wasting time (i hope we learned)

happy labor day. as gustav makes landfall today, i can't help but think about katrina, and remember all the death and wreckage and water. i remember the mess. i remember how the government wasn't much of a help. i remember going to mississippi a couple of years ago to help with some of the rebuilding effort there, and being amazed at how raped the land still seemed to be.

i was at revelation generation this weekend, which is a small scale christian music festival. i'm not really into much of the music that was featured there, but i always enjoy tobymac as an entertainer and showman (not as a theologian). the one band that i was very impressed with was the myriad, whom i have written about before. they only played a short set, but they were very good, at least in my opinion. one of their songs, the first track on their new album, is called "you waste time like a grandfather clock," which aside from having a very clunky title, is a song which always reminds me of our government's response to katrina. as i stood there and sang along with them, remembering my time on a roof in mississippi, i couldn't help but think about gustav, stomping through the caribbean on his way to the gulf coast. this time they got people out of new orleans, and all the politicians are saying the right things. i hope we have truly learned from our mistakes and don't waste time helping people who are stranded, hurt, or starving, no matter who they are or what neighborhood they are from.

here's the lyrics to the song. have a great day.

where were you a week ago?
when we gathered in the courtyard
where were you when we sang
and our song shook the ground
where were you a week ago?
when the churchbells started swinging
where were you when they rang
and angels came down

you waste like grandfather clock
imagine we start counting sandbags,
thats when we start counting sandbags

where were you a week ago?
when the green line started growing
where were you when it burst
and spread green the cloud
where were you a week ago
when the red sign wasn't sinking
where were you when it cracked
and spread fire about?

you waste time like a grandfather clock
you waste time like a grandfather clock
imagine we start counting sandbags,
thats when we start counting sandbags

and if God would part the clouds
do you think He'd be proud?

you waste time like a grandfather clock
you waste time like a grandfather clock
and thats when we start counting sandbags,
thats when we start counting sandbags