A not so guilty pleasure...

Recently I took some time to take a stroll around my neighborhood; I wanted to savor being able to walk around the block and pass through the intersection of Haight & Ashbury. Don't get me wrong, I will still find myself at key locations in the Haight: Goodwill, the Booksmith, Bound Together, and of course, Amoeba Records. For those unfamiliar with Amoeba, it is a religious experience for those of us who like to spend way too much time developing our music collection -- trying to find just that one thing for my collection.

Since I listen to a cross-section of music, I have several cd's I am looking for: I can find myself bouncing from bluegrass/gospel, country, ska, rock, metal, soul, dance, classical just to name a few sections I can be found scouring. Some of my treasures found in recent weeks include: Reno & Smiley (bluegrass gospel), a promo copy of Dressy Bessy's new disc (indie pop), and as of yesterday, the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet.

Though the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet is not bluegrass per se, it leans heavily on those roots enough for me to add it to my collection. Actually, I have been searching for it for a few years, and did not want to cheat and use Ebay; for me, finding this was like finding a buried treasure. And besides, it was used.

I am deliberate when I use the word tresure to describe what this cd is for me. On the one hand, these songs were in the hills where I grew up. These songs nourish my soul, touching me deeply, and I feel a sense of reverance and contentment as the songs wash over me. The other part of this buried treasure are the memories of my family. Hee Haw was a part of my childhood Saturday night, just like Lawrence Welk. I cherish those memories now that my grandfather (Pepa) is gone, and my grandmother (Mema) has been battling Alzheimer's for well over decade. This simple disc warms my heart as I remember my family this time of year as Christmas looms near. This disc reminds me of the reason for Christmas, the celebration of hope amidst the longest night of the soul.

Music of the Season

Music + Christmas, they go together like Halloween and Linus and his security blanket. More and more, I find I need the music of this time of year to remind myself that it is actually Christmas -- to remind myself to wait expectantly for the hope, new life, and regeneration that is promised in the time of greatest darkness. I'm sorry, but shopping for just the right video streaming iPod does not remind me of that. Christ, not the dollar, sustains my soul.

That said, there are three songs that help remind me that Christmas is near:
1. "Linus and Lucy" -- when I hear the piano in this familiar piece from Charlie Brown, I am reminded of the Christmas's growing up at my grandparent's house in South Carolina, especially the years before my grandmother developed Alzheimer's. I remember the joy friend's and I had showing off our new toys to each other, and the joy that came from sharing them. Ok, it makes me long for a innocence I never really had... but it helps to remember to count the blessings I received growing up.

2. "Santa Baby" -- I am sorry, only the Eartha Kitt version will do for me -- I am a queen after all.

3. Anything from Bruce Cockburn's "Christmas" disc -- Granted this is pretty general, but this reminds me of the great radio station I miss from back home, WNCW, and being able to sit with friends with the radio playing in the background. Besides, Cockburn's disc is just wonderful, but if I have to pick a favorite track, it would be "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes."

Does World AIDS Day still matter?

Yesterday, December 1, was World AIDS Day. The question I asked myself, especially living in San Francisco, is does it, World AIDS Day, still matter? In a word, yes. I was shocked the other day when a friend asked me a simple question about HIV transmission -- in SF!! It matters to me because I see lack of basic info here in SF around transmission. It matters to me because I see homeless folk not get the treatment they need. It matters to me because I turn on the news to see entire populations around the world being decimated by AIDS. It matters to me because Jesus said to "love your neighbor as yourself," and some of my neighbors here and around the world have AIDS.

Evolving Creation

"... One day to God is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day to God," 2 Peter 3:8

It drives me nuts when people who tote a Bible forget what God's time is like -- a day to God is like a thousand years in our standard of time, and vice versa. That said, why do people get bent out of shape when speaking about evolution vs. creationism -- to me they are two sides of the same coin. If God created the world in a mere six days (and resting on the seventh) to God, that process would still be a few thousand years to us. Granted, I do prefer the prose of the two accounts of creation in Genesis, but I have to recall that God's ways are not always clear to me, for God works in mysterious ways, and the theory of evolution is just one way of trying to make sense of God's mystery. Perhaps why the reason evolution seems foreign is because the ways of God sometimes seem foreign. For me, evolution is just proof that God does exist because the symbiosis that exists between living beings: that trees and plants provide oxygen for us to breathe, plants utilize the carbon dioxide we exhale, the need for water, coffee, etc. Evolution took many, many years -- which would only have been a few days to God.