I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me ~ Galatians 2:20 ESV
There is nothing people can or need to do. Only Christ could do—and has done—what must be done to make people acceptable to God.
Album: Turn Up the Divine
Inspired by Galatians 2:14–21
Video Credits: E.M.
© 2024 Eddy Mann
The ever widening chasms between each of us seem to grow daily as we continue to establish barriers between what we call acceptable, and what we deem objectionable. In doing so I’m afraid we’re dismissing an important narrative to our happiness. The moment we start to discount our differences, is the moment we start to cheat ourselves out of the things that can make our lives richer. Our ingenuity illustrates our individuality. We’ve got it all messed up. In our quest to get on with each other, we’ve told many people to get out. Instead of drawing the world a little closer we are drawing divisional lines in the sand. We’re not closing gaps, we’re creating gaps.
Discounting our differences, devalues our dignity.
When we close our ears and eyes we are missing the beauty of an extremely diverse world. A world that was created for our benefit. It was created out of love for us. All of it’s beauty and splendor was designed by our Creator, for good! So what does it say when we turn from His ideals, from what He deems good for us, from His loving vision of our lives (Ephesians 2:10)?
Diversity does not demand division.
We bridge the gaps by putting aside our differences, by opening our eyes and ears to new and different sounds and sights. When we open our mind to new ideas evolution can occur. The natural flow to a united and loving world begins with a judgement free view of life (Romans 12:16). Thankfully we don’t all lookalike, and soundalike. That would be pretty boring don’t you think? Well thinking everyone should think alike is the same thing. It’s a very narrow view of a very panoramic creation.
So I spend my days first trying to identify, and then trying to bridge these gaps. The inspiration comes from my never ending idealistic dream of a loving united world. One that cares for others more than themselves. One that truly finds more satisfaction in the act of giving than in receiving (2 Corinthians 9:7). A world that differs a great deal from the one I currently seem to live in.
My platform for such change has always been music. I find enormous joy in touching the hearts of others through poetry and song. A tough message can be much easier on the ear when it’s riding the the crest of a memorable melody. or being propelled along by an irresistible rhythm.
Come, let us walk together
Come. let us walk hand in hand
Cone, let speak with one voice
Come, let us walk in the light of love
~ E.M. (‘Come. Let Us Walk’)
My plea is one of compassion. If we start with a loving approach to our differences I believe that we would see and hear things with a new found appreciation. I invite you to join me in opening up a new world of inspiration. Pray for a cleansing view of the world. Ask God for new ears and eyes that would lovingly see and hear the beauty of diversity. That fresh mindset will bridge gaps both small and large over a period of time. A period of time when we can draw closer as friends and families… as our Creator intended.
Pray on,
Eddy
What motivates you?
My motivation each and everyday is to serve and give back simply because I’ve been so blessed. I love on others because I was first loved. I know it can sound too sweet at times, but the truth is the truth, and that’s the honest …
Let my love be my mark…
Be my mark in this world
Let my love be my alms…
Be my alms to the Lord
~ E.M.
A combination of things brought this song to life rather quickly. It was a year ago February (Black History Month), when I was inspired by the poem, ‘As I Grew Older‘ by Langston Hughes. The softening of time touched a nerve within me and I felt the need to comment on it, and so I did.
Musically as 2022 arrived I had been taking a deep dive into the organ trio Blicher, Hemmer, Gadd and their album, ‘Omara.’ Recalling a season quite a way back where I played 300 some dates in an organ trio, this arrangement became an outcome of the many smoke filled nights from that different world. I truly believe that when we write, perform, and listen to music it seeps deep into our soul and often needs some time to brew down there before creatively rising up in a new form.
The studio process was seamless, it really was uneventful other than my rather large grin that continued to grow through the sessions. There’s no excess on the whole Trio project, just the essentials.
I should add as a clarification that I included the DR in the title, ‘The DReam’ to honor Dr. Martin Luther King.
Lyrics:
A long, long time ago
So long ago I’ve forgotten
A notion filled my mind
A dream divinely begotten
But suddenly a distance appeared
Vanquished, the dream disappeared
A long, long shadow
Grew ever longer every day
In the darkness I struggled
Contentious in my way
But nothing by chance impressed
The dream dimmed and was suppressed
My credence, my steadfast credence
Strengthened my enchanted moonbeam
My journey will not be abandoned
Providence will shelter the dream
A long, long tomorrow
As long as the aim can see
Good fortune will indwell me
I’ve been reassured lovingly
That in the cards works a love supreme
A love that’ll ascertain the dream
© 2022 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
Album: Trio
Video Credit: E.M. | 愚木混株 Cdd20
YouTube Link
Available at http://www.eddymann.com
We are by nature creative beings. We’re wired to be imaginative, to be innovative, and to be resourceful. Regardless of what we do for a living, we’ll do it better if we’re thinking as a visionary.
The title of this song was inspired by a random magazine article entitled For the Love of Vinyl, It grabbed my attention immediately and I found the lyric to be an easier than usual creation.
I had just read an inspiring Rich Kirkpatrick blog on our need be creative so I found myself within the creative flow very quickly.
We are created in the image of our Creator… so dare to be a dreamer.
Lyrics:
Life is a bohemial existence
With a disregarding tenet or two
With non-conventional thoughts and reason
And behavior that some might misconstrue
Life is a juvenescent sandbox
Where building roams beyond confines
Where boundless minds can wander
Coloring where there are no lines
Welcome to the splintered aggregation
Where odd resolve to get even
Curious for the love of art
And the courage to brave the unbelievin’
Life is a poetic string of ramblings
Written in the margins of the day
Multicolored snap-shots in couplets
A work of acrobatic wordplay
Life is a whimsical pallet
Daring you to conjure the extreme
Releasing your inherent rhapsody
For the love of art must venture to dream
For the love of art; write the unspoken
For the love of art; paint the unseen
For the love of art; voice the unheard
For the love of art
© 2022 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
Album: Trio
Video Credit: E.M.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/RZZURiRreqs
Available at http://www.eddymann.com
The question is… Your will, my will, or His?
~ E.M.
Album: Stars Under My Feet
Video Credit: Yaroslav Shuraev | E.M.
Available at http://www.eddymann.com
© 2017 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
Lyrics:
I’d like to believe it’s just you and me
And the tiny little world we’ve carved out
But I can’t deceive what my eyes perceive
That there’s always a speckle of doubt
In your playful dreams it’s just you and me
In a 5 Below novella
But in my prayerful mind I sense a plan that’s divine
And there’s no prince or Cinderella
What if this?
What if that?
What you gonna rhyme if I drop my hat?
I can’t promise you more than the hippest cat
What if it comes down to that?
Will you be mine?
Will you be my sunshine?
Whose will provides the fizz
Will I be yours?
Will there be tempting doors?
Your will, my will, or His?
In the beginning we swore against sinning
And said we’d be pure until ashes
But words won’t protect us from life’s unexpected
Only perfect love’s cancels out crashes
©️ 2017 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
The future is a very fragile and unpredictable thing. We have no way of assuring how each day, let alone our week, or year, will turn out with any certainty. I was reflecting on this and the use of the word someday when I wrote this song. I was thinking about how we often refer to someday in describing our future dreams and endeavors. My parents always spoke of someday as in my future, down the road, and spiritually God also does, but life has an uncanny way of sneaking up on us when we least expect it.
Someday was oh so later
Someday was down the road
But someday just happened to me now ~ E.M.
Album: Stars Under My Feet
(Release Date 5/20/22)
Video Credit: E.M.
Available at http://www.eddymann.com
© 2017 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
Lyrics:
I went to bed a child
and woke a lifetime later
A silhouette of who I used to be
A scattered rush of moments
Missed or worse forgotten
An epitaph of frittered diggity
I sense my mother’s worry
I hear my father’s words
I see my back walking away
You can cry, stormy Monday
You can thank God for Friday
But blink and it’ll be someday
Walking the beach when the surf’s out
Pining your mountain away
Sleeping til noon on a weekday
Someday could happen today
I wandered without purpose
And tuned a stone deaf ear
I figured someday, somehow
Someday was oh so later
Someday was down the road
But someday just happened to me now
©️ 2017 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
The quest to live a loving and compassionate life can be challenging at times. Each day’s ups and downs are different, but the power of love is unmatched, and therein lies our journey.
It’s so gray when I look out my window
Silhouettes upon the hill
I’ve come to expect a winter’s night
Even her kiss brings a chill
There in my mind rests a sight serene
Misty green eyes that say yes
The wind in her hair and the scent of spring
Flowing down her dress
Dree, the sameness overtakes me
Dree, the world’s a tired gray
Dree, I long for something different
I long for yesterday
I can recall when the faces were glowing
Smiles that beckoned us near
The expressions excited with all the unknown
Before there was ever a tear
© 2016 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP
Album: The Consequence
#Wordprompt #Green #April
The ever widening chasms between each of us seem to grow daily as we continue to establish barriers between what we call acceptable, and what we deem objectionable. In doing so I’m afraid we’re dismissing an important narrative to our happiness. The moment we start to discount our differences, is the moment we start to cheat ourselves out of the things that can make our lives richer. Our ingenuity illustrates our individuality. We’ve got it all messed up. In our quest to get on with each other, we’ve told many people to get out. Instead of drawing the world a little closer we are drawing divisional lines in the sand. We’re not closing gaps, we’re creating gaps.
Discounting our differences, devalues our dignity.
When we close our ears and eyes we are missing the beauty of an extremely diverse world. A world that was created for our benefit. It was created out of love for us. All of it’s beauty and splendor was designed by our Creator, for good! So what does it say when we turn from His ideals, from what He deems good for us, from His loving vision of our lives (Ephesians 2:10)?
Diversity does not demand division.
We bridge the gaps by putting aside our differences, by opening our eyes and ears to new and different sounds and sights. When we open our mind to new ideas evolution can occur. The natural flow to a united and loving world begins with a judgement free view of life (Romans 12:16). Thankfully we don’t all lookalike, and soundalike. That would be pretty boring don’t you think? Well thinking everyone should think alike is the same thing. It’s a very narrow view of a very panoramic creation.
So I spend my days first trying to identify, and then trying to bridge these gaps. The inspiration comes from my never ending idealistic dream of a loving united world. One that cares for others more than themselves. One that truly finds more satisfaction in the act of giving than in receiving (2 Corinthians 9:7). A world that differs a great deal from the one I currently seem to live in.
My platform for such change has always been music. I find enormous joy in touching the hearts of others through poetry and song. A tough message can be much easier on the ear when it’s riding the the crest of a memorable melody. or being propelled along by an irresistible rhythm.
Come, let us walk together
Come. let us walk hand in hand
Cone, let speak with one voice
Come, let us walk in the light of love
~ E.M. (‘Come. Let Us Walk’)
My plea is one of compassion. If we start with a loving approach to our differences I believe that we would see and hear things with a new found appreciation. I invite you to join me in opening up a new world of inspiration. Pray for a cleansing view of the world. Ask God for new ears and eyes that would lovingly see and hear the beauty of diversity. That fresh mindset will bridge gaps both small and large over a period of time. A period of time when we can draw closer as friends and families… as our Creator intended.
Pray on,
Eddy
Works 