emily

so basically, i've recently been given the pleasure of being introduced to one of my all-time favorite songs. it's called "emily" by joanna newsom. the lyrics are beautiful. here they are:

the meadowlark and the chim-choo-ree and the sparrow
set to the sky in a flying spree, for the sport over the pharaoh
a little while later the Pharisees dragged comb through the meadow
do you remember what they called up to you and me, in our window?

there is a rusty light on the pines tonight
sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow
down into the bones of the birches
and the spires of the churches
jutting out from the shadows
the yoke, and the axe, and the old smokestacks and the bale and the barrow
and everything sloped like it was dragged from a rope
in the mouth of the south below

we've seen those mountains kneeling, felten and grey
we thought our very hearts would up and melt away
from that snow in the nighttime
just going
and going
and the stirring of wind chimes
in the morning
in the morning
helps me find my way back in
from the place where I have been

and, Emily - I saw you last night by the river
I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water
frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever,
in a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror

anyhow - I sat by your side, by the water
you taught me the names of the stars overhead that I wrote down in my ledger
tho all I knew of the rote universe were those pleiades loosed in december
I promised you I‘d set them to verse so I'd always remember

that the meteorite is a source of the light
and the meteor's just what we see
and the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

and the meteorite's just what causes the light
and the meteor's how it's perceived
and the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee

you came and lay a cold compress upon the mess I'm in
threw the window wide and cried; Amen! Amen! Amen!
the whole world - stopped - to hear you hollering
you looked down and saw now what was happening

the lines are fadin' in my kingdom
(tho I have never known the way to border 'em in)
so the muddy mouths of baboons and sows and the grouse and the horse and the hen
grope at the gate of the looming lake that was once a tidy pen
and the mail is late and the great estates are not lit from within
the talk in town's becoming downright sickening

in due time we will see the far butte lit by a flare
I've seen your bravery, and I will follow you there
and row through the nighttime
gone healthy
gone healthy all of a sudden
in search of the midwife
who could help me
who could help me
help me find my way back in
there are worries where I've been

say, say, say in the lee of the bay; don't be bothered
leave your troubles here where the tugboats shear the water from the water
(flanked by furrows, curling back, like a match held up to a newspaper)
Emily, they'll follow your lead by the letter
and I make this claim, and I'm not ashamed to say I know you better
what they've seen is just a beam of your sun that banishes winter

let us go! though we know it's a hopeless endeavor
the ties that bind, they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever
though there is nothing would help me come to grips with a sky that is gaping and yawning
there is a song I woke with on my lips as you sailed your great ship towards the morning

come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now
blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow
peonies nod in the breeze and while they wetly bow, with
hydrocephalitic listlessness ants mop up-a their brow

and everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour
the butterflies and birds collide at hot, ungodly hours
and my clay-colored motherlessness rangily reclines
- come on home, now! all my bones are dolorous with vines

Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight
the way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light
squint skyward and listen -
loving him, we move within his borders:
just asterisms in the stars' set order

we could stand for a century
starin'
with our heads cocked
in the broad daylight at this thing
joy
landlocked
in bodies that don't keep
dumbstruck with the sweetness of being
till we don't be
told; take this
eat this

told; the meteorite is the source of the light
and the meteor's just what we see
and the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

and the meteorite's just what causes the light
and the meteor's how it's perceived
and the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee

peace,
sam
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from merton to hananasif

So this has been a really good day. It started with our last Thomas Merton group of the semester (complete with pancakes). It was so refreshing to talk and pray with Gerald, Charlie, and Tyler.

This excellent day ended with a spur of the moment gig. Well, the gig itself wasn't spur of the moment - it was a benefit show for Desire Street Ministries. The spur of the moment part was that my friend Lauren called me this afternoon to see if I wanted to play djembe with her (she plays violin) and Sydney (who sings and plays guitar). If I haven't mentioned these two yet (and their usual partner, Melissa, who was unable to make it), let me say once and for all that they are incredibly talented and tremendously inspiring. It was wonderful playing with them.

Let me tell you a little more about Sydney. She is one of those people who is a flame embodied. She lives life without fear, trusting in God and dreaming big. She's traveled all kinds of places. Recently, she did a study abroad program in Tanzania. While she was there, she discovered the Hananasif orphanage. Sydney has become really involved with this place (as has Melissa - pictured above), and she spoke a lot about tonight at the gig. It was really inspiring.

Consider some facts about Tanzania from the Hananasif web site:

• Tanzania is the fifth poorest country in the world.
• Dar-es-Salaam is the third largest city in east Africa.
• Only 56% of the population has access to clean water.
• The average annual income per capita is $140.
• There were more than one million AIDS orphans in Tanzania in the year 2000.
• USAID has calculated that in the year 2010 there will be approximately 1.8 million AIDS orphans in Tanzania, unless an effective and inexpensive form of treatment is developed by that time.

Hananasif is an orphanage, school, and outreach. It's really neat. Check out the web site and also this video that Melissa made.

Peace,
Sam
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Merton Again

Read a couple of days ago in a moment of extreme despair:

"How close God is to us when we come to recognize and to accept our abjection and to cast our care entirely upon Him! Against all human expectation He sustains us when we need to be sustained, helping us to do what seemed impossible. We learn to know about Him, now, not in the 'presence' that is found in abstract consideration - a presence in which we dress Him in our own finery - but in the emptiness of a hope that may come close to despair. For perfect hope is achieved on the brink of despair when, instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on the air. Hope is always just about to turn into despair, but never does so, for at the moment of supreme crisis God's power is suddenly made perfect in our infirmity. So we learn to expect His mercy most calmly when all is most dangerous, to seek Him quietly in the face of peril, certain that He cannot fail us though we may be upbraided by the just and rejected by those who claim to hold the evidence of His love." - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

Peace,
Sam
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Christmas Songs

So, we're back in Christmas music mode. Have you ever stopped to read the lyrics to some of our classic songs? A lot of them are really good. I've just sung them 10,000 times and often don't even realize what I'm singing. Take a look at some of them:

Various Parts of "O Come O Come Emmanuel"
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

The Last Verse of "O Holy Night"
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

This last one isn't exactly a classic, but I like it:

Relient K's "I Celebrate the Day"
With this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let you know
How much you've touched my life because
Here is where you're finding me
In the exact same place as New Years Eve
And from the lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I wanna be

And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever?

And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I've felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That you have come to meet me here

To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me
And the hope that
That you give
That you were born so I might really live
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me…

And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever?

And I
I celebrate the day
That you were born to die
So I could one day
Pray for you to save my life
Pray for you to save my life
Pray for you to save my life

Peace,
Sam
P.S. GO GATORS!
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my life's work.

In case you don't know, I have one overarching goal: to end sex trafficking. I don't know how yet, but I plan on dedicating my life to coming up with a social entrepreneurship-type solution to this problem:

"An estimated 2 million women and children are held in sexual servitude throughout the world, and between 800,000 and 900,000 are trafficked across international borders for the purposes of sexual exploitation each year."

Is that not ridiculous?

The issue is that it's a very complex problem. There's the specific woman or child, whoever is trafficking them, the local law enforcement, the government, and then the root of the problem: the demand. Somehow all of these factors need to be taken into account.

So I'm going to throw a bunch of web sites at you now for your perusal. Read them and join the revolution. I can't do it by myself.

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Captive Daughters
Progeny
Amnesty International: Human Trafficking
Stop Demand

If you only read one thing, read the Captive Diaries, the blog from Captive Daughters.

Stand up. A guy I really like once said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

Peace,
Sam
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