stay close: Light IS a place

As many of you know I have a favorite band.  That favorite band just put out an album.  It has thirteen songs and is their fifth full length album.  It is their first on a Major record label and many would expect the "best yet".  Well, I have not stopped listening since it was released and have delved into the meaning and lyrics of each song.  Yet, this album is not my favorite and is maybe the most different from all the previous records that have culminated into the sound, whether acoustic or full fledged rock, that fans have come to expect from anberlin. 
  That's not to say that I don't love the new album, I do.  Yet it is definately different.  Personally, I really love the sound, but i think the lyrics could be a little more complex, a little more meaningful.  Then again, sometimes simple words make the most impact (see: "I have a dream" or "come home").  Truth be told, anberlin is my favorite band.  And even though this new album may not be my favorite of theirs, if I truly love the band I have to really give this record a chance.  I think giving things a chance this day and age, hearing them out so to speak, even our favorite things, can be seen as a burden or even uneccessary all together.  Now this notion is not limited to music.
  So many people are quick to write off a new record, or a new song for that matter.  Sometimes people hate the change, other times they go with the simple, "well, I just liked the old stuff better."  Our relationships can be like that too.  Not just romantic, but friends and family too.  With the rate at which life changes, with the way people's status's change so quickly, it is easy to write them off or forget them altogether.  But that is not the right choice.
  Granted, people change; tastes in music change; life leads us down different roads, some for better, some for worse.  But we have to give it a try.  Our lives and the people in them are so important, so significant.  We can't just give it the ghost because we feel a bit different, we can't let our friend (or out favorite band) go because they are suddenly too popular, we can't let Love pass us by because we're scared of what "could happen"-
  Real commitment and pursuit of true connection is really lacking in our culture, even in our world at large.  It is up to the next generation to bring it back.  To look beyond the latest and greatest and seek truth and consistency; to be dedicated.  There is something to be said about a loyal fan.  There is even more to be said of a true friend; about a steadfast lover.
  We would be well served and even better pursued by such hearts.
That's the kind of fan i'd want to have,
That's the kind of community I am blessed to be in,
That's the kind of place that is Light many times over.


Listen:
Corey Asbury- "everything you do"

An old song (She still moves me and dares me to believe)

PLANS- the Track Record

"It's so crazy how suicide occupies the minds of so, so many happy people
Don't lie you know you've thought about it, we all have
Part of growing up is asking questions

Isn't it mad weird how our wildest dreams tell us about our fears and what we want out of this life
Some say that it's healthy to experience breakups, mistakes, letdowns, or the death of a loved one

We owe all that we have to the people in our lives
We can only hope that this song reaches you in time

(Two pairs of eyes share a beautiful silence
Perfect weather breeds perfect smiles
So show me that face when you can't hold back yours
Plans to wake up on the beach
You know how it feels so fucking awesome when a song lets you know that you're not alone
Well these 3 minutes will beckon you too think, dance, live, learn, teach, and love)



So i'll meet you in front of Hagerstown at 10

And we'll live for the single moment
I swear i will hold you
On this bathroom wall forever
I promise not too hold this grudge against you
if you love like you've nothing to lose
I swear i will hold you



We owe all that we have to the people in our lives
We can only hope that this song reaches you in time"

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whatever thought is on your mind,
I Hope it finds you well.
More then well,
I Hope it finds you Alive and well-

The purpose of this life is to truly live- -

The Track Record- Plans (to wake up on the beach)

a martyr, a memory, a young life, A Savior: the perfect tourniquet

I got to see one of my favorite and most inspired bands recently.  It was even better to see them with one of my very best friends and 'ol roommate Sam.  They hail from Florida, but their recent album cover features a picturesque landscape that I can relate to and makes me Love them all the more.  Anberlin inspires and pushes me in the right direction everyday.  I first started listening to them in 2006 and shortly after started looking into their lyrics, which, for an up tempo emo/indie band in the mold of Brand new, were incredibly deep and thought provoking.  Shortly after I found out they were all Christians (Stephen's last name is actually Christian) and pumped up about the possibility of a better life through this genre of music.

All this excitement and all the elements of words and sounds and projects outside of music and the depth of a couple of Floridians with instruments makes the mind put people on a pedestal.  Although I tended to think of Stephen and the band as "superhero's" of truth and love (and maybe they are) it was quickly made clear to me, that they were just twenty something year old guys.  They have faults, they have shortcomings, they have fallen short: they are just like me.
Dismantle.Repair

Humbling for sure!  Then again, I was still like a little kid at the show, singing every song until my lungs burned and my legs ached from jumping up and down!  And I got Deon's pick!!!

So as that concert on one of the last days in May, gets me pumped up about living and loving and attempting to walk the glorious path God has laid before me, i figured I'd propose a few questions???

What bands or rather song(s) Move you to Move?  To be a better person, to Hope, to laugh, to draw on an experience and go gravitate infinity?  Is there a song that you feel was written for YOU?

...and the second part of that is, why not allow these things to move us?  Our dance party at CSC last year had a theme of, "Let go, Let love"  Can we not live our lives this way?  Can we not let our hearts be moved, as frightening and as daunting as it may be?  I think the answer is, we can, and we will.  Because that which moves us is not just for inspiration or a good time, but rather these elements of life, in this case music tell us about our own hearts, and what they need.  These words tell us about our own Hopes and Dreams, our destiny in this life.  These guitar riff's tell us about our God and how he would love to see us move and help one another out of Love.  Finally, these songs tell us about our story, and how, with faith and Love, we can live magnificent stories that even Hollywood would be jealous for.

This movement is "the perfect tourniquet", this movement is "Jesus to the demons", this reality is "laughing, loving, living free and singing"-

Don't drop your Arms!  (Thank you ANBERLIN...Godspeed!!!)

listen:
"Paperthin hymn" anberlin

"Dismantle.Repair" acoustic- anberlin

Post Script: I am very excited to read the new book by John and Stasi Eldridge, "Love & War" and I will be (new thing) writing a review about it after I read it stay tuned!!