Old School CD Player

One of my most vivid memories from Thursday Night Bowing League in SC was Boss laughing at me when I pulled out my old school CD player to change my Harry Potter CD. I had no shame, though. I was at a crucial moment in the story and I wanted to know what was going to happen, so I bowled and listened—and imagined the scene of Harry and Dumbledore retrieving a horcrux.

I busted out my old school CD player again today. I was listening to another of JK Rowling’s books and wanted to finish it while cleaning, so I did. I put the player in my pocket—just as I had done that night while bowling—and listened away. Thankfully, my shorts have big pockets.

My jacket had big pockets, too, when I stuffed it with my old school CD player during the Big Snow of 2000. I distinctly remember going out into the snow, all bundled up, listening to my new worship CD’s, walking beside a happy Miss Dog, trying not to resent the fact that we’d have to make up snow days later in the year.

One of the songs that I listened to during those days of walking with Miss Dog was “Above All.”

Tonight, as my praise team boys and I prepared for Sunday morning’s worship, we found ourselves doing some old school favorites: “Open The Eyes of My Heart,” “Here I Am To Worship,” “Trading My Sorrows,” and, yes, “Above All.” We sang:

Above all powers, above all kings, above all nature, and all created things.
Above all wisdom, and all the ways of man, You were there before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones, above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth, there's no way to measure what You're worth

Crucified, laid behind a stone, You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

And memories flooded my mind…of walks and books and bowling and dogs…and a theology that has developed over many years but that has, in some ways, stayed the same. I believe now, as I did then, that Jesus lived and died for love. Above all, it was love. But not for me alone. For all the world and all of humanity. Jesus lived and died for love. And so should we…

Kind of like Bullet, who lives his life devoted to us in love. Most recently, Bullet has decided to demonstrate his love by taking me on walks every time I come home and every night around nine. This demonstration of love—the desire to spend quality time with me—began during this year’s snow storms, when I had to go walk with him so that he would pee.

Through walks and books and bowling and dogs. Through living and dying and resting and remembering. Through old school CD players and new school sound equipment. There is love. Above all. There is love.