Why It Matters

I saw a presentation last night at a "ONE" campaign concert. In a unique way, several of my friends, although not all present, came together in that one short video presentation to bring attention to how people can be involved to help part of the world in serious crisis.

My friend Dave Barnes was emcee-ing. Photos from Africa by my friend Jeremy Cowart abounded throughout the presentation. (You can read archived interviews with both of these guys in the INTERVIEWS section of CHRISRICE.COM). My friend Jena Lee, president of Blood:Water Mission (quoted in my ARTICLE on that organization) was also present and spoke about their work in Africa.

And a song by my friend Sara Groves was the music playing in the video presentation. It is this song I want to bring attention to. A song called "Why It Matters."

I toured with Sara a couple of years ago, and would find my way through the dark to stand backstage every night, often fighting tears, to hear her sing this song. Before she sang it, she often spoke of her own questioning the importance of her work, writing songs, creating beauty, singing to audiences. Does all this really have any value? I can relate to the question.

Sara continued to introduce the song with the story of Vedran Smailovic, a cellist with the Sarajevo String Quartet. In 1992, in the middle of the war in that country, Smailovic witnessed a bomb attack that took the lives of 22 of his neighbors standing in a breadline at a bakery. In protest of the chaos, hatred, killing, and stupidity of war, the cellist immediately brought out his cello, sat in a chair in the middle of the crater, and filled the air with beautiful music for 22 days (one day for each person killed on that spot).

As Sara told this story every night, she emphasized the importance of BEAUTY as a protest in the face of all that is wrong in the world. While bombs were still exploding and sniper fire rang through the street, a lone cellist risked his own life, and protested the ugliness by holding up beauty in its face.

The ideal still matters, even when reality does not reflect it. Love conquers hate. Light pushes back dark. Beauty matters.

Some people can't see God unless a Bible verse is included. They are blind.

Beauty reminds us in the midst of the ugliness, that there is something more. Something higher. Something better. That the world wasn't meant to be this way. That there is hope.

Beauty matters.



WHY IT MATTERS by Sara Groves

Sit with me and tell me once again
Of the story that's been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty of the beauty
Why it matters

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty of the beauty
And why it matters

Like the statue in the park
Of this war torn town
And it's protest of the darkness
And the chaos all around
With its beauty, how it matters
How it matters

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissention
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters

Like a single cup of water
How it matters

I'm Smellin' Coffee!

So I have a little caffeine buzz right now.

Which means, I won't be able to write a flowing, coherent essay on any topic. But fortunately, I can type random coffee-related ideas and make it a blog entry without too much high-concentration effort.

I never really got into coffee until a couple of years ago (even though I had written a song called "Smellin' Coffee" and sing it every night in my shows--what a hypocrite!) But I have ALWAYS loved coffee flavored ice cream, ever since I was a kid.

Now I get a double iced latte, non-fat, with one pump of vanilla, just about every day. Not sweet enough for most. And actually a little too sweet for me most of the time. I emphasize the "iced" part. I don't usually get hot coffee.

I have the Mr. Coffee 12 cup pre-programmable coffee maker, but that's mostly for when my parents come into town. And for guests.

Coffee is a social thing. At least for me. Rather than brew it, I'd rather run up to a local coffee shop and see who I can run into while I'm waiting for my shots to be pulled.

And it's very interesting to watch the documentaries on the history of coffee. Originated in Ethiopia.

Thanks Ethiopia. I will name my first-born daughter after you.

COFFEE WITH A PURPOSE:

I reconnected with an old friend through MySpace recently, who has begun roasting coffee and selling it for a good cause. (He used to be a counselor at a youth camp I helped lead for about 8 years a while back.) I "scored some bean" from him a few weeks ago and gave it a try. Good stuff! He has several flavors available, and all of the proceeds are donated to some good causes. So, if you wanna give some new coffee a try, check out the website, order some coffee, try it out, and help the world.

The website explains the motivation behind the company and the ways the proceeds are used. So I am formally (as formal as a blog is allowed to be) inviting you all to try out my friend's coffee, and help the world in the process. Just click on the link, and start buzzin'......BUZZ HERE!!! (and by 'buzz' I mean 'click')

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today, my name is Christopher McClanahan instead of Chris Rice.

Since I have Irish blood (from the McClanahan clan), here's some somewhat Irish music to listen to: I'M AT LEAST A QUARTER IRISH (ISN'T EVERYONE?) AND HERE'S MY MUSIC

Here's a nice little St. Patrick's Day SCIENCE lesson. There are no snakes in Ireland. There is a legend that St. Patrick drove them all off the island and into the sea. But the truth is there never were any snakes in Ireland. Pretty interesting fact to toss around the table as you raise your Guinness or toast with green KoolAid in celebration of St. Patty's.

Oh yeah, one more thing. New Zealand is also a snakeless island.

May shamrocks abound around your doorstep, and may you not get pinched too hard by leprechauns.

WOW

What do Hannah, Mom, Dad, and Eve have in common?

Well, to begin with they are all human, (except maybe for Dad). But more interestingly, they are all palindromes.

What's a Palindrome? Is it like a palomino? No. Nice try, though.

Here's how I found out. I was ordering coffee one day in a local coffee shop, and my friend Tim who was taking the order, blurted out, "Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog!"



"OK." I thought. "Koo-koo!"

"What?"

"Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog!" he said again. His grin signaled something was up, so I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a palindrome. It reads the same forward and backward!"

I cracked up and made him write it down for me on a post-it note.

So a palindrome is a word or phrase or sentence that reads the same forward and backward, letter by letter. Eve, Hannah, wow, pop, and the like.

So I've been stopping in and hitting up Tim for new palindromes ever since.


Here are a few more:

"Put eliot's toilet up."

"Sit on a potato pan, Otis."

"No, Mel Gibson's a casino's big lemon."




And for you mathematicians, here's one:

" I prefer pi. "


Palindromes can also be word by word, not just letter by letter:

"Blessed are they that believe that they are blessed."


Oh well, just one more reason language is cool. And my post-it note stack is getting pretty hefty, thanks to Tim (and too much caffeine)!