Brother - Needtobreathe

I have been listening to this new Needtobreathe album and I really want to take this evening to relax and listen through the album slowly analyzing the lyrics.  Enjoy one of my favorite tracks and expect an explosion of posts in the next 48 hours.

Brother Let Me Be Your Shelter

Needtobreathe is comprised of two brothers and childhood friends and as you follow this group you realize more and more of the tension produced by years and years on tour.  If you want a window into the full story simply follow this link and watch a short documentary they created called "Prove the Poets Wrong".

Never Leave You All Alone

I Can Be The One To Call When You're Low

Tonight I feel the Love that draws me back home to Georgia Tech for another semester with my Brothers at Theta Xi.  In the years I have seen relationships come and go due to my actions and the actions of others.  But the one thing that I know is that the men who surround me on campus are my shelter and when the going gets tough they are not going to leave me alone.  They are the ones that I call, the one that I confide in, the ones that I know will listen to my heart and speak truth.  Speaking words that sting in the moment, stirring up pain and rebellion but once that storm calms wisdom prevails. 

Brother let me be your fortress when the night winds are driving on

Be the one to light the way 

Bring you home

This summer while I live on the other side of the world I am very thankful for the power of technology that enables my friends to remain as the ones who light my way.  Pointing my wayward self back to the water that satisfies and the giver of all life.  Learning the power of community has been the journey of my past two years.  Since SDP and times of chosen isolation I see the scars that are caused by not letting my brothers point me home.  Allowing my selfish stupidity and pride to direct my steps away from the light and towards the darkness.  "Like a bull chasing a matador is a man left to his own schemes"  Yep that is me and in the weeks before leaving for this summer trip I learned how much I need someone beside me.  I have been called out as one who validates his own thoughts without regard reaching out for wisdom or advice.  Simply a current flaw that I can not wait to see transformed into place of restoration. Redemption has a sweet taste but I feel like I only get a taste between seasons in the desert place.  Only when I am at like a child or wounded animal do I cry out for help from those around me.  

I ain't made for a rivalry and I could never take the world alone 

I know that in my weakness I am stronger

but it's your love that brings me home

The effects of competition and comparison can be felt in any relationship.  I do not speak of this often but the competition that I crafted between myself and my siblings was a very destructive motivator before I left NC and game to GA.  Many actions were based on rivalry be it in school, sports, or simply seeking the affection of our parents.  Leaving for college finally taught me that I was not actually competing with them.  I was simply competing with myself trying to compare my accomplishments to the actions of their past.  It took a few years before I could actual write them praising the amazing gifts that they have been given and truly rejoice with them!  Seeing that family is so precious and vital to each and every human.  That I can not take this world alone, I may be weak but the Love of family brings strength.  I feel bad for my children because I can only wish to be half that man that my father has been and any future Mrs. Shackelford has some big shoes to fill!

I know that my writing comes out like shrapnel from a cannon but this writing tends to be medicinal for me and not truly intended for the consumption of the masses.  Over the next few hours or days I will be posting the rest of this album and I would highly recommend buying a copy of "Rivers in the Wasteland".

Ramblers in the wilderness
Yeah we can't find what we need

We get a little restless from the searching 

Get a little worn down in between

Like a bull chasing a matador is man left to his own schemes

But everybody needs someone beside em

Shining like a light from the sea

Brother let me be your shelter 

Never leave you all alone

I can be the one to call when you're low

Brother let me be your fortress when the night winds are driving on

Be the one to light the way 

Bring you home

Face down in the desert now 

There's a cage locked around my heart 

I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were

now my hands can't reach that far

I ain't made for a rivalry and I could never take the world alone 

I know that in my weakness I am stronger

but it's your love that brings me home

All is Well from Prince George Park,
Paul Shackelford