The Cure For Pain is one of the singles on Jon Foreman's Fall EP. For a short time you can download it free here.I don't know how long this link will last, so I'd suggest you go there now.
Just be prepared. If you've experienced loss or pain (haven't we all?) you'll find this song fits the description of another song title, Killing Me Softly With His Song.
Jon Foreman shared his thoughts about this song, and they're worth reading. We've come to expect honesty from this band, and we see it again in the lead singer.
He gave me an idea for Christmas gifts. First, though, his words:
The Cure For Pain: I wrote this one in Texas on a day off. I was reflecting on the passing of time. I have been playing music in Switchfoot for about ten years. During that period, I have been fighting pain or running away from it in a myriad of ways. And yet the pain is a constant. I have had some amazing moments singing gravity away but the water keeps on falling.
I began to think the suffering I see around me, I think of the pain of a grandmother dying of cancer. Of a friend killed by a train. I think of the pain of death, of failure, of rejection, the pain of a father losing his only son. And I came to the conclusion that I cannot run from pain any longer.
Most of us experience pain, but we find that others don't want to hear about it when we're hurting.
A classic example is with death. I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating.
My Mom passed in early 2006. I still miss her terribly, as does my daughter. Yet people started telling my daughter to get over her a week after she went back to school.
It's not just kids who do that, though. The first person to tell me to stop grieving did so 3 weeks after she passed.
Three weeks. Three weeks of grieving for the a woman who was there from before my first breath, who raised me secure in her love, who extended that same love to her grandkids and largely influenced who I am as a parent.
Three weeks.
It's not just loss, though. Nobody wants to hear when somebody is hurting. Maybe it's because we're running from our own pain.
If you want to give a great gift this year, find somebody who needs your compassion. Then listen to them, really listen. Don't try to solve their problems, just be there for them. I can tell you from experience that just one person can make a difference.
Maybe it will even help you to ease any pain of your own.
-----
My book is due at the publishers in a few days. I hope to write more between then and Christmas, but I still have shopping to do.
For those of you who have respected my grieving, you've given me a great gift. You are rare people. To all of you, Merry Christmas.
Showing posts with label Switchfoot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switchfoot. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Fall
Jon Foreman has a way with words, not just in his songs, but in everything he says.
His first solo EP, Fall, was released today. It's a pretty special CD to start with, but I can already tell that it's going to be one of those offerings that gets better each time you listen.
One of the things that draws me to the CD is his consistency. The things he says in interviews and through his blogs show us a lot about his character. His music shows the same consistency.
This is taken from his blog today:
That's my hope for these tunes: that they serve you. Let these songs wash your feet off.
He also posted a bulletin on MySpace that I want to quote:
But on another level the independence bit is only partially true. None of us are fully autonomous. Ever. We need each other, thank God! I'm thankful that I've been given these songs. I'm thankful that many of you have really believed in our music as a band over the years. I'm thankful that God has given me pockets and something to put in em. I'm thankful for my family, for tim, chad, drew, and romey. I guess I'm saying that we're never completely independent. We all need each other.
You could think that this is just PR, saying what he thinks will help sell his music. That could be true, but I doubt it.
I doubt it because I've had the pleasure of meeting him (and the rest of Switchfoot) a few times now, and that's just how they are.
I doubt it because I get unsolicited emails from people. Once they realize you're a fan of Switchfoot, they tell you stories. Jon Foreman has touched people in ways he doesn't even realize.
What makes it even better is that his bandmates are just like him that way. Sometimes I wonder if they have any idea what they do for people.
This blog was intended to highlight those who make the world better by doing things for others without even knowing it. I realize Switchfoot is beginning to appear here fairly frequently. There's a reason for that.
I'll never have the vast influence Switchfoot and Jon Foreman have. I'll never be able to make people think the way they can.
I can contribute, though, through introducing them to others.
That's why you'll be seeing more posts about them here. That's also why you'll see a few comments in my book about them.
I love the music, but even more I love that they have proven you can achieve fame and still keep your values.
I suggest you check out the Fall EP. For now it's available only through downloads, but you can get hard copies in January.
You can purchase it at JonForeman.com
If you like music that makes you think, music that you'll find something different in each time you listen, Fall is a great choice.
I realize I didn't talk much about the songs on the EP. Switchfoot fans, please feel free to post your impressions. Readers who aren't familiar with Switchfoot will beneift.
His first solo EP, Fall, was released today. It's a pretty special CD to start with, but I can already tell that it's going to be one of those offerings that gets better each time you listen.
One of the things that draws me to the CD is his consistency. The things he says in interviews and through his blogs show us a lot about his character. His music shows the same consistency.
This is taken from his blog today:
That's my hope for these tunes: that they serve you. Let these songs wash your feet off.
He also posted a bulletin on MySpace that I want to quote:
But on another level the independence bit is only partially true. None of us are fully autonomous. Ever. We need each other, thank God! I'm thankful that I've been given these songs. I'm thankful that many of you have really believed in our music as a band over the years. I'm thankful that God has given me pockets and something to put in em. I'm thankful for my family, for tim, chad, drew, and romey. I guess I'm saying that we're never completely independent. We all need each other.
You could think that this is just PR, saying what he thinks will help sell his music. That could be true, but I doubt it.
I doubt it because I've had the pleasure of meeting him (and the rest of Switchfoot) a few times now, and that's just how they are.
I doubt it because I get unsolicited emails from people. Once they realize you're a fan of Switchfoot, they tell you stories. Jon Foreman has touched people in ways he doesn't even realize.
What makes it even better is that his bandmates are just like him that way. Sometimes I wonder if they have any idea what they do for people.
This blog was intended to highlight those who make the world better by doing things for others without even knowing it. I realize Switchfoot is beginning to appear here fairly frequently. There's a reason for that.
I'll never have the vast influence Switchfoot and Jon Foreman have. I'll never be able to make people think the way they can.
I can contribute, though, through introducing them to others.
That's why you'll be seeing more posts about them here. That's also why you'll see a few comments in my book about them.
I love the music, but even more I love that they have proven you can achieve fame and still keep your values.
I suggest you check out the Fall EP. For now it's available only through downloads, but you can get hard copies in January.
You can purchase it at JonForeman.com
If you like music that makes you think, music that you'll find something different in each time you listen, Fall is a great choice.
I realize I didn't talk much about the songs on the EP. Switchfoot fans, please feel free to post your impressions. Readers who aren't familiar with Switchfoot will beneift.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Holy Longing
Lately I've been reading The Holy Longing
by Ronald Rolheiser. I heard of it through the priest at the church we usually attend. He started a group to talk about it on Thursday nights this summer. Unfortunately, I'm not able to attend the group, but I'm glad I bought the book.
This book touches me on a lot of levels. I'm normally a fast reader, but this one has taken time. There is so much to think about, to contemplate. The book alternates between touching your heart and soul with it's understanding and giving you new ways to look at things.
It grabbed me early on when it talked about desire. I'm going to quote a passage because I could never justify it by trying to describe it.
Whatever the expression, everyone is ultimately talking about the same thing - an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-embracing ache that lies at the center of human experience and is the ultimate force that drives everything else. This disease is universal. Desire gives no exemptions.
It does however admit of different moods and faces. Sometimes it hits us as pain - dissatisfaction, frustration, and aching. At other times its grip is not felt as painful at all, but as a deep energy, as something beautiful, as an inexorable pull, more important than anything else inside us, toward love, beauty, creativity, and a future beyond our limited present. Desire can show itself as aching pain or delicious hope.
First I want to say that the comment about a "gnawing nostalgia" surprised me. Ever since I was a child, when encountering something especially beautfiul (usually related to nature, like one of those perfect sunsets or a day when the breeze on your face is just to perfect for words) I have felt nostalgic. I have often wondered...nostalgic for what? As a child, I hadn't lived enough life yet to be nostaligic for anything in particular, but I was aware of it and wondered about it even then.
Reading this passage was the first time I realized that others felt it, too.
When my faith was strong, when I had no doubt about God's existance, you would think there would be peace, but even then an ache was present. I think it may be an aching for the presence of God.
Yet there was peace, too, along with the "inexorable pull" Father Rolheiser describes. Peace and nostalgia. Peace and an aching restlessness. I could never make sense of it.
In my blog I frequently talk about wanting to make a difference in the world. I realize now that the author's description of desire is exactly how I feel in my drive to make impact the lives of others.
Then there's music, of course. It's always back to music for me. Rolheiser's definition completely describes my experience with music. At a great concert (whether Switchfoot, symphony, or any other moving concert) there's that incredible joy as music fills my soul. Sometimes the beauty seems too perfect to be real. At the same time there's an ache, a longing, in part because the concert can't go on forever and I never want it to stop.
It might be more accurate to say that I don't want the way music fills me to stop.
It was even the same when I played in band in school and college. Sometimes things just click so well when you're performing. All the players seem to understand, to be in sync with each other. The music is effortless and wonderous, and the musicians are one with each other.
At those concerts, it's hard when it's over. As a performer, you are not just a listener but a participant in the music. It's part of you while at the same time it's all around you.
Afterwards, whether attending a concert or performing in one, there's that "concert high" mixed with the low of knowing you have to wait for more...and that, in a way, it is never enough.
In so many ways, music and God are interrelated. I think that God uses music to bring people closer to Him. I think He created something incredibly powerful with music, which is why Satan doesn't hesitate to use it also. As we all know, the power of music can be used to inspire bad as well as good.
Maybe that's why so much of my blog features musicians. They have incredible power to reach others. With that should come responsibility.
Authors can have incredible power, too. Ronald Rolheiser proved that with "The Holy Longing."
I'll probably talk more about this book in future posts. I plan to purchase at least one more book of his.
Now I find myself with one more desire. I want to be able to write as powerfully as Ronald Rolheiser does. I want to touch souls the way he does.
by Ronald Rolheiser. I heard of it through the priest at the church we usually attend. He started a group to talk about it on Thursday nights this summer. Unfortunately, I'm not able to attend the group, but I'm glad I bought the book.This book touches me on a lot of levels. I'm normally a fast reader, but this one has taken time. There is so much to think about, to contemplate. The book alternates between touching your heart and soul with it's understanding and giving you new ways to look at things.
It grabbed me early on when it talked about desire. I'm going to quote a passage because I could never justify it by trying to describe it.
Whatever the expression, everyone is ultimately talking about the same thing - an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-embracing ache that lies at the center of human experience and is the ultimate force that drives everything else. This disease is universal. Desire gives no exemptions.
It does however admit of different moods and faces. Sometimes it hits us as pain - dissatisfaction, frustration, and aching. At other times its grip is not felt as painful at all, but as a deep energy, as something beautiful, as an inexorable pull, more important than anything else inside us, toward love, beauty, creativity, and a future beyond our limited present. Desire can show itself as aching pain or delicious hope.
First I want to say that the comment about a "gnawing nostalgia" surprised me. Ever since I was a child, when encountering something especially beautfiul (usually related to nature, like one of those perfect sunsets or a day when the breeze on your face is just to perfect for words) I have felt nostalgic. I have often wondered...nostalgic for what? As a child, I hadn't lived enough life yet to be nostaligic for anything in particular, but I was aware of it and wondered about it even then.
Reading this passage was the first time I realized that others felt it, too.
When my faith was strong, when I had no doubt about God's existance, you would think there would be peace, but even then an ache was present. I think it may be an aching for the presence of God.
Yet there was peace, too, along with the "inexorable pull" Father Rolheiser describes. Peace and nostalgia. Peace and an aching restlessness. I could never make sense of it.
In my blog I frequently talk about wanting to make a difference in the world. I realize now that the author's description of desire is exactly how I feel in my drive to make impact the lives of others.
Then there's music, of course. It's always back to music for me. Rolheiser's definition completely describes my experience with music. At a great concert (whether Switchfoot, symphony, or any other moving concert) there's that incredible joy as music fills my soul. Sometimes the beauty seems too perfect to be real. At the same time there's an ache, a longing, in part because the concert can't go on forever and I never want it to stop.
It might be more accurate to say that I don't want the way music fills me to stop.
It was even the same when I played in band in school and college. Sometimes things just click so well when you're performing. All the players seem to understand, to be in sync with each other. The music is effortless and wonderous, and the musicians are one with each other.
At those concerts, it's hard when it's over. As a performer, you are not just a listener but a participant in the music. It's part of you while at the same time it's all around you.
Afterwards, whether attending a concert or performing in one, there's that "concert high" mixed with the low of knowing you have to wait for more...and that, in a way, it is never enough.
In so many ways, music and God are interrelated. I think that God uses music to bring people closer to Him. I think He created something incredibly powerful with music, which is why Satan doesn't hesitate to use it also. As we all know, the power of music can be used to inspire bad as well as good.
Maybe that's why so much of my blog features musicians. They have incredible power to reach others. With that should come responsibility.
Authors can have incredible power, too. Ronald Rolheiser proved that with "The Holy Longing."
I'll probably talk more about this book in future posts. I plan to purchase at least one more book of his.
Now I find myself with one more desire. I want to be able to write as powerfully as Ronald Rolheiser does. I want to touch souls the way he does.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Passion and Service
I am Catholic. I love the Mass, but in the past I have sometimes found that my mind wanders a great deal when I'm at church. There is a lot of repetition, and it can be hard to keep attending to the same words week after week.
I've often wondered how priests manage daily Mass and several on the weekends. They not only say the same prayers over and over, but if they give mulitple Masses they get to constantly repeat their sermons.
On Friday, December 8, we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This past year or so we have frequently attended a church where the music is inspiring and the priest clearly loves what he does. When I looked at the priest on Friday, it occurred to me that this man loves praying the Mass. I think he looks forward to Holy days because it gives him an excuse to offer more Masses.
This priest glows with his love for God and his passion for what he does. Needless to say, he has inspired a lot of people, myself included. I look forward to Mass at his church.
Switchfoot strikes me as being a lot like Father Mark. They love what they do so much that they will sometimes find a local coffee shop where they can play after completing a concert. These are people who are clearly doing what they choose to do with their lives. In the process, they have inspired many.
It makes me wonder: do people who follow their passions tend to be those who make more of a difference to others? Switchfoot has touched a lot of lives. Father Mark has also touched many.
Father Mark and the members of Switchfoot serve others while living passionate lives. I wonder what the world would be like if we all did the same.
I've often wondered how priests manage daily Mass and several on the weekends. They not only say the same prayers over and over, but if they give mulitple Masses they get to constantly repeat their sermons.
On Friday, December 8, we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This past year or so we have frequently attended a church where the music is inspiring and the priest clearly loves what he does. When I looked at the priest on Friday, it occurred to me that this man loves praying the Mass. I think he looks forward to Holy days because it gives him an excuse to offer more Masses.
This priest glows with his love for God and his passion for what he does. Needless to say, he has inspired a lot of people, myself included. I look forward to Mass at his church.
Switchfoot strikes me as being a lot like Father Mark. They love what they do so much that they will sometimes find a local coffee shop where they can play after completing a concert. These are people who are clearly doing what they choose to do with their lives. In the process, they have inspired many.
It makes me wonder: do people who follow their passions tend to be those who make more of a difference to others? Switchfoot has touched a lot of lives. Father Mark has also touched many.
Father Mark and the members of Switchfoot serve others while living passionate lives. I wonder what the world would be like if we all did the same.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Switchfoot Fallout
I still can't talk coherently about the concert after four days. The best way I can express it is to say that I continue to have what some Switchfoot fans call a "concert hangover." I need to go to another concert, and today wouldn't be too soon.
During the concert I found myself thinking, who are these guys? This was a night well beyond all my expectations, and my expectations were pretty high.
I promised in my last post to tell you about the meet-and-greet. After the concert we waited around awhile at the venue. Eventually all those with passes were gathered into one area, and the rest of the fans were asked to leave.
My smile started to grow at this point, knowing we'd be meeting the guys who had just given us such an indescribable night.
I was talking to my daughter and happened to look up in time to see the drummer, Chad, and the keyboardist/guitarist, Jerome, coming towards us. They walked up to us and introduced themselves in such a humble manner, as though we wouldn't know who they were. Then they really made my day; they both mentioned that they had noticed my daughter during the concert. They pointed to the spot on the balcony where she had been standing. This was so much more than she expected.
But wait, it gets better. The next person we met was Jon, the lead singer. He also said words to the effect of "yeah, I remember you, you were standing right there" and pointed to where my daughter had been standing.
I think she's still floating. Three of the five band members noticed her during the concert.
Ultimately we met all five. They gave autographs and allowed pictures. Every one of them came across as the type of people anybody would love to have as friends.
Somebody asked me if I lost my ability to speak when I met them. Unfortunately, I didn't. Instead I was a babbling fool. Thankfully, they're probably used to people like that.
After we left the building I saw Jon walk out. He passed some people who had their backs to him, said "hi", and kept walking. The fans he had just passed turned to look, and you could see by their expressions what they were thinking.
Jon was grinning. He knew he'd just made somebody's night.
This blog is about people who make a difference. I want to once more thank Katherine from Foot Soldiers Headquarters for allowing the meet-and-greet. Thanks to her, a memorable night was made even more memorable.
As for Switchfoot, I think the best way to thank them will be to talk about some of their causes in future blogs.
There's one more thing I can do for them. I can try to make the lives of others better the way they made mine better.
During the concert I found myself thinking, who are these guys? This was a night well beyond all my expectations, and my expectations were pretty high.
I promised in my last post to tell you about the meet-and-greet. After the concert we waited around awhile at the venue. Eventually all those with passes were gathered into one area, and the rest of the fans were asked to leave.
My smile started to grow at this point, knowing we'd be meeting the guys who had just given us such an indescribable night.
I was talking to my daughter and happened to look up in time to see the drummer, Chad, and the keyboardist/guitarist, Jerome, coming towards us. They walked up to us and introduced themselves in such a humble manner, as though we wouldn't know who they were. Then they really made my day; they both mentioned that they had noticed my daughter during the concert. They pointed to the spot on the balcony where she had been standing. This was so much more than she expected.
But wait, it gets better. The next person we met was Jon, the lead singer. He also said words to the effect of "yeah, I remember you, you were standing right there" and pointed to where my daughter had been standing.
I think she's still floating. Three of the five band members noticed her during the concert.
Ultimately we met all five. They gave autographs and allowed pictures. Every one of them came across as the type of people anybody would love to have as friends.
Somebody asked me if I lost my ability to speak when I met them. Unfortunately, I didn't. Instead I was a babbling fool. Thankfully, they're probably used to people like that.
After we left the building I saw Jon walk out. He passed some people who had their backs to him, said "hi", and kept walking. The fans he had just passed turned to look, and you could see by their expressions what they were thinking.
Jon was grinning. He knew he'd just made somebody's night.
This blog is about people who make a difference. I want to once more thank Katherine from Foot Soldiers Headquarters for allowing the meet-and-greet. Thanks to her, a memorable night was made even more memorable.
As for Switchfoot, I think the best way to thank them will be to talk about some of their causes in future blogs.
There's one more thing I can do for them. I can try to make the lives of others better the way they made mine better.
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