Welcome to the Orphans of God mailing list!

Subscribing, Unsubscribing & Posting

To subscribe ...

subscribe orphans-of-god
end

To unsubscribe...

unsubscribe orphans-of-god end

To post...

NOTE: IF YOUR EMAIL RETURNS TO YOU WITH AN ERROR, PLEASE USE THIS EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW:

orphans-of-god@edmonds.home.cs.ubc.ca

About this Mailing List

If you see something true, something beautiful in the music that Mark made, you feel that the songs he wrote speak for the way you feel about some very important things, then you probably share a common Ethos or Worldview with the rest of his fans.

Those who look for the authentic recognize it because it's not predictable, containable, finite, or even easy to express. The language of poetry is our entrance to a whole world of deeper meaning.

Those who mistakenly label poetic language "vague" or "not quite christian enough" unfortunately will miss out something that is truly meaningful and beautiful.

This mailing list is even for people may have never heard of Mark, but who see life in a certain slant of light, who recognize poetry and levels of deep meaning. For me, Mark Heard's music is a touchstone. If you haven't given him a long serious listen, do so.

Now, it would be foolish to idolize the man or his music, and so I discourage you from simply joining this list in order that we may each congratulate each other in our fine taste in music. Far better to struggle for the words to actually say something.

Discuss a lyric from a song that mean something to you. Mention something you saw somewhere that struck a chord inside you somewhere emotionally. Keep Truth and Beauty alive inside yourself, and fan the flame in others.

Okay, so this is kind of a fan club, sure. And fan clubs are okay, but this is also a lot more than that.

Very Important Suggestions

• Try to avoid quoting a lot of someone else's message. Pick one sentence that you wish to reply, if you wish to quote at all.
• Do not make general statements about something being "Bad" or "Good", try to support your opinions and qualify your statements to avoid offending.
• Please try to keep the mailing list relatively low-noise. It's okay to "Lurk", but thoughtful participation is very much welcomed.
• Please try to be open minded. Don't look for opportunities to disagree, look for opportunities to agree and find commonality with someone.
• Please make your subject line actually match the content of your EMAIL. If you change the subject, or someone else has already changed it, or if you can possibly make the subject more fitting to the content, please do so! This will help everyone!

Things that are On Topic

• MUSIC AND SONGWRITING:
  • Groups/Musicians, both on christian and secular labels
  • What is sometimes called "Truth Music", also sometimes called "Alternative Christian", or (my personal favourite) "Christian music that doesn't suck".
  • Song lyric discussion
  • Band and concert information
  • Recommendations of a particular artist or CD
• WRITING AND WRITERS:
  • Writers poetry of fiction and nonfiction who touch on the deeper side of life, coming from a worldview which is compatible with the christian worldview.
  • Some of these might be: C.S. Lewis, Frederick Buechner, Henry Nouwen, Graham Greene, Madeleine L'Engle, Flannery O'Connor, John Irving, and many others.
• OTHER THINGS:
  • Those who love Mark's music will no doubt have millions of other things in common, like a love for truth, and beauty.
  • Anything which helps you to understand people, relate to them, which is deeply important to you is very much on topic. If you find you are replying back and forth to only one person, please take the discussion to EMAIL to continue it, and may you make and deepen many friendships through this list.