Walk On

Well, first of all, I did that to my ear. But anyway . . . 

On a bed of nails she makes me wait. I wrote this blog a few days ago but waited to post it. So here it is:

 

Nights are the hardest for me. At night, my depression sets in at full strength; at night, I feel loneliest; at night, the literal darkness of the world spins and spins into a vortex of something evil, reminding me of so many things.

 

Mornings are different. In the morning, I see the day’s possibilities; in the morning, I see the opportunity for grace and for making things right between me and God, between me and people. Mornings promise something new.

 

This morning I had to take a fairly long walk to drop off an assignment for one of my classes. So, naturally (for me), I put in my iPod. Now, for a little bit of background, I have three playlists that mirror what I believe to be the three stages of mundane life and growing in Christ. First, there is a crisis. Second, there is progress—a sort of putting off the old, shedding your old self and your old ways. And third, there is Zion—redemption, the new city.

 

Crisis:

1.        1) Round Here (Live from New York)—Counting Crows

2.        2) A Murder of one—Counting Crows

3.        3) Recovering the Satellites—Counting Crows

4.        4) Richard Manuel (Live Acoustic)—Counting Crows

5.        5) Oh My God—Jars of Clay

6.        6) Other Side of the World—KT Tunstall

7.        7) Videotape—Radiohead

8.        8) Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of—U2

9.        9) Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own—U2

10.    10) Red Hill Mining Town—U2

11.    11) Moment of Surrender—U2

12.    12) The Scientist—Coldplay

 

Progress:

1.        1) Faster—Rachael Yamagata

2.        2) Sunday Afternoon—Rachael Yamagata

3.        3) I’m Alright—Jars of Clay

4.        4) Amazing Grace—Jars of Clay

5.        5) I Don’t Want You Now—KT Tunstall

6.        6) Another Place To Fall—KT Tunstall

7.        7) Township Rebellion—Rage Against the Machine

8.        8) You’ve Changed—Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers

9.        9) Walk On—U2

10.    10) I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For—U2

11.    11) I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight—U2

12.    12) Breathe—U2

 

Zion:

1.        1) Hand—Jars of Clay

2.        2) Unforgetful You—Jars of Clay

3.        3) Take Me Higher—Jars of Clay

4.        4) Three Little Birds—Bob Marley

5.        5) Suddenly I See—KT Tunstall

6.        6) Beautiful Day—U2

7.        7) Where the Streets Have No Name—U2

8.        8) White As Snow—U2

9.        9) Two Hearts Beat As One—U2

10.    10) Come Around—Counting Crows

 

I’ve been listening to these playlists—in order: crisis, progress, Zion—during the last few days and it has brought much understanding of the gospel, of the way I have been saved and the way I am being saved and the way I need to love others.

 

When I was on the walk this morning, listening to the Progress playlist, on the way to drop off my assignment, U2’s beautiful song “Walk On” came up on my iPod. In between two rows of buildings, on a walkway flooded with students moving swiftly from class, a beautiful thing happened.

 

As Bono’s words rung between my ears (“And I know it aches; how your heart it breaks; you can only take so much—walk on”), I looked at all the people in the crowd, the jocks, wearing their sweats and Nike products, the sorority girls, sporting the ever-in-style Uggs and revealing key areas of their orange-because-of-tanning-booths skin, the artsy kids with their brightly colored shoes and tight jeans; I looked at the humongous conglomeration of people and thought to myself: We are still here; despite all of the evil in the world, despite the hunger and war and death and pain and sickness, despite the nuclear warheads we have pointed to each other, despite the countless injustices committed by people and the twistedness of our hearts, we are still here; we are walking on, continuing in life.

 

And in that moment—that moment of the instant, glorious unification of mankind—it occurred to me that we are all beautiful; every person has a story; every person has the potential to serve the one, true, living God—one man is not better than another, nor is one woman more precious than the one behind her. We are beautiful miracles. The way the billions of cells work together in our body to create something capable of love, capable of sacrifice and grace and loyalty and service.

 

We are still here. As humans, we should rejoice in each other; as humans, we are one; we are one because we are Imago Dei, because we are the Lord’s children, because we are all loved. We are all loved. We are all beautiful and we are all loved.