I want to try an experiment…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDOkMSf-F14[/youtube]

Minyan Man, I took the liberty of embedding your links.

Breaking Benjamin’s “Ashes of Eden”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1yTyAh8IA8[/youtube]

Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKF6ghfcQic[/youtube]

Taylor Swift’s “Karma” (I included the clean version)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl1wPwJm8pk[/youtube]

I picked “Head Above Water” because the song is “a conversation with God” but more than that, it’s an active “here’s what I need/here is what I am looking for” and “here is what I will do about it”.

“Ashes of Eden” is really about experiencing Hope and Doubt about God at the same time.

Are you with me after all?

Why can’t I hear you?

Are you with me through it all?

Then why can’t I feel you?

“Karma” by Taylor Swift is a fun song because I mentally contrast it against what is said about the God of the OT.

[NOTE: I cannot explain easily or at all why I do it, so I won’t even try].

I’ve forgotten how hard it is sometimes to communicate a message of hope without being “preachy”.

I hear ya on that one:)

My problem is usually the other way around – I’m the one without the “hope” to ground me in the experience with the other person.

When we talk to each other within the church, we can use any reference within & without the gospel to convey an

idea or truth that we believe or hope to believe. In the process, we probably won’t be offending people’s sensitivities.

I hope that makes sense.

It does make sense.

What I have been running into lately is that people I knew from the branch have been dying natural deaths.

I am trying to “put myself out there” to let them know I am thinking of them, but it’s a lot harder because I don’t feel comfortable using our “shared terminology” and I want to provide a comment of comfort to them.

I sort it out on a case-by-case basis, but it’s still very thought-provoking for me.

When we communicate with people that have been in the church or have taken a detour, what we say can be misinterpreted as

as gospel centered or “preachy”. What a tight rope we have to navigate at times like this.

I find that those who say things like, “this is my perspective” or “how I would describe it” i.e. explicitly owning “this is mine” without expectation of making it “the other person’s too” is super helpful. It’s the “making space for other perspectives or perspective enhancements” that takes the “preachiness” out.

I can’t post the videos right now, but I highly recommend Home Free. They are my favorite group, ever. (Their beatboxer is amazing.) They are an acapella group that started in Country Music but does a lot of songs in other genres.

“Undivided” and “Everybody Walking This Land” – in particular – have phenomenal messages of love and inclusion. I think they will resonate with everyone here.

(If you like classic country music, their cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” is stunning – as is their version of “American Pie” with Don McClean.)

I like it. I observe that some things can be helpful for different people at different phases of their grief journey.

Some songs might speak to you or your daughter in a different way and that’s ok. Just listening to each other and sharing and validating each others experience is huge!

Home Free – Undivided

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwgBdb-ZCoY[/youtube]