/ˈsōjərn/ sojourn:a temporary stay

every so often you just hear a song...and you fall in love with it.
for absolutely no reason.
or does that just happen to me?
anyway...


[Rich Mullins :: Land of My Sojourn]

and the coal trucks come a-runnin'
with their bellies full of coal
and their big wheels a-hummin'
down this road that lies open like the soul of a woman
who hid the spies who were lookin'
for the land of the milk and the honey
and this road she is a woman
she was made from a rib
cut from the sides of these mountains
oh these great sleeping Adams
who are lonely even here in paradise
lonely for somebody to kiss them
and i'll sing my song (i'll sing my song)
in the land of my sojourn

and the lady in the harbor
she still holds her torch out
to those huddled masses who are
yearning for a freedom that still eludes them
the immigrant's children see their brightest dreams shattered
here on the New Jersey shoreline in the
greed and the glitter of those high-tech casinos
but some mendicants wander off into a cathedral
and they stoop in the silence
and there their prayers are still whispered
and i'll sing their song (i'll sing their song)
in the land of my sojourn

nobody tells you when you get born here
how much you'll come to love it
and how you'll never belong here
so I call you my country
and i'll be lonely for my home
and i wish that i could take you there with me

and down the brown brick spine of some dirty blind alley
all those drain pipes are drippin' out the last Sons of Thunder
while off in the distance the smoke stacks
were belching back this city's best answer
and the countryside was pocked
with all of those mail pouch posters
thrown up on the rotting sideboards of
these rundown stables like the one Christ was born in
when the old world started dying
and the new world started coming on
and I'll sing His song (I'll sing His song)
in the land of my sojourn

Little Boy Heart Alive [andrew peterson]

Open the door and run outside
Your little boy heart alive
Into the morning light
Into the deep and wide

Dinosaur bones in the flowerbed
Rockets in the clouds
In a fight with a spider’s web
Tunnels in the ground

Winding to China
To the mist of the distant shore
Better be home by suppertime
Back through the planet core

Feel the beat of a distant thunder
It’s the sound of an ancient song
This is the Kingdom calling
Come now and tread the dawn

Come to the father
Come to the deeper well
Drink of the water
And come to live a tale to tell

Pages are turning now
This is abundant life
The joy in the journey
Is enough to make a grown man cry
With a little boy heart alive

Kings and castles in the neighborhood
Swords on the forest floor
Dragons in the magic wood
Better saddle your battle horse

Fighting Goliath
Better choose your weapons right
Five little stones and a faith on fire
In a little boy heart alive

[Chorus]

Met a kid at the railroad track
He had a stick and a nylon sack
I ran to the house to pack
I wanted to follow

Take a ride on the mighty lion
Take a hold of the golden mane
This is the love of Jesus
So good but it is not tame

[Chorus]

Ever the road goes on and on
Ever the road goes on and on and on












This song has for some reason become my theme lately. It gets stuck in my head. I hum it during my six plus hour shifts in the dining commons. I love Andrew Peterson's music; I love it even more after seeing him in concert for the third time this summer. His music makes me think, and sometimes I need that. So don't be surprised if blog posts are ever full of lyrics and quotes and music reviews and thoughts. Because his music is what i turn to 90% of the time when I need noise going on.
This song... mhmmm..

First of all, I love the Chronicles of Narnia references.
"This is the kingdom calling / come now and tread the dawn."
"Take a ride on the mighty lion / take a hold of the golden mane / this is the love of Jesus / so good but it is not tame."

My favorite part of this song changes often; sometimes it's daily, sometimes it will last for a few days, or only a few minutes. Today:: "better choose your weapons right / five little stones and a faith on fire".

And the nature of the childish heart

and the selfless desire to belong; to follow

and the huge scope of dreams

the sense of urgency

met with the sense of danger

and awe

and miracles.

So if you're like me, and sometimes read other people's blogs in order to avoid doing more important things or to fill up empty time, here's my advice: listen to some Andrew Peterson. Put it on while you go about your day. Hum it when you're frustrated. Mull it over in your heart. Get it stuck in your head... you'll be a better person for it.