Today Colorado is showcasing my favorite kind of fall morning: chilly and cloudy. So I’m dusting off my best Oprah impersonation and letting you know it’s time for TUESDAY FUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN THIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGS!

Music

– NPR is streaming a new LP from The Avett Brothers, ”Magpie And The Dandelion”. Listen to it here.  Bask in its richness. I love the line the reviewer at NPR uses, “Taken as a whole, it feels like a calmly loving missive from friends who offer wise counsel, but know well enough to interrogate their own motives along the way.” Lovely.

– Amos Lee released his new album, “Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song”. It’s rare that an artist consistently produces something that engages my heart and mind, but he manages to do it. He has this perfect combination of unique voice talent, haunting melodies and lyrics make me ache and sigh. I can’t recommend this album enough. You should probably treat yourself and get it. And if you need convincing, check out this spotlight on one of my favorite songs, “Chill In The Air”.

Writing

In my continual quest to write more often where people can actually see it, I’ve been looking for articles about writing. I know, I’m a certifiable genius. In a moment of serendipity, I stumbled across this article from a favorite of mine, Elizabeth Gilbert: Thoughts on Writing.

If you decide to write, then you must do it, as Balzac said, “like a miner buried under a fallen roof.” Become a knight, a force of diligence and faith. I don’t know how else to do it except that way.

Of course she mentioned Balzac which made me think of “The Music Man”. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaalzac.

There’s also a post over on LinkedIn about optimal blog post length. Interesting read. Freeing read. You may now look forward to endless words of prose from me. Self-editing is out! Rambling is in.

Faith

Tom Krattenmaker is the author of “The Evangelicals You Don’t Know” & he did a q & a session in Portland yesterday (audio). I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but I’m excited for the discussion. From what I understand this talk covers the changes Evangelicals are facing and what a “new” evangelical looks like.

I’m contemplating ‘O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go’ this morning. Scotsman George Matheson wrote the hymn – and he had these words about writing it:

Some­thing hap­pened to me, which was known only to my­self, and which caused me the most se­vere men­tal suf­fer­ing. The hymn was the fruit of that suf­fer­ing. It was the quick­est bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the im­press­ion of hav­ing it dic­tat­ed to me by some in­ward voice ra­ther than of work­ing it out my­self. I am quite sure that the whole work was com­plet­ed in five min­utes, and equal­ly sure that it ne­ver re­ceived at my hands any re­touch­ing or cor­rect­ion. I have no na­tur­al gift of rhy­thm. All the other vers­es I have ever writ­ten are man­u­fact­ured ar­ti­cles; this came like a day­spring from on high.

Praying these words cause us to pause and consider the depth of the love of Jesus for us and springs a new depth of love in all of us for Him.

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.