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Month: September 2007

Lost and Found Opportunities

Mashkioya 1 Comment

In First Samuel chapter nine, you will read about Saul, who was to become the first king of Israel. Starting at verse three we read,

And the asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us. And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man that is held in honor; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go. Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?
(1 Samuel 9:3-7)

In the end, Saul and his servant met the prophet Samuel in the city as he was going up to the high place. The Lord had already told Samuel that Saul was coming, and then He revealed to Samuel that Saul was the one. Read More

Across the Appalachians

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Across the Appalachians

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This song was written as a Christmas present last year for my friend. It was my dad’s idea, and since I’m the family composer, I wrote the music and my sister helped with the lyrics. The song is about the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, based upon our experiences there last fall.

We recorded this version as a trio with guitar accompaniment, although someday I hope to be able to produce a more elaborate arrangement. It was lots of fun putting it together, and perhaps it will lead to more musical projects in the near future.

I hope you enjoy the song, and if you don’t mind, please post a comment to tell us what you think about it!

Across the Appalachians — Recorded 8-29-2007 at the Ziphen Studio (a.k.a. Benjamin’s room)

  • Vocals by Deborah, Leah, and Benjamin
  • Guitar by Deborah

Pluit Hodie

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The loud roar of the thunder breaks through the damp air,
And a train whistle sounds from the valley below.
Then the torrent returns; raindrops fall everywhere.
A great bolt splits the sky, and the hostile wind blows.

Since the weather is inclement, homeward we fly.
In the stove crackling flames keep us toasty and warm,
And our roof (though it leaks) keeps us perfectly dry.
What a wonderful day just to wait out a storm.

As I sit in the house staying out of the cold,
I look up at the shelf and discover a book.
The covers are dusty, the pages are old,
But the story within it is worth a good look.

Flight Through the Mountains

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The penultimate part of “The Tale of Kutava,” continued from Part IV

We departed from Krotil before dawn, to avoid any questionings from the townspeople. Our company consisted of Taeĝan, Ferondei and me, as well as the two boys Delko and Aiĝif, who had implored Ferondei to allow them to accompany us. We certainly were not planning for two extra travellers, but they had brought their own provisions as Ferondei had instructed, and for that we were thankful.

We were in the mountains by daybreak, and at length we stopped for a rest.

‘Prithee tell me again,’ quoth Delko, ‘whither are we bound?’

‘To seek a hiding place in the mountains, as we’ve told thee thrice already,’ said Taeĝan, seeming a bit upset.

‘Ah, that’s right; for some reason I thought we were going to Krotl.’

‘Well, thou art mistaken this time,’ quoth I, ‘for that is where Raheem is, assembling his great army against Ĝimlu.

‘Oh, horrors! I detest fighting. I’d much rather hide in the mountains.’ He smiled strangely. Read More

Sunset Dreams

Mashkioya 4 Comments

Although I am not really in a position to judge this, it seems to me that there has been a trend in modern music to have vague lyrics. On more than one occasion my friends and I have discussed the lyrics of certain Josh Groban songs in which meaning is particularly elusive, and I have often wondered why the lyricists have done this to us. Is it as my sister has hypothesized, that in this way you can decide for yourself what the song means? I’m still clueless, but nevertheless I still grasp for meaning in some of these songs.

Just recently I got a tape of a certain Irish band called Clannad (they’re kinfolk of Enya, so I hear), and I ended up digitizing about half of the songs, the rest sounding too much like pop for my liking. I do enjoy the songs they sing in Irish Gaelic (which I can’t understand anyway), but there is one song called “Sunset Dreams” that sounds really cool. The only problem: I can’t figure out what it means! Here, you give it a shot: Read More