Safe Haven

Though I am not a good singer, I love to sing. On the one hand, I'll sing almost anything; my affection for a wide array of pop music is well known (and perhaps derided). On the other, the great hymns of the faith* are often on my lips and heart. One such hymn is "Rock of Ages." The tune of this hymn has been quite varied since its intitial composition a bajillion years ago, but the tune I learned (linked above) through Reformed University Fellowship I'll call "the RUF melody." Whether or not they had anything to do with it. In any case, this particular iteration never fails to sink deep into my soul. I saw an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" where Mr. Ingalls (Michael Landon) sings this at church (and disturbingly low-church it was, BTW), and I have to say, I hated its whole musicality. That original melody sounds like we walked into a saloon. Will I turn to my right and see Yosemite Sam? Just for fun, take the words out. Saloon, right? ...

The Delaware Debate for US Senator: O'Donnell vs. Coons: First 15 minutes--Coons [I am a protectionist, and a redistributionist]. O'Donnell [I am a horrible public speaker, but I am cute and right-wing]. Next 10--Foreign Policy: O'Donnell [You favor random withdrawal]. Coons [It's a random narco-war we cannot win in Afghanistan]. Social Security/Medicare--O'Donnell [I'm not terribly conservative and willing to cut it]. Abortion/Faith: Coons--[I'm allegedly a Christian but morality has no impact in public life]. O'Donnell--[Of course evolution is a myth, but don't make me say it]. Marxism--Coons [I'm a capitalist! I swear!] O'Donnell-- [You are a commie]. Education Reform--Coons [Charter schools rule]. O'Donnell [I don't have the guts to eliminate the Department of Education, but I like vouchers]. Health Care--O'Donnell [Obama care confuses coverage with care, coverage portability]. Coons [I support Obamacare]. CNN idiotically inte...

I'm not sure how much "secular" music Jesus listens to, [He hears it all, dummy.--ed.] but I'm willing to bet a large sum of money he really likes this song. He might point out, however, that loving is harder is than James Taylor makes it sound. Well, He would know. (God be praised!) In any case, I spent all day (in Mental Conference Room 2, anyway) trying to remember "Everyday" by the aforementioned JT, because I keep hearing part of the song in a phone commercial or something, and thinking, "JT singing this is so much better." Duh, right? I needed a lift earlier (besides the mild annoyance of not being able to remember the name of a song I've heard eleventy billion times) so I looked up "Up On The Roof" and listened to it a lot of times. It's that version he did on "Sesame Street" circa 1976 that rules. I actually heard this song for the first time in 1991 or thereabouts, when JT was a guest on "Saturday Night L...