sa contemplu
Linia care desparte raul de bine.
Dar întotdeanuna raul înceteaza-nainte
De a-i descoperi hotarul
Si reîncepe-nainte
De-a sti pâna unde e binele.
Eu caut începutul raului
Pe acest pamânt
Înnorat si-nsorit
Rând pe rând.

- Ana Blandiana

Pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.  :)  Lowercase Noises’ “Ambient Songs” is a great album to translate to.

Music in the Mirabell

A fountain sings. Clouds, white and tender,
Are set in the clear blueness
Engrossed, silent people walk
At evening through the ancient garden.

Ancestral marble has grown grey.
A flight of birds seeks far horizons.
A faun with lifeless pupils peers
At shadows gliding into darkness.

The leaves fall red from the old tree
And circle in through open windows.
A fiery gleam ignites indoors
And conjures up wan ghosts of fear.

A white stranger steps into the house.
A dog runs wild through ruined passages.
The maid extinguishes a lamp,
At night are heard sonata sounds.

- Georg Trakl

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

First, I think that Derek has really dialed into how to successfully price and differentiate various product tiers in order to 1.) maximize value to his customers, 2.) encourage customers to consider the upper tiers, and 3.) provide a range of options that will satisfy customers regardless of whether they prefer a physical product over a digital one, lossless audio to high-bitrate mp3, or could care less as long as they get the music immediately.

Like I said, I really, really like how Derek has priced his product tiers. Tier 1 gets you an immediate high bitrate MP3 download for $10.

For $15, Tier 2 gives you the option of getting the album in lossless format immediately, adds a physical cd, and includes 5″x5″ prints of the two companion art collections, 18 art prints in all. That’s alot of additional product for only $5 more.

Tier 3, at $30, gives you all the above, plus a t-shirt, plus digital high-resolution files of the paintings, plus multi-track stems of the album tracks for remixing, plus several video interviews and short films.

I personally chose Tier 2, but I strongly considered Tier 3.

Now, on to the music itself:

On the whole, I like Feedback. I like what Derek is trying to do, and I appreciate how different it is from the status-quo in the Christian music arena that Derek often finds himself in. However, as a person who listens to a fair amount of post-rock / electronic / ambient music, “Feedback” didn’t blow my socks off (on the first listen, at least). I’m still figuring out how each musical piece interacts with or represents its respective title, and I’m trying to see how this album will “draw me into worship.” I’m not sure yet. I certainly think that I’m going to need to give this a few spins before I make a final judgement.

This is a largely untapped sound for the Christian market. That being said, I would say that this sort of stuff is done more powerfully in non-”Christian-specific” arenas by other artists (Hammock, Sigur Rós, Balmorhea, Jesu, Max Richter, The Album Leaf, Eluvium, Helios, etc.). To be honest, I find some of that stuff quite worshipful, at times. Derek’s Feedback project is interesting, especially in how it is framed, but I wouldn’t say it is groundbreaking, as a whole.

Now, what is interesting to me is whether Derek is using Feedback as a sort of bridge for Christians to learn to appreciate and pursue the sort of expression found in this other arena and find the beauty in it, to draw Christians out of their tendency towards sub-culture. I might be overthinking this, but that’s what I’m considering right now as I pore over the music.

In the credits to Feedback, Derek thanks Mako Fujimura, which I think is really cool. Mako is one of my favorite artists; I love the way he integrates his faith into his art without distancing himself either from Christians or members of the larger arts community. He makes good art that speaks for itself, and I like that Derek is trying to channel and highlight that. I am well aware that I’m not Derek’s “standard listener;” stylistically, the breadth of the music I listen to is atypical. For some that listen to “Feedback,” it may be mind-blowing and completely out in left field. I just wish he had gone a little farther and hit a homerun.

In sum, one of the key things to acknowledge about Feedback is that is a paradigm shift from much of the “noise” of established stereotypical CCM worship music. I think it’s healthy to dispel a narrow conception of what “worship” is and take it outside of the box. I admire Derek’s art and what he’s done since becoming a solo artist; Derek has the ear of people in the world of music and art, both Christian and non-Christian, and that’s a wonderful thing. As Derek said on twitter yesterday, “there are christian and secular people who make art. there is no christian or secular art.” Let’s support good art, regardless of where it’s made.

By the way, my favorite tracks after the first few listens are 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8. What are yours?

If you’ve never heard of William Fitzsimmons, trust me, you’ll love William Fitzsimmons.

Anyway, give it a watch if you like good songwriting and great music.

You can pick up his music here, here, and here.

You can grab version 3.0 here.

A few days ago, John posted a video explaining what the song is all about. It’s worth watching.