Carolina In My Mind lyrics

by James Taylor
In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine
Can't you just feel the moonshine
Ain't it just like a friend of mine
To hit me from behind
And I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind

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Cello

I love to hear the cello played and this video lets me see as well.

The Riddle

The Riddle

There was a man back in '95

Whose heart ran out of summers

But before he died, I asked him

Wait, what's the sense in life

Come over me, Come over me

He said,

Son why you got to sing that tune

Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon

Let an angel swing and make you swoon

Then you will see... You will see

Then he said,

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

Picked up my kid from school today

Did you learn anything cause in the world today

You can't live in a castle far away

Now talk to me, come talk to me

He said,

Dad I'm big but we're smaller than small

In the scheme of things, well we're nothing at all

Still every mother's child sings a lonely song

So play with me, come play with me

And Hey Dad

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

I said,

Son for all I've told you

When you get right down to the

Reason for the world...

Who am I?

There are secrets that we still have left to find

There have been mysteries from the beginning of time

There are answers we're not wise enough to see

He said... You looking for a clue I Love You free...

The batter swings and the summer flies

As I look into my angel's eyes

A song plays on while the moon is hiding over me

Something comes over me

I guess we're big and I guess we're small

If you think about it man you know we got it all

Cause we're all we got on this bouncing ball

And I love you free

I love you freely

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

In Dreams

When the cold of winter comes
Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain

But in dreams
I can hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again

When the seas and mountains fall
And we come, to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there,
I will go there
And back again

-Howard Shore

The Sunrise of Your Smile

Dedicated to Sarah and Grace.

Reject the worldly lie that says,
That life lies always up ahead,
Let power go before control becomes a crust around your soul,
Escape the hunger to possess,
And soul-diminishing success,
This world is full of narrow lives,
I pray by grace your smile survives.

Now close your eyes so you can see,
Your own unfinished memories,
Now open them, for time is brief,
And you'll be blest beyond belief,
Now glance above you at the sky,
There's beauty there to blind the eye,
I ask all this then wait awhile,
To see the dawning of your smile.

Michael and Susan Card penned the lyrics above to give , as he says, "...all the advice...[we] could cram into one song ... to the kids...." They chose for a time, as we did, to homeschool their children.  It has been and is a lifestyle that challenges us in many ways. Challenges that more often than not have show the selfishness of my motives and actions which is why I appreciated those, whatever their educational or other lifestyle choices, who are willing to share their thoughts, ideas, triumphs, and struggles.  Susan Card wrote of her experiences as a homeschooling mom in The Homeschool Journey . When I read her book I was challenged by her willingness to do the things that she needed to do for her children's well-being even if that meant stepping outside the "normal" (whatever that is) homeschool choices. But more so I was encouraged to examine what my heart's desire was for my girls. My hope and prayer is that God will take I have done, both the wise and the foolish, and redeem it.   As any parent, and their children, will honestly confess, I haven't been the perfect, or even best, role model, but I hope they know that

"...I would wander weary miles,
Would welcome ridicule, my child,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile,
To see the light behind your eyes,
The happy thought that makes you fly,
Yes, I would wander weary miles,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile."

Love you girls. 

Joy in the Journey and Jesus Let Us Come To Know You

There was no Joy in [my] Journey. There was anything but. These songs came during what was in my life, a period of time that was soul-crushingly difficult. Over the course of a year I lost a lifelong young friend to ovarian cancer, dealt with my husband's brain surgery and partial hearing loss, wrestled with marital difficulties, and then after a head-on collision faced almost four months of bed-rest in order to keep my younger daughter alive, well, and in the womb. After the collision I remember bewilderingly, hopelessly asking God, "What are You doing?". That's when I began to learn that what I longed for and still do is to see His face.

Jesus let us come to know you
Let us see you face to face
Touch us, hold us, use us, mold us
Only let us live in you Jesus draw us every nearer
Hold us in your loving arms
Wrap us in your gentle presence
And when the end comes bring us home

Answers may come but what I wanted and still do is to simply see His face.  And knowing that I will  is what teaches me that there is Joy in the Journey.

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...

An article on writing-Highly Recommended

For authors of various stripes, writing should be hard work, but that doesn't mean that is should be impossible to read says Gail Hornstein in an article on the often obtuse nature of academic writing. Complex subject matter does not mean the material should be incomprehensible to "ordinary" folk, if it is then the fault lies with the writer not the reader and encourages isolation:

When I was in graduate school at Clark University, I learned a key lesson about teaching from my adviser, Seymour Wapner. He called it the "Beethoven assumption." Si said that if you want to teach someone music, you don't just play scales to them. You play Beethoven, so they can grasp the complex essence of music; then you teach them to understand what they've heard. That has been my guiding assumption throughout 30 years of teaching, and I can tell you, it works.
Just as there's no need to sacrifice complexity in teaching core material, there's no need to do so in one's writing. As Graff rightly cautions: "Blanket suspicion of anything that might be called reductive—which often translates into a fear of making an assertion lest one be criticized—is probably far more to blame than opaque jargon for obfuscatory academic writing and teaching." I'd put that more sharply: Academics write so densely because they are afraid of being held accountable for their work.

You can read the rest here.

HT:Mental Multivitamin

Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

We don't often sing hymns at the church I attend, but yesterday we had the privilege of singing Fill Thou My Life, O Lord, My God with its richly encouraging and challenging lyrics.


Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

Horatius Bonar, 1866
Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
In every part with praise,
That my whole being may proclaim
Thy being and thy ways.

2. Not for the lip of praise alone,
Nor e'en the praising heart
I ask, but for a life made up
Of praise in every part!

3. Praise in the common things of life,
Its goings our and in;
Praise in each duty and deed,
However small and mean.

4. Fill every part of me with praise;
Let all my being speak
Of thee and of thy love, O Lord,
Poor though I be, and weak.

5. So shalt thou, Lord, from me, e'en me,
Receive the glory due;
And so shall I begin on earth
The song forever new.

6. So shall each fear, each fret, each care
Be turned into a song,
And every winding of the way
The echo shall prolong;

7. So shall no part of day or night
From sacredness be free;
But all my life, in every step
Be fellowship with thee.

Concert in the Garden

Every summer, the Missouri Botanical Garden hosts free jazz concerts on Wednesday nights. What it turns into is a picnic on steroids. Half of St. Louis usually shows up toting coolers, blankets, picnic baskets, portable tables, portable cribs, take-out, gourmet food and everything else except the kitchen sink. Now there are some who actually want to listen to the music and those die-hards get there early and get a spot close enough to do so. Some of us get there when we can and enjoy the music in the background as we enjoy our picnic. Most are spread out over the entire grounds and are simply enjoying a beautiful part of our city surrounded by loved ones. More photos here.

End of the year recital

Twilight Reverie

Here is Grace's piece from last night's recital. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.