Points of Light, when I first began to think about sharing in this blog my writing about colors and how they're found in light, the exact place where we can find beauty, I allowed it to begin with negative self-talk in order to convince myself I was being ridiculous. In other-words, I allowed myself to see no light, rather choosing to look into darkness so I could gaze on my dark, ugly beasts.
As I thought more about doing this blog, I decided to work on my thinking as I always do, by means of writing about it. As I wrote, tiny strands of light began to stream in upon those words and the more I wrote, the more light I saw, the more light I saw, the more beauty I saw. LOL, see how that works?
The following is what I wrote, read it please. As you read, notice the progression of the amount of light I find, beginning with very little light in mostly darkness, to a lot of light absent the darkness but full of beauty -
I'm struggling with rather or not shame should apply to the pretension found in Tod's words. For that matter, is Tod actually pretentious, or does he prefer to embellish what it is he writes? It's bothering me because I'm on the cusp of trying to find an editor, having been told by more than a few people smarter than I that I ought to make my words available to more people to read. And yeah, editors aside, shame for thought I'm pretentious is hindering me. I know for certain that being brought up with Hee-Haw as a mainstay in my house is one of the reasons for my pretension. That and my stepfather having to win an argument with his 10-year-old stepson because his textbooks were wrong, being one of many othe reasons. It seems, according to my stepfather, the Romans couldn't rule the entirety of the "known world" because there was a bigger world the Romans didn't know about. So, yeah, I longed to escape from this settling for little imagination and during high school, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
provided me with a map. I mean, "The lawn ain't getting itself mowed" held some kind of a cute wisdom that made me smile - kind of. But when I read Churchill said, "Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma," that spoke to me in a way that grabbed me by my shoulders and commanded me to think. To me, there seemed to be something to this thinking. It was in words said well, and if you will, with a flourish that made me want to be willing to think. "Riddle, mystery, and enigma," I thought, then I really smiled hard for the newfound beauty I'd perceived in those words.
When I got older, entered the Air Force and became a Christian, I started reading what old dead white men had written about theology and topical bible teachings. This was where I found more words that made me smile for the beauty in their words. One book I was reading was by Albert Barnes. He was alive in the early to middle 1800's and had originally studied to be a lawyer before surrendering to become a minister. He wrote a book called "The Atonement". It was a clearly reasoned discussion on the sine qua none of Jesus' death. In the chapter titled, "The Necessity of an Atonement" he said, "We are not, for we can not, so go back to the actual arrangement of things in the Divine economy, and attempt to ascertain what God could or could not have done; etc.". There were several lines to this one sentence, and each line contained exacting language that made it precisely clear what he wanted to get across. Many times, these old dead white men would introduce a subject in their written words with a basic telling of what the subject is generally understood to mean. Then they would launch into what the subject didn't mean, what it could mean, and finally what it did mean. They used words that left no room for doubt as to what they were saying, even while those words allowed you to clearly think and come to your own opinion of either agreement or disagreement with their conclusions. I loved that their words allowed me to think acutely, to think at all really, and that their words were precise and plain while also being numerous.
When I think about music, I'm finally realizing that medium too provides me an opportunity to think. I enjoy simple words in music that give me pause to think, but my biggest and hardest smiles are reserved for a song with more considered words. For instance, I feel for Johnny Rivers when he says, "That rich guy you've been seein', must have put you down. So welcome back baby to the poor side of town. To him you were nothin' but a little play-thing. Not much more than an overnight fling. To me you were the greatest thing this boy had ever found, and girl it's hard to find nice things on the poor side of town. I can't blame you for tryin', I'm tryin' to make it too, I've got one little hang-up baby, I just can't make it without you." But when Train says, "Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along in the light of day, yeah, head back to the Milky Way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find and did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?" The songs are both touching and make me feel, but, with Train's song, I think in a more fully developed, beautifully colored picture full of light that brings a big old smile to my face.
I'll close with a song. Many people would say you have to be very simple to enjoy Savage Garden, like Taylor Swift level simple and if you looked at the lyrics of "To the Moon And Back", you might say they're just being pretentious. All I can say is these words make me think and as I think about them, I smile hard, and I'm happy for thinking...
To the Moon & Back Savage Garden
She's taking her time making up the reasons To justify all the hurt inside, guess she knows From the smiles and the look in their eyes Everyone's got a theory about the bitter one, they're saying
Mama never loved her much and Daddy never keeps in touch That's why she shies away from human affection, but Somewhere in a private place She packs her bags for outer space And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him (she's saying)
I would fly you to the moon and back If you'll be, if you'll be my baby I've got a ticket for a world where we belong So would you be my baby?
She can't remember a time when she felt needed If love was red then she was color-blind All her friends, they've been tried for treason And crimes that were never defined
She's saying, love is like a barren place And reaching out for human faith is Is like a journey I just don't have a map for So baby gonna take a dive and push the shift to overdrive Send a signal that she's hanging all her hopes on the stars
What a pleasant dream (just saying)
I would fly you to the moon and back If you'll be, if you'll be my baby I've got a ticket for a world where we belong So would you be my baby?
Mama never loved her much and daddy never keeps in touch That's why she shies away from human affection But somewhere in a private place She packs her bags for outer space And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him (just saying)
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
I've got a ticket for a world where we belong So would you be my baby?
I would fly you to the moon and back If you'll be, if you'll be my baby I've got a ticket for a world where we belong So would you be my baby?
As Always,
Love and Peace,
Tod w/only one d
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