letters from barabbas

Sorry that most of my posts this month have been lifted from other people's thoughts, or just recycled paragraphs from old stories and journals of mine: I've been too restricted by my educational servitude lately, and worried and confused about my life, and I just don't have much left to say. But I couldn't keep from directing you to this jewel, because I think you might need it:

Over the Rhine Radio

.....sigh. It never fails. If you aren't drawn in by the first song, and couldn't care less about this music, at least do me a favor and skip to the 9th song, Latter Days. Listen to it. I mean, really listen to it:

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear.
Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there, dance without me.
You dance so gracefully. I really think I'll be o.k.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails.
Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me.
You dance so gracefully. I really think I'll be o.k.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

I'm not really convinced that Tim LaHaye is writing out of urgent prophecy rather than blasé politics, but oh, God, this is the truth. Whether the moon turns red tonight, we are perishing in the desert every day, with nothing left but broken dreams. But we're okay. It's really real.

Apocalypse doesn't mean ruin, or even judgment. It means unveiling. We will see Him face to face, if we love Him.