Is it cowardly to shield yourself from bad news if it gets you down? Is it ignorant to try to protect your heart from pain? How much do we mourn with those who mourn, and how much do we desperately cling to our own peace of mind?
“Pain throws your heart to the ground…”
There’s only so much my tender heart can take.
I am not the Savior; I can’t carry it all.
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“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
-Isaiah 49:16 in the Old Testament in the Bible (beautiful scripture)
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Every now and then, when I’m not exactly sure,
I decide to take a risk and try to clarify the blur.
So I awkwardly dig through the archives of my mind
And sometimes, even I’m surprised at the things that I find.
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When the demons come out swinging late into the night
Dark memories come flooding back and drive out my light.
I’m trapped in all my weaknesses, they’re crowding up my space.
But just like Bono says, “I know I’m not a hopeless case.”
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The past is not always pretty, but pain can help me learn.
I’m smarter with a candle because I’ve felt the burn.
Someday I’ll find the strength to let go and release
All that negative baggage, and I’ll finally find some peace.
…
Until then…
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The best part about facebook is things that get you OFF facebook. Things like saying when a group is going to do something fun, when some cool athletic or cultural event is going on, when there’s some stellar ward activity, you get the idea.
The best part about facebook is not stuff that keeps us in a virtual bubble, as John Mayer would so oddly articulate it as our own embryonic goop of internet searching and drowning in our own self-obsession. No, the best part about facebook is stuff that helps us “see [and do!] things as they really are” (Jacob 4:13).
Truth.
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“I thank my sister for keeping my head above the water.”
-Katy Perry
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“A ministering angel shall my sister be.”
-Laertes in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
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“Hey, soul sister! I don’t wanna miss a single thing you do…”
-Train (just saw them in concert!)
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“As sisters in Zion, we’ll all work together.”
-LDS Hymn # 309 “As sister in Zion” (duh)
…
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Gravity wants to bring me down…🙂
John Mayer and Elder Cook together in one sentence? You betcha…
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“If there is anything… lovely or praiseworthy, [Katherine] seeks after these things.”
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-LDS Article of Faith #13 (with just a slight tweaking 🙂 )
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“Seek not after vain things of the world, for ye cannot carry them with you.”
-Alma 39:10 (in the Book of Mormon)
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#paradox
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Every time my tender heart breaks, there’s something I can learn.
The pain seems more than I can take, but I gain wisdom in return.
..
“And all these things shall give thee experience…” (Doctrine & Covenants 122:7)
…
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PS: John taught me to put my hand on my head when in the throes of despair.
🙂
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“..[Wo]men are that they might have joy.”
–2nd Nephi 2:25
..
“Do you think our Father in Heaven wants you to feel depressed and sad? He wants no such thing. Remember that there is a time to weep, but also “a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. It is well for you to laugh! It is well for you to be happy!”
–Dieter Uchtdorf (2nd counselor in the First Presidency of TCOJCOLDS)
…
🙂
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“Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.”
-Doctrine & Covenants 132:8
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I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
AKA a Mormon (duh).
To quote the daughter of the prophet, “I know it. I live it. I love it.”
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The faith of my fathers (and mothers!) is an all-encompassing part of my identity. Still, it’s not the only thing about me. Mormonism certainly informs my choices, thoughts, words, relationships, and character, but it does not completely define me.
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For my LDS friends, other than your Mormon faith, what makes up the substance of who you are? Separate from your spiritual beliefs, what do you care about?
What are your individual CORE VALUES?
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These pictures were taken one right after the other. Sunglasses and a smile can do a lot to hide things.
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What a drag to say
at least I still have yesterday
This is one of those Mayer songs that I didn’t quite grasp or understand the first few times I heard it. But a recent listen helped me realize it is a subtle masterpiece. John pines for an older, simpler time when true art was recognized and appreciated. A time when people weren’t “celebrating broken things” like publicity stunts, reality shows, and the sick culture of the glorification of celebrity. The nostalgia for something real and substantial is a theme that appears in Mayer’s music again and again.
On a personal note, this song perfectly describes my feelings on what I call the artist’s own solution:
When no one has yet expressed what is lacking and
desperately needs to be expressed, you do it yourself.
Much of my own blog is this: no one (at least that I know of) has written some things that need to be written, so I do. I have found that I often have the gift to be able to find the words to describe the feelings/ viewpoints of others, so perhaps they might at times think to themselves that Katherine “Speak[s] for Me” (the title of John’s song)! I believe this is one of the major reasons why my blog has done so well in a relatively short time period.
Other times, some artists have already found the words to express (and often surpass!) what I feel, so I borrow from them! In case you haven’t noticed, John Mayer often is my biggest source of inspiration (duh!).
Okay, I’ve taken a terrific tangent from the song which inspired this particular post. So I’m gonna get back on track! 🙂 Though “Speak for Me” is only 3:04 in length, I could write pages upon pages about it’s chord structure, rhyme scheme, thematic substance, literary/grammatical structures, et cetera. As I said earlier in this post, this song is a subtle masterpiece.
Just one brief detail which I wish to analyze:
I’m not mad about it
But I’m not that mad about it
I’m not mad about it
But I’m not that mad about it
Repetitive? Yes. Lazy? No. Seemingly simple, but cleverly complex? Definitely! The first connotation of “mad” is angry, while the second connotation is crazy/happy about. True to character, John rarely (if ever) becomes angry about things that he wishes were different, but instead expresses a sadness. This is how I often feel myself; not one to get belligerent (except on rare occasions), but on the contrary just am sometimes sad.
Alrighty time to wrap it up for this post. As is the theme of this song, I often am disappointed in the the overall lack of quality in our world today. Not only in music, but just in people and society altogether. Our problems are far from few, and I often get frustrated when I see people compound what is already less than ideal by their (lack of) actions, words, and attitudes. But thankfully in an age of gimmicks and phonies, there are some constants we can count on. Among other things, I can always find something (to borrow the words from Ms. Taylor Swift) “good and right and real” in the music of John.
He truly does
🙂
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“I’m not a total idiot, just a partial one” is a phrase in my lexicon that has served me extremely well. It’s a swiss-army knife of a phrase (good in any application). Check it:
When someone says or does something to you that indicates he/she sees you as inferior or less than capable, this phrase can gently, but firmly express that you are not stupid. In one sentence, you’re being simultaneously self-respecting AND self-deprecating. It sends a clear message, but there’s some comic relief there too to make everyone comfortable and not make you seem psycho. Cool!
🙂
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-F. Enzio Busche
(member of the Quorum of the 70 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
…
Beautiful
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Sometimes we have a tendency to think we’re the only ones with legitimate problems…. But we’re not.
Open your eyes.
Get outside yourself.
Someone in your circle is in pain and needs you to care.
Don’t be oblivious to others.
…
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“Leave to thy God to order and provide…”
(Be Still, My Soul)
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“I don’t really know anything about politics“ is a pretty pathetic statement that far too many (young) people say these days.
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Be informed. Know what’s going on. You don’t have to be an expert, but please
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If you are overwhelmed, start small.
But we need you, so getcha head in the game.
As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future.
Latter-day Saints as citizens are to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are wise, good, and honest.
Therefore…we urge you to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those you believe will most nearly carry out your ideas of good government.
-The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(read in full here)
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It’s good to be sensitive to other people’s suffering and pain….but it’s draining as well.
“mourn with those who mourn” (Mosiah 18:8)
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#burdenofdiscipleship
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