Cement Without Ears

"Prescription without diagnosis, leads to malpractice.
Too often we cement opinions about others, without ever hearing their heart." -
-Al McCausland

I love music production. And so far, it seems to love me. *don’t jinx me* lol. Honestly, though, I must admit my ‘production studio’ consists of merely an ibook G4 [not to be confused with macbooks] and...my guitar. And a Bible (for percussion purposes). Consisting of mostly scratch—tracks and rough layouts and recordings. Thank you garage band! ;)

Now, the interesting thing though, is not that of a solid white square of awesome awesomeness (that too) but, how the music just sounds so much different in real life, than in the final mastered product. It may be the simple fact that my microphone sucks. Or possibly that my guitar is a Lotus; and a carefully crafted copy of some famous guitar and lest we forget, made in Japan. Anyhow...orr...it may be that I insert loops, apply effects, change alot of the aspects; and then EQ the master, move stuff around—maybe even pitch correction (given I’m Lady Gaga’s producer. Sorry!) Believe it or not, I do have a point here!

Talking, conversing, pouring out hearts like a faucet to people at church, investing trust in our friends, explaining situations, and current situations, updating buddies that we’ve been meaning to call for 6 months and finally did [talking to them right now], sharing your story, your rough, abusive childhood and teen years, significant other that you just began to open up yourself to, a random dude on the street dressed up as Jeffrey the Giraffe (Toys R’ US is STILL the Bomb!), possibly some young adults, or elderly people handing out tracks on the street and telling people about Jesus and one stops you; next thing you know, you are in his/her arms, pouring out your life story drenching their overcoat with bodily fluid [tears]—we, as humans, all make our hearts vulnerable to somebody at some point. And people so often, run it through a preconceived filter, and find it tough at times to see the 'heart' of what people are saying...we kinda go off of 'keywords' and go off on tagents based on those keywords.

Urban Dictionary defines communication as:

Person A emits verbal tones in the form of sentences while Person B utilizes sense of hearing to transmit exact words to brain which in turn, re-creates the sentence to fit their own agenda and re-emits into a new and improved, yet rarely accurate, statement.

Dude..urbandictionary.com can be just plain awesome sometimes! lol.

Do you feel like, sometimes [or maybe alotta times] people don't see the heart of your words? Maybe you share something very personal, or maybe of a theological or maybe even an experiential encounter with the holy spirit, and there seems to be some pre conceived notions and ‘filters’ tangled up in the conversation and stuff. And whether we consider ourselves non-judgemental, or not..we all carry some kind of filters around with us in our brains lol. Everybody has some sort of their own filter, EQ, effects, and mastering system intregrated in their brain to process and produce a reply. Hmm..sounds kinda like me behind my mac, except for…my head, and my computer always make it come out right. Which, is great for me. But if I would master everything, burn it to a cd; not everyone may like, or even understand my music. Even if I tried, really, really hard! Why do you think the word ‘Genre’ exists and may seem overused?

Billy Misunderstood: I feel, like theres more to the Holy Spirit than meets the eye, and that healing, signs and wonders might be able to happen and…

Reverend Bob Baptist: Now, Billy, you must be very very careful about any additional teachings other than whats in the Bible. It is written that many antichrists will come and perform miraculous signs and wonders and deceive many.

Billy Misunderstood: true..but...-sighs-
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Billy Misunderstood: I just…I can’t shake this feelin’.
Reverend Bob Baptist: Now, Billy, you should never be living in your emotions. The bible tells us that emotions come from the flesh man and that you need to put the flesh to death and only operate out of the spirit man. Yes, Billy, your emotions are of the devil. Your spirit is from God.
Billy Misunderstood: what. This is ridiculous. [then, switches to youth pastor Buddy Jones for further counsel]
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Billy Misunderstood: Brother Jones, I’ve been thinkin’ bout getting a tattoo lately..dang, I need some cash tho.

Buddy Jones: [starts beat-boxing] boom boom kap! bam boo cheesh! Ohhhhhh Billy...bap bap ba boom....tatoos are of the Devil! Boom bap checka checka..on every level!..kap kap kat… Leviticus 19:28 says it all rightttt ONN! [starts doing the robot]

Billy Misunderstood: -sighs- there he goes againnn… And whats with this..ohhh Billy..nowww Billy spree everybody seems to be on? -sighs once again-

Just a few examples! More on a spiritual level! lol.
TO BE CONTINUED....

ice.broken.by.the.Holy.

Your face frozen. like ice.
Then the ice was shattered, and
you were free to express your feelings on your face
and cry again. Hello, how are you?

the oregon pie (...dannys belly dream)

...I sigh, my oh my. Grandmas apple pie, curves my appetite.as i sit here, full of pie, my eyes gaze tiredly at my Grandma Ada Vye. so sly, is she, filling up my belly, with fats and sweets. my belly, bursting at the seams...of my pants. oh gee wiz, i think i see some ants. doing the hula dance, all over my college textbook, of france-history, is not the current mystery, for i know completely, what i have been doing, of a sweetly nature. Maybe i should write it all down on paper -danny swiggly

bounce.N'stick.bounce.N'stick.

then Balaam saw Amalek and uttered his oracle:
amalek was first among the nations.but he will
come to ruin at last.

then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle:
your dwelling place is secure.your nest is set in a rock;
yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.

then he uttered his oracle: Ah, who can live when God does this? ships will come from the shores of Kittim;they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin. [numbers 24:19-25]

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [psalm 91:1]
---------------------------------<3------------------------------------------>

'Have you ever been homeless, or endangered of being homeless?'

...my fafsa read as i apply, yet, for another semester. errr. my first semester rather. -sighs- do i seriously havta answer this one? today, the tackle is harder than getting hit by a car.harder than burning the ribs.harder than pride.walking.running.harder than being scared outta your wits by some jerk jumping outofa bush with a sudden yell.this is the cynical cultural drama of being boxed. cardboard boxed, that is. the art of being home-less.

Now, being the King or Queen of Details that you are, you probably noticed the proverbial 'hyphen' between home, and less. indeed this is a proverb. and in this word, are the people to whom we so often refer to as the 'hobo', the 'homeless' the 'boxers' and the 'boxlerettes', we so, so, so many times fail to notice something rather trivial. 'homeless', does not exist in the dictionary. home-less does. ok.ok.ok. so whats the diff dude? so lemme kiss the lips of the english book for a simple sec. 'home', in this context is a noun. and 'less', is an adjective. in lamens terms, the 'hypen' deems the contraption as 'unnessesary to be together'.

so to what we conclude to is 'home' and 'less' were never meant to be together!

why then are there thousands of homeless shelters in the US? gov't programs fighting home-less-ness? why do so many home-less people drop their drawers and pee and poop in public sight so they can get shelter in jail for the winter? why have 'will work for food and shelter' signs doubled in the last three years? why are homemakers a highly sought-after paid service now? why is there a couchsurfers.com? it wasn't meant to be like this.so many people, were on the highrise now on the lowrise.the dirt.the soil. we were meant to be home. where is it? i can't seem to findit. i musta misplaced it somewhere. i think i lost it somewhere on this rugged path called life. life.

i bounce. yes i bounce of course. place to place. you may bounce.bounce. or maybe not. if you bounce, lemme speak to you hereandnow.

your home is not here. you are an alien of another kingdom. with a King who covers you like a blanket.who is the ceiling, walls n' floors to your shack. and your palace. he is your heat.your airconditioning.your food.your drink.your cold cup of water.your health insurance.your life insurance.your affection.your love.your comfort.your shelter.your strong tower.your eyeducts.he likes you. he loves you too.kisses.kisses.kisses you all over your face, hands and washes your feet.but then, he also braces you like a man.kicks your spine straight.reshapes and reconstructs your stature.your foundation.and waters you like a seed and watches you grow.and so do other people. everybody watches you grow. and it brings Him great pleasure to watch you and be a part of your life. His name is Jesus.

now to those who don't bounce. but stick.stick.stick. lemme also speak to you.

you may stick, but make sure you know how sticky your adhesive is.make sure that you are progressive in the 'art of stick'. make jesus your designated brand of adhesive.meaning:everything you have is actually His. your job, your home, apartment, your kids, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your wife, your singleness, your led/plasma/lcd tv.your laptop. your macbook pro. iphone.texting plan.your car. nothing is sound. you could lose them all in the next two hours. you could lose them all while you are reading this. wait.is that a phone ringing? that might be your boss calling to say that they are letting you go and to finish out the week. what if you died in the next 3 seconds from a brain error? a heart error? you know these are not uncommon at all. do not be too proud to ask for help. give and sow generously, and in doing so, you will have friends to help you out when you bounce.invest in friendships around you. do not ever feel secure or comfortable. it is possible to be displaced. burn this concept into your brain, and into your heart: NOTHING IS SOUND. EXCEPT JESUS.

to the bouncers and the stickers. let us mingle in the kingdom. love jesus. love people. be there for eachother. stick well, bounce well, eat, drink and be merry.but not blot out the voice of reality, giving and sowing.making our homes with eachother. let us mesh with the heart of God together. bring heaven to earth and eat heaven truffles.ah. so good. tasty mmmmm. nom nom nom. let us dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and rest in the shadow of the almighty. let us sow generously, and reap bumper crops.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul/And let all that's within me praise His name/Praise the Lord, oh my soul/And let all that's within me praise His name/ For I will not die, I will live/And I will tell of the Works of the Lord/ And sing of His wonders.And I get to love You through whatever comes/What a privilege/That I get to love You through whatever comes/ Oh, how sweet it is.

-Kristine Mueller

rain.rain splashing.falling.rain.rain

/*\
Brusters on thursday eve.mmmm. nottanothathing like it!

ok. So you may be thinking right now 'dude. wait.bruster.are you talking about that heffalump from winnie the pooh in episode #229?' And then I'd be like 'no.that was rooster. it sounds allota like bruster.but its not.brusters is an ice cream parlor.in central PA.

However, the greatest pleasure here,at brusters is not that of milk.cream.and.sugar. But rather, that of which we call in christiandom..fellowship! In modern vernacular, this could be godly young adults hanging out at 'the stick' of their choice. which, realistically, is great medicine for the soul, food for the spirit and fat for the tummy.

So.thursday eve.us young adults at CCC were having a blast. eating the cream, chicken-the-strips, laughing and carrying on. meanwhile, a storm was a brewin'. in the midst of all this great stuff we felt compelled to gather around in a circle and beckon the Holy Spirit to come blast us.fill us up with zeal, and vigor; and do whatever He wants. I remember all soo well...

Jesus!! Rock this town.fill us with love and compassion for people in this city.we claim this city! Lets take this whole region! Come fill us with your fire.power.and love God.we pray for spontaneous combustions of your presence popping up in the most random places.we also long and ache for your rain to fall.and.fill the earth. Kinda like Noah N' the Ark. Except the rain of your spirit Lord. fill the earth.the nations.your people up to the tippie-top and then let it spill out over the sides til' it fills up the sink holes everywhere. Whoa God.

At this point we were definitely pretty wacked. but nonetheless, we continued in prayer for several more minuetes as the storm began to fall. Everybody disbursed in their cars for shelter.

But I had a plan. And THIS plan had been A' Brewin for..like..since 9am this morning.
run.in.the.rain. Not that I'm weird or anything. ok well I am weird. despite the weirdness, however, I was and still am, very.very.very determined to chop the lbs down like a cherry tree. In other words, lose weight. Little did I know, that this would be a prettysuperamazing experience with the Giver of Life. the King of Showers. rain.and that this time, dancingintherain would become much more than a romantic proverb, but this time, become like.really deep man.yeah.crazy deep.

So I was already suited up in my pennstate pajama pants, rolled up like to my knees and my superhero shirt on.we started off like any other run.when all of a sudden...DOWNPOUR!!

We just ran and ran when all of a sudden, my hair started dripping furiously like a drenched mop.and my shirt became wet.and everything became cool.like jumping in a pool on a hot summer day.all of a sudden, I rounded the corner, and I started praying.and praying.and praising God for this.

God. Thank you for the rain that waters the earth.produces vegetation.causes the sower, and the reaper to rejoice together.the water that keeps us from becoming thirsty.the rain that we dance in and play in as kids.the rain that sparks a romance in 8 out of 10 chick flicks. God!! You are the God of Rain! You are the God of water! You are the Art of Woo!

This whole moment triggered a memory of about a month ago at Life Center when I was praying there. and all of a sudden. I heard this still small voice say:

'Bill, don't open the umbrella this time. don't be afraid to let the rain trickle down your face.

At first, it seemed kinda weird. but then like, 10 seconds later, I realized that I never really liked getting wet as a child growing up. and probably the worst thing for me was letting in trickle down my face.because it tickled! And it felt weird! But in this moment, I felt Jesus was kinda saying/asking; why do people ALWAYS open the umbrella when it rains? Be the one that enjoys it!

In the weeks that followed, every chance I could get, I would run out into the rain on purpose. To break through the proverbial discomfort of rain.and it worked.actually.

Fast forward. two months and I was planning for a rain jog!

Farms depend on the rain for their food.paycheck.pleasure.music.family health.weather forecast.entertainment.etc. And yet we get annoyed with rain, and dash for shelter! huh? Why are we so afraid of the beautiful touch of rain?

When was the last time you prayed for a local farmer? When was the last time you jumped out and danced in the rain? When was the last time you asked for the clouds to rip and heavens rain spill down all over you? How bout physical storm-rain? When was the last time you asked God to allow your car to leak? Or the fire sprinklers at work to start spraying all over your head, desk, papers, computer..everything that you THINK you need to perform your job?! Are you afraid of those fire sprinklers going off? When was the last time you asked God for your own personal rain cloud to follow you around everywhere that you go?!

Whoa.let us dance, spin and love in in the rain of the God of Heaven!
May we all carry around, our own personal, rain cloud! Nourish us Lord. Be out food.drink.pleasure and music.

Peace. /*\

.the birth.of.a.glory blog.

the dancing.the burning ones.
Glory fruitflies.

ok. so today. yes today. I had two pictures of us and Papa God; of how we are so wrapped up in eachother. head over heels in love for one another. of how we cannot take our eyes off of eachother. how we are so happy being in His arms. safe. secure. how He gives us honey to taste and rain to drink. and we dance around Him. but we also dance IN Him. and He dances and sings in circles inside our hearts. and as this happens, our heart heats up. it gets warmer and warmer. heat. heat. heat. until our hearts are blazing with every word that He breathes into us. we are burning with His love! And as wind.breath.[spirit].makes a fire bigger and hotter. as fire loves breath. so is it with us! We love it when God speaks.breathes.wind into our blazing hearts! Its like a drug. vintage wine. [His blood] .and we are like little fruitflies dancing, spinning and buzzing around. when out of nowhere, the wine is spilled; and we dash toward the wine because it is so so sweet to our senses. we are so so attracted to it that we start splashing in it. spinning in it. covering ourselves in it. drinking it. then we start laughing, splashing and sloshing around in the Wine! And at the same time, we realize that it has never been holier. never more perfect than this! That Christ would go through the cross-so that He can kiss us more often. kiss us all over our faces. our noses. our lips. our eyes. our rosey cheeks! That He would spill His love all over just so that He can be with us forever. and call us highly favored sons and daughters; princes and princesses. kings and queens of the Most High! We are the dancing ones. the burning ones. we want your wind to blow and your fire to fall on us Holy Spirit!! So here begins; the crazy random, super spontaneous and laughing blog. about a crazy random, super spontaneous and laughing God! :D

Drink and enjoy! :)

-Billy

PS. will be updated weekly!