The Gift

Over the course of the 18 years of my life God has blessed me with six wonderful younger siblings.  He has also seen fit to bring into the world some brothers and sisters that I never had a chance to meet- children who, though never brought, writhing and crying, into this world, were still, for the precious few weeks of their enwombed lives, my precious siblings- a gift of God.

It's a wild thing knowing that for some weeks at certain periods of my life I had another sibling on this earth- a sibling whom I never met, whom I never even saw.  I don't know if this sibling would have been a rambunctious little brother growing up amongst perpetual swordfights, bandages, and dirt, or perhaps a little princess for my brothers and I to coddle and protect.  I don't know if this sibling would have been tall or strong or smart, what color his hair would have been, what his laugh would have sounded like.

I do know this, for each of them: I shall go to them- they will not come back here to me.

I look forward to meeting them.

A couple times, after these bittersweet moments of loss, we as a family commemorated the occasion by taking a balloon and tying little notes to the string.

We released it into the sky- a little farewell, a memorial, a funeral, a celebration.

So I have special attachment to this little project that I was blessed to score last week- a project that connects with me in a way that is more than coincidental:



I don't believe in coincidences.

As I think about this piece of music, it reminds me so much of our babies that we never met- the simple, childish expectation- the bittersweetness- the climax that just barely begins to explore all that the music could have been and then disappears, waiting to be discovered on another distant day- the incomplete beauty- the emptiness of a work that was never realized in its fulness, and yet was worth every moment of its short life, something that could have been so much more, and yet was perfect in its incompletion, in being everything that it was written to be.

So I dedicate this piece of music to those siblings whom I never met.

We'll meet soon enough, beloved.

The Gift by gabrielhudelson

The Religion-Free Zone

There's a name for those people whose actions and ostensible beliefs are different.

They're called hypocrites.

Church & State- Episode 2b:

A Musical Journey to the Orient

Music by yours truly.

On Christians Coming Out Of The Closet

What exactly does separation of Church and State mean?  Can pastors endorse candidates from the pulpit?  Should politicians allow their religious beliefs affect their political decisions?  Should Christians keep their faith to themselves, relegating it to the personal aspects of their lives?

Or should Christians just grab their Bibles and come out of the closet?

That's what I explore in this episode (and part 2- stay tuned) of Church & State.

Feminism- All Growed Up

Dear girls,
Feminism is growing up.

It used to be enough for you to claim psychological superiority- to wear the spiritual pants- to hold the esteemed position as the only thing that stood between males and barbarism.

No longer.  Now, not only are you better than the guys- but you're one of them, too.

Not only is the new femme fatale seductive and shapely (sorry, guys, I'm really trying to find semi-modest pictures here), but she is also just as strong, just as fast, just as deadly as the men.

Some of you are just discovering this, but hopefully more and more girls will grow up with this realization instead of finding later that, for so long, they believed the myth that men had something that they needed.

Hopefully this message will reach them while they're young.

Don't worry- guys love it when you protect them, save them, lead them, beat them up when they need it.  Nothing inspires them like being led into battle by a woman.

It's no trouble for you, of course- you're used to doing everything else for them anyway.  Besides, the world needs you.  Men just can't do what you can do.

Especially not in a dress and high heels.

The world doesn't need that whole "gentle and quiet spirit" thing anymore.  It's passé.  What do you have to be gentle and quiet about?  Anything men can do, you can do better!

Which makes me wonder- what do we need men for, anyway?

They're so violent.

Sincerely,

A Man (I'm sorry about that)

P.S.

You may still have my seat on the lifeboat, if you want it.

My Graduation Speech

So I won the AFHE speech contest for the 2012 graduation...

First Episode of Church & State Online!

Hello there.
My name is Gabriel Hudelson.
I'm eighteen years old, and have been all my life.  >.>
Scratch that.
I'm eighteen years old, and I have been homeschooled all my life. 
I like push-ups,
Music,
and my Family- in reverse order. 
Most importantly?
I'm a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth,
And that we,
As individuals,
And as a nation,
Disregard The Word of God
At our own peril.

INTRO 

America.

Wake up.