Rise...

Rise by Eddie Vedder


Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow


Gonna rise up
Burning back holes in dark memories
Gonna rise up
Turning mistakes into gold


Such is the passage of time
Too fast to fold
And suddenly swallowed by signs
Low and behold


Gonna rise up
Find my direction magnetically
Gonna rise up
Throw down my ace in the hole

Vedder is the music world what Emmerson or Thoreau are to AP English geeks. The saying goes that there are no new ideas. No new thoughts or transcendent epiphany's...just someone else's recycled thoughts.

My favorite line in this song (which is mandolin solo by the way) is ...turning mistakes into gold. New thought?? Not to God. To me, it means going beyond making things right, but turning them into gold; something bigger and better than you could've ever imagined. I suppose I'm somewhat melancholy for my friend who've I've mentioned in the 'ranger post'. My friend has suffered a tragedy in that his wife has chosen to leave and it will now result in divorce.

Common place by today's standards.

But this is my friend. I've cried with him. I've laughed my butt off with him. He told me that he was addicted to drugs a long time ago and I held him accountable even after he was sober. I've sat in awe at some of the mind bending things this guy can do with a guitar. This past weekend, I played paintball with him and his son. Later that night, we had dinner...after he left, my wife told me they were divorcing. My heart broke.

But as the survival experts say, you've got to keep making decisions when you're lost, or you'll die. I'm proud of him for setting boundaries and protecting himself and the kids. I've no doubt that God will take this mistake and turn it into GOLD, whether it be reconciliation, a period of solitude and reflection that gives him exceeding clarity and wisdom, or a new relationship and family.