"Courage, my friends, the world is still filled with the finest of people."

"Don't tell me hate is ever right or God's will
These are the wheels we put in motion ourselves
The whole world weeps and is weeping still
Though shaken I still believe
the best of what we all can be
The only peace this world will know
Can only come from love."

Last week I went to a fantastic concert, one of the best that HBPA has ever had. Carrie Newcomer performed...it was so refreshing to hear her music, and her lyrics. Her songs speak to me, in much the same way McCutcheon and Chapin (among others) do. I purchased 2 CDs that night and I've been listening to them nonstop ever since...when I go to sleep at night, when I'm getting ready to go to school, in the car driving back and forth from class and school...
There are many songs on the two albums I bought that will, I'm sure, become fodder for my blog, but for right now I'll concentrate on "I Heard an Owl," a song that talks of the need for peace, and loving our neighbors, just as God loves us.

As I have mourned for the conflict in Iraq, and the anniversary of our time there, I've thought many times of how it will end, if it will end, and what it will take for that to happen. This isn't something that I can talk about with most of the people I come into contact with, as the opinion I hold is not one that the majority agrees upon.

"I am a voice calling out
Across the great divide
I am only one person
That feels they have to try
The questions fall like trees or dust
Rise like prayers above
But the only word is "Courage"
And the only answer "Love"

It saddens me to think about the lives that have been lost, the number of families affected, and the amount of hatred that the world holds.

"Light every candle that you can
We need some light to see
In the face of deepest loss
Treat each other tenderly
the arms of God will gather in
Each sparrow that falls
But makes no separation
Just fiercely loves us all"