Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone

My Madi has introduced me to a new to me band - I am far behind on the amazing music scene - but will catch up quickly with Mumford & Sons - oh my. I watched "The Cave" on her fb page this a.m. and scooted over to their website and found their new live video on their song Roll Away Your Stone - black and white, foot stomping glorious!



Lyrics to Roll Away Your Stone :

Roll away your stone I will roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

You told me that I wouldn't find a home
Beneath the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
Yet it dominates the things I see

It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works’
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see
Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see

Stars hide your fires
For these here are my desires
And I won't give them up to you this time around
And so I will be found
With my stake stuck in the ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul

And you, you've gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

Nick Vujicic - A Life Without Limbs

I don't know if any of you remember a short film I posted a few months ago called "The Butterfly Circus" - it is one of the most moving, artful pieces of story I have ever seen. I highly recommend taking the 15-20 minutes it takes to watch. It is so uplifting and redemptive.

My friend from high school, Jackie, just posted a short video of the actor featured in the film giving a motivational speech - I was so excited because I had meant to do some research on him and the impulse got lost in the flow of life. His name is Nick Vujicic and he is a motivational speaker in Australia. He runs a ministry called "Life without Limbs". He's talking here to a group of high school students about body image, self worth and beauty. It's so beautiful to see the kids respond to his words. Watch the movie first and then come back and watch this clip - you will have invested about 30 minutes you will not regret, I promise!



You can find his DVD on Amazon - No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! - and he has a new book coming out in October - Life Without Limits.

The Butterfly Circus

20 minutes & a box of kleenex. You won't be sorry. Beautiful.



Thank you Matt!

Susan Boyle - The Beauty that Matters

(image credit)

Just in case you've been hiding under a rock you need to watch this, it can't be embedded here by request of the show but trust me follow the link - it is a gift. The blossoming of a rose:

Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent

Here's a bit of history:

But then ridicule is nothing new in Susan Boyle's life. She is a veteran of abuse. She was starved of oxygen at birth and has learning difficulties as a result. At school she was slow and had frizzy hair. She was bullied, mostly verbally. She told one newspaper that her classmates' jibes left behind the kind of scars that don't heal.

She didn't have boyfriends, is a stranger to romance and has never been kissed. "Shame," she said. Singing was her life-raft.

She lived with her parents in a four-bedroom council house and, when her father died a decade ago, she cared for her mother and sang in the church choir.

It was an unglamorous existence. She wasn't the glamorous type - and being a carer isn't a glamorous life, as the hundreds of thousands who do that most valuable of jobs will testify. Even those who start out with a beauty routine and an interest in clothes find themselves reverting to the practicality of a tracksuit and trainers. Fitness plans get interrupted and then abandoned. Weight creeps on. Carers don't often get invited to sparkling dinner parties or glitzy receptions, so smart clothes rarely make it off the hanger.

...

Susan Boyle's mother encouraged her to sing. She wanted her to enter Britain's Got Talent. But the shy Susan hasn't been able to sing at all since her mother's death two years ago. She wasn't sure how her voice would emerge after so long a silence. Happily, it survived its rest.

and now read the whole article here:

The Beauty That Matters

God please keep her from being preyed upon by greedy, heartless souls.

Thanks to Wes for the article in my mailbox this morning!

Caving in

Caved in to twitter a few days ago. Alinea wanted to sign up and I don't like to give permission to things I haven't investigated, so I am now twittering... I know I've been a vocal opponent to it and feel quite like the hypocrite, but you can follow my fairly mundane life at @redemptionjunki if you'd like...

I want you Art!!

thank you andrea!

Can't help wonder

Thank you Community Organizers!

Joe Klein: What a Community Organizer Does

The Secret Life of Bees

Major League

Insurance Company Rules

Donald Miller - part 2

Just got Donald Miller's newsletter and it has a link to a free mp3 - YOU MUST HEAR THIS!

Oh, please, take the time to listen to this: Let Story Guide You

The stakes are too high

This video was the first political commercial ever used in the history of politics in North America. It is poignant and only ran once. Somehow we have lost our way.

Brilliant article on this here:

Steve Cone: The Big Bang of Attack Ads

The spot starts with a little girl picking daisies in a meadow and counting aloud as she plucks each petal. She mixes up her numbers, which brilliantly reinforces the innocence of a small child. Then a man's voice is heard counting down from ten. It's official sounding -- like something right out of the Pentagon War Room. As the countdown proceeds the camera zooms in on the little girl's face, and then her eye and finally from her eye the image of an atomic blast appears and fills the screen. Next you heard President Johnson quote several lines taken form a W.H. Auden poem about how "we must love each other or surely we will die." And finally a professional voice over announces to vote for President Johnson on November 3rd. "The stakes are too high to do anything else."

I Dare You

via bob

Yes.... you can!

Thanks Melvin!

Weezer - Pork & Beans

Weezer takes all of the favorite Youtube.com videos and mashes them up into his newest video Pork & Beans - brilliant and seamless and wonderful how he interacts with each character keeping them true to their own personality - so creative!



thanks NW!

Finding my school

Thanks Bob!

New Switchfoot song from Prince Caspian

Jon Foreman writes:

Greetings amigos!

When my brother and I were kids, my dad used to read us CS Lewis books before we went to sleep. So when we were asked to be involved in a movie based on his book, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" - we were honored to be considered.

I wanted to capture the longing that is embedded in much of Lewis' writing- so I tried to think back to what these stories meant to me when I was six years old and write from that perspective. The song that came out is called "This is Home." It's been quite a journey: a San Diego song with strings cut at Abbey Road in London complete with a video shot in Hollywood.

We are so excited to not only share this song with you, but you can hear the song streaming on our website, myspace, and facebook. The song will also be featured on the soundtrack, which is being released through Hollywood Records on Tuesday May 13th in stores everywhere.

This is our first venture as an independent band- so thank you for being a part of this! And thanks again for all your continued support.

- jon foreman

Andrew Johnson

Why do bullies seek to silence such beauty?

This is not the last you will see of this beautiful boy.


HT to Mike Todd

We Think

again, thanks Jim!