1. Having loads of people in your home to listen to live music is the way to do things. Especially if the music reaches the dark beauty of the night sky.
2. A consumeristic culture’s grief will manifest itself most fully in buying up the goods of a particular celebrity. It’s shallowness will only ask, “Is this wrong?” Never asking, “Why are we doing this?”
3. The life of Jesus is a bottomless well of life-giving wisdom.
4. This is when baseball season feels as if it will never come.
5. Vivaldi (Perlman) in the quiet of the morning. With day breaking. Everyone asleep. Still. Only violins. The sound of the heater sometimes. Maybe a car passing. But still. A lone bird.
6. I am reading a book about the Acoma Tribe in New Mexico and there is a section describing how the Spanish gave many of the tribes the options of conversion or be conquered. Sounds familiar.
7. I preached for the first time in a long time this past weekend. And I really enjoyed doing so. I don’t know what to do with that.
8. When I make the effort to step outside of pop culture, I can get fresh air.
9. When I was a kid I really, really wanted Prince’s album 1999. I loved the song “Little Red Corvette” having no idea what it was about. In the liner notes, Prince thanks God. Or maybe he did in an interview or something like that and I remember trying to convince my parents this was a good reason for me to listen to buy the album. All to no avail. I think about this story and how I used Jesus, every time Christians post a “spiritual” quote or observation in the wake of a celebrity dying.
10. This song has been playing in my head for almost a year now. I’m not complaining.
Echoes and Stars 
Matt! I commiserate with you about number 4, but….
30 days until pitchers and catchers!
Think about that!
While most of the U.S. is frozen solid this morning, there is hope!
Hope springs eternal!
I don’t think #2 is necessarily shallow or inherently related to a consumerist culture. It’s the same, roughly, as digging up the old photo albums and home videos of a recently deceased relative. Most people do that — reconnect with a lost relationship through their “stuff” — because they want more time with someone they loved. It just so happens that time costs money in this case.