Resurrection Letters, Vol. II

Andrew Peterson's long-awaited album is due out soon and I am going to see him in concert for the second time this year on Saturday.....

I found a place online where they play tracks from his new album before it's released and I've been soaking it up.....I can't wait to have the real thing!

At the concert in March, I learned that "Hosanna" means SAVE US! I blogged about it, I think, and how that meaning has changed my storybook picture of Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday......

Here is an excerpt from his blog that he wrote back in Oct. 2007 while still creating the album that posts the lyrics to one of the most rich and powerful songs on the album: Hosanna!

Somebody said that you have to preach the gospel to yourself daily. I hope this album will help people to do just that: to remind themselves of the gravity of their sin and the glory of God's mercy, of the promise that Death is nothing to fear, that resurrection is a worthy hope.

Hosanna

I am tangled up in contradiction
I am strangled by my own two hands
I am hunted by the hounds of addiction
Hosanna

I have lied to everyone who trusts me
I have tried to fall when I could stand
I have only loved the ones who love me
Hosanna

Oh, Hosanna
See the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear the temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Hosanna

I have struggled to remove this raiment
Tried to hide every shimmering strand
I contend with these ghosts and these hosts of bright angels
Hosanna
I have cursed the man that you have made me
I have nursed the beast that bays for my blood
I have run from the one who would save me
Hosanna


Oh, Hosanna
See the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear the temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Hosanna

We cry for blood
We take your life
Hosanna
We cry for blood
We take your life
It is blood and it is life that you have given

You have crushed beneath your heel the vile serpent
You have carried to the grave the black stain
You have torn apart the temple's holy curtain
You have beaten death at death's own game

Hosanna
Hail the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
(We cry) Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear this temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Oh, Hosanna
I will lift my voice and sing
You have come and washed me clean
Hosanna

Jumping and Hugging

I was laying by the pool today drifting in and out of conscienceness, when I heard a kid in the pool talking to his friend. "I wish the whole ground was a trampoline", he said. "Then I would just jump everywhere!". I thought, what a neat idea......and one that at my age I just wouldn't think to think! I wish the earth was a trampoline too! I wanna jump everywhere! And then I realized how much I need to get back to the "fun" in life.....

I was at work the other day, and as I walked a child out to their parent, I witnessed a two-year-old walk boldly up to an unknown two-year-old, arms out-stretched, and almost pummeled the other over with a HUG! The receiving child just stood there, not knowing quite what to make of this gesture, but not avoiding it either. And I thought, it's too bad we can't just walk up to complete strangers and hug them without any reason, pretense, or even introduction.

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

"The humility of children is disarming, isn't it? There is no pride or prejudice. There are no inhibitions or hidden agendas. Undiluted humility. There is an Eden-like innocence that children possess that all of us crave."
- Mark Batterson from In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day

Wouldn't the world be a more fun and loving place if we did more jumping and hugging? Wouldn't our faith be less shaken if we got back to our child-like hearts! We've much to learn from the young ones........much to learn.

*dedicated to the young ones in my life that are so precious: Lindsey, Jacob, Sophia, Calvin, Stephen, Alex, Heidi, Caroline, Chloe, Hok'sila, Connor, etc...and to all the new lives that are just entering or about to enter this crazy world!