{"id":703,"date":"2020-12-03T16:22:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T16:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=703"},"modified":"2020-12-03T16:23:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T16:23:24","slug":"the-gift-of-seeing-through","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=703","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Seeing Through"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Gift of Seeing Through\" width=\"819\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZDnT8owHovg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Gift of Seeing Through\u201d was, I think, the very first song I wrote in 2001. It eventually became the closing track on \u201cGood Day No Rain\u201d which came out in 2003. I remember reading a review of that album that was super positive until it got to \u201cGift\u201d which it basically said cancelled out the value of the previous 9 songs, it sucked that bad. And I kind of get it. Normally, I steer clear of overt spiritual musings, but this song is all that and a bag of chips. In a strange way, it opened a door for me into a new school of thought and represents a bit of a paradigm shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<i>Illusions, plentiful as faces in the crowd<br>Shining up like fool&#8217;s gold from a mountain made of sand<br>Illusions, draining all my energy, waiting like the enemy<br>In the darkest hour of my longest night<br>When I can&#8217;t find the words to say<br>Reach for a moonbeam, cling with all my might<br>Crawl to my bedside and I pray for the gift of seeing through<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>I have come to believe there is a wellspring of holiness within me (and everyone else, for that matter). My natural state, if you will. I generally ignore it, allowing my energy to be drained by the myriad illusions and obstacles I create for myself. Every now and then though I manage to surrender to it, rely on it, allow it to guide me and teach me some things. This song was me scratching at the surface of these ideas. By the way, I am so incredibly hesitant to write this kind of stuff but part of my mission with these essays is to have a safe space to think out loud, in the context of my music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<i>Sometimes, too many times, I take the dead-end road<br>That leads me back to nowhere fast, with no place else to go<br>Sometimes, I can&#8217;t see the larger thing, for the fear in front of me&#8230;<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>I have spent much of my life speeding down dead-end roads. When I do that, the \u201clarger thing\u201d I can\u2019t see is the peace of God, my holy truth, my unalterable essence. Ego (sometimes synonymous with \u201caddiction\u201d perhaps?) is the roadblock that hinders my awareness and robs me of the memory of who and what I really am.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then, every now and then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<i>Through the broken sky, a ray of sunlight fell<br>With a whispered sigh, I stumbled from my cell<br>Well we live and die, then we start the whole thing over.<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a cycle in which I still find myself. Death and rebirth. Forgetting and remembering. Forgiveness and judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<i>An honest prayer is like a midnight train<br>Gonna take you there, through the wind and rain<br>When you&#8217;re cold and scared, and you just can&#8217;t make it over.<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>Bottom line &#8211; I love singing this song (especially with a full band!). And I love hearing about the ways it has helped a listener or two along the way.&nbsp; Ultimately, maybe this one is more medicinal than musical. So screw you, \u201cGood Day No Rain\u201d reviewer guy!!! (Sorry, that was a total ego statement!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"> Archives<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=696\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"696\">Alcatraz &#8211; 11\/27\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=685\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"685\">Then December &#8211; 11\/20\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=679\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"679\">Anchor &#8211; 11\/13\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=675\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"675\">When I Put the Record On &#8211; 11\/06\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=669\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"669\">Bound to Be &#8211; 10\/30\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=664\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"664\">Lost in America &#8211; 10\/23\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=656\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"656\">In My Head &#8211; 10\/16\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=652\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"652\">Start Again &#8211; 10\/9\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=642\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"642\">Morning Sounds &#8211; 10\/2\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=632\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"632\">Saint Jude &#8211; 9\/25\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=622\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"622\">1970s &#8211; 9\/18\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=610\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"610\">Blue Sky Song &#8211; 9\/11\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=24\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"24\">Midnight Ghost &#8211; 9\/4\/2020<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe Gift of Seeing Through\u201d was, I think, the very first song I wrote in 2001. It eventually became the closing track on \u201cGood Day [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-703","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":706,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/703\/revisions\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}