Listening to the radio this morning, I was reminded that it was eleven years ago today that Rich Mullins was killed in an automobile accident. His good friend and fellow writer and musician Mitch McVicker was seriously injured. Along with Bono, Rich remains one of my favorite musical poets. What's with the Irish, anyway?
Well, I gotta tell ya, I don't know how many times I've cried listening to Rich's music. How is it that a handful of words contain enough beauty to cause my emotions to swell and drip out my eyes?
"I can see the Covenant colors: The sun and the rain have woven against the blue of the sky."
That line just bowls me over every time I listen to "The Howling."
((Now, I understand this is my deeply personal opinion and experience I'm sharing here. You'll probably read some of these lines and say something like, "You know, I'm kinda hungry - where did I put my Cheez-Its?" Oh well, I'm sharing it all anyway!))
"In the west I see an evening, a scarlet thread stretched beneath the gathering dark, red as the blood on the hands of the Savior and rich as the mercy that flowed from His broken heart."
I've not heard of anyone who can craft a metaphor of such grandeur and sublimity! (If you know of someone, don't tell me...)
The one song that I absolutely can't sing without being overwhelmed by the weight of it is "The Love of God." I did a cover of this song with a friend of mine once at an outdoor concert and managed to get through it, but crooning along in the car by myself - no way - pile of tears.
I don't want to ramble, though I easily could, so I'll just say that the music of Rich Mullins has influenced me in many profound ways and touches a place in my soul that no other musician/poet has been able to do.
Well, I gotta tell ya, I don't know how many times I've cried listening to Rich's music. How is it that a handful of words contain enough beauty to cause my emotions to swell and drip out my eyes?
"I can see the Covenant colors: The sun and the rain have woven against the blue of the sky."
That line just bowls me over every time I listen to "The Howling."
((Now, I understand this is my deeply personal opinion and experience I'm sharing here. You'll probably read some of these lines and say something like, "You know, I'm kinda hungry - where did I put my Cheez-Its?" Oh well, I'm sharing it all anyway!))
"In the west I see an evening, a scarlet thread stretched beneath the gathering dark, red as the blood on the hands of the Savior and rich as the mercy that flowed from His broken heart."
I've not heard of anyone who can craft a metaphor of such grandeur and sublimity! (If you know of someone, don't tell me...)
The one song that I absolutely can't sing without being overwhelmed by the weight of it is "The Love of God." I did a cover of this song with a friend of mine once at an outdoor concert and managed to get through it, but crooning along in the car by myself - no way - pile of tears.
I don't want to ramble, though I easily could, so I'll just say that the music of Rich Mullins has influenced me in many profound ways and touches a place in my soul that no other musician/poet has been able to do.
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