I am totally digging the cover for the revised edition of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2.
Category Archives: U2
Nada and Compare
I have been absolutely worthless since my wife left to visit her family. Not as worthless as a friend I had in college but still I feel lazy. This friend was the worst (or best depending on your perspective). His wife left for a summer long internship in another state. He went to Wal-Mart and purchased a couple of power strips and extension chords. When he returned to his apartment he plugged his refrigerator, microwave, an fan and the TV into the power strips and plugged the extension chord in the community outlet in the hallway of the apartment complex. He then turned the power off in his apartment to avoid paying for electricity while his wife was gone. I would try that but I think my neighbors would notice my bright orange extension chord plugged into their back porch.
I haven’t completely let the house go to pot but it is a far cry from being acceptable to her. Tonight I’m going to have to clean hardcore!
I feel like I have not accomplished anything this week even though I have done a lot. I am teaching a class next school year entitled “Leadership in Action”. I am so excited and have been working very hard on making it a great class. This week I laid out a basic outline for the year and I detailed the first 2-3 weeks. I have done a lot of work on it. I’ll share more on it later.
On the pop culture front, I am eagerly anticipating the new Coldplay album X&Y. I read on the CNN ticker last night that it was leaked on the internet yesterday. I just checked iTunes and they still have it listed as pre-order. I guess I can wait until Tuesday. I am excited also because of all the U2/Coldplay comparisons. Although I think that they are two completely different bands I still get excited when I read things like this:
Coldplay’s third opus takes on the reigning champ, U2, and doesn’t so much dismantle Atomic Bomb as blast right through it, like a mile-wide meteor, hurteling across the heavens toward the Beatles themselves.
Whoa! That was written by Bud Scoppa in the June/July issue of Paste Magazine. For my money, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is my favorite album of the past 12 months. I know I’m biased but so what! It is a near perfect album.
If Martin and Co. can “blast” through that album my ears say, “Bring it on!!!”
Always (Value Added Title)
This morning I was working on tying up some loose ends before the school year ends. Our students are taking exams today and tomorrow so I am confined to my closet trying to keep quiet. While I was working on turning in some recipts, I was listening to one of my auto playlist called “Never Played.” The list contains all the songs I haven’t listened to in my iTunes library. A U2 song came on that I had never heard before. The music caught my ear (It is the beta-“Beautiful Day”) so I checked out the lyrics. Great stuff! This b-side from the Beautiful Day single is a new favorite. Enjoy.
Always
Here today, gone tomorrow
Crack the bone, get to the marrow
To be a bee and the flower
Before the sweetness turns to sour
What we have we’re gonna keep, always
What we’ve lost we don’t need, always
What is it that won’t let you sleep, always
Be the arrow and the target
Put your head over the parapet
Be uncool, yes be awkward
Don’t look in the obvious place
The soul needs beauty for a soulmate
Get down off your holy cloud, always
God will not deal with the proud, always
Well if you dream then dream out loud, always
Eternally yours, always
I want you
I want you
I want you
Touch me now inside
I wanted to be a man
I wanted to call
You say you come to know yourself, always
Don’t find yourself in someone else, always
And always wear a safety belt, always
Wait for me I’m running late, always
This is the moment that we share for always
Turn each song into a prayer, always
Now and forever
For always
Meeting God Without The Sunglasses
The other day I posted that I was reading Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas by Michka Assayas. On that post, Beth commented that she was “quite astounded by his complete candor about his faith in the Assayas book.” I could’t agree more. Bono seemed more than willing to open up about his childhood, his family, and his causes. What stuck me more was that Bono could be speaking about the Sandanistas in South America or conversations that he had with his father and seemlessly transition into talk of the Spiritual. On top of that, he never falls into the televangelese of “JEEEEEE-SUS.” When he discusses a scripture reference or uses a biblical example he steers clear of beating his breast for shameless self-promotion by saying “Look at how spiritual I sound.” His words on faith just come out at any given moment in humility and earnestness. They are real and raw. When he is speaking about faith, Bono reminds me that the gospel is good news. It isn’t a weapon or an aurgument as much as it is a life giving story that should permeate our thoughts and pepper our outlook. Brian McLaren speaks of the gospel in terms of the daily paper. The paper has a daily section, a sports section, a religion, a buisness, and a world section. Instead of keeping the Trinity exclusively in the religious section, the Gospel has something to say in every section. The Gospel should interact with every facet of our society just as it inteacts with our heart, body, mind and soul.
I’ll post some of my favorite conversations later this week.
iMix
Allthough I wasn’t able to attend the show in San Diego last night, I have enjoyed listening to the setlist all day. I made a playlist of the songs using various tracks from my iTunes library (Where possible I used live tracks). If you have iTunes, you can click the link below to the iMix that I submitted. Enjoy and stay classy San Diego!
