Something Real: Faith

Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

My Favorite Songs - The Second 50

I need to specify that these are "pop/radio" tunes; I haven't even tapped into musical theater, movie music, spiritual/religious stuff, etc. Those songs would be much more obscure anyway, and I don't really imagine that most people would catch those references. So, I'll stick to these, more "popular" tunes.

51. "Carolina In My Mind" - James Taylor

52. "Always Something There to Remind Me" - Naked Eyes
53. "What A Fool Believes" - Doobie Brothers
54. "Poison" - Bell Biv Devoe
55. "Sweet Freedom" - Michael McDonald
56. "Urge for Going" - Joni Mitchell
57. "I'm Free" - Jon Secada
58. "I Said I Loved You But I Lied" - Michael Bolton
59. "This Little Bird" - Jewel (& her mom)
60. "Please Forgive Me" - Bryan Adams
61. "Whatever You Say" - Martina McBride
62. "Bye Bye" - Jo Dee Messina
63. "These Days" - Rascal Flatts (How in the world do I pick just one?!?)
64. "Feels Like Today" - Rascal Flatts (I broke my own rule:)
65. "When You Come Back Down" - Nickel Creek (This is what magic sounds like)
66. "Higher Love" - Steve Winwood
67. "In Your Eyes" - Peter Gabriel (God, I loved the 80s.)
68. "If This Is It" - Huey Lewis and the News
69. "For the Longest Time" - Billy Joel
70. "Dreams" - Fleetwood Mac
71. "Stay" - Lisa Loeb (Soooooo 90s!)
72. "Dreams" - The Cranberries
73. "Sunny Came Home" - Shawn Colvin
74. "Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia
75. "If You Could Only See" - Tonic
76. "I Have Nothing" - Whitney Houston (This is s repeat artist, too, but she deserves it.)
77. "Baby I'm Yours" - Shai
78. "Round and Round" - Tevin Campbell
79. "If You Love Me" - Brownstone
80. "You Gotta Be" - Des'ree
81. "These Dreams" - Heart
82. "Just My Imagination" - The Temptations
83. "After the Love Is Gone" - Earth, Wind and Fire
84. "Open Arms" - Journey
85. "More Than Words Can Say" - Alias
86. "It Must've Been Love" - Roxette
87. "I Can't Fight This Feeling"- REO Speedwagon
88. "Love Shack" - B-52s
89. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - Tears for Fears
90. "Rainy Days and Mondays" - The Carpenters
91. "Sweet Surrender" - Sarah McLachlan
92. "No Fear" - Terri Clark
93. "No Arizona" - Jamie O'Neal
94. "Born to Fly" - Sara Evans
95. "Cowboy Take Me Away" - Dixie Chicks (my college roomies and I used to do interpretive dance to this song :)
96. "Break Away" - Kelly Clarkson (God, I love songs in 6/8.)
97. "I Wanna Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
98. "Part-Time Lover" - Stevie Wonder
99. "That's the Way It Is" - Celine Dion
100. "From This Moment" - Shania Twain

Wow. This list came a lot easier than I thought it would. I didn't think I'd put up the second 50 so soon after the first.

Of course, this list will go on and on (just like Celine's heart). I don't think I'll put out a third list just yet, though. This process could truly never end. I love music so much. I knew that, of course, but really realized in making these lists just how much music has shaped my life, my personality and my love. Where (or who?) would I be without it?

There are so many other songs from these artists and others that strike a chord and touch my heart and soul. I hope that if you're reading these blogs, you've perhaps been taken on a journey through some of your most favorite songs. And if I could introduce you to a new song or artist that you end up loving, then great!

Now, I'll be interested to see if my favorite songs have any similiarities. Like, key, time signature... or the fact that so many of them are love power ballads with key changes?!? I am such a sappy romantic!

Remember to check out the video that inspired this whole explorative project about the man in the nursing home who's brought to life by hearing the music that he loves.

May we be eager to love and be loved each and every day!

Happy Easter; Hallelujah!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

My Favorite Songs - The First 50

After seeing this beautiful video about an elderly man who is essentially brought to life by music, I started thinking about the music that animates me, that could make my soul feel alive.

I've begun a list. Here are 50 of the songs I'll call my "favorites," songs that can't help but get me to pay attention, light up and sing along.

I limited myself to only one song per group/artist. It was sometimes hard to pick just one, but I did it, otherwise, I could go on and on about certain artists.

Here they are, the first 50, in no particular order:

50 more are coming soon!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The untouchable

Upon recommendation of my friend Danielle Rose (whose advice I take to heart), I went to Mass today (and intend to do so every day of Advent. I know - this is unusual for me, but I need my time with Jesus really bad right now).

As I walked to St. Vincent Church, just on the corner of Adams & Figueroa for noon Mass, the thought kept turning over in my mind, "Wait for a miracle." I have been reading, hearing and praying about miracles lately - about God doing something extraordinary with an ordinary moment...or person. Which, though I have lots of gifts and talents (thank God), I am. Just an ordinary person with big hopes and dreams.

So, I walked into the church and followed my intuition to enter the far right door in the back. And as I walked up the aisle to take a seat near the front, a man and I approached one another from opposite directions. He was visibly dirty and smelled bad - a "homeless man." As we got close we both waved. And then as we got closer, he held out his hand to shake mine. And there we stood, hand in hand, for a little while. He looked down and our hands and I looked at him, quietly. He rubbed his thumb back and forth over my thumb. And then I said, softly, "Peace be with you." He pulled me close for a hug and we stood in an embrace for a little longer than a few seconds. I thought that I could maybe say nothing more, and just let the moment be, still and quiet and stinky. :) But I said, "God loves you," after which he pulled away slowly and walked on down the aisle. As I headed toward my seat in the 2nd row, a man in the pew who'd been watching smiled up at me.

I sat in my seat reflecting on this experience that had just passed. Clearly, I thought, this was a small miracle. That I had shown up to church this morning for my "date with Jesus" (Danielle helped me identify that) and then met a man who clearly needed me in the moment. I was there for him - a flesh and bone gift - a human being willing to embrace and be embraced. It was like destiny. And I laughed to myself as the irony of the situation dawned on me, and I recognized God's humor in the situation. I have been praying so hard for God to send me a man... THE man. And I've been longing and lusting so hard after that man (or any man, let's be honest) that God decided to send me a sign that, indeed, my prayers are being heard. I did, in fact, meet a man in church (go figure), but not for the purpose that I had in mind. See, God can turn the desires in my heart into his desires for my heart. And God knew that I needed to encounter someone like this man today to show me that to really love, and to really be an instrument of peace, I need to be willing to go where God needs me and share my love with whoever God puts into my path.

I didn't look around the church for a potential husband today (I do that a lot:). Today, I sat in my own homeless stink connecting with the untouchable Christ. And I thought about the need of that man who reached out to me today, and how it may have been years since he had his arms around a woman. And I quieted my complaining and impatient heart that constantly asks God, "When?" When is it my turn? And I hear God tell me that I what I have today is sufficient enough. The love that I need will be given to me in God's time and God's way.

What do you want of me, Lord? Where do you want me to serve you? Where can I sing your praises? I am your song. - lyrics from Servant Song by Donna Marie Margill, OSM

Friday, October 14, 2011

A poem: Mutually Encouraged

We are inspired
We see our God
in one another
We have been called
each sister and brother
to share our lives
and give to the other
the gift of ourselves
no matter how raw,
unfinished, unwhole
to make perfect the plan
that God has begun
So let your light shine
and let your heart speak
Don't be afraid to share what you think
'Cause just as you fear and doubt and deny
the other is waiting to come look inside
to find all the answers they're seeking in vain
for which they need you to get through the pain
So stand up and witness
Break loose and run free
for here in this place
there's hope, can't you see?
As each of us shares in communion of love
we become one Body
one Lord from above
We speak and we share
We hold and endure
And in our great triumph
God's presence is known
For where two or three
come close in His name
we all are transformed,
made whole; we all gain
The power of love can conquer all fear
when we're willing to listen, come close
and draw near
So don't be afraid, and don't run away
This power of peace is with us to stay.

(C) 2011 Kristin Firestone

"...that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith..." Romans 1:12

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

God in the Gazebo

Everyone knows that to get college students to an event, one must serve food. And not just any food. Free food. So, when I decided that I wanted to launch a new type of event at the Mount called "God in the Gazebo," my friend and fellow campus minister, Gaile, suggested that I start with something a little more accessible, and that I definitely serve food. So, we advertized "Snacks in the Gazebo," a chance for students to come out of their dorms and enter a structure that had previously been closed to them: a tall, stone gazebo, looking something like Rapunzel's tower. Straight out of a storybook (like most of the buildings here at MSMC's Doheny campus). The flyer was a night shot of the gazebo lit up from the inside and from on top the tower, beckoning like a lighthouse into the night. "Spooky" is how one student described the building, which sits closed, locked and tucked away into a corner of the property just beyond where anyone would typically travel. Getting girls out there would require something tantalizing, and getting them to come back, something creative.

I went around with cookies at 7:30, hoping to entice them with my invitation to come out at 9 for said snacks. But when I had made it through half of a floor and my cookie plate was nearly empty (& after I realized I wouldn't have enough snacks for all the girls who said they were coming), I decided to abort that operation and just head for set up. The crew met me in my room (Flor, Jas & Tina) and we took to transforming the creepy, abandoned tower into a space fit for guests. The spread was bountiful, the candles plenty, and the incense sweet. Soft ambient music played from Flor's iPod (an eclectic blend of Japanese, Celtic and other peace-inducing melodies) and "Snacks in the Gazebo" began. As girls arrived, they gathered in around the food table, munching and talking. I could almost hear the sigh of relief as some of them shared that this was their study break, and now the smoke and soft light could whisk them away to another place, even if for a moment.

I enjoyed my talks with many of the young ladies, as I listened to them share about their adjustment to college life, courses of study and stresses. I even found some Valley girls here - some ladies who grew up in and attended school in my hometown of Canoga Park. Some faces and names were new, and others I encountered again for second and third times. My struggle is remembering their names. I hope to get better at that.

Tonight, I felt a presence in that Gazebo. Particularly, I felt the presence of the spirit of one person supporting me - one whose ministry greatly influenced me in direct and indirect ways throughout and beyond my own college experience: Sr. Peg Dolan. She had such a beautiful way of communicating God's presence to groups and individuals just by being herself, listening well and sharing carefully-chosen words of wisdom and encouragement. Thankfully, with the help of her spirit and the Holy Spirit, a lot of candllight, and some food, people came together just a little more closely tonight. We seemed to float on grace. I'm grateful (and only a little surprised) that, despite the culinary focus, we did encounter God in the Gazebo tonight, after all.