Every once in a while, our imaginations are captured. Perhaps through a book, a sunset, a movie, a work of art, or a song, we are transported from our horizontal existence of schedules and routines and are given a transcendent peak into another world. Ecclesiastes 3:11 echoes this idea, stating that God “has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
In the words of C.S. Lewis, this brush with transcendence is a pointer to a greater reality - “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”While my wife and I were in college in Chicago, we discovered a band from Wheaton called Sleeping at Last. They were opening for another band, and once we heard them we were hooked. I’ve purchased their albums and attended concerts over the years, and they continued to capture my imagination, both musically and lyrically. Songs like “Naive” put beautiful words and music to feelings, such as disillusionment with religion and the damage it can do -
Religion is a breeding ground,
Where the Devil’s work is deeply found,
With teeth as sharp as cathedral spires,
Slowly sinking in.
God knows that I’ve been naive,
But I think it makes him proud of me.
Now it’s so hard to separate,
My disappointments from his name.
Because shadows stretch behind the truth,
Where stained glass offers broken clues
And fear ties knots and pulls them tight.
It leaves us paralyzed.
But in the end such tired words will rest.
The truth will reroute the narrow things they’ve said.
The marionette strings will lower and untie.
And out of the ashes, love will be realized.
God knows that we’ve been naive,
And a bit nearsighted to say the least.
It’s broken glass at children’s feet,
That gets swept aside unexpectedly.
Sleeping at Last (www.sleepingatlast.com, www.myspace.com/sleepingatlast) has agreed to play a benefit concert for Karis House next month. Proceeds from the show will go towards continuing to offer affordable counseling to clients in south St. Louis city. Here are the details -
Wednesday, April 14th, doors @ 7:30p, concert @ 8:00p
The Luminary (4900 Reber Place, St. Louis MO, 63139)
Cost: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
To buy tickets online, click here
(general donations will also be accepted)
For more info.email info@karishouse.org or call 314-802-8805 Ext. 111
Please come out and support Karis House. Come out and experience some beautiful music and that will help you to transcend the ordinary. We’ll see you in a few weeks at the show.