Destiny, the new prophets & hello Mr.Cohen

Have started listening to Leonard Cohen over the last few days. Have been cooking stuff, trying to find some good east indian recipes & have been listening to Mr.Cohen while cooking. I've heard his name a lot before, seen the CDs, but have never picked them up. I have always had this bad vibe about Mr.Cohen. I think someone in the church told me he was 'weird' or suspect & since then I've had this imagery of him being some dark & twisted songwriter (which he maybe is in some ways ) I've very much enjoyed his "Hallelujah" as performed by Jeff Buckley (another interesting soul with dark stories & yet incredible expressions of grace & artistry)

But recently, my friend Lisa ( http://ofalltheliars.blogspot.com/) mentioned that she's been listening to some of his songs & so I thought, well, he mustn't be all bad then & so have picked up a couple of albums.

I'm not sure what all to think, but I'm enjoying my 'education'.... I'm surprised by some of the songs that he's written that I just haven't realized are his.

But his lyrics are rich & thought provoking, even if I don't quite catch them:

"And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind."
- From "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen

Have been enjoying "The Tower of Song" among other tunes:

"Well my friends are
gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the Tower of Song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don't let a woman kill you
Not in the Tower of Song

Now you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the Tower of Song

I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We'll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
There moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly
From a window in the Tower of Song

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song"

-- "Tower of Song" by Leonard Cohen

Again, can't say I understand all the nuances of it, but I love the imagery of this singer born with songs to sing, born without a choice & they're destiny is both blessing & curse, prison & freedom.... I think destiny is both comforting & terrifying. We all live for those defining moments, for those rare moments where we know who we are & why we are here on this earth. Other moments this knowledge is like a chain on our feet or a noose around our neck - we can't be anyone else, do anything else except stay with the 27 angels singing songs that come from who knows where.

I very much am convinced that the prophets still live. That Jesus as "The Word", "the Voice", cannot stop speaking to us & He will keep speaking through whatever vessels will carry His message willingly or (sometimes) unwillingly. God speaks through good & bad people. Faithful people & wicked people. God prophesies of Jesus's death & his saving the Jews through Caiphas, the wicked high priest who was only thinking about murdering Jesus. I love how this great prophesy in Numbers 24 (mentioned a few posts back) about the Star & Sceptre coming from Israel was delivered by Balaam the guy whose ass (donkey) talked to him. The thing is with God is that you have to be always listening 'cause you never know what ass he might be chosing to speak through at any given moment.

Artists, being creatives & embracing that part of themselves that is a reflections of God's creative nature, tap into this wellspring. In seeking to create, they end up tapping in some ways to the Source of all creation & you never know what comes out of this connection. But this is why it is so important to listen to the artists around us. God speaks through these people. Sometimes in crystal clear, blinding clarity, other times in hidden whispers of part truths that need to be sifted to find the 'gold'....

But it is so essential to listen. God speaks in every moment, even in the silences (especially in the silences). To a people who will not hear the sermons, who will never darken the door of a church, the good news is still being preached & whispered at & hinted to in some of the most strangest of places.... and I think there is a reality where God anoints artists of our day to speak His heart through canvas & brush, lyric & note, stone & chisel....