Leonard, The Lonely Astronaut

The best science fiction stories are never actually about science of any kind; they are about the human condition.  They are about truly human characters and challenges that just happen to use space travel and the like to tell the story in a unique and sometimes more powerful way.  Science fiction has served many novels and films well in this way.  This year, it provides the backdrop for what is probably the best album of 2012, even though there's still over three months left in the year.

When i first heard Andrew Osenga was creating an album called "Leonard, The Lonely Astronaut", i laughed.  It sounds silly, right?  He was going to do a Kickstarter project to finance it, and if the project hit a high enough goal, he would build a spaceship and spacesuit and record the album within.  It was strange and silly, but i liked his Letters to the Editor concept albums well enough that i figured, why not give him the chance?

I am so very glad i did.  The project not only met all of its funding goals, but surpassed all hopes and expectations.  By being a Kickstarter for the project, i was able to get this album many months before its wide release date.  I would guess conservatively that i have listened to it 60 to 80 times since then.  My twenty speculative dollars helped create a kick-ass album whose one paragraph review goes like this:

The production is great, the music is varied and beautiful, and the songwriting is absolutely stellar.  I don't just mean that the lyrics of the individual songs are well-written; the album as a whole, as a unit is superbly crafted.  Osenga has written some great songs here and there, enough to get my attention, but i had no idea he was capable of something as musically and lyrically impressive as this.

The story behind the songs is that of Leonard Belle a man in the future whose wife dies in a car accident while they are finalizing their divorce.  Leonard decides to get away from it all, signing up for a solo trip on a space freighter at relativistic speeds.  This means many months alone in the deep of space while 100 years passes on Earth.  Literally leaving behind everyone and everything he knew forever, with nothing to do but play his music and face his issues for months.  If you consider this backstory, the lyrics are intense and profound.  But even if you don't, they are still full of depth, beauty, and challenge.

At the start of summer, i left a burned copy of Leonard in a car my sister-in-law borrowed for a few weeks.  When she returned the car, she exclaimed, "What was that CD in you left in the car? I could not stop listening to it!"  I know the feeling.

One last thing, i asked that sister, my wife, and daughter what their favorite songs were and read several early reviews by other people.  No one agrees.  Favorite tracks include: Tower of Babel, Firstborn Son, Ever and Always, It Was Not Good For Man To Be Alone, Beat of My Heart, We Never Said Goodbye, and Out of Time.  That's 8 of the 12 full tracks (not counting the two beautiful, but brief instrumental tracks).  Lately, i've gotta say that Shooting Star has really been growing on me.  I think that makes 9 out of 12 favorites by different reviewers now.  That diversity either means the whole album is terrible or the whole album is fantastic.  Trust me, it's the latter.

You can, and should, buy Leonard here, as it provides the artists their best return on your purchase.

On Heresy

Capital ‘T’ Truth longs for ardent missionaries, not angry guards. If it were otherwise, He would have given a great commission more like: “Therefore stay and vigorously argue about theology with all nations, antagonizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and forcing them to obey everything you are convinced I have commanded of them.”


Truth is crucial, theology is import, orthodoxy and tradition are of immense value.   Arguing is as often worthless as worthwhile, divisiveness is terrible, and fear-mongering is seriously obnoxious.


There are two kinds of fools, one who says "i know better than orthodox tradition" and the other who says "i know orthodox tradition better".

faith is a verb

the life i hold here is fragile;
the eternal you give, robust.
the dreams i have may shatter;
the plans you make will not.

the strength i have is waning;
your glory burns ever hot.
the love i offer is fickle;
your love does never stop.

my motives are truly little;
your passions, grand as the stars.
the reasons i give are lowly;
none can measure the height of your thoughts.

yet daily you descend, quite willing,
to empty yourself in my hands.
and always you rush to forgive me,
for the wounds i inflict once again.

there is mystery here that defies me.
there is hope for a promised land.
there is love striving always to free me.
Lord, grant faith, though i don't understand.

risk required

if i took a step toward that
i would have to be a brave man
real life doesn't come that easy
if i left behind a fear like this
i believe i'd be a glad man
but would they look at me the same

stepping out on that limb
is not just going to happen
risk is always required

safety is not security
surviving is not reviving
when your soul is slowly dying

requires risk to love for real
requires faith to get something better
requires change to beat the weather
whether you like it or not

lay down that fear
relax that grip
empty your hand if you want
to get a new hold on life

hold on to that neighbor
give more to that stranger
even die for your friends
there's still nothing higher

like it or not
there is risk required

the baptist

best man in the true wedding
among men and prophets none greater
John, fulfilled in diminishment
was that what made you greater?
love. for the Son, your cousin
eclipsed disciple's pride
the voice calling in the wilderness
leaps at the Bridegroom's sign
but still not beyond doubting
to ask, "are you the One"?
was that just ignorance speaking?
about how the Groom should be?
or was decreasing harder
than you expected it would be?
but the blind did see
and the lame men walked
so i'm betting joy leapt again inside
despite the death you faced
and the prison you were inside
another womb to exit unto life

on giving

I fear i am too detached from my giving,
for the people i give it to mostly give it away.
What good does that do me?
When i give to those
who give to those
who give to the needy,
am i really giving to the needy?
There's no human face on it.
I never see God do His work with it.
Oh, it's good that i give to those
who give to the needy,
for they do it better than i.
But it means more
when i give to a needy stranger
and look him in the eye.
Or even a needy friend,
if God is the reason why.
If i joyfully, faithfully fund the charities,
that's a good thing to be sure.
But that's not all
that the call to give is for.

i want

i want a new world

i want a new body

with better reasons to sing

i want a pure heart

one that doesn't feel the shame

of the weakness hiding in me

i want the strength to believe

and the vision to see

that i can share in that world

today

i want the patience to wait

and the mind to conceive

so this hope can overflow me

i want to see you

with my eyes not just my mind

i want to know you

with fingertips that are mine

i want forever

filled with possibilities

i want this tension

to be just a memory

i want you to teach me

how i really ought to be

who it is you're making me.

i want to look up

and love the people that i see

with the things you know they need