Running Away From God

        Previously we met a prophet by the name of Jonah, who was called by God to go and preach the Word of the Lord to the people of the wicked city of Nineveh.  Today we learn how Jonah responded to God's calling.

But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Jonah 1:3 (New International Version)

         Verse 3 tells us that Jonah ran away from God's call and went to the port of Joppa, which is near what we now know as Tel Aviv, to board a ship bound for Tarshish.  There is some uncertainty as to where Tarshish is, but a city in what is now Spain seems to make the most sense.  If the origin of Jonah's journey was his home town of Gath Hepher then Nineveh would have been over 500 miles to the east.  However, Jonah's destination for Tarshish would have been over 2000 miles. Some interpretations indicate that Tarshish is a generic term to represent any destination that is far away.  This is the real point that is made in this verse--Jonah wanted to go far away to escape from God.

          What was this prophet thinking?  He of all people should have had an understanding of God's nature.  Jonah should have known that there was no escaping God and yet he goes out of his way to make an effort to do exactly this.  "Jonah ran away from God", and he goes to the closest major port--Joppa--and buys a ticket on a ship going to a place that was very far.  The journey would have taken many days and would have been difficult.  He would have been spending a great deal of money for his travel-- I have no idea where he got his money--and he would have been relocating to a strange land.  If he had been trying to escape other men or shirk some kind of earthly responsibility his plan might have worked and even been worth the difficulty.  However, Jonah was trying "to flee from the Lord".  How can anyone flee from God?

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:7-10 (New International Version)


            Have you ever tried to flee from God at some time in your life?   What made you realize that fleeing from God was impossible?   Are you running from God now?

All This and Heaven Too

         Today's blog entry has nothing to do with the Bette Davis movie, but the title seemed topic appropriate.  This coming week will be themed around the HEAVEN ELEVEN FAVORITE RELIGIOUS ALBUMS.  Since Tossing It Out has temporarily become mostly music, we have been looking at lists of various favorites in different music genres and then looking into some details about those genres. This past week we talked about country music and in the week to come we are going to be dealing with religious music.

          Originally I had planned on the eleven favorite Christian albums, but then I realized that I could be excluding some who may be listening to the music of other religions and decided to broaden the scope to include anyone who wants to make a contribution.  Even if you've already done your albums on a previous list, feel free to contribute to this new list because maybe there are some who missed your list the first time. Or you can even list some favorites you didn't include on your first list.  All music genres can be included.  I will be primarily focusing my list on Contemporary Christian Music, but I plan to have at least one Southern Gospel, and one non-Christian religious album by a group that you may have not realized was promoting a religion-- and I'm not referring to Scientology.

         On Wednesday and Friday I will have some detailed stories about some of the music.  Of course, Thursday is Debate Day and I will be offering up a topic concerning religious music.  The theme on Tuesday will be a little bit different as I verve away from music.  I will be reviewing a book that is being released this Monday called Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh (pronounced "Shay").  Tony is an internet entrepreneur and currently the CEO of internet company Zappos.com.  I "won" the book from the Optimal Optimist and since it is a new release I thought this would be an optimal time to review the book. After all, the book deals with a kind of corporate "heaven".

          Last Sunday I began a Bible study on the book of Jonah.   I plan to continue this series for several weeks.  If you are interested in the Bible I hope you will join me in this and add your thoughts.  If you are not interested in the Bible I hope you will still join us and add your thoughts as well.  I'd like to hear any ideas about the topics we'll be looking at in this study. 

          If you want to contribute your HEAVEN ELEVEN FAVORITE RELIGIOUS ALBUMS, then please sign up on the Linky list at the top of the page.   On Monday June 14 I will be doing my TIMELESS TWELVE CLASSICAL FAVORITES and hope some of you are willing to contribute to this one -- this Linky list will appear in the middle of next week.  Then on Wednesday June 16th a few of us are planning two top ten song lists of BEST DRINKING SONGS and BEST DRIVING SONGS.  Anyone who wants to join us is welcome cause the more the merrier.   I'll have more details on the song lists later.

          And do not forget the DIRTY DOZEN MOVIE BLOGFEST on Monday June 21st hosted by Alex J Cavanaugh.   A Linky list for this can be found below.

          Lot's coming up--hope you'll join me in the days and weeks to come.

        

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Death of the Grievous Angel

            One of the odder rock and roll star death stories was that of Gram Parsons.   It wasn't so much his death that was odd, but what happened after he died. 

              Gram Parsons came from a moneyed background, but his parents were alcoholics and his father committed suicide when Gram was 12 years old.  To escape from his troubled youth, Gram turned to music and played in various rock and folk bands.  In 1968 he joined the already legendary group The Byrds.  He had a big influence on the highly regarded album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which helped lead to the country rock movement.  His association with The Byrds was short lived and by summer of 1968 he left the group.

           In 1969 Parsons co-founded the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers. He recorded a couple of albums with this group and then moved on to attempt a solo career.  He floundered and increasingly fell under the influence of drugs and alcohol. During the period of the early 70s he also associated with the Rolling Stones in hopes of recording on their label.  His drug usage began to interfere with his professional life.

             In 1972 Gram managed to shake his heroin addiction and returned to the U.S. to record his milestone album GP.   Among those collaborating on the album with him was Ric Grech, who had been part of the super group Blind Faith, and singer Emmylou Harris.  The album is traditional country with some rock influence.  It received critical acclaim, but was a commercial dud, selling very poorly. 

            On the heels of GP, Parsons toured with Harris and a band to promote the album. but with no great success. After the tour Parsons recorded his next solo album.  On September 19, 1973 Gram Parsons died in a motel room in Joshua Tree, California.  He had overdosed on morphine and tequila.  He was only 26 years old when he died.

             He had told some friends not long before his death that when he died he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes strewn in Joshua Tree National Monument.  However, his stepfather had arranged to have the body shipped back to Louisiana for burial.  Before the body made it onto the plane at Los Angeles International Airport, his friends arrived in a borrowed hearse and stole the body.  They drove the body to Joshua Tree, where they dumped a five gallon can of gasoline inside the casket and tossed in a lit match.   A 2003 movie called Grand Theft Parsons, starring Johnny Knoxville, depicts the incidents leading up to and after the stealing of the corpse of Gram Parsons.

               The death of Gram Parsons was overshadowed by the death the following day of a much more well-known artist, Jim Croce, who died in a plane crash.  Gram Parson's impact on music, particularly country rock and country has been substantial as many artists cite his influence in their work.

              Are you familiar with any of the work of Gram Parsons?  Would you like to stay in the motel room where Gram Parsons died?   For only $105 you too can stay in room 8 of the Joshua Tree Inn.  They claim the room is haunted, but it hasn't stopped many fans from staying.

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