Monday, December 30th, 2019. 6:02 PM.
“The Lady of the Valley”
Chapter Two
Lily and Stone
After listening to everything Lily had said, Stone sat down on a nearby rock to consider the meaning of it all, to try to make sense of it all. An old song came to mind and began to play in his heart and mind and memory:
Tapestry by Carole King with lyrics onscreen
Lily: “Stone, are you alright? You seem to be in a daze. What is going on with you, my friend?”
Stone: “I was just remembering a song from my youth. I played it often while living in my first apartment back in ’71. I was about 20 years old. Now, I’m 68.”
Lily: “You’re 68 years old, Stone? I thought you were a young man. You don’t look your age, at all.”
Stone: “Some look old and yet they’re young at heart. And some look young and yet feel as old as the hills around us.”
Lily: “I wonder why that is?”
Stone: “I don’t know.”
Lily: “What was the song you were remembering, Stone?”
Stone: “Tapestry,” by Carole King.”
Lily: “You must really like that song to have listened to it so often in your youth and to remember it even now – so many years later.”
Stone: “I like its mysteriousness and imagination. Another song is coming to mind, now.”
Lily: “What song, Stone?”
Stone: “I Am . . . Said I,” by Neil Diamond. I listened to that one in my youth, too, in my first apartment, in my twenties. The good olde days. “These are the good old days” Remember Carly Simon? I wonder if she’s related to Paul Simon?”
Neil Diamond – I am… I said (W/Lyrics)
Lily: “I’ve often felt like no one was there, too. I know what loneliness is, Stone.”
Stone: “I know what it is to feel like a frog, too.”
Lily: “Really? What does it feel like to be a frog, Stone?” And as Lily was looking at Stone, he suddenly turned green before her eyes. And then his form changed into a frog. And the frog jumped into a brook beside the rock and sat on a stone in the water. And then Lily began hearing an old song from her own youth:
Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Movie
And there was a lily in the brook near the frog. And Lily felt all alone because Stone had become a frog. And then, Stone was suddenly back on the rock beside the brook.
Lily: “Stone, what is going on here?”
Stone: “I don’t know; but, I vaguely remember reading something by Mark Twain about a jumping frog of Calaveras County. And he was born when Halley’s Comet came by. And then “he up and died” when Halley’s Comet returned. He came with her and then he departed with her. Maybe there’s a celestial connection between those two.”
Lily: “And what’s that got to do with you turning into a frog; and those songs by Neil Diamond and Carole King and her Tapestry and the Rock and Kermit the Frog and the song,”The Rainbow Connection”?
Stone: “I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me, too, Lily. I heard a song about God moving in mysterious ways. Would you like to hear it with me?”
Lily: “How may I hear what you hear, Stone?”
Stone: “Remember the hymn, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Maybe, if we join hearts together, we may tune in to the same celestial sounds.”
God Moves in A Mysterious Way with Lyrics
Do You Hear What I Hear? (with lyrics)
Do You Hear What I Hear?- Martina McBride with lyrics
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
Whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.” -Psalm 19:1-4a. English Standard Study Bible.
Lily: “Can you explain all this to me, Stone?”
Stone: “No, I cannot.”
Lily: “How then can we make sense of it all, Stone?”
Stone: “Well, it is only through faith in Christ and the help of the Helper, His Holy Spirit, and His Scriptures that we can just begin to receive an inkling of understanding and discernment and insight into the things of God; and His coming Kingdom and of His Christ that are all so wide and so deep and so unfathomable that we can only just barely begin to enjoy in wonder and in awe how great our Savior and God IS.”
How Great Thou Art with lyrics performed by chris rice
Stone: “Lily, that phrase “he up and died” ain’t mine. It comes from an old sad song about “Mr. Bojangles.”
Lily: “You like sad songs, don’t you, Stone? I can tell.”
Stone: “Ya’ I do, Lily.”
Lily: “Why is that, Stone?”
Stone: “Your question calls to mind another song writer and singer.”
Lily: “Who’s that?”
Stone: “Leonard Cohen.”
Lily: “Why?”
Stone: “He said: ‘There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.’”
Lily: “What cracks you talkin’ ‘bout, Stoney?”
Stoney: “Well, for example, an oak tree can’t even be born unless first an acorn breaks open and a little sprout comes out. And so, I’m a thinkin’ that God’s Light can only get into us if in our hearts break open. And maybe that’s why our lives are so hard sometimes . . . to make ‘em break open. And only then do the eyes of our understanding begin to see a little glimpse of the things of His Kingdom that His Son told us about in the gospel and in all of the Scriptures – by His Light beginning to shine in the darkness.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” -John 1:1-5. NIV Study Bible.
Mr. Bojangles – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – [With Lyrics]
Leonard Cohen – Anthem (w/lyrics) London 2008
Leonard Cohen – Democracy
“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
Or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
And grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
And sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
The God who saves me,
And my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice,
Or I would bring it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.”
-Psalm 51:10-17. NIV Study Bible.
“in the name of the Lord Jesus thanks be to God the Father by him.”
Colossians 3:17.
Mark's Imaginings 