Why Geodes?
One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Carrie Newcomer from southern Indiana. I first heard her at an outdoor folk festival in Lafayette, IN on a beautiful sunny fall day 20-some years ago. Over the years, she's come through many of life's challenges and her music reflects those changes (but in a much more beautiful and lyrical way than how my changes have been recorded!). In one of her most recent albums (The Geography of Light) she has a song called Geodes that stuck in my head.
I love the idea of wondering what treasures lie inside people that we seldom
see from the outside. Over each person's life many layers, many experiences,
many seasons build up, creating a unique and beautiful pattern inside -- but
seldom do we get a glimpse of all the layers, patterns and crystals.
By Carrie Newcomer
You can't always tell one from another.
And it's best not to judge a book by it tattered cover.
I have found when I tried or looked deeper inside.
What appears unadorned might be wondrously formed.
You can't always tell but sometimes you just know.
Around here we throw geodes in our gardens.
They're as common as the rain or corn silk in July.
Unpretentious browns and grays, the stain of Indiana clay,
They're what's left of shallow seas glacial rock and mystery,
And inside there shines a secret bright as promise,
All these things that we call familiar,
Are just miracles clothed in the common place.
You’ll see it if you try in the next stranger's eyes,
God walks around in muddy boots,
Sometimes rags and that's the truth.
You can't always tell, but sometimes you just know.
Some say geodes were made from pockets of tears,
Trapped away in small places for years upon years.
Pressed down and transformed,
Until the true self was born,
And the whole world moved on
Like the last notes of a song,
A love letter sent without return address.
You can't always tell one from another.
And it's best not to judge a book by it's tattered cover
Now I don't open them to see
Folks 'round here just like me,
We have come to believe
There's hidden good in common things.
You can't always tell but sometimes you just know.
You can't always tell but sometimes you just know.
By Carrie Newcomer © Carrie Newcomer Music, BM1 Bug Publishing