Something Beautiful...

Well, it's confession time...I need to bare my soul to you for a moment. The truth is, I'm a bit of a music addict. I used to think I had it under control; that I could stop anytime I wanted. Now, I've come face to face with reality, and I know that's not true. I'm kind of helpless when it comes to music. I love listening to it, playing it, discovering new artists, and even new genres (post-hardcore Cuban funk, anyone?). I love the thrill of writing a new tune, even if nobody will ever hear it. I love the way the perfect combination of melody, rhythm, and lyrical poetry come together...I even the love the tiny, dark, sweaty clubs in Nowheresville, where the combination of rhythm and melody is anything but perfect, and the lyrical poetry is simply someone's inner angst screamed into a dented microphone. I know, I need help. Please feel sorry for me now. Donations are accepted. But here's the thing, for me...

     Music is, at its core, a search for something beautiful - It's a pursuit of something elusive, that can never be quite explained, and never reduced to a formula. It's simply about how it makes you feel. A song makes your ears perk up and moves your heart, and there was no decision made on your part. It just happens. Getting lost in the details of genres, and analyzing songs, and why you like a song the way you do - Well, that's only interesting for a little while. If, at the end of the day, music doesn't move you, there's not much left to talk about. The same goes for any form of artistic expression. The same goes for God, in a way. Sure, we can talk about the nature of God, discuss theology until we're blue in the face, analyze the hows and whys of the Christian life, and try to come up with neat little ways to summarize it all...But at the end of the day, if God is alive, and He loves you intensely, there's at point at which we just need to respond or not. Let Him breathe into your life, or not. Let Him wash over you, or not. I'm not talking about turning your brain off, and blindly following religion. I'm talking about when the song wells up, when life seems to lead you to something bigger than yourself, when the inexpressible begs to be expressed, when it seems like Someone is whispering in your ear (and sometimes screaming), when the explanations aren't enough - Let Him be something beautiful to you. Let Him speak Love into your life. Letting Him do that won't answer all the questions...He won't swoop in and make sense of everything for you. He won't live life for you. But He will give you Life, the kind that doesn't need to be reduced to a mathematical equation, or a clever quote. Let Him be your Destination...

     We're playing this song from Needtobreathe at Element this Sunday, called "Something Beautiful." I love it when music captures something my own best efforts can't...I love it even more when God meets me where my best efforts run out. Peace...

when In your ocean, I'm ankle deep
I feel the waves crashin' on my feet
It's like I know where I need to be
But I can't figure out, yeah I can't figure out

Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your tide rushes over me
There's only one way to figure out
Will you let me drown, will you let me drown

Chorus
Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
...something beautiful

And the water is risin' quick
And for years I was scared of it
We can't be sure when it will subside
So I won't leave your side, no I can't leave your side

Bridge
In a daydream,     I couldn't live like this
I wouldn't stop until I found something beautiful
When I wake up,     And all I want, I have
You know it's still all I need something beautiful