"YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL"

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,” (Philippians 1:3)

“You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt was one of the biggest “Top 40” pop music hits of the first quarter of 2006.  The passion, pathos, and vulnerability of the song make it one of those songs that “plays in your head all day”.   Technically, the song is about fantasy lust;  and I understand the music video features James Blunt naked in the shower.  I certainly don’t endorse that stuff, but I’m not ready to throw the song out with the bathwater...or is it the shower water?!  

Blunt is remembering a special moment.  A moment that for him “will never end”.  THAT element of the song gives it the Bob Baril seal of approval, although I wouldn’t expect all of my fellow evangelicals to agree with me or even to like the song.  There are some special memories and special places that I cherish.

A couple of weeks ago, Mary Ann and I drove to a beach in Dennisport (Cape Cod), Massachusetts.  For me, Dennisport is a sacred place.  Most summers of my childhood our family spent two weeks there.  My very first vacation at Dennisport was in August 1955 at age eleven months; and at that time I had my first taste of ice cream at Kreme ‘N Kone, a Dennisport/West Dennis landmark.  There are so many memories that I could write ten whole blog entries about them!  Mary Ann and I used it as a time to pray together and separately.  I can’t begin to tell you how special that place is for me.  If money were no object, I would absolutely buy at least a summer place in Dennisport.

Another place like that for me is Springfield, Missouri (where I’ll be in just a few days).  My time at Central Bible College in the late 1970s was one of the finest in my life.  I graduated from C.B.C. in 1979 and did not get back to Missouri until 2002.  In the past few years there have been several Springfield, Missouri trips due to my daughter Amy’s attending Evangel University there.  The theme song for how I feel when I hit Springfield, Missouri would be the Beatles’, “There are places I remember...”.  Yup, Springfield, MO would also take up ten pages on the blog EASILY.

It might seem strange, but another special place is the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  Even though trips to renew a license or registration are usually not all that pleasant, I ALWAYS think of my father when I’m at the R.M.V.  I can see him as a 40-year-old in his Registry uniform  (they were like a police force in those days before former Gov. Bill Weld eliminated the “Registry Inspectors” in the early 1990s).  I can also see him in a suit as a Registry Supervisor when he was in his late 50s.  It’s hard to believe he retired in 1982 and died in 2000.

Even Framingham is taking on a “sacred” character for me.  I’ve now lived here almost 20 years.  I well remember Shoppers’ World, the OLD Natick Mall, “Pioneer Financial” Bank (which was our bank when we came to town- it was on the site of what’s now the Memorial Building’s employees parking lot).  I can remember when there was a Purity Supreme Supermarket in Saxonville and a Farm Stand Supermarket on Route 9.  I can even remember when the dominant ethnic group downtown was the Puerto Ricans and there were well under a hundred Brazilians living in Framingham.  I think there was only ONE Brazilian business in downtown when I moved in.  There was actually a Brigham’s restaurant and ice cream shop downtown.  And, what’s now the Han Dynasty restaurant on Route 126 and Harrison St. was STILL Wallace’s ice cream and family restaurant.  There isn’t time to mention Duca’s or Route 126  between Hartford St. and downtown when people drove it and treated it as a 4-lane-highway!  (They introduced the present traffic pattern in late 1987.)  In one year, I will have lived in Framingham longer than I’ve ever lived anyplace.  It seemed like yesterday I was “new” and now I feel as much like “authentic Framingham” as the Dennison factory- yup, I know it’s luxury condos now, but when I came to town it was STILL a factory!

I don’t even have room to tell you that any time I see a 1963 Dodge Dart I’m ready to burst into sentimental tears...I’ll have to save that for another time on the blog...