Striking a Chord – “Wine Me, Dine Me, Over the Rhine Me”
Hello friends. I was honored to be able to write a guest blog on my dear friend's amazing blog: Welcome to the Laundromat. Christina Shumway is an inspiration in more ways than one. Her story has already and is going to continue to help so many going through difficult times of their own. In fact, she was just published in a book that I can't wait to get my hand on, titled “Not Alone” .I mean how cool is that?! Her story has been published to help others struggling with depression. I can't express how proud of her I am and how lucky I am to have her in my life as a friend. Also looking forward to our music date ;)
As a guest blogger, I wanted to write
something a little bit out of the ordinary from what I typically
write. As much as we all love stories about weaning and pee in the hallway (we all love these stories, right?!) - I figured it was time to branch out a bit. As I was thinking of coming up with a topic, I kept having
this memory of my first experience being moved by music, and then it
was like a trail of dominoes (memory dominoes, if you will) just
started falling – from one moment to the next that moved me in some
way. I finished writing the blog for her, and realized...it was more
than just one post. So, I am splitting it up – the first part
started on her blog yesterday. Go to
http://welcometothelaundromat.blogspot.com/
to check it out.
Today, I want to talk about magical, musical, moment number two,
which is actually a series of moments all centered around my favorite
band, Over the Rhine:
Over the Rhine has been influential in
more than just “Poughkeepsie” [see Part One]. My sister-in-law
sang “Rhapsody” at Aaron and my wedding. “Films for Radio”
(an album - someone please learn me how to quote albums and song titles. I googled, but couldn't find a conclusive answer) got me through my first, and really, only, break-up. I
had sort of isolated myself from friends and family (never a good
sign in a relationship) and when we broke-up, I found myself very
alone. I lost who I was, I lost my whole spiritual self, and “Films
for Radio” helped bring it back to me. The Song, “The World
Can Wait”, helped me revive parts of me that had died, and realize that with God, I was never alone. He was there to fill me with the "living water" and as dry as that may sound, it is full of so much promise and in and of itself is alive more than I ever have been. Here are just a few of the
lyrics.
"The world can
wait
The world can
wait
I want to drink
the water from your well
I want to tell
you things I'll never tell
...
I want to feel
and then some
I have five sense
I need thousands more, at least"
“Ohio” (the album) was a constant
companion on my commuting back and forth to grad school. “Drunkards
Prayer” helped me to realize that relationships are hard work, for
EVERYONE. On and on it goes: the inspiration, the ties to various times in my life, and not to mention the magical voice and the music...even without the lyrics, you could find meaning in the beauty of the music itself. I wish I could sum up in words how meaningful this band
has been, and continues to be in my life, but I'll try and wrap it all up now with the most valuable thing I have learned from this band. They taught me that God is
not this far off legalistic figure, but something that lives and
breathes inside of me. Maybe that's why I love music so much –
because it's when I'm in the midst of a beautiful song that I truly
feel that I get this whole “God” thing. It's just that there is
something more, you know? When you get those goosebumps rising up
your back, and your heart wanting to leap out of your throat, and you
just can't help but think that there HAS to be something more, and
there is, in that moment, there always is.
If you feel like checking out Over the
Rhine, I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Go to
http://overtherhine.com/ to
listen to their music right from the website.
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