Guadalupe

One of my favorite artists that nobody has ever heard of is Tom Russell. He just released his latest album called "Blood and Candle Smoke." It contains a great song he wrote named Guadalupe. It's the story of how he (a non-believer) found himself at the shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. Below is a youtube clip of Russell singing the song a while back. It's also been recorded by Gretchen Peters.





Russell wrote a blog post with some background on his writing of the song. You can read that here. A warning for the easily offended. Russell is not a believer anymore, so don't go expecting any orthodox opinions. But I do think it shows the power of this Shrine even to a non-believer like him. Plus, I think it's a great song.

An update and the future

I think I'm going to let this blog go dormant for a while. Before I do, though, there are a few things I need to talk about.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the good advice I've gotten on here. I started this blog to discuss issues I was having regarding religion and the church and where I need to go from here. Part of me worried that nobody would ever read it and I'd get no responses while another part of me feared what those responses would actually be like. I shouldn't have worried about either scenario. There have actually been people interested and I've been overwhelmingly pleased by the feedback I've received. I very much appreciate all the comments, advice, and most of all the prayers. (If anyone has happened onto this blog by accident and doesn't know what the heck I'm talking about, see the posts on the right side of the blog under the heading "My Religion Story.") Things on the church front are kind of at a standstill right now, but I have hopes that changes might start happening this fall. If they do, I'll be sure to start posting again.

Secondly, I posted a request for prayers in regards to a job opening a few months ago. Thanks so much for everyone who prayed for me. I got the job. I'd appreciate prayers that I do it well. It's a big job and a great opportunity, but very challenging.

I've been deliberately vague about my real name, but the more I think about that, it just seems I'm being silly. Anyone who knows me who happened across this blog really wouldn't have had a hard time figuring out who I was. My name is Mike and if you care to reach me on facebook you can go here. If you send me a friend request, though, just let me know you came from my blog in case I don't recognize the name. I'm also on twitter if you wish to follow me there.

Anyway, once again, thank you so much.

Prayer Request

Well, I haven't posted to this blog in a long time. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, I started the blog to talk about my religion issues and I think I did that. I didn't reach any conclusions, but I got lots of good advice. My situation is kind of at a standstill now, but I'll resume posting when things change. Secondly, I've had a lot going on in my life. Nothing terrible, but the usual types of problems everybody has. Financial issues chief among them. I know that nobody in the world wants to hear a lawyer complain about being broke, but I'm a government lawyer working for a poor county beset by budget problems. Considering how many really suffering people there are in this economy, I know I should just count my blessings and shut up, but it does stink always being out of money two days after payday. And if you can't vent semi-anonymously on a blog to strangers, where can you vent?

I do have a request. A favor really. On February 13th, less than two weeks from now, I have an interview scheduled for a new job. It is one that I believe I am very qualified for (more qualified in my opinion than the other candidates) and it would be a significant increase in pay. If anyone reading this could keep me in your prayers until then, I would really appreciate it. I feel selfish seeking prayers that I get a new job while I've already got one and so many others are unemployed, but I've always heard we should pray to God about all our needs, so I'm going to pray a lot about it and I'd like all the help I could get.

Thank you so much, and if there are ever any prayer requests you have for me, just let me know. Thanks!