Epiphany

Epiphany

Lyrics

Lyrics are things that move me in songs.  I love that these lyrics are so intentional.  I think all of us at one point in our lives have fallen deeply in love with someone and invested our whole self into their lives.  This might be ok if the other individual is so into us they invest in us and it ends up being mutual – you build  them up – they build you up.

Many times, especially with young love, it all too often ends up being one sided.  Have you ever been in a relationship when after a time you feel you have lost yourself?  You have lived for the other person and somewhere along the way the “real” you is nowhere to be found.  You forgot what it was like to put yourself first.  Many people get stuck there and never find  their way back to themselves. 

I love this song because it can be an “epiphany” for someone in a relationship to discover the need to love themselves first before they can love someone else.

This is a BTS song so I put the English lyrics here but as you listen most of it is sung in Korean.  Enjoy!! 

https://youtu.be/fep7x8N4EUc 

Epiphany

So weird, I for sure loved you so much (Loved you so much)
Adapted to you with everything, I wanted to live my life for you
But as I keep doing that I just can’t bear the storm inside my heart
The real myself inside the smiling mask, I reveal it entirely


[Chorus: Jin]
I’m the one I should love in this world
Shining me, precious soul of mine

I finally realized so I love me
Not so perfect but so beautiful
I’m the one I should love

[Verse 2: Jin]
I’m shaking and afraid but I keep going forward
I’m meeting the real you, hidden in the storm
Why did I want to hide my precious self like this?
What was I so afraid of?
Why did I hide my true self?


[Chorus: Jin]
I’m the one I should love in this world
Shining me, precious soul of mine
I finally realized so I love me
Not so perfect but so beautiful
I’m the one I should love

Perhaps Love

Perhaps Love by John Denver

Oh, this is one of my favorite songs.  I love many of John Denver’s songs and do feel he left us too soon because he probably had much more to share with us.  So much of his usic is so precious. 

I saw John Denver in concert while I was a student at Arizona State University and all I remember was that he was very very little because I was in the high nosebleeds seats but I do remember loving the music and enjoying all just being there and listening to his beautiful voice.

I haven’t thought of this song in a long time.  It popped up on my you tube recently and made me think of my first wedding, a friend sang the song for us.  I guess I didn’t read too much into the words at the time but they sure ring true now that I am older.

Love is a strong word.  I actually remember being told when I was a teenager that to say you “love” a certain food is improper because love should only be a feeling you experience about another person, and, then hope it is mutual.  As I think about it now, love has so many different meanings to each person.  In a relationship one person thinks love is holding on and the other thinks it is letting go.

Advice, from an old lady – make sure the love you give and receive is the same kind because if they differ you can be exposed to heartbreak.

Perhaps Love

Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home

Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don’t know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

Oh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know

Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it’s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

Songwriters: John Denver

Swim

Life is so full of ups and downs and the best advice is to Swim through it.

Remember Nemo? Just Keep Swimming…….

Well, the global K-pop group from Korea BTS just released their new album and I love the track called “Swim”. Lately people around me have been going trough all sorts of things, a death in the family, a loved one is very sick, a car accident, not to mention the chaos all around us in the political world.

As a Mom and Grandma I watch as my children and grandchildren go along life’s road and hit small speed bumps and very LARGE speed bumps and all I can do is teach them to SWIM – keep going – take a breath – never give up – keep swimming.

Have a listen to this track – and just SWIM

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D6mfycbzs

Swim, swim
Water falling off your skin
Swim, swim
I could spend a lifetime watching you
Swim, swim
This is how it all begins
Swim, swim
I just wanna dive, I just wanna dive

[Verse 1: RM]
Bad world, gone away and I still wake up in this mad world
Name a place that I could breathe on this map, world
Lookin’ like a goody, goody in this bad world, bad world
Don’t know how to act, girl
I’m in the deep, tell me, where the hell you at, girl?
Oh, you ain’t even gotta love me bad, girl
You know that I’m never holdin’ back, girl
Yeah

[Pre-Chorus: Jung Kook]
So easy, don’t make it so hard
Nights like these, I just wanna get lost
Right here with the moon and the sharks
I ain’t gotta think ’bout a thing, baby, I just

[Verse 2: SUGA]
Water, water so deep, water so deep
Take it off the ground, I ain’t never gettin’ cold feet
Yeah, you know me, yeah, you know me
Sittin’ on the shore, now I’m ready for the whole sea
I can feel the high waves comin’ (Yeah)
Why you run away? You can run in (Yeah)
Salt on my tongue, she’s stunnin’ (Oh)
You’re the only place that I wanna be, yeah

[Chorus: Jung Kook, Jin]
Swim, swim
Water falling off your skin
Swim, swim
I could spend a lifetime watching you
Swim (Swim), swim (Swim)
This is how it all begins
Swim, swim
I just wanna dive, I just wanna dive
 (Hey)

[Verse 3: j-hope]
Splash (Splash), drift (Drift)
I make waves with my two fins (Two fins)
Splash (Woo), drip (Drip)
I just wanna take it across the line
Under here, we don’t chase the time
Baby, everything can’t be so sad (So sad)
Turn my face from the land
I just wanna dive, I just wanna dive

[Chorus: V, Jin]
Swim, swim
Water falling off your skin
Swim, swim
I could spend a lifetime watching you
Swim (Swim), swim (Swim)
Let it all begin
Swim, swim
I just wanna dive, I just wanna dive

Forever We Are Young

February 5, 2025

BTS!  I am ARMY!

If you are not familiar with these phrases then listen up to something that moves me. 

BTS is a K-Pop group from Korea.  They have been together since 2013 and have achieved worldwide fame.  You may be familiar with their hits that became very famous in America – The songs, “Dynamite” and “Butter”.

Of course I love all kinds of music.  Being a music teacher my audio library ranges from opera, classical, broadway,  jazz, 70’s pop, anything on the radio.  But, lately I have been listening non-stop to BTS.  Their story is amazing – I’ll let you read about if you want to.  Their music is amazing but it’s the lyrics that grab me much of the time. 

This song hits home for me – I am in my retirement years and yet I still feel so young and have so much to hope and dream about.  The last few years have been very disturbing for me and many of us.  The news is never ending of just shocking stuff – this song helps bring me back to my younger days when I had so much hope in the future.

Here are just part of the lyrics I love so much.  They mostly sing in Korean so I look up translation all the time.  Enjoy the listen!!!

Forever we are young

Under the flower petals raining down
I run, so lost in this maze
Forever we are young
Even when I fall and hurt myself
I endlessly run toward my dream


[Bridge: Jung Kook, SUGAVJimin, *RM*]
Forever, ever, ever, ever
(Dreams, hopes, forward, forward)
Forever, ever, ever, we are young
Forever, ever, ever, ever
(*Dreams, hopes, forward, forward*)
Forever, ever, ever, we are young

[Chorus: Jung Kook, JiminVJin]
Forever we are young
Under the flower petals raining down
I run, so lost in this maze
Forever we are young
Even when I fall and hurt myself

Verse 1 RM

The curtain falls and I’m out of breath
I get mixed feelings as I breathe out
Did I make any mistakes today?
How did the audience seem?
I’m happy with who I’ve become
That I can make someone scream with joy
Still excited from the performance

[Verse 2: SUGA]
I stand on the empty stage while holding onto an aftertaste that will not linger for long
While standing on this empty stage, I become afraid of this unpleasant emptiness
Within my suffocating feelings
On top of my life’s line
Without a reason, I forcibly act that I am fine
This isn’t the first time, I better get used to it
I try to hide it, but I can’t
When the heat of the show cools down
I leave the empty seats behind



[Verse 3: j-hope]
Trying to comfort myself
I tell myself the world can’t be perfect
I start to let myself go
The thundering applause, I can’t own it forever
I tell myself, so shameless
Raise your voice higher
Even if the attention isn’t forever, I’ll keep singing
As today’s me, I want eternity
Forever, I want to be young

Tragedy

I confess – I am a boomer so this song has been in my consciousness for decades. I have told myself to write a blog about this song but have put it off – maybe because the last three years or so have been a tragedy and it hit too close to home? Yesterday I heard the song again and it prompted me to wonder why the word – or the melody- or the song speak to me.

I have a few memories in my life that I feel this word fits. The loss of a love, a deep love that you thought would go on forever and it ends, “with no one to love you you’re going nowhere”.

I have been diagnosed with breast cancer – twice – “When the morning cries and you don’t know why?”

I have been there, but came back from there. How did I do it? I really don’t know but something inside pushed through the tragedy and I became an overcomer.

This song is not a sad song at all. The way the song keeps repeating that word – tragedy – tragedy – tragedy. The melody, the rhythm, the voices and the instruments all come together to remind the listener of something in their life that was a tragedy. At the same time this song is hopeful – its upbeat – to me it musically is pushing forward and gives me a feeling of overcoming tragedy.

Yes, that’s it, its not a sad song it is and overcomer song – put all this tragedy behind, get your soul back, wake up one morning NOT crying and feel in control again.

Maybe the tragedy is not the event that prompted those feelings but the inability to overcome those feelings and remain in the state of tragedy.

Verse 1]
Here I lie in a lost and lonely part of town
Held in time
 in a world of tears, I slowly drown
Goin’ home, I just can’t make it all alone
I really should be holding you, holding you
Loving you, loving you

[Chorus]
Tragedy
When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on, It’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere
Tragedy
When you lose control and you got no soul, it’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Verse 2]
Night and day, there’s a burning down inside of me, aaah
Burning love with a yearning that won’t let me be
Down I go, and I just can’t take it all alone
I really should be holding you, holding you
Loving you, loving you

[Chorus]
Tragedy
When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on, It’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere
(Aaah) Tragedy
When you lose control and you got no soul, it’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere
Aaahhhh

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Chorus / Outro]
Tragedy
When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on, It’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere
(Aaah) Tragedy
When you lose control and you got no soul, it’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere
Aaahhhh, tragedy
When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on, It’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere
(Aaah) Aaah, tragedy
When you lose control and you got no soul, it’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere
Aaahhhh, tragedy
When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on, It’s tragedy
When the morning cries and you don’t know why, it’s hard to bear
With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere
Aaah, tragedy

The Prayer

I fall in love with this song every time I hear it!  It is so beautiful and touched my heart as I look around and see the struggles in our world.

The world is not a very happy or calm place right now.  The entire world is dealing with a pandemic.  Right here in our own country there is arguing instead of compromise, fighting instead of handshakes or hugs.   Families are struggling to find places to live and put food on their tables.  Our children are being tossed about in a school situation that is awful (from personal experience – I was a teacher for 36 years).   There is the feeling of being afraid of the future and being out of control.  We have children shooting other children, parents abusing and abandoning their children, and discrimination aimed at anyone who is different that “us”.  How did we get here? 

There really is only one answer – and this of course is my personal belief – and that is FAITH.  I have to believe that there is a God who sent His Son to help us through all of the horrible things that will happen in our lifetimes.  No one is immune from struggle, but I believe there is a loving God who really is in control.  If I can find that place of peace in my own heart, and trust that all is well I can make it through anything. 

I have had my own personal struggles, from personal relationships that failed to overcoming cancer twice!  I have always had a positive attitude and I do believe that came from my Mom whose motto was “Everything Changes”.  The bad times will happen but they will go away and faith is what sustains me during the rough times.

I wish you that faith in tomorrow, that things will be better.  This song is my prayer for all of my family and friends.

I have shared two versions of this song – enjoy!!!

I pray you’ll be our eyes, and watch us where we go
And help us to be wise in times when we don’t know

I pray we ‘Il find your light, and hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
Remind us where you are
Let this be our prayer, when shadows fill our day
Help us find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe

A world where pain and sorrow will be ended
And every heart that’s broken will be mended
And we’ll remember we are all God’s children
Reaching out to touch you
Reaching to the sky

We ask that life be kind, and watch us from above
We hope each soul will find another soul to love
Let this be our prayer, just like every child

Who needs to find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe
Need to find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe

Advent 2021

Well, in just a few months it will be a full two years since the pandemic began.   I must confess that with the pandemic and moving to Texas, I have not yet found a new church home.  So, today on this first day of Advent 2021 I will practice “Forgiveness” on myself.   Not attending a brick-and-mortar building does not mean I have moved away from my faith, on the contrary I still remain faithful in my beliefs but I do not yet have a faith community to share that with.

I have decided to use this Advent season to return to daily reflection and prayer.  In my life music is very important for me so I will blog each day a seasonal song to share with you.

Today, the first Sunday of advent I have chosen the hymn “O Come, O come Emmanuel”.  The term advent in Latin means “coming or arrival”.  How appropriate those words are as we have spent almost the last two years waiting on an end to this pandemic and if you are like me feeling not at all in control of what is happening in the world.   

Advent is a time of waiting and a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ. Before the birth of Jesus, the Israelites were waiting for a Savior to arrive!  The arrival of this Savior was a child and that was not what they were expecting.  The Son of God became a man like you and me.  God did not have to do this – but He did.  Those words strike a chord for me – He did not have to do it but He did! He did it for us so He could also become the sacrifice for our sins.

It took me listening to quite a few versions of this song to decide which one I would share.  I wanted the pure sound of the lonely melody and the feeling of mourning and longing as we wait for the coming of a Savior to rescue us from all the ills of the world.  Maybe this Advent we can remember that God saw our situation and sent the Christ Child.  What we can learn from His birth and life is to wait patiently and know that God is in charge.

We need Inspiration!

Chaos in our nation!

America is a country born from protests.  Remember the Boston Tea Party?  Perfectly good tea sunk in the ocean to get our point across.  We have been given the right to free speech and to protest to get our point across.  We cannot stop the outcry that is all over our nation right this minute.

If I were 30 years younger I probably would be out there marching peacefully (but my feet hurt and I probably would break a hip if I fell).  I was only 10 in 1968 – but I do remember the riots and I look now and wonder how did we get here today?

Those that look only at the looting and violence “do not get it”.  People are frustrated and are not being heard.  Peaceful protest was tried by taking a knee during the national anthem – but those people were ridiculed and not listened to.  So here we are – is anyone listening now?  Warning personal opinion coming – There has been a spark of hate ignited in this country and I believe it is fueled by our nation’s leader and his twitter account, his speeches and the lack of trust he inspires in many of us.

That is not the kind of inspiration we need right now.

We need someone like JFK who can inspire us with his speeches.

We need someone like MLK Jr. who can point to injustice and address it peacefully.

We need someone like Abraham who knew that slavery was dividing our country and fought to protect the whole Union with freedom for all.

That is why this song inspires me to look beyond these turbulent times and hope for the future that someone, anyone will stand up and INSPIRE this nation!

Abraham, Martin and John

Kyrie Eleison – Lord Have Mercy

 

Do we need this now!  I grew up reciting these words in church not paying too much attention to what they meant.  The song was popular in the 80’s but I didn’t think about the religious implications then, but I sure do now.  I heard this song on the radio yesterday and I thought “how timeless those words are”.

I am a Christian and I hold dear to my faith but I try not to close myself off from the world.  There are gems like this out there that speak to me and others about life.

Not too much else to say about this song, so listen, enjoy and “Kyrie Eleison” on your journey through this day!

 

Kyrie eleison definition, the brief petition “Lord, have mercy,” used in various offices of the Greek Orthodox Church and of the Roman Catholic Church.

The wind blows hard against this mountain side
Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road

My heart is old it holds my memories
My body burns a gem-like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again

*CHORUS*
Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison
Where I’m going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the night

When I was young I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be

Teach Your Children Well

This is a time of such fear and uncertainty.  It is not easy to keep the fear from rising up and overtaking all of our daily thoughts.

I would like to view this time as a time of inter-generational bonding.

I hope this time brings good change.

Some people want to go back to the way we were, but no, that is not what we will do – we will be forced to create a new normal.

Remember 9/11?  Before 9/11 there was only a few ways to get the news – the morning paper, the 6:00 or 11:00 pm news broadcast, the radio on the hour.  My perception is that only after that event on 9/11 did we begin to broadcast 24 hour news programs.  Those programs went over and over the same news all day long.  Some people tune in, get the headlines and tune out back to daily life but for some their daily life is watching the news all day long.

What will be our new normal after this pandemic?  Your guess is as good as mine.  I know some things I hope it is.

I hope this time we spend with our families keeps happening.  Our families are spending more time with each other, talking, listening, reading, playing, laughing.  That is one priceless gift during this time.

I hope the connection between generations keeps happening.  I hear of grandparents helping with childcare instead of a stranger in daycare.  I hear of Grandparents talking and spending time with parents who are talking and spending time with children and learning about each other.

I hope new respect is gained for some of our neighbors and the jobs they do.  The nurses and doctors, the teachers, the truck drivers, the store employees. We all contribute to society but lately it seems we honor those with money more than the hard worker.

I hope the older generation will teach the younger generation the value of these professions.

I hope the younger generation teaches the older generation the value of these professions.

I hope we all learn that we must work together as a society to solve problems.

I hope we all learn that words spoken to divide different groups are destructive.

I hope the older generation teaches the younger generation the value of our history, that we have come together in the past to solve problems. Sometimes it was hard but it was worth it.

I hope the younger generation teaches the older generation that we are all different and just because I don’t look like you or think like you we can still work together to solve problems and make our society stronger.

 

 

You, who are on the road
Must have a code
That you can live by
And so
Become yourself
Because the past
Is just a good-bye

[Chorus]
Teach your children well
Your father’s hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked
The one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them why
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you

And you of tender years
Can’t know the fears
That your elders grew by
And so please help
Them with your youth
They seek the truth
Before they can die

[Chorus]
Teach your parents well
The children’s hell
Will slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked
The one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them why
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you