Carolyn Arends 202: A Fan Blog

Happy

2011-05-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

I will dare to dream

I will dare to believe in something, baby, and

I will dare to be

Happy

~ Carolyn Arends

I guess "Happy" (This Much I Understand, 1999) has been my theme song these past couple days. These past couple years? This whole span of my life (at least since I first heard it in '99)? Happy, happy, happy. Why am I so darn happy? "It is pretty annoying," my husband will say, echoing the rhetorical query at the beginning of the song. He thinks I'm happy because I am oblivious. Maybe a wee bit . . . in some ways; but, I feel deeply, think vigorously, and act accordingly. Yet, overall, every day, with some landmark exceptions, the emoticon of my life is the happy-go-lucky smiley face.

Some people are just naturally happier than others. I read that once. Let's see, it was in a John Stossel book that I think I have since sold back to Half Price Books. I distinctly remember that there was a study or two he cited that proved, once and for all (is anything ever proved "once and for all" by a study?), that there are certain people out there who are just happier. Score one genetically for me (this pretty much makes up for inheriting my mother's thighs*)!

When I worked for B&N in Sherman Oaks, the book I most remember flying off the shelf was Dennis Prager's Happiness is a Serious Problem. Never read it. I have made it a point of honor never to read anything filed in the "Self Help" section of a bookstore. But, I understand it to be an admonishment to all those Eeyores out there to follow a little advice from Ella (or, if you prefer, Judy Garland) (but who would prefer Judy to Ella?) and "Get Happy." From what I've read about his book, he fingers the mindset of expectations as the cause of so much modern malaise and general grousing. I had a camp counselor tell me that 28 years ago: "Don't expect anything; just welcome whatever comes and treasure the blessings."

But I expect everything. My mind is always full of all the good things bound to come my way. I guess my difference from others is that, when they don't pan out (as often enough happens), I am never devastated. I'm already onto the next dream, scheme, or hopeful fancy. Maybe that's where the "oblivious" part comes in. I just never linger on sadness or disappointment. There's a whole beautiful world out there! Why mope?

Have you ever read George MacDonald's Phantastes? A fabulous fairy story -- enthralling, eerie, enchanting! And, as my best friend, Flicka, has said, it is a theological powerhouse of a book. In the last paragraph, the hero, Anodos, hears music converging in his ear into an eternal chant: "A great good is coming -- is coming -- is coming to thee, Anodos." He goes on to conclude that "I know that good is coming to me -- that good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and courage to believe it. What we call evil is the only and best shape which, for the person and his condition at the time, could be assumed by the best good." Such a faith as that can only be seen through the filter of Christ on the cross.

And, so I, too, know that a great good is coming -- is coming -- is coming to me. I heard echoes of it as a child genetically blessed with a happy disposition; but since I first believed in the only One who is good, that promise has swelled into my lifesong. The wonder is not that I am happy; the wonder is how anyone who knows the Lord is not. And yet, I know many Christians are just . . . simply . . . not.

For some it takes courage beyond human strength to be happy. If you've stumbled upon this blog post and that is a struggle for you, please do not think I in any way wish to minimize or wave off your pain. There is a reason Carolyn wrote that you have to "dare to be happy." I would just encourage you to remember that a great good is coming -- is coming -- is coming to you as well. Be bold enough to meet it.

*Not that the pie helps, mind you.

For Her Very First Mother's Day

2011-05-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

There is no better gift for any new mom of faith -- or long-time mom of faith -- or expecting mom of faith -- or, really, any mom at any time anywhere -- than Carolyn Arends's 2002 release We've Been Waiting for You. Sure, it may be too late to get it from Feed the Lake (our preferred purchasing destination here at Carolyn Arends 202) in time for this year's Mom's Fête; but, lucky duck, you can get it in two days from Amazon. While you're at it, make certain you also pick up the accompanying gift book, We've Been Waiting For You. Always a good idea to have a few of those around for those awkward, unexpected baby shower moments.

This public service announcement brought to you by Concerned Fans of Carolyn Arends and of Moms in General, in association with People Against Bad Gifts.

Sunday School Object Lessons from Mrs. A.

2011-04-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Spring is (finally) at least sorta, kinda lurking out there somewhere in the great Pacific Northwest. Mr. Golden Sun is occasionally gracing us with his presence, and even those obstreperous grey clouds are taking a cue now and again to exit stage left. And so it will soon be time to order the caterpillars for Sunday School.

I'm a caterpillar who will not cocoon/feels like a tomb/I will not die.

For the past few years -- ever since I first heard the song at Barnabas, in fact -- I have used this line from Carolyn's "My Favourite Lie" as the springboard for one of my Kindergartners' favorite object lessons of the year: raising butterflies.

All creation sings out the glory of God, which is one reason why Christians need never to fear science. The life cycle of the butterfly is one of those magnificent examples He has given us in His gentle, loving way to illustrate our own condition. For, what is born as a caterpillar can certainly die as a caterpillar; but it is not meant to. It is meant to be reborn into a butterfly -- the form in which it will spend eternity. So, if you, like the caterpillar in the song, refuse to cocoon (or chrysalize*), you are dooming yourself to the death of a caterpillar -- namely being squashed by an eight-year-old boy between two rocks or pecked off your scrumptious leaf by a bird. Of course, a butterfly can also be snatched mid-air by a hungry bird; but, you get to eat nectar through your proboscis and fly around with brightly-painted wings as compensation. OK, the metaphor is getting a little cloudy here. However, the main things that the kids remember from our adventures in butterfly rearing are: a) science is really, really cool because God made it that way, and b) look at this concrete example of what it might mean for us to be born again in Christ as a new creation! The old caterpillar is passed away, and the butterfly has become new -- made of the same materials, but transformed. At least, I hope that's what the kiddos take away. Kindergartners are unfathomable.

I am a seed that will not be broken/For the flower to open/ No, I will not die.

The next line in the song is another great object lesson along the same lines. Luckily, my classroom has a grand and glorious twenty-foot window ledge, on which many a growing thing can receive sufficient sunlight to bloom. So, into their individual pots my munchkies will plant their flower seeds. Hopefully, not one of those will prove as recalcitrant as the song's, and we will get a bevy of blossoms.

Alack, alas, Carolyn has penned no line relating to the life cycle of a frog; I had to come up with that object lesson on my own. Of course, that is just another example from nature of how God takes living things and transforms them into what they are supposed to be. Again, many die as tadpoles; but, they were created to be frogs. In any event, the children love to watch the little legs come peeping out while the fishy tail shrinks into nothingness. Frogs are pretty darn amazing!

So, many thanks to Mrs. A. for helping me form my spring curriculum. What a grand time of year this is! God is so good to us.

*"Chrysalize" is, according to my OED, a nonce word; however, we really ought to use it often and bring it into the general English lexicon, don't you agree? Otherwise, the way to describe a caterpillar's going into his intermediate pupal stage is just too wordy.

Beautiful Bones

2011-03-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am a words girl. I love language -- especially the English language with all of its twists and turns and inconsistencies and unexpected beauties. So, when I first heard Carolyn's music, 'twas the lyrics that captivated me. What was she saying in these songs? Oooh, she's saying good stuff. OK, I'll keep listening.

I'll never forget the first time I heard "What I Wouldn't Give." I thought it was so masterly in the use of language -- breaking down what have become cliches and building them back up into a seamless whole of light-hearted regret. "Light-hearted regret" is the best way to describe the overall sense of the song. I mean, it is about regret, but not really about heartache; there is no real bitterness there. And the music is so sprightly and catchy, you cannot feel bad, no matter what the lyrics say. For years I wondered about this song. What did it mean? Where did it come from? How could Carolyn write a humorous treatment of lost love when she was so obviously deliriously happy in her marriage. And,what in the world did Mark think about this?

Of course, I found out later that the "love angle" was contrived to make the song readily accessible in the mind of the listener and that the real inspiration for the lyrics were Carolyn's college years -- her light-hearted regret that she spent so much time sneaking off into the music rooms and playing and writing songs, rather than fully absorbing the content of her courses. Ah, now the lack of bitterness makes sense: Can she really regret her topsy-turvy university priorities? I cannot think that she can; but she can think that she can; and so we get this song -- the most playful, rueful song about missed opportunities ever written.

So, I am a words girl and not a music girl. Seven years of taking piano lessons and filling in endless books of music theory did little to inspire me toward a broad understanding of music. I even got conned into taking a music course my freshman year of college and hated it with purple passion. Lass mich allein! I am an English major! Back to "Bartleby the Scrivener" for me!

Twelve years ago, after I had just lost my mother to cancer, my dad gave me a guitar. I had apparently once expressed a fleeting wish that I could play guitar like Amy Grant; so, my dad seized upon that whimsy and bartered with an old hippie who ran the local music store a hearing aid (my dad was an audiologist) for a lovely acoustic instrument. My dad is the type of dad who does things like this. I am so blessed to have him.

My dad is also the sort of person who sees music as one of life's greatest gifts -- able to be exactly what you need at specifically the right time. He instinctively thought, I am sure, that my great grief over losing my mom would be assuaged a bit by bringing music into my life. And by music, I mean the active creation of music, rather than the more passive (though still valuable) experience of listening. I thanked him for the instrument, strummed a few times, sighed, and put it away.

Over the ensuing twelve years, I would occasionally bring out my guitar, try to tune it, break some strings, scream, and shove it back into the closet. Two years ago, while I was cleaning out the same in preparation for a garage sale, I threw the guitar into the OUT pile. My husband, bless him, took it out and put it back into the closet. "You're not getting rid of your guitar," he announced.

"I'm never going to learn how to play it," I countered, the holy fire of spring cleaning burning in my eyes. "Every time I try to tune it, I break a string, and that scares me to death."

"You're not getting rid of it," he repeated in a tone that brooks no contradiction. I meekly let it stay.

Fast forward to January 2011. I am the pre-K-K worship leader at church. Ask me not how I fell into this mare's nest of talent incompatibility. I sing (occasionally on key) and dance around like a monkey with the children to music on a CD player. Here's the trouble: I am an alto of epic distortions. Think Ashley Cleveland with a cigarette habit. And most CDs of kids' songs are registered in an incredibly high, piping pitch. And it is almost impossible for me to sing in my own register while hearing wiry sopranos all around. So I squeak and crack like an old rusty chair, and the kids shudder in revulsion. I dance even harder like a monkey to distract them. All in all, it's a losing proposition. But, nobody else will take this worship gig. Oy.

So, think I, what if I just learned to play some of these songs on guitar? Then, I could sing as low as I pleased, and no one could stop me. Ha! Ha! But, how, I wondered, was I to even learn how to play this mysterious stringed contraption?

I went on-line and found a music school (4/4 School of Music) that offered a roster of classes in a wide variety of instruments. Deciding that it was time to introduce Sadie to the rigors of piano lessons ("I don't wanna take piano, Mom!") and longing to learn some guitar, I signed us up for concurrent lessons with two different teachers. She got Ms. Marks. I got Isaac. Let me tell you: We sat ourselves down in a warm tub of butter.

Says Sadie now: "I love piano, Mom! When do I get to go see Ms. Marks again?" Say I: "I love guitar. Thank you, Isaac." And this gets me to the whole reason I felt moved to sit and write this meandering post today. I have recently finally begun to understand what more musically-inclined people have always known: Carolyn's songs have beautiful bones. The muscle and meat may be her astounding lyrics. The supple skin may be her pleasant voice. But, strip those away, and her songs are lovely right down to their strong, structured skeletons. I know this now, because Isaac and I have been dissecting "I Can Hear You." And it is beautiful.

Even Isaac (who is a truly remarkable, dedicated teacher and one from whom you ought to take lessons should you ever find yourself in need of drum or guitar instruction in the greater Bellevue/Renton region of Washington), whose musical tastes, from what I can gather, run more toward Pink Floyd and not so much the arena of folkie Christian pop really likes "I Can Hear You." He said, and I quote, "This is a really good song. Thank you for introducing me to it." Hey, man, no prob. Introducing people to Carolyn's music is what I do.

Anyway, a big and unexpected boon in trying to learn this song is the backing track I was able to get from Feed the Lake. Unlike most of the backing tracks (or, at least the one I got for "Not a Tame Lion"), the one for "I Can Hear You" is only the music, no background vocals. So, I can really hear the chords that Isaac has me working on. It is such a help. Of course, I still sing along, but now my lyrics are: D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-D-and-switch to G-and-G-and-G-and-G-and-G-D riff-D riff-D riff-and-back to D . . . etc." Helps me remember when it's just me and my class notes and my beloved guitar alone at night in the living room. Helps me gain some confidence.

Have you printed up the Love Was Here First Songbook from the LWHF CD? I just did. More beautiful bones to discover. I can hardly wait!

Fingers, Fingers, Stubby Fingers

2011-03-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

I am coming to terms with the fact that I have very stubby fingers. OK, maybe not very stubby; but, a long line of peasant ancestors has imbued me with very strong, very capable, rather compact fingers. Great for kneading bread dough and scrubbing bathrooms. Not so great for fingering guitar chords.

I think I've finally competenced Dmaj, by the way. "Competenced" is a word I have coined to be somewhere between "bumbled" and "mastered." Now, according to the Feel Free songbook, I only need 584 other chords in my repertoire to play all the songs therein.

So, as I was lamenting my cruel genetic lot on the phone with my dad, he said, "Hey, how about Carolyn's fingers? Have you ever put your hand up to hers to see how they measure up?"

OK, Dad, totally creepy. Can you even imagine how that interaction would play out? Neither can I; but, I'm not about to try it.

But, it got me searching the Internet to try to find good pics of the Mighty C's hands. Not easy, I tell ya. Then, I realized that the best picture I've seen of her fully extended hand is on this very site, to your right.

So, what do you think? They seem longish to me, but not overly long. Of course, that's her strumming and picking hand; but, I'm assuming the chord-fingering one roughly matches.

I've been on web forums, looking up advice for my stubby digits. It seems that the only answer is practice, practice, practice. So, I'm off to do that right now! Peace!

"Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem" -- The "Fitful Glimpses" of Arends and Newman

2011-03-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

"Never was a mind so unceasingly in motion. But the motion was always growth, and never revolution."

~ Owen Chadwick on John Henry Newman

I am in no sense a theological scholar. Heck, I don't even read theological tomes unless someone is able to convince me that I'd better. I never seek them out.

So, it's a good thing that I read publications that publish essays and reviews by people who are theological scholars, and who write well and convincingly about theological things. Else, I would be even more of an ignoramus than I am. Hurrah!

Anyway, this disclaimer only goes to introduce a budding idea that came over me while I was reading Paul Dean's fascinating more-than-a-book-review/biographical essay on John Henry Newman, "Newman's Worldwide Mind," in this month's issue of The New Criterion. I read everything they put into TNC, because I know it will be edifying -- even if rather mystifying.

John Henry Newman, in case you do not know, as I did not before I read Mr. Dean's essay, was a 19th century British Anglican clergyman who converted to the Roman Catholic faith. He was a famous and popular scholar and writer, publishing, among others, still-read classics (I'll take the word of the consensus on these, having read nary a one) Apologia Pro Vita Sua, A Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent, and The Idea of a University.* He was eventually made a cardinal in the Catholic church by Pope Leo XIII; and he was beatified last year by Pope Benedict XVI.

Mr. Dean's piece is, in a large part, a biography of the method of Newman's mind; in particular, the way in which he would revisit and reassess ideas in his writing, each time clarifying and refining and polishing. The quote above that Mr. Dean pulls out from Owen Chadwick's biography of Newman early in his article really struck me, because that is how I so often see Carolyn's writing -- whether in her songs or essays. She revisits themes time and again -- each examination offering some new aspect or facet or thought; but, she, too, always seems to grow in her understanding, rather than turning all her previous notions upside down or discarding them. The Carolyn Arends of Love Was Here First is the same Carolyn Arends of I Can Hear You -- just wiser, deeper, more studied, more complex.

Be forewarned, casual listener: Carolyn Arends may wrap her ideas in pleasant and catchy melodies and sing them with a sweet and yielding voice; but, they are powerful, potent, and challenging ideas all the same. They will seep right through your conscious, into your subconscious, and shape your worldview almost before you know it. But, take heart: you will grow, too; and, what is better, you will grow toward the Truth.

Newman called it "dogma." And his use of "dogma" has little to do with the idea this modern time has falsely attributed to it, namely one of "blindly inflexible insistence." Rather, as Mr. Dean continues, "[Newman] accepted dogma, not as a substitute for independent thought, but as the formulated expression of the mind of the church down the ages." Under this definition, Newman saw dogma as something not only to be respected and accepted by the believer, but as something also to be thought upon and refined and contributed to by the believer in his own time.

Now, here is where Newman's theology gets a little dicey for the Protestant believer. Mr. Dean writes: "[F]ar from Christian doctrine being presented ready-made in the Bible, the church had the task of piecing together scriptural insights, reformulating its ideas more and more clearly as heresies demanded refutation, until, over the centuries, doctrines were agreed which were implied by scripture, and not contradictory to it, even though they might not be explicitly stated by it." And yet, is this wholly troublesome? I think we all have some extra-Biblical beliefs that, while they do not clash in any way with the truth revealed in the Bible, are in no way stated in our sacred texts. It is an act of Christian discernment to prayerfully seek out the complementary things and discard the heretical ones. And that is how you get a song from Carolyn like "According to Plan" -- a song that might upset Calvinists (aside: what a cheerless doctrine to me is pre-destination), but makes a lot of sense to non-Calvinists. Is there anything in that song that clashes with the mind of God as revealed in the Bible? No, but it might clash with your extra-Biblical worldview. And, that's OK. This is how we develop a communal Christian dogma -- listening, questioning, refining, arguing, praying, and loving Christ enough to put up with each other until all is revealed.

Mr. Dean goes on to write: "Newman's own development was, as I suggested earlier, a miniature version of this process. When he talked about the "idea" of something, he used the word almost in a Platonic sense, to denote not the mental conception of a thing but the thing itself in its totality, which the mind can only grasp by fitful glimpses. . . . 'The idea which represents and object or supposed object,' he wrote in the Essay on Development, 'is commensurate with the sum total of its possible aspects, however they may vary in the separate consciousness of individuals.' . . . Refining his ideas in response to attacks, objections, and genuine misunderstandings, he came to see a pattern in church history, a significance in church teaching, which had been latent all along, but which only became clear over many years. He never supposed that he had come to the end of what was to be said about a question, since further definitions, modifications, and adjustments (but not fundamental contradictions) would be called forth by changing circumstances." [emphasis mine]

And that is how we can get from Carolyn, years apart, songs such as "Seize the Day" and "This is the Moment," "Out of My Hands" and "Be Still," "Love is Always There" and "The Last Word." If each truth about eternity is a diamond, then each thought is a facet. Carolyn, as well as every other worthy Christian thinker, assiduously and tirelessly polishes -- defining, modifying, and adjusting. Were we to ask her if she thinks she will ever come to the end of what was to be said about a question, I am sure she would answer "Not a chance." This is the glory and grouse of a time-bound mortal grappling with eternity. We'll never get a full handle on these mysteries until we have left time behind in the presence of our King. But, it's our charge and life's work to try.

"Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem." That was the phrase Cardinal Newman requested on his memorial tablet. Mr. Dean kindly translated it for us: Out of the shadows and conjectures into the Truth. This is a deserving creed for all Christians at all times; but, one especially fitting for my favorite songwriter who has never been afraid to wrestle with angels or try to make sense of the mess and mystery of life. And she lets us come along for the ride!

*All available in sixty seconds or less on Kindle -- to whose charms I increasingly think I might have to succumb.

I Can Hear You Video

2011-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Lesson #1: The music studio said to bring along samples of the kinds of music you would like to learn how to play. So, I handed my guitar teacher, Isaac, my Carolyn Arends Feel Free songbook. I was all cool like, "Hey, I like folkie rock and hymns, yo." Isaac's all, "Right on. Is she on YouTube?" "Dude," I acknowledged.

(See, I am getting the hipster musician-speak down already. Am I a quick study, or what? Or what.)

Lesson #2: Says Isaac: So, I found her on YouTube and there was this song that I cannot remember the name of but I think the opening went something like this." And he proceeded to play a very close approximation of the opening bars of "I Can Hear You." Mouth agape, eyes wide, I wondered, how he could do that?

Music people are really amazing. I totally agree with Thomas Sowell that the only people worth envying are those with natural musical ability -- y'know, those who can really play -- and those who can eat anything they want and not grow fat. Amen and amen again, my brother.

Then, Isaac said, "That video was something else." Ah yes. YouTube. Of course he would have seen the video.

The White Suit. Never fails to make me smile. I think that should the video for "I Can Hear You" be broadcast somehow on a jumbotron in Cairo, there would no longer be rioting in the streets of Egypt. Only shining happy people holding hands and gazing with wonder upon the brilliance of the White Suit and Spencer's 'stache-that-melds-into-a-goatee thing. And listening, of course, to a fabulous song. OMGoodness, that video is tops!

"That suit," I proclaimed, "is destined for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you know."

"Man, it may already be there," Isaac returned. Alright!

So, because it ought to be embedded into as many blog posts as possible, apropos of whatever the writer would like, here is a blast from the killer 1990's past, when Amy still loved Gary, Bubba was in the White House, e-mail was a novelty, and Carolyn totally got her groove on:

There are wee skips throughout this obviously ripped version, but it's still totally worth a look-see. Enjoy!

Also from Lesson the Second: Isaac: "Justine, your left-hand fingernails are really burning my ass."
Justine: "Isaac, they're gone!"*

*Not an exact transcript of the "you must trim your left-hand nails" decree.**
**A box of Tim Horton's for the first person who can tell me from what movie that above snippet of dialogue was parodied/paraphrased.

Who Has a Ticket to the Hottest Show in Town?

2010-12-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

I do! I do!

Find out how you can, too, at Christmas Changes Everything!

See you there!

Christmas Changes Everything: An Evening with Carolyn Arends. Bob Bennett, and Spencer Capier

2010-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Who's lucky? Well, I am. But, if you live within any reasonable driving distance of Kent, WA, you are lucky, too! Because, we are going to have the BEST concert ever at our church, Calvary Chapel South!

December 11, 2010 — be there or be woefully left out of a fantastic evening of joyful, crazy-awesome music!

Add Webinaring To the List

2010-09-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we've recently found out another thing that Carolyn excels at. Sheesh. Check out the archive of her "webinar" from August 26, 2010.

Carolyn Arends on Worship

If you were able to participate in the live webcast and asked a question that got answered, do post about it here. Thanks!

Present With the Lord -- Lawrie Jonat

2010-07-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably know by now that Carolyn's dad passed away on Monday, July 12, 2010. Anyone who has more than a passing acquaintance with the work and art of Carolyn Arends knows how much her family means to her -- and, with her great love and appreciation for them shining through in all that she does, she has been able to make them mean quite a lot to us as well. It was a sad week at Barnabas; but, ultimately, an edifying one. For, because we live with this great hope that bodily death is not an end, but a beginning; that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord; the week at Barnabas was a time of reaffirmation, of rededication, of renewed faith in that great hope.

Here is the obituary from the Vancouver Sun:

JONAT, Lawrence (Lawrie) August 5, 1941 - July 12, 2010 Lawrie passed away peacefully after a determined and incredibly brave fight against P.S.P. He will be greatly missed by his family: Loving wife Joy, daughter Carolyn (Mark Arends), sons Christopher (Rachel) and Cameron (Angela), and grandchildren Benjamin, Bethany, Jaxon, Walker, Phoenix, and Henry. He will also be missed by his brother Terry (Gail), brother-in-law Doug Holcombe (Diane), nephew Lee and nieces Cindy and Kim. Lawrie was a career banker for The Bank of Montreal. After an early retirement, Lawrie and Joy bought an ABC Restaurant which they loved running. Lawrie was very concerned for the disadvantaged, and co-founded The Victim Assistance Organization in New Westminster, The Affordable Housing Society, which provides subsidized housing for thousands of people, and the John Davies Manor. He served on many other boards, was very involved with the Baptist General Conference, and was a church leader at Blue Mountain Baptist for many years. He was also a very accomplished pianist and organist. A memorial service will be held Monday, July 19, AT 2:00 p.m. at Blue Mountain Baptist Church, 450 Blue Mountain Road (at Austin) in Coquitlam. Donations to Blue Mountain Baptist Church or BGC Foundation will be greatly appreciated.

Sign the guestbook here.

If you live in Canada, you can mail a donation to Blue Mountain Baptist Church at the following address:

Blue Mountain Baptist Church
450 Blue Mountain Street
Coquitlam, BC V3K 4K5

(I'm not sure if mailing a check drawn on U.S. funds would be more of a blessing or a curse to BMBC, so I chose the second option, detailed below.)

If you live in the States or in Canada, you can make an online donation to the Baptist General Conference Foundation at this website: Canada Helps. The link will take you to the BGC Foundation page.

I was lucky enough to have met Carolyn's dad a couple times at concerts. I can think of no greater tribute to pay to him than to quote from his daughter's liner notes on the album We've Been Waiting For You: "Dad, thanks for fathering me in such a way that when God was introduced to me as a Heavenly Father, I knew instinctively that He must be a very loving God indeed." No father could really wish for more.

Please keep the Jonats in your prayers, including her whose name used to be Jonat. Please pray especially for Carolyn's beautiful, amazing mom, Joy, who has had to say a temporary goodbye to her love. Remember Carolyn's brothers as well and all the grandkids. Read, if you can, the chapter from Living the Questions (now Wrestling With Angels) entitled "The Bargain (The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth)" in remembrance of Lawrie. It's always been Jason's favorite chapter from the book.

May his memory be a blessing to all who knew him in this life; and may we meet him with joy in the next.

A Weekend in Kent (WA, that is)

2009-11-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

I think the key to having Carolyn and Spencer at your church (or other venue) is to employ some wiles and invest some cash. First, buy her music for every influential person or decision maker at the venue. Second, wait; let the songs seep in. Third, pray. After they are thoroughly hooked, your fourth step is to approach them all casual-like and mention that (as though it had just occurred to you and wasn't your objective from day one), "Hey, wouldn't it be great to try to get Carolyn and her accompanist Spencer here for a concert?" They will surely demure at first, but that is OK. Fifth, pray some more. Repeat steps 3 through 5 as often as needed, and surely it will come to pass. Then, if you do not mind being really persistent to the point of obnoxious, repeat the process with every new CD, every chance you get. Ta-da!

I was so very, very blessed that the first album I threw out there to the pastors and their families at our church, Calvary Chapel South, fell on good soil immediately and has yielded thirty, sixty, even one hundredfold. Wendy Martin is definitely a kindred spirit. She really ought to blog here at Carolyn Arends 202. She is the Women's Ministry leader at our church, and when I sent out postcards to all the pastors, elders, and administrators this past summer -- just a friendly little hello to let them know that a new album was in the works and, "Hey, wouldn't it be great to try to get Carolyn and Spencer here (again) for a concert?" -- she gladly took up the torch and convinced the rest of leadership team that Carolyn would be a perfect fit for the upcoming Women's Fall Retreat. Go, Wendy, go!

And, this past weekend, we had the Women's Fall Retreat led by Carolyn Arends as well as a concert Saturday night with her and Spencer Capier, and even -- poor lady! -- worship Sunday morning. Our cups ranneth way, way over. And I am speaking for every woman in attendance at the retreat and every person at the concert and in church. More people than I can count came up to me -- I was just standing there, looking stupid -- and said, "Oh my goodness, she is amazing! Those songs . . . That music . . . And that Spencer . . . wow! This was exactly what I needed to hear . . . Thank you, thank you for bringing her here . . ." And I would say, "I'm so glad, but thank Wendy and the other women who work in the ministry, it was all their doing. I was just the poke."

The retreat topic was "Resting in God . . . Yeah, Right!" If you are looking for a great retreat topic and speaker for your own church, I highly recommend bringing in Carolyn to speak about this. It is especially good for women, because -- well -- we take on a lot in our homes, our kids' schools, our churches, and our work, and we're tired, yet restless. We need to remember that pursuing God fills our minds and spirits with that surpassing peace and that restoring rest; and pursuing Him means little more than being still long enough for Him to capture and captivate us. So, of course we heard the new songs "Be Still" and "Roll It" (with the funky Calvary Chapel soul chorus), as well as the favorites "In Good Hands" and "Who You Are." Did we hear some others? Maybe, but I forgot to write them down. When Carolyn is playing music, all else tends to fade away, and I am in the moment.

The concert that evening was a special, intimate time. It was raining like crazy outside in our flood plain, which you wouldn't think would faze folks in the PNW, but the Calvary Kent chickens cowered in their coops. Pooh to them. What was left were the hardcore fans -- about 75% of the audience, Wendy estimated, were non-Calvary Chapel South folks -- which led to an almost Rocky Horror Picture Show concert. OK, it was far more classy than that association would imply. I just mean that the room was filled with people who could probably recite the jokes along with Carolyn (you know what I mean, the bouzouki joke and the $5 Valentine story to name two -- still funny, even after the twentieth telling, mind you) and had no hesitation whatsoever in shouting out requests and singing along. Pretty darn cool! And since these were the groupies (ah, I finally found my social set!), their song requests were not only the usual "Seize the Day" and "Reaching" -- though, those were requested. Someone yelled out "Fragile" and another piped up with "Free" and someone toward the front called "In Good Hands." Luckily, someone else requested "Something Out of Us" and Carolyn and Spencer hurriedly worked out a smashing live version that only made you miss the trumpet a wee bit. It was a fun night, and we were so blessed. Carolyn encored with the brand new "Never Say Goodbye" which works so well as a benediction song. Lovely, just lovely.

I confess that I missed the worship songs for the most part the next morning. Not because I was not there -- I was out in the hallway, pitching the goods, making the sales at the product table. I know for certain that she sang "Seize the Day" and "Willing" and "I've Got a Hope." There was also a regular worship song, but I do not remember which one. After church, there was lunch with the Carolyn and Spencer. I need not go on and on about how awesome of an experience it is to break bread with two such amazing artists. I mean, who gets to share a meal with their favorite musicians? Imagine if Guillaume de Machaut just came to town and you took him to Outback . . . or taking tea with Gilbert and Sullivan . . . or having a snack and sing-along with ol' Wolfie Mozart . . . or just getting to know as a person [insert your favorite artist here -- which, if you're here, may very well be Carolyn Arends anyway, in which event, you may just already know what I'm talking about, so I'll stop]. And, even though we know that FFTB, it is still a sweet and gracious thing to have postponed their journey home a bit to lunch with us*, though they must have been exhausted.

And that was the end of the weekend. How long until I can start campaigning for another go? Two, maybe three, months? :-)

*"Us" included me, Wendy and John Martin, and a cool guy named Gary who came to our church just to see them. He not only sponsored at his old church two different Carolyn/Cap concerts in West Seattle (to which, as it turns out, I had gone both times), but he is a musician himself (so he has that whole other level of Carolyn-appreciation that MarkD and other musicians get to have -- lucky ducks!), and one of his favorite songs is "Do We Dare" which sealed the deal of my approbation of him.

Today's the Day!

2009-10-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Carolyn, on the release of your 10th album, Love Was Here First!

My own thoughts on this album is posted over at Adorable Trivialities for anyone who is interested.

Flyer for Our Church's Upcoming Carolyn Arends Event!

2009-10-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

Dig the new promo pic stolen from Twitter! Isn't it stunning? Whoever made this did a great job!

I can hardly wait for the Women's Fall Retreat -- I've never gone before, but how could I resist a chance to hear the wit and wisdom of Mrs. A? I even volunteered to be a "table hostess," which means, among other things, that I have to arrive 1/2 hour earlier than everyone else. Yikes! Oh, the lengths to which I will go to help pull off a successful Carolyn Arends event!

And, what do you think of the "Love Was Here First" countdown widget on the sidebar? I have gotten no props whatsoever (were y'all mad 'cuz I didn't like the graffiti cover art?), and it gave me quite a bit more tsuris to put up than you would think in this digital-for-dummies age.

15 more days (and counting!)! Whoo-hoo!

Oh Dear

2009-09-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

What do you say when your best friend has an ugly baby? What do you say when your favorite singer/songwriter has an ugly album cover? Thankfully, I've never had to deal with the first dilemma (my friends and their spouses churn out deliciously gorgeous babies); but, as for the second, well, take a look at this:

I'm sure, sure, sure that she is making some kind of statement here. In fact, I can pretty much imagine what that statement is supposed to be. And I am just as certain that the album's inside will be beyond belief beautiful. But, I hate graffiti, and I refuse to bow to the gods of the age that say that vandalism is a valid form of artstic expression.

What do you think?

By the way, the four-week countdown to this album's release begins TODAY! C'mon October 20!

Maybe, Just Maybe . . .

2009-09-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

I see where Carolyn will be playing in Appleton, WI and Green Bay, WI on 4-5 Dec 2009. My wife and I travelled to Appleton for a wedding shower this summer - it's a nice little town. Might have to try to make this one . . .

Question: Arends Easter Songs

2009-03-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

Our music director at church is looking for new, modern Easter songs. Which of Carolyns's songs (and you can suggest multiple) do you think works best as an Easter song? Thanks in advance!

And Carolyn, please feel free to chime in, if you'd like. After all, you're the SongMeisterin herself!

Winter-time is Here!

2008-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Carolyn wrote a song called Land of the Living, in which she wrote the following lines:

The frost came so early this year
Springtime is long overdue
And my heavy coat,
It don’t keep out the cold like it used to

Nothing but fog in my mind
Nothing but ice in my veins
I know everything’s got a season,
But tell me please the reason
This winter will not go away

"This Winter" in Chicagoland hit Thanksgiving weekend, and seems to be picking up speed! We've had a couple of snowfalls - last night's was 11 inches - and the ground is now thoroughly blanketed. Gigantic piles in the parking lots of various stores. We're supposed to get a little more snow tomorrow night, on into Sunday morning. Sunday and Monday's highs are in the single digits. And it's not really even Winter until the 21st!

As soon as the weather changed I started thinking about this song. My heavy coat, it don't keep out the cold like it used to. I really don't get cold; I've lived in the Chicago area my whole life, so I guess I've got thick blood. But I know many do get cold - my wife is one. And the colder you are, the longer the Winter must seem.

I wonder if we'll feel cold (and, alternately, hot) in Heaven? There's nothing as lovely as a cold Winter night, with no breeze and a gentle snow falling. Or the heat from the sun that streams through your car's windshield on a sunny Winter day. Of course there's the beach in the Summer and that overall feeling of warmth you get from laying in the sun. And the chill of walking into the air conditioning . . . or down into a cave. Perhaps it will be even better! Maybe we'll be able to get close to the surface of a star, or walk on the dark side of the moon . . .

For now, though, I'm enjoying the weather . . .

Sometimes I dream that the summer has come
I feel the warmth of the afternoon sun
But then I awaken and I’m back to waiting
Oh how much longer Lord?

At Barnabas

2008-08-29T17:13:00.001-07:00

I haven't updated 'round here for a bit, so I thought I'd post a few pics for those who, in their lamentable misfortunes of not being Pacific Northwesterners, do not get to see Carolyn in concert as much as they wish.

Every year, at a wonderful retreat called Barnabas that is located on a slice of Eden that God, in His mercy, left open after the Fall (or Keats Island, BC, in the more prosaic description), we are blessed to take a pic with Sadie and Carolyn on the last day of camp.

So, for general enjoyment, here are the snaps from the past four years:

2005

2006

2007

2008

She sure likes those hats, eh? Maybe she wants to circumvent any discussion of "moments caught like old hair styles" in the future.

My WWA Review

2008-06-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

I posted a review of this book over at Adorable Trivialities, since blogs were unknown to me back in 2000 when Living the Questions was released.

Have a read if you're inclined. (If you're level, you may read it also.)

Blessings!

An Interview with Carolyn Arends from The Christian Manifesto

2008-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hey All!

I came across this April 2008 interview with Carolyn, and I thought I'd link to it so that you could enjoy it as well.

And here is another studio pic that I found at Roy Salmond's site.

I've been thinking that the posts here have needed some graphics to jazz them up a bit, and what better way to do that than find some less-known, casual shots of CA doing what she was created to do?

Thinking of Moving the Fan Blog to Wordpress -- Any Thoughts?

2008-05-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Got this cool, casual pic from Roy Salmond's site.

Hmmm . . . Blogger "accidentally" killed this post the first time I tried to publish it.

So, anyway, I am thinking of moving the fan blog from Blogger to Wordpress, because there are some features over at Wordpress that Blogger does not offer and I think will suit this blog well.

If we're moving, this would be a good time to change the name of this blog, and I'm looking for suggestions from fellow fans -- esp. my cohorts: vermonster, MarkD., and Richard.

We can have some fun with this, so let your imaginations run wild.

The world and I await your ideas.

Peace!

Carolyn's New Newsblog and Other Sundry Things

2008-05-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a new feature at Carolyn's site: A Newsblog.

It seems a little superfluous to me, but I suppose it will take the place of the "News" section on her homepage.

Re. our adding a chat room or message board to this site: We have not had a lot of new visitors -- at least not many that have made their presences known by a) commenting or b) signing the guest book. So, I'm thinking maybe we should hold off on either option. I'm more inclined toward a chat room eventually, since we could post a meet-up time on the blog without having a message board. And, Carolyn may be adding all this back to her own site anyway, making anything here redundant.

Carolyn's been posting a lot over at Conversant Life. Good stuff. Her essay for Christianity Today's May issue, "The Grace of Wrath," has provoked some controversy from readers. I've been trying to compose my own comments for many a day now, but have been side-tracked by pressing home concerns from actually formulating a coherent response.

Carolyn's Brother's Band: This is a little O/T, but I wanted to let you know that I got The Clumsy Lover's latest album, Smart Kid, from Feed the Lake, and it is remarkable. The only other TCL CD I have is Barnburner, which I enjoy, but this recent addition far surpasses t'other. I'm hoping to write a review of it over at FTL when I've given it a few more listens. Wonderful songwriting -- quirky, humorous, profound, intriguing -- and some of the most original and exuberant musical arrangements to be found. A superb collection! I heartily recommend it -- and would even if it didn't have a song on it co-written by Joy Jonat, Carolyn Arends, and Chris Jonat (God showered talent on that family!).

I hope all is well in the rest of Arends Fandom. We're holding up our end in the PNW as best we can. Blessings!

Album the Tenth

2008-04-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Carolyn's upcoming tenth album may very well be a hymns album (I got a hint about that straight from the songbird's mouth). So, we all know what that means: A blog survey! What hymns would you like to hear Carolyn work her magic on?* We've discussed this a bit over at the (now defunct) message board, but why not revive it here? It's always a fun one to rehash.

Here are mine:
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
I Love to Tell the Story
There is a Fountain
At Calvary
The Old Rugged Cross
It Is Well With My Soul

*As G.K. Chesterton said: "A preposition is a very good thing to end a sentence with."

I Hereby Volunteer!

2008-04-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is not a joke.

I am volunteering my services as a keyboard player on the "next" Carolyn Arends album. I have some little experience as a player and would be happy to submit a sample of my work.

It's a long shot, but I'll take it.

And I can't wait for the next album!!!

A New Poll

2008-04-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

There's a new poll on the sidebar. Express your opinion!

Carolyn on The Debbie Chavez Show

2008-04-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

In our renewed and continuing efforts at Carolyn Arends 202 to stay on top of and offer a forum for discussion of all news pertaining to Carolyn Arends, I am opening up (a day beforehand, thank you very much) a post to discuss Carolyn's appearance on The Debbie Chavez Show.

OK, we all got the e-newsletter from Rose. (What? You didn't? Make sure you go sign up right now at Carolyn's site. We'll wait for you here.) Carolyn will have a live, streaming interview on The Debbie Chavez Show (based out of Bellingham, WA -- yay!) tomorrow, April 22, 2008, from 12 noon - 12:30 (PST). You can listen to it here. Apparently, they will be taking calls on the air (1-866-597-PATH) and responding to e-mails.

What do you think, fellow 202ers? Do we represent? Or do we give others a chance to get in on the conversation? I'm more inclined to the latter, since I've hassled Carolyn to the point of satiety, and I'm far more curious to hear what other fans have to say.

It does not sound like there will be any music (only 1/2 hour!), or at least not much, which is disappointing. Maybe Ms. Chavez will leave Carolyn a few minutes for one wee song. I'm hoping for the "Resurrection Song."

Well, this should be great! I'm glad, as always, that Carolyn will be getting more exposure. Just think: Someone out there who has never heard of Carolyn Arends will be introduced tomorrow to an artist whose work will enrich his soul -- Wow!

Guest Book

2008-04-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

We now have a guest book! Hurrah!

I also updated some stuff on the sidebars -- groovy new colors (though we're stuck with the oddly colored balls until I become more proficient in altering HTML -- read: forever).

Enjoy, and keep on posting!

Message Board at Carolynarends.com

2008-04-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

The message board at Carolyn's official site has been disabled.

I hope this will encourage more dispossessed posters to come on over and participate in this fan blog.

We'll try to do a better job of keeping this site updated with comments on any Carolyn Arends news that comes along. If you would like to join the group so that you may start topics for discussion, please let us know. You are very welcome here.

Converse on, fellow fans, converse on!

Lucky Number Thirteen

2008-01-28T13:31:00.001-08:00

Well, 2008 is the thirteen year anniversary of Carolyn's debut album, I Can Hear You (Reunion Records, 1995). In a spirit of fun and celebration, I would like to take a poll. If you were to look over Carolyn's complete catalogue of music (including her Christmas album, her downloads, and contributions to collaborative efforts) and choose the definitive thirteen songs for the first thirteen years, what would you choose, and why? I humbly offer my own suggestions as follows (in no particular order):

"I Can Hear You" -- A fun song with a great beat; a crowd-pleaser with a strong message; Carolyn needs to contribute the sunglasses and white pants-suit from the video to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame -- sweet!
"Do We Dare" -- The best song ever written in any genre
"One-Syllable Words" -- You cannot let the marvelous coinciding of Chesterton's Orthodoxy's centennial and Carolyn's triskaidekial (sorry to mix Latin and Greek) pass by without including this gem.
"What Love Looks Like" -- Leave it to Carolyn to write one of the best songs about the life of Jesus without mentioning Him once by name
"Now in Flesh Appearing" -- A Christmas song that works just as well "in the middle of July;" plus, she rhymes "Kazakhstan," which is an historic first for Christmas season songwriting
"Travelers (The Airport Song)" -- Funny and lively with a poignant touch; will resonate with any person who has ever experienced the convenience of modern air travel
"Everybody Wants Everything" -- Possibly the coolest song Carolyn's ever recorded
"The Wasteland" -- Desolate and haunting, but ultimately redemptive; a masterpiece of minimalism; also, one of the few songs where you cannot hear a smile in her voice
"Not a Tame Lion" -- Great elaboration of Lewis's observation that Aslan is not "tame, but He is good;" has one of the greatest endings of all of Carolyn's songs
"Love is So Blind" -- This cover of Mark Heard's song is exquisite
"The Resurrection Song" (not sure of the title; I've only heard the song once) -- I can hardly wait until this one is recorded; I cried when I heard it, not that that is news.
"Everything Changes at Christmas" -- Happy and wonderful Christmas song; we must have played it 5,236,831 times in the two weeks leading up to Christmas this year
"We've Been Waiting For You" -- I think it has been scientifically proven that no parent can hear this song without blubbering; just watch the Kleenex come out the next time you're at a concert

Where am I right? Where am I wrong? What's my most outrageous omission (I think I can guess)?

My Cup Already Runneth Over, But . . .

2008-01-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

OK! So, the 2008 American Chesterton Society Conference is already going to be amazing. Who wouldn't love three days in St. Paul, MN that not only celebrate the Centennial of Chesterton's masterpiece, Orthodoxy, but also include such Justine-pleasing presentations as "Chesterton and Shakespeare" and "Chesterton and Jane Austen," right? I am so going to be there!

Cloud Eight was floating pretty high, but then came the niggling little idea, "You know what would make this ACS conference even more sublime? Music by Carolyn Arends and Spencer Capier, of course!"

I said to Jason, my sounding board for all my crazy ideas, "I think I'm going to e-mail the ACS and ask them to book Carolyn for their conference."

Jason shot me down with a disparaging, "That's really weird. You're not Carolyn's promoter -- why would you approach an organization out of the blue about booking a concert with someone of whom they have most likely never heard?"

Well, if the ACS has "never heard" of Carolyn Arends, it's about time they did. I would, perhaps, not know about G.K. Chesterton, had I never read about him first in Living the Questions, and they would be down one three-year subscription. So, I remained undaunted by Mr. Gloomy's negativity. I decided to e-mail Paula Flink -- Fearless and Tireless Coordinator and Manager of Team Carolyn. If this really was weird, she would (gently and nicely as Canadians know so well how to do) let me down.

Well, Paula e-mailed back that it was OK by her if I contacted the ACS on Running Arends's behalf; so I did. Now, I'm scared as hell. It's pretty intimidating just to put your ideas out there to strangers with the very good chance that they will be rejected.

Still, though, they might not be. And, how cool would it be to get Carolyn and Spencer in Minnesota to rock out with their fellow Chesterton fans? How much would those fans get a kick out of "One-Syllable Words" and all the rest of her songs? It would be "legend -- wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose intolerant, because the second part is -- dary. Legendary!"

Here's to hoping for an upgrade from Cloud Eight to Nine!

Sweet Vindication!

2008-01-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gotten an idea, and then gotten passionate about it? Thought about it; pondered it; imagined every little bit of it? You poured your heart and soul into seeing this wee little idea blossom into the grand dream that came to overwhelm your imagination? And then, the day of reckoning dawns, and everything either comes together beautifully or falls flat on its face . . . And it comes together beautifully and is maybe even better than you had dared to dream it might be? Isn't that GREAT?!!

Sometimes you just know things. And I just knew -- I just knew -- that if Carolyn Arends and Spencer Capier played at our church it would be a revelation and a blessing for all involved. So, I kept at it. I prayed and asked and was rebuffed. Then, I prayed and asked and was rebuffed. Then, I prayed and asked and, well, it was a little disheartening. Not that my church was opposed to having Carolyn come -- I think it was just that the timing was always off, and they had no real motivation to make room on the busy church schedule. Then, this past summer, I was sitting in Sunday service, watching a guest musical artist play on the stage. And she was OK, but certainly not Carolyn. And then I had a vision -- yes, a vision. I saw Carolyn and Spencer on that same stage/pulpit area, and I knew that this was the time to try, try again.

God's timing always is perfect, and suddenly everything I had hoped and prayed for fell into place. Yay! And I got so excited, not so much for myself, because, though there's no limit to my love of hearing Carolyn and Cap, I have had many an opportunity to enjoy that privilege over the years -- both in the U.S. and Canada. I was getting so excited for all of my fellow congregants who had most likely never experienced the pure pleasure and unmitigated joy of a Carolyn/Spencer concert.

(Sometimes, when I'm in a pondering mood, I think about that oblivious listener out there, right this moment, who is someday going to stumble across Carolyn's music and be blown away. I get so excited for this person, and yet I am filled with a bit of jealousy -- how cool to have all that amazing music lying hidden, just waiting to be discovered! Then I remember how much better it is to have had that music over the years, and I'm no longer green-eyed -- except that my eyes are usually rather green without any visions of jealousy dancing in my head.)

Anyway, the rest is beautiful history. Carolyn and Cap came on December 8 -- sadly without Paula Flink, the Queen of All Management/Booking Agent Types of Rock Stars, both Canadian and American -- and met with the whole panel of Calvary Chapel South's pastors and Mrs. pastors at a crowded and authentic Mexican restaurant. There, much jolly political talk ensued between Spencer and our pastor, Kevin, while Carolyn developed a sudden and pointed fascination for the food in front of her and I contemplated whether a dropped napkin could provide a refuge beneath the table. Joking aside, there was probably more civilized talk from opposite ends of the purple spectrum that night than there will be through this whole bloody presidential campaign. Oy!

But, when you're talking Carolyn and Cap, it's really all about the music, Stupid. And, when you're talking those two, the music is transcendent. The next morning, bright and early at the 9 AM service -- and only God knows how they managed it -- they were rocking; and the party continued on through the 11 AM service. I think that Pastor John summed the whole thing up best when he pulled me aside after second service and said, "That was really an annointed time." Amen.

I was pulled aside a lot that morning by the pastors three of CCS. Phenomenal, amazing, wonderful, and other words in the English vocabulary that almost, if not quite, describe the Carolyn/Cap experience were thrown around with justifiable abandon. Everyone was already busily at work, trying to come up with reasons to have them back as soon as possible. It took every measure of grace I could summon not to let go with a big, "I told you so!"

So, if you would like to see some of the fruits of my long labor of love, check out the tour page at Carolyn's site. This time, the church scored a coup by getting Mark "Love You Forever" Arends to join in the fun. Truly, it is hard to imagine a better couple to lead a Couples' Banquet than the Arendses. If I can get a date, I might just go myself this year. I wonder if Jason's free . . .

Christmas Concert Poster

2007-11-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

This is a revised version of what I had posted earlier. I ended up thinking that the first was too busy, so I cleaned it up a little and changed some of the fonts so that it could be read more easily. These are going up around Kent on Friday -- but I'm holding one back, at least, for autographs by the rock stars and, eventually, framing.

One and a half weeks to go!

Carolyn Was My Co-Pilot

2007-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I took my younger son back to college - estimated (by Google Maps) at 235 miles, and 4 hours and 15 minutes. From there, I swung by my older son's place in Bloomington, IL. Another 106 miles and 2 hours 30 minutes. Finally, I headed home - 158 miles and 3 hours. Total trip: 600 miles and 9 hours 45 minutes. I was actually on the road for 9 1/2 hours, making the afore-mentioned stops, plus one for dinner and two for gas.

I was alone for more than half that trip - though I had my cell phone and took a couple'a calls from home. Plus, I had my I-Pod! So, other than listening to a couple of different preachers on low-power AM stations I got to re-discover Carolyn Arends!

I didn't go through the whole catalog, of course, but I did make note of two Christmas songs we must play at church this year: Come and See and Angels We Have Heard On High.

I'm always on the look-out for "jazzy" versions of Christmas tunes. I consider "Angels" to be on par with the better-known version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings done by Sara McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies. Heck, even people who don't like most Christmas songs like their version. I'm willing to bet that Carolyn's cover would be as popular as that were it to get the right amount of airplay.

And you have to consider the scene: it's dark, there are few cars traveling north on I-39 and there's a little Honda speeding by (at exactly seven miles-per over the speed limit so as not to attract un-due attention). Inside, the driver is singing out loud, and not even trying to cover up that fact - first the lead, then different harmony parts of the chorus - as the odometer counts off the miles: 1.2 each minute. But we've probably all been there, haven't we?

And besides the Christmas songs there were other favorites from Travelers and This Much I understand. And no, I didn't "Dance Like No One's Watching" in my car, though I do, sometimes, at home).

Suffice it to say that I made it back home alive and in one piece, at 12;30 AM, without once even feeling like I was falling asleep. Thanks for the great music!

P.S. And Thanks!, I-Pod for the great battery life!

Time to Love Out Loud

2007-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

A little over one week ago, my father-in-law went into the cardiac cath. lab at Evanston hospital for a procedure to, at least temporarily, fix his heart. Bill is eighty, and has had various health problems for many, many years. The last thing I expected, though, was to get a call from my wife at a little after ten that morning, after a family consultation with the surgeon. she told me, "My father didn't make it through the operation".

If the story ended there it would be one thing: a funeral, stories, a luncheon, a few drinks, a few laughs, old friends seen for the first time in years, perhaps even decades; but it doesn't end there. You see, Bill didn't die. The world-class cardiologist who performed his surgery, a man who is as experienced as a surgeon can be, teaching others throughout the world new procedures he's invented, well, he was wrong. Bill pulled through and is still alive.

I need point out that the surgeon took steps to keep my father-in-law alive for a while so the family could come in and talk to him (though he wasn't awake), and those same steps probably saved his life. The additional medicine he was given seemingly gave him a chance to recover.

Now, to say that what happened is a miracle is probably not correct; to treat what happened as a miracle is. And that's where "loving out loud" comes in.

When I arrived at the hospital the family was upstairs in the ICU waiting room. "Why" was the operative question, of course, after I thought that Bill had passed. As the day wore on, and the mood remained somber, I took a walk outside the hospital in the beautiful neighborhood that surrounds it. And a song popped into my head:

If I had only known that you were leaving here so soon
I would not have been so flippant when I offered you the moon
I'd have pulled my chair up closer to the railing of your bed
And chosen much more carefully the words I said

I would ask you for your stories
And I would tell you mine
I would give you much more credit
I would take more of your time
There's so much I left unspoken
If you were here right now
I would love you out loud

If I had said the words "I love you" every time they crossed my mind
Then you would have heard me tell you at least a thousand times
I know you knew it anyway, I guess you understood
But I would like to go back if I only could

I would ask you for your stories
And I would tell you mine
I would give you much more credit
I would take more of your time
There's so much I left unspoken
If you were here right now
I would love you out loud

I would touch you much more often
I would laugh at all your jokes
I would worry through your worries
I would dream through all your hopes
I would pray with you to heaven
Are you watching from there now
Do you know what I would give for the chance somehow

To ask you for your stories
I would tell you mine
I would give you much more credit
I would take more of your time
There's so much I left unspoken
If you were here right now
I would love you out loud
Oh, I would love you out loud

And now the whole family has that chance . . .

Thanks, Carolyn, for expressing sentiments that we all feel at times like these in such a beautiful way.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas . . .

2007-09-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

. . . At least for this Carolyn Arends fan!

(Okay, that's the second ellipsis-ladened post introduction that I've used in a row on this blog. I'll restrain myself in the future.)

I just got the "green light" this morning from my church to book Carolyn for a Christmas concert in December. My cup runneth over! So, the tentative date is December 9, waiting only to be signed off on by the Big C herself. Merry Christmas to me and everyone else at Calvary Chapel South!

What a delightful way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year! I wonder if we can coax a divergence from seasonal offerings for just one song and request the "resurrection song" that I heard at Barnabas. Or, is that too much of a Christmas hope? It may indeed suit, because, though we celebrate the Holy Birth, the shadow of the crucifixion and joy of the resurrection are always waiting just beyond the stable doors.

Early Merry Christmas!

Being a Carolyn Arends Fan Means . . .

2007-09-03T09:39:00.001-07:00

. . . well, for one thing, at least, it means never seeing headlines in the tabloids about your favorite folk-pop-rock star like:

1) Wardrobe Malfunction
2) Checking into Rehab
3) "Forgetting" to Wear Underwear
4) Nightclub Brawling
5) Serial Marriage or Dating

Ever feel really, really, REALLY disconnected with popular culture?

Goodness gracious -- give me inspired songwriting, honest music and an understated, but powerful, stage presence any day. Don't you just feel so sorry for these young people out there who had fame, fortune and folly thrust upon them at such an early age? It is not good for them. A pastor once told me that "we humans are not built for fame -- it most often destroys us." And I wonder how Carolyn escaped.

There are four reasons that come to mind as to why Carolyn is so well-grounded. The first is, of course, that she knows that she is a sinner redeemed by the blood of Jesus. That's enough to knock even the most phenomenally talented person back on her heels with humility and awe. Too few entertainers are sustained by anything more than their own pathetic personalities. They do not have eternal perspective nor anything bigger to trust in than the fame and money that simultaneously make them larger than life and smaller than the people they were created to be.

The second is Carolyn's parents, who obviously did an admirable job in raising her. If you have the stomach to dig at all into the personal lives of the young, rich and destructive, their dysfunctional families are the common melody upon which every variation is based. I've met Carolyn's parents, and they are warm, encouraging, interested people -- and that was how they treated me, a complete stranger! It is easy to see how being raised in that environment would be nothing but a positive inheritance when facing the challenges of living a public life.

The third is that Carolyn was not a goofy teenager when the spotlight was shone upon her. She was in her mid-twenties when she released I Can Hear You, and I remember when first hearing it that it did not sound at all like a "debut album." There was depth and maturity, professionalism and vision that is usually lacking in the initial offerings of even the most in-earnest Christian artists. Here was a woman -- a young woman, but a grown woman -- doing exactly what she was created to do. It could only have helped to have had some living under her belt before hitting the recording studio. She had had time to acquire a life outside of the rigors and imbalances of the music industry.

The last reason that occurred to me is that Carolyn never reached an insane level of fame. I saw her and Mark listed in the phone book when I was in British Columbia on my honeymoon in 1999. That was after she had released three albums and been around the continent on tour. It is difficult to understand, sometimes, why the best and the brightest are not usually the most feted and financially rewarded, but, really, it is often by the grace of God that they are not. While, as a fan, I want to see Carolyn get all of the proper recognition that she deserves for the amazing body of work she's produced, it is God's higher wisdom that keeps her where He needs her to be. She has stability, security and support surrounding her as she writes. She does not have to take up precious creative energy fearing for her safety or her family's safety. She can shop without being hassled at the local grocery store. These can only be conducive to a sense of community and rootedness that very, very few modern celebrities can relate to, with alien cameras flashing constantly and a restful haven nowhere to be found.

What a blessing to be able to enjoy unreservedly the lyrics, music, and person of Carolyn Arends! Though I sometimes find myself wishing she had the fame to fill Key Arena and the wealth to buy her own island, I'm so grateful that the Lord has kept her sane, balanced, focused, and oh so productive. She is about her Father's business, and that sure beats the hell out of being about the world's business, especially the business of celebrity.

Simply Reaching

2007-08-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

One of everyone's favorite Carolyn Arends songs has to be "Reaching". I've been thinking about the lyrics lately; the've been swirling around in my head, along with "I'm Not That Girl" from Wicked, Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" and my own rewrite of that song, "Deacon's Redemption".

But I'm not sure why - why those lyrics?

Maybe it's because I'm 51, heading into the next phase of life now that my youngest son is away at school. That phase, of course, is when all of your children have moved out on their own. You might not be there yet, but I am. The kids are in southern Illinois, Michigan, western Illinois and, next week, Prague.

You see, I've reached the future, and I think I'm beginning to reach for the past. Everyone says that your kids will grow faster than you can imagine, and that you need to enjoy them while they're young. But no matter who tells you what, life happens, and you get busy, and they've grown. And out on their own.

Maybe one of the things that is bothering me most is that I haven't always had the "right words to say". The words have often stayed "out of reach". Not that I wanted to be more of a friend to my kids than a father. No, a father needs to be a father first, with all of the things that implies - work hard, provide for your family, give the kids a good education, take them to church, encourage them to participate in music, drama, and the arts, love them out loud and love their mother.

I understand that there's more than one "quiet ache" - not only is there the yearning for the Divine, there's a yearning for a bit of quiet time to simply sit and reflect on what's happened and what is happening in your life, both with regard to yourself and your loved ones. That doesn't come often, and is almost certainly followed by a yearning for the way things might have been. As Elphaba (the green witch in Wicked) sings it, "Every so often we long to steal to the land of what might have been, but that doesn't soften the ache we feel when reality sets back in."

I take comfort in my faith in God. I know that whatever happens in this life, I'll be together with my loved ones in the next. And, believe me, I'm in no hurry to get there. There's so much left to do, in terms of work and living and writing and giving praise to God through music. And when I concentrate on those things, when I simply live life, the ache isn't as noticable, though it's still there.

There's no doubt I'll keep reflecting on those lyrics. They're floating around in there for some reason. And I'll love my family out loud, because that's the thing to do. And I suppose I'll have questions, and aches, until I see the face of God. As the "redeemed Deacon" says:

I learned to love the Lord and pray
Think about Him every day
Drink His word in, like a song
It's He who makes me strong

Strong in thought, strong in Word, strong indeed . . .

Carolyn and Sadie: Kicking It Barnabas Style

2007-08-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been a very bad blogging fan of late, and I'm sorry (or, in Canada, "sorey").
(And "sorey" about the spacing between some of the paragraphs, too. I can't get this to work correctly, and I'm fed up with it.)

I owe at least a mini-post on the Barnabas Experience 2007.

Camp this year was amazing as always, though, surprisingly, less Carolyn-oriented than in the past. This is due to our now visiting Barnabas (on Keats Island, BC) as seasoned campers and not so much as odd groupies (at least I am hoping that that is the vibe we're giving off). Carolyn and Mark make a fantastic team, and I hope that they continue this partnership for many years as Barnabas presenters. They're very funny and engaging together, and Jason and I both learned a lot from what they had to say. We shall ponder these things in our hearts.

Carolyn said that she has been so busy lately that she's only written one song this year (weeping and gnashing of teeth from the fan base ensues *now*), but WOW what a song! She sang it at camp, and I cried. I cry at a lot of Carolyn's songs, no matter how many times I've heard them or sung along to them. I'm only sharing this with you, because we are all so closely knit here. I hope this new song comes out as a download soon, if Carolyn has no albums currently in the works. It's one that has stuck with me, though I know I'm remembering it incorrectly. I want to learn it by heart.

The most disconcerting thing at camp was that Carolyn took me to school for what I wrote a while back on this blog about "Just Pretending." I haven't a clue as to how she discovered this site (it's after page ten on a Google search, I well know), and I was rather sad that she did. Not because I'm ashamed of this blog, nor do I regret writing out a disagreement with her lyrics or sentiment, but, rather, just because I wanted a place where I and other fans would always feel free really to talk about her creative work without the shadow of Rose or Carolyn hanging over the discussion. I think Carolyn's music is so important and so relevant that it can be looked at from any kind of angle and its merit will hold.

Anyway, Carolyn thinks I missed the point of "Just Pretending." I'm not so sure. I think I understand the first layer of message that she was conveying; but I was simply, in my critique, unearthing some other layers that she may or may not have intended. Of course, this is the problem and power of art -- the piece offered by the artist in one light may be heard by the listener (seen by the viewer, interpreted by the reader, etc.) in an entirely different voltage. That's one of the most frustrating parts of taking college English courses -- if you get something out of a novel that your teacher does not see, or you fail to see something your prof finds obvious, well, red marks are made, marginalia is written, and office hours are spent in fruitless argument.

Now, until something better comes up, I am going to be teased without mercy about my supposed dislike of "Just Pretending." I think I'll go tip over a canoe.

I was fortunate to have more in-depth conversations with Spencer Capier and his wife, Kikine (who does fascinating work with cancer drug research), and we shared a Parents' Dinner table with Carolyn and Mark, so I got to hear about the trip to Japan. But, really, there is not much more to tell than that.

It really is an edifying experience that is so different from a concert (though there was one of those at the end of the week) to spend an extended time with the Arendses and other thoughtful, prayerful, scholarly, genuine Christian men and women. Rob and Kathy Bentall who founded and maintain this wonderful ministry on so very many footsteps of faith astound and humble me. Barnabas is a blessing.

I got these nice pics of Carolyn and Sadie at camp. Enjoy!

Yep, that's Mark "Von Dutch" Arends in the background working the security detail for Canada's favourite rock star.

Moments caught like old hair styles

2007-06-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Gospel Music Channel was recently added to my cable lineup. Every Tueday night, the channel has a show, The Best of the Doves which I watch (or dvr for later). It's fun to get a blast from the past- the music, the clothes, the hair. With each show I wonder if Carolyn might be included.So tonight, I was watching the show I recorded on 6/5 and Steven Curtis Chapman introduced a segment with these words.."...in the early years the genre was dominated by solo acts, many of whom paved the way for many of today's Christian acts..." Cut to clips of Russ Taft, Twila Paris, Charlie Peacock, Cindy Morgan, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and, wait for it.....from 1996...CAROLYN ARENDS with Spencer right next to her.

SWEET!!!!!

And speaking of old hair styles.....

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

2007-05-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

Author, Carolyn fan, and all-around nice fellow, Brendt Waters, has posted on his blog the lengthy interview he did with Carolyn Arends in 1995.

Read and enjoy and leave him nice comments!

P.S. Ya gotta love a guy who gets his blog up and running before his bread-and-butter website.

Love Thy Neighbor: A Story from Barnabas

2007-05-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

I had originally written this for the website 43 People, but, as it is one of my favorite Carolyn stories and I now have this wee blog, I decided to "reprint" it here. Enjoy!

One of my favorite stories about Carolyn Arends is one that she related in 2005 at Barnabas Family Ministries on Keats Island, BC. The theme of that week’s retreat was “What Love Looks Like.” That also happens to be the title of one of her best songs.

Anyway, Carolyn was talking about the neighborhood where she lived (at the time). She and her husband had carefully picked this particular cul-de-sac because it was filled with young families and offered the chance for their children to grow up with the same group of playmates in a safe environment. They bought this house, and, one-by-one, the other families started to sell their houses and move away (presumably this was not because of the Arendses). In the place of the young families, people started moving in with, shall we say, less desirable occupations and household structures. To wit, what Carolyn fancifully and ruefully described as “horticulturalists” moved in next door, and the potted plants they were growing sure weren’t begonias.

Well, as these things happen, there was a police raid and their neighbor was taken to jail. Carolyn and her husband were furious with this particular man, since he was contributing to making their carefully chosen neighborhood unsafe and horrible for their children.

Then, when the neighbor was released, Carolyn saw him outside the next day, weeding (no pun meant here) the common mailbox block in the middle of their cul-de-sac. Every time one of the residents would approach to get his mail, the neighbor would apologize for his misdeeds while crying. Carolyn, though still angry, suddenly saw the hopelessness and despondency of this man—his humanness and frailty—and realized with a sigh that “this is my neighbor.”

This story really has stayed with me. Sometimes it’s easier to be a Good Samaritan and love the helpless, bleeding man on the side of the road than it is to want to reach out to someone who is actively and perceptively making your life a harder, more scary and uncertain place. But, to whom are you a neighbor? Surely, while being a neighbor to the stranger in distress is important, being a neighbor to those who have been placed in your life on a more consistent basis is even more important (and much more difficult). Anyway, it was a great illustration of a tough precept and one of the first that comes to mind when asked to share a story about my favorite singer/songwriter, Carolyn Arends.

How's the Sound Out There?

2007-05-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, this guy, Brendt, whose unusually-spelled name makes it seem vaguely familiar to my eyes, has posted an interesting little essay about the first interview he ever did -- for a now-defunct on-line Christian music magazine. Guess who his first interviewee was?

Since I'm posting this information here, you've probably guessed by now.

Okay, enough of the suspense -- it was Carolyn! Right before the release of her first album (all together now: I Can Hear You) and her first tour (with -- let's proclaim in unison -- Rich Mullins and Ashley Cleveland) he got to interview her for three hours.

I'd like to find that interview someday. Of course, I'd also like to know what the missing six verses of "Seize the Day" sounded like, too.

Ah well, go to the link and give it a read. Enjoy!

A Chance to Play Fetch

2007-05-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is an involved, but I think very funny, story that requires two pieces of background information. Because the first of those is knowledge of Carolyn Arends's B-Side, "A Chance to Dance," which is a lot more difficult to explain than the second, I'll write this story for Carolyn's fans.

"A Chance to Dance" was written by Carolyn Arends for a "The West Wing" episode. Apparently, there was a character on this show that was in the very early stages of a new relationship with someone who then died unexpectedly. I never have watched that program, but the scenario is evident by Carolyn's lyrics: Now you're gone/What am I supposed to do?/I was just getting good at loving you/So how do I let go/Of what I never got to hold?/We never even had a chance to dance.

Sadie, my daughter who has a very definite morbid streak in her, absolutely loves this song. She's always asking me to play the song "about the woman whose husband* died before they got to dance." Then, she sits back with an euphoric expression and drinks in the sad, wistful words and the emotional music.

One day, while we were listening to this song again in the car, Sadie sighed and said, "I love this song. It makes me think of Jingles." My jaw dropped. "What?" I exclaimed.

Jingles was Rylee's dog. More exactly, Jingles was Rylee's mom and dad's dog. Rylee is the little baby girl we nanny part-time. When we first started to watch her, we'd go over to her house and see Jingles there -- eighteen years old, senile, and incontinent. Now, Sadie loves dogs. She dreams of them, seeks them out, and longs for one of her own. She was so excited that Rylee had a dog -- a dog we could visit with anytime.

But, you see, Jingles was so very old and rather sick. She had to wear a diaper in the house and spend most of her day locked in the family's downstairs bathroom. She was getting grumpy and nippy, in the way that dogs do when their losses of smell and hearing are leaving them feeling vulnerable and scared. With tears and sorrow, two months after we started watching Rylee, her mom and dad made the decision to put Jingles to sleep.

Eventually, I had to tell Sadie that the next time we went to Rylee's house Jingles would not be there. Sadie cried and cried, but she became reconciled to it by the next morning. I'll admit that I did not spend any more time or thought on that aged canine. Not so Sadie.

Apparently, when Sadie had first been introduced to Jingles, she began to make plans about their future fun together. The thwarting of those plans by cruel mortality affected her deeply. In the anguished reflections of what-had-never-been that Carolyn wrote for a television character, Sadie found an outlet for her grief. And so, when Sadie mentioned that the song reminded her of Jingles, upon my questioning her, she added this:

"I think of Jingles, because we never had a chance to play fetch together; and I never got to pet her and brush her; and I never got to feed her treats or take her for a walk."

And, while I was impressed with her transference of a lover's loss into her own dog lover's loss, her revelation completely changed the way I now listen to the song. I keep bursting out with spasms of laughter at the most inappropriate places, because, of course, I'm thinking of Sadie and Jingles and not a woman who lost a love.

The verse that most cracks me up now is this: Guess we never really had a prayer/There for just a moment it was heaven/And it's a kind of hell to stand here missing/Every kiss we never had/We should have had it all/And now you're gone . . .

And, as I'm snorting with ill-suppressed mirth in the front seat, Sadie's indignant voice rises from the back. "Hey Mom! Why are you laughing? This is a sad song. Stop your laughing!"

And I really ought to. Sadie's mourning -- while hilarious to me -- is so very real to her. And I love her sensitive little soul and her ability to feel such things so deeply. I can only hope that another dog will someday come into her life with whom she will finally have a chance to play fetch (and linger over dog biscuits).

*Sadie only views male/female relationships in terms of "husbands and wives" at this point.

Oops! I Did It Again! Carolyn Quiz the Third (And Possibly Last)

2007-05-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is the third and (maybe) last time I'll post a quiz about Carolyn. That is, unless I find out a lot more trivia to tease the brains of other fans in the future. Anyway, relax and enjoy this latest (and goofiest) offering:

Carolyn Quiz the Third

Good luck and have fun!

The Persistent Widow and I

2007-05-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

For the third time in as many years, I have asked the pastor at my church to host a Carolyn Arends/Spencer Capier concert.

I am awaiting his response.

I would lose heart except for the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. Though I have nothing to avenge and nothing to seek that can be called "justice," I have no doubt that eventually the time will be right for my church to experience the blessing of a CA/SC concert. My job is just to be faithful -- but never annoying or belligerent -- in pursuing the event. God will arrange the date.

Here's praying that that date is in 2007!

Jeffrey Overstreet: Being a Non-Carolyn Post About a Carolyn Colleague and One That Was Originally Written for Carolyn's Boards, But Ran Too Long

2007-05-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

I was so fortunate as to attend a Seattle Chesterton Society meeting recently at Seattle Pacific University, at which the featured speaker was Carolyn's Christianity Today Movies colleague, Jeffrey Overstreet.

His new book is Through a Screen Darkly, and, though I haven't read it all yet (being knee-deep in my beloved and highly prolific Gilbert Keith Chesterton), I am appreciating his ability to take seriously and explore this idea of Madeleine L'Engle's: "Basically there can be no categories such as 'religious' art and 'secular' art because all true art is incarnational, and therefore 'religious.'" (Walking on Water, p. 19)

Here are some interesting thoughts (at least to me): Why have almost all of the movies made to serve Christians as a niche audience failed at the box office? Why, with Hollywood suddenly desperate to gain the entertainment dollar of believers and throwing money into such production companies as Fox Faith, has very little come out so far that will not burn up as stubble in the fire? And why, in 2004, was Mel Gibson's The Passion not on the CT Movie reviewers' top ten lists?*

I think one answer to these questions can be found in the reality of living within a holy mystery. When I begin to accept the subtlety of God's hand -- His poetic reticence that booms out in the stillness of creation -- I can no longer be satisfied by the sort of artifice that tries to force a religiously relevant experience under the cover of entertainment. Jeffrey Overstreet's main point seems to be that, for the faithful, spiritual themes in any great movie can not help but be recognized, because all art is, at its fountainhead, an expression from that same creative force that spoke the universe into existence.

Mr. Overstreet spoke passionately and entertainingly about this recently discovered "Christian niche market" and his belief that there is so much more to be gained spiritually from great art produced by non-believers than from bad art produced by Christians. Christians are not idiots -- flocking en masse to a pandering parade of sentimentality and banality. We have held claim to brotherhood with the greatest artists the world has ever seen; and these created from the wellspring of revealed truth within and not with an eye on converting the lost and getting their theological ducks in a row.

This was a fascinating presentation, and I am so grateful I was able to attend. It is always surprising to me to find out how many wonderful writers whom I admire live up here in the Seattle area or greater Pacific Northwest region. What a blessing to get to meet so many of them in person!

*This is a great story that Mr. Overstreet related in his presentation. I do not know if he included it in his book, but I hope it's there. All I can say is that Mark Moring is a brave man with loads of integrity. Of course, we rather knew that -- he is a Carolyn fan, after all.

Jacob and 2 Women

2007-05-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

I first heard this song on the Rich Mullins tribute album in 1998. It was the first time I ever heard Carolyn sing.

I just got the first verse in this song a few weeks ago. Now, I feel totally lame.

Jacob he loved Rachel/And Rachel she loved him/And Leah was just there for dramatic effect/
Well, it's right there in the Bible/So it must not be a sin/But it sure does seem like an awful dirty trick/
And her sky is just a petal/Pressed in the book of memories/Of the time he thought he loved her/And they kissed
And her friends say, "He's a devil."/She says, "No, he is a dream."/And this is the world as best as I can remember it

I do not know why, but I always assumed the first verse was about Rachel. Of course, the song is "Jacob and 2 Women," but I always took the assertion that Leah was just there for dramatic effect as rather leaving her out of the song. Then, all of a sudden -- epiphany! The first verse is Leah's take on the famous Biblical triangle. Surely, in the tent after their wedding, before Jacob was disabused of his notion that he had married his true love, Rachel, he must have kissed Leah ("the time he thought he loved her and they kissed"). Of course Leah, always the despised (though very fruitful) wife would have treasured up this brief moment when she had received passion from her husband (though it was meant for her sister) in her internal book of memories.

The song makes much more sense now.

Carolyn Quiz the Second

2007-04-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the next quiz.

Carolyn Arends Quiz the Second

Good luck!

Carolyn Quiz the First

2007-04-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, this one is pretty easy, because I am pressed for time.

How well do you know your favorite recording artist, Carolyn Arends? Put your knowledge to the test in this quickie quiz:

Carolyn Arends Quiz

Good luck!

This One is For Matt Rabjohns of Poole, Great Britain

2007-01-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Matt, you are awesome. I love the way you have coined your own nickname for Carolyn Arends to use in your reviews on amazon.com: "Caz." That is such a cool moniker -- I hope you do not mind my borrowing it.

For those of you not familiar with Mr. Rabjohns, here are his enthusiastic amazon reviews*:

For I Can Hear You
5 Stars Debut of the Century, January 22, 2003
Reviewer: Matt Rabjohns (Poole, Great Britain) - See all my reviews I usually don't buy debut albums. Most seem not to have a finished quality to them. And some just don't have any good and well-written songs on them. But here is something different: A debut album with massive production and deep down, bright, and well-written songs. I first heard Carolyn's I Can Hear You when I was round my Auntie's place. She told my Dad, "You would like this CD," and so Dad took it; and then I heard it when I came home one day. The most awesome song that struck me right between the eyes was the brilliant "You Take My Soul By Storm" and to this day this is my fav song of Caz's! The other amazing standouts are the lovely quiet "Reaching" and the brilliant marriage-orientated "Home Fires Burning". The best heavier song has to be "The Power Of Love" -- amazing dulcimer and guitar on this song! All in all, a fantastic starting album that to me has an out of this world feel! Carolyn is destined for a great future!

For Feel Free
5 Stars: Getting Better, January 22, 2003
Reviewer: Matt Rabjohns (Poole, Great Britain) - See all my reviews
Didn't know what to expect when I first picked up this second release by Carolyn. Thought it would be lesser in sound and song strength. WRONG!! This CD is even better and is so different from her debut! I love people and artists who change and don't stay the same. The blend of rock and light jazz and even just a hint of country on "Do We Dare" is brill! This album has some of the best songs ever on it. Listen away to "Big Deal" and "This I know", they will blow you away. Lovely song about Mark, her hubbie, on this CD (although I think "The Day Will Never Come" on her next one is better; but still, this song is not flawed!). AWESOME! KEEP IT UP CAZ!

For This Much I Understand
5 Stars: The Best Effort So Far by Carolyn!, January 22, 2003
Reviewer: Matt Rabjohns (Poole, Great Britain) - See all my reviews
This is the best album, so far, by Caz. The songs are just out of this world and the strength of her writing is getting better and better each time. So, it starts with "Happy" -- this song has that almost supernatural touch which makes it stand apart from the rest of the album. Then comes "Life Is Long." "Go With God" is her best song with Connie Harrington so far, I think -- a lovely guitar section! "Life And Death" was an instant hit for me -- long and hard hitting -- and the rest of this amazing CD follows this trend.

I definitely think we, her fans, ought to make a concerted effort to refer to Carolyn as "Caz." It is so rock star!

*As I am a persnickety little geek, I edited a bit for grammar and punctuation and clarity. I realize that one of the dubious charms of cyber-writing is being freed from stodgy language rules to express one's self in the moment, but I simply cannot stand to let those rules go. This is more a reflection of me than of Mr. Rabjohns who, like Mary Poppins, is practically perfect in every way (at least as far as his Carolyn Arends fan-dom goes).

Vermonster Will Enjoy This . . .

2006-12-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

*Describe yourself using one band and song titles from that band*
Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band::	Carolyn Arends
Are you male or female::	You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman) (WBWFY)
Describe yourself::	Happy (TMIU)
How do some people feel about you::	It's Out of My Hands (T)
How do you feel about yourself::	Even the Wallflowers (TMIU)
Describe your ex-boyfriend::	Just Pretending (PA)
Describe your current love::	Good Thing Going (FF)
Describe where you want to be::	(I Wanna) Go Somewhere With You (T)
Describe what you want to be::	Getting Ready for Glory (UTG)
Describe how you live::	Seize the Day (ICHY)
Describe how you love::	They Will Know We Are Christians (By Our Love) (STDAOS)
Share a few words of wisdom:	Dance Like No One's Watching (T)
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One-Syllable Words

2006-11-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

To listen to us talk you'd think
Twenty-dollar words are cheap
But answers can't be bought for any tender

Constantly we complicate
Pointlessly pontificate
'Til things are getting worse instead of better

Look at how far we've come
Maybe we could learn some

One-syllable words
Faith, hope, and love
Truth, peace, and trust
One-syllable words
That's what we need
That's what we need
Yeah.
(Carolyn Arends, "One-Syllable Words," from This Much I Understand, Reunion Records 1999)

It's really quite fun to come across a Carolyn Arends inspiration in my day-to-day reading. Finding the ideas behind my favorite song, "Do We Dare?" in Madeleine L'Engle's book, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art was a delightful surprise. Of course, recognizing the influence of C.S. Lewis on such songs as "Surprised By Joy" and "Not a Tame Lion" is rather a no-brainer, but it still brings that smile of a shared reference to the lips of the listener.

Now, I cannot say with certainty that one of my husband's all-time favorite Carolyn Arends songs, "One-Syllable Words," was definitely inspired by G.K. Chesterton, but I do believe that she was most likely reading or re-reading Orthodoxy sometime in the late 1990's. In Chapter VIII, "The Romance of Orthodoxy," when reading his assertion that what is considered the bustle and strenuousness of the modern age is really a profound laziness and fatigue that disguises as busy-ness a dearth of real activity and productivity (1908 sounds -- in this regard and in many others discussed throughout Orthodoxy -- quite a bit like 2006) I found these surprisingly familiar ideas:

And this which is true of the apparent physical bustle is true also of the apparent bustle of the intellect. Most of the machinery of modern language is labour-saving machinery; and it saves mental labour very much more than it ought. Scientific phrases are used like scientific wheels and piston-rods to make swifter and smoother yet the path of the comfortable. Long words go rattling by us like long railway trains. We know they are carrying thousands who are too tired or too indolent to walk and think for themselves. It is good exercise to try for once in a way to express any opinion one holds in words of one syllable. . . . The long words are not the hard words, it is the short words that are hard. There is much more metaphysical subtlety in the word "damn" than in the word "degeneration." (Image Books Edition, 2001; p. 129-130) (Emphasis mine)

I'll never forget Jason's reaction when he first heard, "One-Syllable Words." He was at UCLA at the time, and he was taking a particularly annoying English course. He heard Carolyn sing, "Psycho-babble, legal-ese/People earning Ph.D.s in/Post-modern paranoid confusion/Self-indulgent rhetoric/Talk and talk until we're sick/Our arguments end with no conclusion/Can't we make the point clear/Maybe what we need here/Are one-syllable words . . ." I think a lot of his frustration with certain classes and professors at school came into clear focus then. My husband is a plain-spoken man. His degree is in Economics. He hates verbal gobblety-gook. That was the day, I think, that he really gave Carolyn a chance and stopped laughing at the "lie-dee-die-dee-dies" in "Seize the Day." And as I type the lyrics out, I am again astounded and humbled by Carolyn's magnificent wordplay. She is indeed a master craftsman of words, whether multi-syllabic or not.

This is almost entirely unrelated, but "One-Syllable Words" always reminds me of an incident in the Amy Grant video, Building the House of Love. One of her smarmy producers is complimenting her excessively after a recording take, while at the same time trying to weasel in that he needed another take with a few changes made. Amy Grant kind of cut through his crap when she sighed and said, "Just tell me what you want me to sing." I always liked that moment of non-diva-ness from Ms. Grant. "Just tell me what you want me to sing." Just say what you want to say. Let's get it out there and not dance around in an elaborate deception of trying to manipulate with words.

I think the ending of Carolyn's song is the best philosophy of living ever written. And it is all in one-syllable words:

Faith and hope and love
Truth and peace and trust
Dream and play and watch and pray
Learn and live and laugh and give
Reach and fly and seek and try
With all your heart and soul and mind
Oh yeah.

Christmas: An Irrational Season

2006-11-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas: An Irrational Season by Carolyn Arends, 2004

2004 was a stellar year to be a Carolyn Arends fan. Not only did we get an all-new-material regular album, Under the Gaze, we also got the long-awaited, eagerly-anticipated Christmas release, Christmas: An Irrational Season. Sometimes, when you wait a long time for something and it finally comes, your expectations have overwhelmed the possibilities of the awaited thing, and bitter disappointment ensues. Well, I am happy to report that this album bucks that trend. Christmas: An Irrational Season is a glorious tribute, as only Carolyn Arends could create, to that miraculous moment when eternity crashed headlong into time and produced such an awe-inspiring symphonic note that it has reverberated for more than two thousand years through the minds and souls of men. How fortunate we are that Carolyn does not hide her light under a bushel!

For the past ten years, Carolyn's church has asked her to write a song for their Christmas service. As Carolyn wryly notes, this sounded like a great idea the first couple of years. But if Carolyn's tongue-in-cheek observation speaks of a weariness of culling the ancient story for new inspiration, you would never know it by listening to the original songs she includes on this album. The album's unusual title was taken from a Madeleine L'Engle poem, "After Anunciation," and both the prelude and postlude tracks echo its beautiful refrain: This is the irrational season/When love blooms bright and wild/For if Mary had been filled with reason/There'd have been no room for the Child/There'd have been no room for the Child. Carolyn's sotto voice suits so well this poem turned lyric, and Spencer Capier comes in with a haunting violin solo of "What Child is This." And the mood is set for a truly unique Christmas experience.

The first of the original offerings follows the prelude. "Come and See" (Christmas 2003) is a spirited song that conveys the excitement of shepherds who have been heralded by angels and are now abuzz -- passing the glorious news onto friends and family as they make their way to the stable: Have you heard, have you heard/All the rumors are true/Spread the word, spread the word/This is such good news/The dream is not a dream anymore/Nothing is the same as before/Come and see, come and see/He is lying in the straw/He's a new baby boy who's the hope of us all/Come and hear, come and hear/It's a sound both sweet and strange/It's the great love of God in the cry of babe/It's the great love of God in the cry of a babe.

Next in line is another original, "Do Not Be Afraid" (Christmas 1995). While reminding the listener of the exhortation every angel who appears to man begins with -- Do not be afraid! -- Carolyn ties that idea into our modern celebration of the Incarnation: Half believing, half afraid/We celebrate the story/Our lives seem about a world away/From angels and their glory/Open our eyes to see what Mary saw somehow/Open our hearts to hear those angels even now/They're singing: Do not be afraid/Oh do not be afraid/Love has found its way to you/So do not be afraid.

Next comes the first cover of a classic on the album, "Angels We Have Heard on High." This rollicking rendition is the best I've ever heard of this song -- lots of jamming drums and guitars. It's always fun when Carolyn jumps into rock star mode and goes crazy. Sweet.

The next track is another cover, this time of a more modern song, "Christmas Must Be Tonight," by Robbie Robertson. This is probably my least favorite track on the album. Carolyn's smooth soft voice seems suited to this subdued, folksy carol, but I find the lyrics particularly unlikable. First of all, I have very little patience with songs that pretend that Jesus was born in the winter. Yes, I know that we celebrate His birth in the winter (or the summer in Australia and other lands south of the Equator), but most Biblical scholars agree that the Birth most likely occured in the spring. I love Christmas carols that have a wintry theme, so long as they do not intimate that the actual Event was in winter. But that is a small quarrel. My great disagreement is with the complete want of sense that the lyrics make when put together in the song. Individual lines may be good, but they are very disjointed when put next to each other. What do you think? Saw it with my own eyes/Written up in the sky/But why a lowly herdsman such as I/But then it came to pass/He was born at last/Right below the star that shines on high/How a little baby boy/Could bring the people so much joy/Son of a carpenter/Mary carried the light/This must be Christmas, must be tonight. Yeah, whatever.

The next song on the list, "Is Bethlehem Too Far Away" (Christmas 2002), brings us back to the superior song-writing of Carolyn Arends. A lovely, quiet song, asking whether we can Find our way to the baby King/Can we worship Him now in the hay/And can we believe He can change everything/Or is Bethlehem too far away?

The next track is one of my very favorites, and proof, if proof were needed, that Carolyn has not worn out the theme of Christmas when it comes to songwriting. "Now in Flesh Appearing" (Christmas 2004) never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Fast forward the Christmas Story 2000 years, and you find the stories of those who do not find Bethlehem far away at all. We learn of Joshua, who volunteers at the Union Gospel Mission, sharing soup and conversation with some strangers/And all his friends just can't believe/How he spends his Christmas Eve/He says it brings him closer to the manger. Next, we learn of Lisa who is a missionary abroad, working with orphans, hugging all those kids/Teaching them what Christmas is/And though her family misses her they know/That this is Christmas/A hand upon a shoulder/Christmas/...a little peace on earth/This is Christmas/The sweet love of Jesus/Now in flesh appearing, yeah. This is, I believe I can state with confidence, the only Christmas song in the world to include a rhyming line with "Kazakhstan." My favorite lines from the song: We celebrate the Baby King/And everything He came to bring/Every time we give goodwill to men/So on December 25/Or in the middle of July/Any time we do what pleases Him/Then it's Christmas/Merry Christmas/This is Christmas/Now in flesh appearing ... Amen.

Another tear-jerker follows on the heels of the above. "My First Christmas" (Christmas 2000) is the story of a woman's life, and all of the first Christmases she experiences. She is a baby in 1923, whose parents snap a photo and write on the back, "This is my first Christmas." Next she is a young woman who experiences a holy transformation on Christmas Eve in 1944, her first Christmas as a believer. Lastly, this "November past," she slips into the next world, and though The great-grandchildren miss her so/But if she could she would let them know/This is my first Christmas ... I first heard this song a couple years after I had lost my mother (in November) and this ministered to my hurting heart. I like to think of my mother's 1998 Christmas: First time to hear the angels sing/Glory, hallelujah to the Risen King/And a holy night is what this is/For this is [her] first Christmas.

Next up is that soulful perennial, "Go Tell It On the Mountain." You have not heard anything until you've heard a bunch of white Canadians getting funky on an African-American classic. It works, because they are having a lot of fun, and they are working it. Aw yeah!

The next track is one dear to my heart. Too often, Joseph's role in the Christmas story is diminished. Take, for instance, the modern classic "Breath of Heaven: Mary's Song" written by Amy Grant and Chris Eaton. It is a beautiful song, but it has one annoying line: In a world as cold as stone/Must I walk this path alone? Well, Mary was not alone, the Lord gave her a wonderful husband, a faithful man whose obedience is as important as Mary's in the Story, for if she had not had Joseph to stand by her and protect her, she would have been an outcast indeed. Carolyn's song, "The Lord's Servant" (Christmas 2001), gives the often-overlooked Joseph's part of the story due consideration. We must not forget that he, too, was the Lord's servant. And, with the way she has, Carolyn draws out the Story's relevance for today: It's been 2000 years/And yet you play a part/The Messiah still comes/If there's room in your heart/And if you are willing/Then our God is able/He sent His salvation/Down to a stable/So love can be born/And peace can be yours/If you'll be the Lord's servant/Oh will you be the Lord's servant?

The next song is a cover of a classic Christmas hymn. "Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus," written by Charles Wesley and Rowland H. Prichard, is given the most simple of arrangements by Carolyn, which emphasizes the gorgeous structure of language in the lyrics, the perfect balance of the melody, and Carolyn's own gentle voice. Israel's strength and consolation/Hope of all the earth Thou art/Dear desire of every nation/Joy of ev'ry longing heart. Pure lovliness -- you would want this sung as a solo at midnight service on Christmas Eve.

The last full-length song on the album is also an original Arends tune. "A Christmas Blessing" (Christmas 1999) is Carolyn's benediction to her listeners across the miles and the years. May the One who has come guide you and keep you/May you seek His face as all wise men still do/And may Bethlehem's road rise up to meet you/'Til you find Him and see that God is with you/May you find Him and see that God is with you. Words to ring throughout the Christmas season and in your heart the whole year through.

The delicate yet rich strains that echo out of the strings of Spencer Capier's violin begin the last track in a reprise of "What Child is This," and Carolyn repeats the lines with which she began this amazing album: This is the irrational season/When love blooms bright and wild/For if Mary had been filled with reason/There'd have been no room for the Child/There'd have been no room for the Child. What a journey this recording invites you to join! My no-holds-barred, absolute favorite Christmas album -- there is nothing else like it in all the CD bins at any music store anywhere.

**The bulk of this review appeared in The Musings of Justine, last December.**

The Best Cover and Possible Future Covers

2006-10-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

Carolyn hasn't done too many covers. The ones that I can think of are as follows:

"Jacob and 2 Women" by Rich Mullins, on Awesome God: A Tribute to Rich Mullins
"River of Love" by T-Bone Burnett, on Travelers
"Love is So Blind" by Mark Heard, on Orphans of God: A Tribute to Mark Heard
"To See Your Face" by Mark Heard, on Pollyanna's Attic
"I've Got a Hope" by Eric Fiedor and Pierce Pettis, on Pollyanna's Attic
"(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" by Carole King, on We've Been Waiting For You
"Forever Young" by Bob Dylan, on We've Been Waiting for You
"Christmas Must Be Tonight" by Robbie Robertson, on Christmas: An Irrational Season

I do not think that you could classify some of the songs she has recorded that were written by others as "covers." There are the hymns "They Will Know We Are Christians" and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" which would not be called "covers," since they are widely done in churches. The same goes for "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "Angels We Have Heard on High." "You Bring Me Joy," on Sing Me To Sleep, Mommy, was an original song by another songwriter, but I do not know if it's ever been recorded elsewhere.

Anyway, my vote for the best cover is "Love is So Blind." I just love everything about that song. She sings it so well with so much energy in her voice, and the arrangement is fabulous. I've never heard the original recording by Mark Heard, but it's hard to imagine that it is better than Carolyn's interpretation. It's a cool song. Go and buy it from iTunes -- well worth the 99¢!

As for possible future covers, I'd love to see her do some more interpretations of Rich Mullins's songs, since she was so close to him and probably has a head full of fresh ideas for those beloved songs. I'd especially love to hear her reinvent "Let Mercy Lead" or "Alrightokuhhuhamen." I would also get a kick out of what she might do with any of Keith Green's tunes. Far out!

Just Pretending -- Take Two

2006-10-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I just re-read my post about "Just Pretending" from Pollyanna's Attic, and I've re-thought or expounded on a couple different things.

The first is that we cannot hide from God. Too often, we think that the outward things are keeping God from seeing our true selves. In this context, the ideas of not being who we are and "just pretending" are pitiful self-delusion.

I try to close my eyes like a child, playing at a game of hide-and-seek
If I cannot see the Lord, then truly Lord, You cannot see me.
--Jennifer Knapp, "Romans"

To this end, "Just Pretending" makes sense. We cannot get our lives right before we come to the Lord. We can only get ourselves honest enough to admit we need Him, and then come to Him with humilty and gratitude. When it comes to our Heavenly Father, we are just prolonging our pain unless we can "just be who we are."

The second thing is that life is indeed a potent concoction of "mess and mystery." I think my quarrel with "Just Pretending" is that so often today, people see the inherent messiness of it all as an excuse to unload their entire self-destructive ethos upon society at large. That is a denial of the Spirit of self-control, and it troubles me greatly. I am pretty certain that Carolyn no more thinks the object of "being real" consists of "vomiting our wretchedness" upon the general public any more than I. I just differ from her in thinking that people today need very little encouragement to "get real" and need far more encouragement to exhibit propriety.

A third thing that comes to mind is the statistics that show that if people in an unhappy marriage are able to grit their teeth and stick with it for five more years, most couples find that their marriage will undergo a transformation into a positive and happy union. In essence, a determination to "just pretend" -- to go through the motions without the feeling behind them -- can be an amazingly beneficial one for the "pretenders" and society as a whole. A more prosaic example is the wrestling that I have every few weeks or so, wherein I have no desire to attend church services. (A heathenistic lifestyle dies hard.) I grit my teeth and "pretend" to like it, and the Holy Spirit never fails to make that charade a reality.

Anyway, those are three things I wanted to add to my post about "Just Pretending." Never have any other writer's songs stuck in my craw the way, for better or worse, that so many of Carolyn Arends's have. What a testament to her songwriting abilities!

Just Pretending

2006-10-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I think that one of the reasons that I wanted to start this fan blog was the song "Just Pretending" from Pollyanna's Attic. For those of you who stumbled unwittingly onto this Carolyn Arends blog, Pollyanna's Attic (PA) was released this past May (on time, too!) and is a collection of songs that Carolyn had held "close to [her] heart but had never recorded." The songs are a little bit darker and "grumpier" than her usual fare, but they are nonetheless masterful expressions of certain ideas that contribute to her Weltanschauung. PA is not one of my favorite albums, but I would be a fool not to see and appreciate the lyrical and musical artistry therein. But, this post is not a review of PA. This post is an argument against the ideas of "Just Pretending."

I was reading an editorial in the Wall Street Journal from September 1, 2006, entitled "Survivor Strategy." This article, about the current season of Survivor's dividing teams along racial lines, was not signed by any particular author, but it was a wise article, indeed. When I read the following sentence, my jaw dropped, because I had never before read someone so succinctly state an idea that had festered in my mind for years: "The therapeutic ethos of recent years has encouraged each of us to get every thought off our chest, lest we suffer from the ordeal of civility." That gave me a jumping off point to articulate why Carolyn's song, "Just Pretending," has really bugged me these past few months.

First of all, the song is brilliant. The lyrics are funny and pointed and very economical. The music is catchy and memorable. She sings it, of course, wonderfully. But, I think, at least in my experience, the point of the song is off-base, off-kilter, misguided. Here are the lyrics:

Just Pretending
Carolyn Arends and Spencer Capier
Nice shirt, and khaki chinos
Dessert and cappuccinos
SUV, he looks good in it
Driving past his credit limit
She's climbing that Stairmaster
Up to Happy Ever After
Though she never seems to get there
She can't stop
No she can't stop
Why do we try so hard?
Life's not some greeting card
Models and movie stars
They're just pretending
They're just pretending
Family full of achievers
Beat the Jones and be the Cleavers
Give the lawn a manicure
No rough edges, that's for sure
Sunday the whole congregation
Doesn't seem to need salvation
Everybody's just terrific
All the time
All the time
Why do we try so hard?
Life's not some greeting card
Models and movie stars
They're just pretending
They're just pretending
Everybody's under pressure
Got to get our acts together
Living out these scripted roles
Tidy and predictable
What if we just all agreed
To wear our hearts on wrinkled sleeves
And live the mess and mystery
Of a real life
Live real life
Why do we try so hard?
Life's not some greeting card
If we're not who we are
We're just pretending
Why do we try so hard?
Life's not some greeting card
Models and all those movie stars
They're just pretending
They're just pretending
© Songs of Peer, LTD./Mr. Marley's Music (ASCAP)/ Spencer Capier Music (SOCAN)

Two different themes of this song are mistaken, I believe. The first is the idea that everyone has this deeper self that they hide from the world in order to conform with society. I think that, for a majority of people, their fancy car, their lovely house, their chisled bodies really are the things that are foremost in their minds -- not masks of conventionality, but faces of such. It is not for everyone to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. Many people are happy in the shallow waters and would drown in the deep. It is easy to forgive Carolyn and Spencer this point, though. They are artists and are, therefore, more likely to think that everyone wrestles with the whys and ways of the world as much as they.

The second idea is that we have this great obligation to "be who we are" to the world at large. I think that this is one of the more selfish notions of recent years -- that everyone we meet must become burdened with the burdens under which we labor. Call me a throwback to Jane Austen's time, but I think that it is uncivilized merely to grouse to strangers and prostrate ourselves weeping in the presence of casual acquaintances. I have always been more sense than sensibility, I suppose. Nobody wanted to smack Marianne Dashwood more than I throughout that whole novel.

I need to remind myself that Carolyn is from Canada, and maybe in Canada people live these stifled lives of quiet desperation. If so, I might have to move up there, because they certainly do not here in America. Every little pecadillo, every dirty thought or sinful action, is not only brought out to the public in the harsh light of day, but often it is celebrated. I think of that former governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, whose disgusting personal debaucheries are making the circuit of talk shows on his tour promoting the book wherein he lovingly detailed them. Or that vile Mark Foley who circumvented as best he could accepting responsibility for being a degenerate by revealing that he'd been, a) molested by a priest and b) was an alcoholic, anyway. Or those more than five thousand women who just had to let the world know in petition form that, heck yes, they murdered their babies in the womb, and heck yes, they sure were so proud of that fact that they had to shout it out. Here are nasty people who did nasty things either ducking responsibility by revealing intensely personal things to the world or celebrating their nastiness by reveling in the intensely personal things. They do not take the form of "confessions," which are good for the soul and necessary, I believe, but rather are shameless declarations of moral relativism that, frankly, make me wish to puke.

Civility is conscientious self-control, and self-control is the earmark of civilization. You simply cannot have a functioning society wherein people vomit their wretchedness upon the world at large. We have seen, here in America, our culture devolve into a cesspool wherein vice is treated as disease, i.e. without fault attached, and those things which ought to be hidden away deep within for the Holy Spirit to work on are flaunted as quirky eccentricities. Indeed, this country has been a place where people feel, unfortunately, very comfortable "just be[ing] who [they] are." And no one is shamed into suffering the ordeal of civility.

That is not to say that each person ought not to have a safe network of family and friends in which they can be who they are. Jane Austen confided everything to her older sister, Cassandra; and Cassandra prudently destroyed the more personal aspects of those letters upon Jane's death. Now, to scholars and fans of Miss Austen, this loss of the completely unreserved Jane is painful and frustrating; but, I cannot help but believe in my heart that Cassandra was justified in protecting the personal parts of Jane from the world, and, indeed, the world from the more personal side of Jane. It was, in a way, an act of grace, because, within grace, the unclean parts are made clean and wholeness is revealed where fractured shambles were formerly assembled. Jane was allowed wholeness in her relationship with Cassandra, and Cassandra made the Jane of history cleansed in return.

This grace cannot be found, though, in a defiant display of our sin to the greater world, because, instead of cleansing the sinner and restoring the good, it rips apart the moral fabric of society and draws the culture further into the murky morass of relativism and unaccountability. How much worse off American culture is today after generations of people who not only wore their hearts on wrinkled sleeves, but on filthy, shredded, bloodied sleeves! We are not only worse off, we are on the edge of decay.

Maybe I'm reading too much into the lyrics of "Just Pretending." It is, after all, merely a song -- a good song at that. My wish is that more people felt obligated to try a little harder. To live their lives in a more tidy and predictable fashion. To keep their lawns mowed and their bodies reasonably in shape (especially if they insist on wearing spandex). To save their deeper, darker secrets and desires for their best friends and their families, and not to unleash those burdens on the world at large. To feel more pressure to get their acts together and be better citizens and not make society and others pay the price for their bad decisions and hurtful actions. A little pretending is not a bad thing, it can keep a person doing what is right instead of what he feels. That is one of the cornerstones of a righteous society, and it is one that we need to reclaim.

Confessions of a Groupie

2006-10-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Oh dear. I looked it up in the dictionary, and I AM a groupie. I've joked for years that I am a Carolyn Arends groupie, but I never really thought that I was. I mean, groupie. Sheesh, that just sounds sort of pitiful and weird. But, today, Webster's has confirmed my fears.

groupie \'grü-pee\ n (1967) 1: a fan of a rock group who usu. follows the group around on concert tours 2: an admirer of a celebrity who attends as many of his or her public appearances as possible 3: ENTHUSIAST, AFICIONADO

I'll take definition number three, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the first two apply equally well.

A light will shine through, though. I found some groupie justification from the unlikely source of this past weekend's Seattle Times. The staff writer, Patrick MacDonald, was writing of Bob Dylan (whose concert tour is hitting Seattle on Friday), but he captured a bit of my own admiration for Carolyn when he wrote:

But Dylan is different. He's showing how great rock stars should age -- by reinventing the past and moving toward the future. Dylan performs his classics from the '60s and '70s, but he short-circuits your expectations by doing them differently every single time. I've seen him perform the same song two nights in a row in two entirely different ways. He doesn't give fans what they want, but rather what he wants. He remains true to himself, and, in so doing, remains a creative force that fans young and old can relate to. (Emphasis mine)

Now, Bob Dylan is about one hundred and twenty years old and not an artist in whom I am particularly interested, but what MacDonald wrote about him is transferable to any truly gifted musical artist -- that ability to keep constantly in touch with their creative center, whether that creativity is fueling new songs or keeping older songs fresh and vibrant. You will never see the same concert twice -- even if the same songs are played.

And that, my friends, is why I never pass up a chance to see Carolyn Arends and Spencer Capier performing live in any venue. There is always something new and unexpected to be heard when those two geniuses get together and jam. It is exciting and breathtaking to see them feed off of each other's immense talent. You feel like you're experiencing some of the echoes of eternity, when that overwhelming Creative force flows out through those human instruments, and you're swept up into something that transcends the roles of players and audience and becomes measured in cupfuls of sublimity. Occasionally, I have seen Carolyn Arends perform with someone other than Spencer Capier, and that, too, is an amazing experience (a particular 2002 concert at Pepperdine in Malibu, CA with a young rock-star-genius-boy -- Adrian? -- who added a definite hardcore edge to the set is one that always comes to mind).

So, I suppose I am a groupie, but no one deserves a groupie more than Carolyn Arends, because she never gives of her talent with a half-heart or simply goes through the motions. At one point, I was seeing her in concert every other month or so, and I never saw the same show twice. The jokes? Well, the jokes are often the same (still good, mind you, but she tends to find a shtick and stick with it). But the MUSIC! The music keeps growing and growing and growing. And I will never cease to wonder at that and be grateful for it.

Proselytizing

2006-10-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

I can only imagine what was going through the LDS missionaries' minds when I accepted their information card and then asked, "May I give you something in return?"

I am certain that they thought I was off to get a tract of some kind that would show them (maybe in Chick cartoon form) how they were bound for hell. This is a favorite Christian outreach that avoids having serious discussions about the nature of salvation and the truth of the Living God.

I don't much like tracts, can you tell?

I do like Mormons quite a bit.

Anyway, I got a spare copy of Carolyn Arends's Pollyanna's Attic from the office and handed it to them.

"I'd like you to have this, " I said. "She's a Christian singer/songwriter who lives up north in British Columbia, and I think her music is fantastic. Please give it a listen, and if it isn't quite your style, please pass it along to someone you know who may like it."

Need I say that they looked relieved? They accepted my offering with gratitude and warmth. I'm sure that was the first time someone wanted simply to give them music without any hellfire strings attached. I told them that I would pray for their safety as they fulfilled their missions obligation. And, indeed, I have.

Long has the therapeutic administration of the latest Carolyn Arends CD been my particular "ministry." I have a list of about eight friends who automatically get sent a new album when one is released. I have also given CDs to the entire ministry staff at our church (not without an ulterior motive, I confess -- I wanted them to book a concert with her). This is the first time I have given one of her albums to a stranger, and certainly the first time I have given one as a response to another religion's missionaries. I think that this is a good approach. I really respect the fact the the LDS church fully prepares and funds missionaries, and I have no desire to provoke these fine, young men. But, who wouldn't benefit from listening to the honey-tinged voice and soul-searing lyrics of the singular Mrs. A.?

I think I shall have to keep more spare copies of her albums around the house. This could start a revolution!

Best Album: The Case for Feel Free (1997)

2006-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

So, Carolyn Arends has released nine albums over eleven years. That's a pretty impressive output of creativity. And, since it is Carolyn Arends we're talking about, the product has always been of the highest caliber. How does one then decide which album is her best?

The easy and weasely way out of this quandary is to demure that all of the albums are the best. This may be true when compared with the offerings of any other musical artist, but surely, among the best in the world, there is the best of the best. The first album I would like to offer up for consideration of that honor is 1997's Feel Free.

The first time I put Feel Free into the computer and the vibrant electric guitar of "Do What You Do" blared out of the speakers, I had to turn the volume down. What was this? I wondered at the complete divergence from the laid-back folksy feel of Carolyn's debut album, I Can Hear You. Even though I was taken aback, I kept listening and started grooving, and then I realized, "Hey! I'm really digging this!"

And it's continued that way for the past seven years.

There is no collection of songs anywhere that fills me with more unadulterated joy than Feel Free. Just look at the cover, first of all. The bright, splashy reds and oranges, the free-hand font of the title letters, the open birdcage, and Carolyn herself, staring out with a hard-core rock star gaze. You just know, by taking all these elements in, that you are in for a world of fun. And the album is, over all, LOUD. It's electric, not only in that it uses more electric guitar riffs than any other Arends album I can think of, but just in the feel of the songs. Here's a warning: If you listen to this in your automobile, you will car-dance. You cannot keep from twisting your body in clumsy obedience to the pulsating beat of the songs.

This is an album, as the title suggests, about liberation.

So, it starts with "Do What You Do." If you are a working girl in the thrilling avenue of retail, as was I, you will feel kinship with the subject of this song. "She's on the clock, but she doesn't seem to mind. Whatever matters, she always finds the time. She laughs out loud when it's funny, and when it's not she sighs." Of course, the priceless nuggets in Carolyn Arends's creations are so often found in the middle bridge section. In this case it is: "She's not afraid to live this life, she says it's not like rolling dice. It's in the hands of God so why not do what you do like you know what you're doing . . ."

Then comes the now-classic, "New Year's Day." Who cannot relate to the idea of filling up diaries with all of the New Year resolutions that are kept until January 2? How much more freeing to remember that the Lord's mercies are new every morning, and "every day is New Year's Day -- hey, hey!" Here's your magic bridge moment: "Every day is one more chance to start all over; one more chance to change and grow; one more chance to grab a hold of grace and never let it go." Every Carolyn Arends fan who read that is now improvising the driving guitar that comes in after those lines -- dun-da-da-dun-da-da-dun-da-da-da-da-da-da-dun . . .

I really like the title track of the album, "Feel Free." Everyone should have a friend with whom they "feel free to laugh or cry . . . to wonder why . . . to dance or grieve . . . " and who lets them know that "you are safe when you're with me." Carolyn does some unusual vocal stuff with this song, especially at the end.

The first break from the rocking sound comes with the ballad, "There You Are." If you've ever felt disappointed that you've never had a burning bush come and talk to you, only to realize that in the quiet times you can hear a still small voice, then you will relate to this song. My favorite line is, "I was waiting for a miracle and hoping for a sign, as if each breath I take is not a gift." This idea of the intrinsic mystery of breath appears again later in the album.

"This I Know" has a rather heavy arrangement for such a light-heartedly simple premise of a song. She re-recorded it later for a "best of" album with a lighter sound. But, since this is the rock star album, it's fun to hear the original incarnation. My husband really appreciates the stripped down message of the song, as expressed in the chorus: "Hope and love make a life worth living. Lack thereof makes a man grow old. God is good, yeah, and Jesus loves me. This I know." When you get down to the bare bones of living, it so often comes down to a purity like this one, doesn't it? Why do we make life more complicated than it should be?

"Big Deal" is one of those songs that has actually helped me break mental paralysis when facing a daunting task. I tend to be one of those people who takes everything to heart and beats myself up when I do not live up to my own (unrealistic) expectations. This song, which is gently humorous, reminds me that no, "I won't be the first to mess things up," and I'll indeed "get it right someday."

I think that "Last Thursday" is one of the more initially under-appreciated songs on the album. At least it was for me. I enjoyed the song on a listening level before I really stopped to think about the lyrics. Then, one day at the bookstore (the "retail job" previously mentioned) I was shelving in the "Self Improvement" section. The lyrics of "Last Thursday" came flooding into my mind: "You see, I've read a thousand pages of how to help myself to a thousand different ways to perfect mental health. And I swear I've done them all and I'm still needing something else, and I think you are, too." Aha! Looking at row upon row of books intended to improve the human condition when there is no way that we can save ourselves filled me with a new and profound admiration for the courage it took for Carolyn to write this song. We so want to believe that there is a way we can do it without Jesus, but we cannot. And admitting that weakness is the first step to His strength. Again, there is a beautiful bridge that sums up the song: "And further more I still believe in what I cannot see or touch. Crazy things like dreams and prayer and faith and hope and love. And I know a life without these things is not a life at all. So you can call it sanity, but then you'll have to call me crazy." We want to divorce these necessary elements of the human experience from our Creator and attempt to find that wholeness within ourselves -- to be "spiritual" without the Holy Spirit -- but we just cannot save ourselves.

Even if every other song on this album were crap (which, clearly, they are not), I might still think Feel Free the best album in the world for this next song on the tracks list, "Do We Dare." I am never shy in saying that I think this is the best song ever written. The ideas in this song are so big and breath-taking, and yet the song is accessible and deceptively simple. You could write a book about the ideas in this song -- they could be extrapolated into a doctoral thesis -- and yet the wordcraft is so eloquent that Carolyn wrote everything that really needs to be said into a song barely over four minutes in length. It is difficult for me even to write about this song, because it is so meaningful to me. I start to tear up simply typing about it. I think that that is because it touches some foundational yearning of the human spirit -- something that was breathed into the clay at the beginning of time from the very mouth of God and has never left us. Carolyn Arends borrowed the initial idea from Madeleine L'Engle's book, Walking on Water, and turned a soul-stinging suggestion into, what I've come to believe is, a revelation of Spirit. L'Engle wrote: "In art we are once again able to do all the things we have forgotten; we are able to walk on water; we speak to the angels who call us; we move, unfettered, amongst the stars" (p. 57). "Do We Dare" is a song about being healed from this corruption of the soul, about regaining that which we have lost so long ago that we've forgotten we ever had it. It is about how much courage it takes, how much of an act of daring it is, to regain that ground -- to free ourselves to react to the world with the innocence and imagination of children while being the broken-hearted adults we are. It is so many amazing whispers of the Divine spilling into our ears through lovely melody and charming voice -- the song is one of those little love letters from God that He sent to the world through the human instrument. I know I am not doing the song justice by these confused babblings of admiration. Hear it yourself. Seek it out and let it seep into your soul. If you've heard it before, listen to it again. It can not be heard too often. It is a work of deepest art and deepest truth. Here is Carolyn's trademark piercing bridge: "We are battered and torn from the day we are born in a world that has blinded and bound us. Is it any surprise we don't open our eyes to the truth that's disguised all around us?"

After listening to "Do We Dare," it is heartening to wipe away your tears and smile at the love song that next greets you. "Good Thing Going" is a sweet ode to Carolyn's husband of more than fifteen years (seven, when this album was released -- "Seven years, no itch," according to the liner notes). "How could anybody turn my head when my heart's forever lost to you? How could I fall into another's arms when I've fallen so deep into a love so true?" This is song will reverberate with anyone who's had the privilege and blessing of marrying his or her best friend.

The last song is a prayer. "Father, Thy Will Be Done" is about surrender to God, in times both good and bad -- "when I'm walking in the light; when my heart is black as night; when You give what I desire; when You take me through the fire." There is freedom to live in letting go and trusting in the Lord's will. Feel Free is an album whose over-riding theme is that of liberty. Not political liberty, but that deeper liberty -- the freedom of Christ, the freedom of love, the freedom of friendship.

Rarely has an artist achieved such a balance of meaningful lyrics and uplifting melody. Feel Free will delight beyond the thousandth spin in your CD player. Carolyn is so good at writing out the essence of questions, mysteries, yearnings, and the unchangeable truths that, ultimately, bring hope. This album, though, goes even a step beyond the amazing songwriting and musical artistry to reveal a freshness and fun that makes your soul soar. My first nomination for best album, then, is 1997's Feel Free -- you'll feel free, indeed.

Why This New Blog?

2006-09-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm just going to say it: The message board forum at Carolyn Arends's website just isn't doing it for me anymore. It is very awkward to attempt to go "deeper" in discussing her work there because of three reasons.

The first is that the format of a message board is conducive to quick posts, not long meanderings. Unless you are Carolyn herself, no one wants to read your ponderous ponderings on a page meant for quick "howdya-dos?" and occasional congratulatory exclamations.

The second is that Carolyn Arends keeps tabs on her message board and reads everything and remembers what she's read. Although this blog will never be defamatory (it is a fan blog, after all), it might be a little easier to be perfectly honest in a new format -- both more honest in compliments as well as any critiques. It is very difficult to wax effusive about the merits of a Canadian in her presence, as part of that national character seems to be an almost pathological modesty. My belief is that Carolyn Arends is one of the most important songwriters of our time, and she deserves a forum for in-depth examination of her creative work and the thought behind it.

The third reason for this blog is that its originator wants to be able to invite a select group of fellow fans in for discussion. This is "Carolyn Arends 202," and it is a place for folks who want to explore her music in a more academic manner, worthy of coursework for a junior or senior scholar. I love the freshmen, too. I remember well the excitement and awe of discovering Carolyn Arends's music. Freshmen, you are welcome to comment on anything you see here. But it is juniors and seniors for whom this blog was created.

Anyway, here's a start to it all. I hope it yields fruit. Even if no one else joins in and I remain a voice crying in the wilderness, this will be a good outlet for the nagging thoughts that run through my head when I listen to any album of Mrs. A.

Enjoy!