"Tuesday's Gone With the Wind"

“Reflect upon your present blessings -- of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
― Charles Dickens

If you have read a single post of this blog then you are bored to tears for how many times I have placed music inside a metaphor. However, my parents taught me something when I was young. They taught me that sometimes things in life are so beautiful, so fleeting, so bitter, so painful that they cannot be colored correctly. But that does not mean we should live in back in white. We should still strive. The things that are lovely deserve all our efforts--even if we fail. It is that failing that attests to their beauty. Our inability to explain our blessings is a reflection of the grace we have been given.

I do not know much about Ash Wednesday. Lent is something I have heard over the years. Each year I hear of people giving up habits that inhibit them from seeking Christ fully. I never really understood how refraining from chocolate could make me closer to God. Yet, now I see it is about something more. It is about reflection.

Not just the act, but the ability.

It is about clearing out the mess and chaos to reveal what matters. It is about silencing the distractions and seeing love is the only purpose worth pursuing. I claim no expertise, or even a grasping. I claim only Christ.

Music is the world's most genuine reflection. It makes sense that every time I am searching--I find easiness in the melody. Funny how sounds provide the most silent corners. Funny how noise can take you to a place of peace. Often, I cannot articulate. Music takes those falterings and gathers them into beauty. Lent may not be a tangible item, or time. Maybe it is a song. Maybe it is taking a moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6smGew7dGto

"Your letter said that you were leaving
But you didn't know how long
I will never stop believing
I know one day you will return"
It's Alright, Third Day