Haven't done this for awhile

And that's a shame.

My blog hasn't officially been broken in until some Rich Mullins gushing has crept in somewhere. Time to fix that.

Listening to his playlist on my ipod lately (Shocker. I know.) and man, some lines are just gut-punchers no matter how many times I hear them. He may be the only songwriter I've ever encountered who can make me just... sick with emotion, over and over again.

So here are some of my favorite examples of his really simple but mind-blowing work...

"I've been broken down, I've been saved; learned to cry and I've learned how to pray. And I'm learning that even I can be changed." ("Growing Old")

"I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears; all these words of shame and doubt, blame and regret. I can't see how You're leading me, unless You've led me here to where I'm lost enough to let myself be led. And so You've been here all along, I guess." ("Hard To Get")

"Surrender don't come natural to me. I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want than take what You give that I need." ("Hold Me Jesus")

"Joy and sorrow are this ocean and in their every ebb and flow, now the Lord a door has opened that all hell could never close. Here I'm tested and made worthy, tossed about but lifted up ..." ("The Love of God")

"Though we're strangers still I love you. I love you more than your mask. And I know you have to trust this to be true - and I know that's much to ask." ("Peace, A Communion Blessing")

"And his outstretched arms are still strong enough to reach behind these prison bars to set us free..." ("Peace, A Communion Blessing")

"We'd let the road wind tie our hair in knots; let the speed and the freedom untangle the lies. Maybe fear can vanish before love... Oh, God, don't let this love be denied..." ("The River")

"We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Forged in the fires of human passion, choking on the fumes of selfish rage. And with these our hells and our heavens so few inches apart, we must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are." ("We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are")


There are days when I can't listen to his music for too long because it has too much of an effect on my heart. To be able to convey his feelings so well and without dressing them up in purple, complex metaphors is jarring. He did a radio show once where he jokes about not having the best voice and he's definitely correct but what he puts into his voice is just... breathtaking. You can hear every ounce of what he's feeling and that emotion truly bridges the gap from mediocrity.

I hope that when I die no one mourns me. I want to have lived his kind of life - where it was so obvious that I wanted so desperately to be with God that anything and everything else was a far and distant second place.

"And when I look back on the stars, well it'll be like a candlelight in Central Park... and it won't break my heart to say goodbye."