Like Yoda Without Frank Oz #SadSimile

It's strange to think of the powerful Jedi master, Yoda, as a lump of foam and latex, but without the arm, hand, voice, and talent of Frank Oz, he's just a puppet...a thing...an inanimate object, incapable of anything except decay.

This is the imagery Randy Stonehill elicits in the final song on the first side of Welcome to Paradise, "Puppet Strings".

I can't keep from mourning for this topsy-turvy world

With all its strife and pain

Mourning for the lost and the desperate children

Who can't remember their names

And I can feel it in my soul

Now the end is getting near

I can hear the devil laughing

And it's ringing in my ears

Long ago He chose us to inherit all His kingdom

And we were blessed with light

But wandering away we disobeyed Him in the garden

And stumbled into night

And I can feel it in my soul

Now the end is getting near

I can hear the angels weeping

And it's ringing in my ears

We are all like foolish puppets 

Who desiring to be kings

Now lie pitifully crippled

After cutting our own strings

But God said I'll forgive you

I will face you man to man

And win your love again

Oh how could there be possibly a greater gift of love

Than dying for a friend

And I can feel it in my soul

Now the end is getting near

I can hear the devil laughing

And it's ringing in my ears

We are all like foolish puppets 

Who desiring to be kings

Now lie pitifully crippled

After cutting our own strings

Cutting our own strings

Cutting our own strings

Cutting our own strings

©1976 King of Hearts Publishing

https://youtu.be/wugxJc64JFE

Truth is...It's not a perfect simile, and we shouldn't slip into thinking that the life God offers us is one where we mindlessly do what the great puppet master in the sky commands. But it certainly is true that when we want to be the ruling royalty of our own lives, it ends up as a horrible mess. For evidence of this, just check out the headlines every day.

Things Rich Mullins Taught Me

With a "thanks for the idea" to Amy Swanson, fellow-member of the Rich Mullins Remembered Facebook page, here are some things I've learned by listening to the songs of Rich Mullins:

There's a rest you can find in your work that you can't get out of sleep. ("When You Love")

The other side of the world is not so far away as I thought that it was. ("The Other Side of the World")

There's more that dances on the prairies than the wind; more that pulses through the ocean than the tide. ("If I Stand")

It's a wounded world that needs a healing touch. ("Alrightokuhhuhamen")

Here, I'm tested and made worthy; tossed about but lifted up in the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God. ("The Love of God")

Even Pontius Pilate played a part. ("Who God Is Gonna Use")

Much joy can blossom from many tears. ("Hello Old Friends")

The world draws up its lines, but at the foot of the cross, there's room for everyone. ("Everyman")

Love is found in the things we've given up more than in the things that we have kept. ("What Susan Said")

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Truth is...I say these are things I've learned, but I'm still in the process of living them out. I'm grateful for the songs Yahweh welled up within Rich, and I look forward to the day I can truthfully sing:

I cannot hide this longing that grows

In this temple of silence and stars

But a thief in the night stole in and broke

Every chain that had bound up my heart

I cannot cling to shadows again

So here on this altar tonight

I lay every dream I've ever dreamt

To burn in the fire He lights

("Cry the Name")

Just a Silly Little Prayer

Sometimes an answered prayer can make a person laugh. It did ME, at least.

I was attempting to put clear plastic up on the window in one of the downstairs bedrooms. (For those who don't live in a cold climate, this is an insulating maneuver, designed to decrease drafts and lower one's heating bill.) I had cut the plastic film to the correct size, but I needed to unfold it...it was doubled over on itself, and I needed to get it opened to its single thickness.

I spent at least 10 minutes rubbing my fingers together along the edge of that plastic...trying to get it to let go of itself and separate. I wet my fingers. I warmed the plastic. I bent, folded, and practically mutilated it.

Nothing.

I finally looked up and said, "Lord, this seems like something really silly to pray about, but I am so frustrated and I just can't get this unfolded. Please help me."

I looked down at the two corners that had been so persistent at staying together and saw them droop away from each other like wilted lettuce or peeling paint.

That's when I laughed, and I kind of think Yahweh did, too.

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Truth is...Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:11-13 NIV)

Lung Cancer: Lots of Laughs?

It's not everyone who can write a song titled "Lung Cancer" with the expectation of getting laughs.

The fourth song on the first side of Welcome to Paradise gives the world a full dose of what Randy Stonehill has become noted for: an absurd sense of humor.

she went down to the corner store

and bought a pack of filter kings

don't you know tomorrow she'll be back for more

'cause she really loves to smoke those things

and every time that she inhales

a cloud of that cigarette smoke

she's just one step closer to the man in black

and sixty cents closer to broke

she's been working on

lung cancer, emphysema, a cardiac arrest

and she'll probably have a stroke when she sees

the x-rays of her chest

when she had her first cigarette

a puff or two was all she could take

now if she doesn't have one in her hand all the time

you'll notice it begin to shake

even though she's nonchalant

and acts as if her habit's a joke

she won't do too much laughing when

her life goes up in smoke

she's been smoking that C-I-G-A-R-E-T-T-E

that cigarette's got her on her knees

C-I-G-A-R-E-T-T-E

that darn tobacco won't set her free

alright, suck, baby, suck

suck on that cigarette

go on and light up that fag and take a drag
it's bound to snuff you yet

©1976 King of Hearts Publishing

https://youtu.be/0uC465mktCk

Truth is...there are at least two ways one can tell this song was written in the mid-1970s instead of the early 21st Century. One, "sixty cents closer to broke" would have to be "ten dollars closer to broke" to match today's economic reality. Two, today we seem to be more concerned about showing empathy for those struggling with nicotine addiction; making it seem heartless to make fun of something so physically harmful. (Note: Instead of "physically harmful," I wanted to type "utterly stupid," but this is 2019, not 1976.)

A New Year Full of Hope

What are you hoping for in the new year?

God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish. (Psalm 9:18)

May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you. (Psalm 25:21)

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:22)

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5)

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. (Psalm 71:14)

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

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Truth is...But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7)