Smell the Color 9

I figured this would happen; I owe an explanation for why I bought Chris Rice’s CD Smell the Color 9.  Here’s the brief story.

In my freshman year of college I knew very little Christian music. I was just stepping out on my own, and needed some quality Christian music to support me. My randomly assigned roommate Josh happened to be a Christian, but his musical preferences could be described as “chick CCM” (CCM = Christian Contemporary Music)–think FFH, Avalon, etc. One CD he had, though, stuck out to me, and so I stole it from him and ripped a copy. As you can probably guess, it was Chris Rice’s Smell the Color 9. It was occasionally cheesy, but there was a lot of really honest dealing with God that I really needed to figure out how to bring God into the regular areas of my life.

This happened to be at the same time that I realized that I wasn’t comfortable with downloading music online illegally, and so I promised Josh that if I kept the MP3′s, I would buy it eventually. So, three years later, I’ve finally purchased it, even though I haven’t listened to it in a year or two.

I saw, through people’s comments, that Mr. Rice is responsible for the atrocity upon the ears of the world called The Cartoon Song which rhymed Hallelujah with, among others, “ya-ba-daba-lujah.” I understand, having seen this, why it surprised people that I bought his CD. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few excerpts from Smell the Color 9:

I would take no for an answer,
Just to know I heard you speak. (Chris Rice – Smell the Color 9)

Do our jokes make You laugh?
What’s Your favorite cartoon?
Can you tell me what’s out past the edges?
And what about UFOs, taste buds, and tornados?
Why do we dream?
Oh, and what causes de ja vu?  (Chris Rice – Questions for Heaven)

After sixteen years in a cold, gray prison yard
Somehow his heart is soft, but keeping simple faith is hard
He lays his Bible open on the table next to me
And as I hear his humble prayer
I feel his longing to be free someday /
How did I find myself in a better place
I can’t look down on the frown on the other guy’s face
‘Cause when I stoop down low, look him square in the eye
I get a funny feeling, I just might be dealing
With the face of Christ (Chris Rice – The Face of Christ)

So yah. Maybe some of it is a little cheesy. But it’s what I needed then. And no, I’m not trying to defend myself here (although that was my original intention). I’m just trying to help us remember that different people need to be met at different places at different times. I find myself all too often judging speakers and musicians just because they don’t reach me where I am right now, without remembering that I wasn’t always the person I am now, and in the future I might laughingly look back on what reaches me now.

That was really long. Whoops.