Nina Simone

I love Nina Simone. She was brave and free. She strove for perfection until she decided that freedom was more important (“I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.”). I love the way her voice moans, cracks, floats, yells, flies. I wouldn’t say that she has a pretty voice. Sometimes it’s hideous. But it is always beautiful. It always has an unbelievable amount of heart in it, whether that heart is breaking or bubbling with love. Then you had her piano playing. It’s just like her voice. Pianos are rarely as expressive as when she plays. She wasn’t afraid to use its full range.

            I’m having a Nina Simone kind of day. The news about Newtown, CT school shooting (It went beyond the school, but I don’t know what else to call it), is horrifying and devastating and heartbreaking. There are no words for it. There are no songs that can capture the feelings either. Images might as well be blank. There are times when nothing but silence where a beating heart and the fall of tears are the only things that can even begin to express something. This world has become obsessed with words and images and songs, but there are becoming more and more events that all of those fall short.

            Maybe even thoughts and prayers seem to be useless. But prayer is never useless. It is always heard and always felt. Maybe you wonder how God could let this happen. He didn’t. God did not want this to happen. God is good and everything that comes from Him is good. This is not from God. God is all powerful, but there are battles going on around us. If we could see these battles, we might begin to understand. But as things are now, as we see and try to comprehend now, there is no understanding. But there is peace beyond understanding. There is love beyond tragedy.

            Today I am so thankful that I am alive. I am so thankful that it hurts because that means I care and love and am human. I’m not thankful that there is pain. My heart is broken for all affected by the shooting that happened today. I’ll be praying for the students, the teachers, parents, families, first responders, volunteers, and families.

 

 

Feelings, Nina Simone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH5ZE3N8cxU