Prayers for my grandfathers

Baba Yetu



My family is going through a rough time right now. Both of my grandfathers are in the hospital. It's been hard on our families, especially since it's around Christmas time. They're both truly great men and I'd appreciate all of your prayers.

The song you heard or should hear is Baba Yetu, composed by Christopher Tin. It is sung in Swahili, a language of the Eastern Africa origin, a place more commonly known as The Cradle of Life.
The song is actually Our Lord's Prayer spoken in Swahili. "Baba Yetu" means "Our Father." If you don't know the Lord's Prayer, it is from Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, As we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

CHORUS
Baba yetu, Yesu uliye
Mbinguni yetu, Yesu, amina!
Baba yetu, Yesu, uliye
Jina lako litukuzwe.
(x2)

Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, milelea milele!

CHORUS

Ufalme wako ufike utakalo
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni. (Amina)

CHORUS

Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, simama mwehu

Baba yetu, Yesu, uliye
Jina lako litukuzwe.
(x2)


This is not just a beautiful song, it is a work of art with great meaning. It represents so much and is fitting of fathers. You can download it as well, for free, from Christopher Tin's website http://christophertin.com/samples.html

Merry Christmas

on
this
holiday
season,
I would like to
thank the readers
of my humble blog.
I wish everyone a very
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year 2006!!!!!!
This blog would be nothing without
readers like you. I am truly thankful
for each and everyone who happens to
visit The Sea of Steve and for all my loyal visitors!
May all your lives be blessed!
Peace
Love
Steve

The Kite has fallen

Good books leave you satisfied, great books change the very fabric of who you are. The last page of The Kite Runnerwas dog eared this morning. I was struck at how much I cared for the main character, then hated him, only to absolutely hate him, finally to like him again, and after repeating this cycle a few times I ultimately cared for him because I could see myself through him and in the other character as well. I'd like to believe that I mostly resemble this other character, Hassan, but very few people in the world can ever attest to having a stature like that. For this I will recall a great phrase from the book

"there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft."

I'd feel like I was stealing from Hassan by comparing myself to him even if he is a fictional character.

Final's Week

The dreaded week of final tests is coming up, but I'm not studying. Why? I'm not worried and it's not time to begin oiling the rusted studying gears quite yet. Don't get me wrong I will study, I'm not that much of a nerd, but I'm not going to be hunkered down in the barracks of my sardine sized dorm room studying like a wombat caught in a trap until at least the weekend. For now I'm enjoying a good read. In fact I'm worried I won't be able to study if I don't finish this book. It's that good. :-)

That's one small snowflake for the ground... soon one giant heap of all kinds.

The beginning of a snow storm, From outside my dorm window

Winter is a beautiful time of year but burrrrrrrrr....... The white stuff has fallen a couple of times already and I continually find myself hating it more and more. Not so much the snow but the agonizing, bitter, freezing wind. Then it is a thing like this that will change my mind. I happened to stumble upon this beautiful site of the sun shining throught the limbs of a tree early in the morning. The tree is one in front of the Fine Arts building, refracting iridescent snow and light.

Heaven woven quilt

Isn't that beautiful? I couldn't believe it. I would've missed this had I not gone in early to work on an art project and brought my camera to take pictures of my piece. When I saw this tree, I almost forgot I had my camera with me. I just stared for ages and I remember saying to myself, "Aww dang I wish I had my camera." Then it dawned on me that I did have it, although it took forever to unbundle myself to get to it. I'm thankful I did.

If it must be cold at least God still has a hand in the creation of beauty for us all to behold. Let us all be thankful for everything we are given and able to behold. Remember to see the beauty in everything we would otherwise miss.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Banjo and Bass playing Bach?

If Bach never wrote works for the banjo and bass it may very well be because the banjo hadn't been been created. In today's world anything is possible and I just came back from a concert that left me in awe. Bach was played on the banjo and double bass along with other classical compositions from Tchaikovsky and Chopin. My ears danced to a new sound created by these two virtuoso musicians, Bela Fleck on the banjo and Edgar Meyer playing the bass. If you can imagine this sound then you can't even savor the other genres played from bluegrass to jazz, not to mention the banter back and forth between the two musicians.
I know what some of you may think, isn't the banjo all twangy soundin' and the bass just boring low harmony? Well yeah in many cases yes, but not by these two, who are masters of their instruments. I'd have to say that Edgar Meyer is the world's greatest bassist and Bela Fleck, the world's best banjo player. If you knew what a harpsichord sounds like then you have heard how this guy handled the banjo and the bass was strung and plucked with the ease of a violin. Simply put, their concert was a feast for the soul.

Listen to a sampling of their latest CD, Music for Two. My favorite, and I heard it live, is Woolly Mammoth.

Maintenance

Problems fixed. Actually I just reverted back to old code. Internet Explorer, you are terrible.

Sorry for the inconvenience. The Sea of Steve is currently experiencing technical difficulties with Internet Explorer users. Since I don't have a Mac I'm not sure if you are having difficulties. If you are a Mac user, specifically Surfari users, and also notice something strange let me know.

Those using Firefox shouldn't experience any problems.