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Wake Up Dreaming
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Michael chooses to mellow
into some Steve Miller tunes that seemed very appropriate. After all, a
Book of Dreams is what the doctor ordered. And it was medicine to
Michael's soul. "Oh, Oh big ol' jet
airliner - Carry me to my home - Oh, Oh big ol' jet
airliner
- Cause it's there that I belong" Michael felt like he was
being carried by the angels themselves. He felt completely safe. Then
came True Fine Love "Cause the time
is right - For walking in the moonlight - I have suddenly found I'm
ready to settle down - So come on get your rocks off - I'm gonna knock
your socks off - You'll see, oh yeah - So come on pretty baby -
We're going to raise a family". Raise a family? All Michael
could
picture was the resurrection of the last day. Could time be that close
he wondered? Even so, the next song, Wish Upon A Star, seemed so much
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"Close your eyes - Rest
your head - Let your spirits rise - Sleepy head - Rest your mind
-
It's been well fed - You can be what you want to - And it doesn't
matter
who you are - It doesn't matter where you are - If you wish upon a star
- If you wish upon a star - And it doesn't matter who you are - It
doesn't matter where you are - If you wish upon a star - If you wish
upon a star - Close your eyes - Say goodnight - Hug your lover - Real
tight - Let your dreams - Into your heart - Let your dreams take
flight." Michael prayed to his Father in Heaven to hasten the day when
the dead in Christ would rise. He also prayed to his Father that those
who died without knowing Christ but only having the hope that Christ
would someday return to free them, that those two would be resurrected.
Michael's thoughts were to those who desired with their hearts that
which their minds and flesh were not able to grasp.
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The next song brings back the
reality of our human frailty in Jungle Love. "You treat me like I was your ocean - You
swim in my blood when it's warm - My cycles of circular motion -
Protect
you and keep you from harm - You live in a world of illusion - Where
everything's peaches and cream - We all face a scarlet conclusion - But
we spend our time in a dream." A dream Michael had woken up
from.
The next song, Sacrifice, spoke to the Angel with Michael. "Lookin' back on time that's gone - I
realized I might have been wrong - But Macon took you for a ride - They
broke us up for their own pride - But you were young and didn't
understand - That you had found your lifetime man - Maybe someday
you'll
see - It gets so lonely being free - So don't be wrong twice - What a
sacrifice" Michael was beginning to believe that the Angel with
him in that room was the spirit of Eve from long, long ago. Once cast
from the garden, the Fallen Angel has spent all this time looking for
the same love she she once knew in the Garden.
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Burnin' burnin' all you can take
- Wheels are turning in the bed you make - I'll take you over, you're
tied at the stake - Nobody loves you like the way I do - Light rain's
over - The sun's all around - Four leaf clover - As I pull you down -
I'll take you over - You're tied at the stake - Nobody loves you like
the way I do - Nobody loves you like the way I do - Nobody loves you
like the way I do." Michael knew it was sincere and warm and honest
tone
set forth no for him, but for his visiting Angel. The record ended with
My Own Space. "Sittin' high on a hillside takin' in all the growth -
Time to throw away my problems - Cause I made 'em up myself - So I took
all those worries, put 'em up on a shelf - And headed on down to the
sea
shore - Clouds slowly passin' as I walked on the sand - I picked up a
seashell and I made up my plan - I could feel the spirit of life in my
hand - As I reached my destiny - Whoa ho ho ho oh oh oh whoa - I feel
free - Whoa ho ho ho oh oh oh whoa - Where I can have my own space."
The night was winding down but for Michael, it was a new beginning.
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The final recording for the long
night would be, appropriately, Fly Like an Eagle. "Time keeps on slippin', slippin',
slippin' - Into the future - Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
- Into the future - I want to fly like an eagle - To the sea - Fly like
an eagle - Let my spirit carry me - I want to fly like an eagle - Till
I'm free - Oh, Lord, through the revolution." Wild Mountain
Honey
speaks of how the Angel looks for the wrong thins when "You run for the money - You don't even
know about wild mountain honey." As if all the other messages
weren't clear enough, Serenade makes the point crystal clear. "Did you see the lights - As they fell all
around you - Did you hear the music - Serenade from the stars - Wake
up,
wake up - Wake up and look around you - We're lost in space - And the
time is our own - Whoa, whoa - Did you feel the wind - As it blew all
around you - Did you feel the love - That was in the air - Wake up,
wake
up - Wake up and look around you - We're lost in space - And the time
is our own - Whoa, whoa - The sun comes up - And it shines all around
you - You're lost in space - And the earth is your own - Whoa, whoa -
Whoa"
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The next tunes, Dance, Dance,
Dance and Mercury Blues speaks to the Angel. They call her to leave her
old man and return to her one true love. Take the Money and Run
admonishes the Angel to come with the light and join us. We know that
she's been living in a dark place of unhappiness for a long time but
she's having a difficult time believing in the right decision. The
music
reaffirms God's will that she return of her own free will and that we
will do everything possible to expain to her our tremendous, never
ending love. The final song, the Window, is an appropriate ending to
this wonderfully strange night. "Ask
my baby what she wants to be - She'll say a monkey swingin' in a tree -
Ask my baby what she's thinkin' of - She'll say there's nothing greater
than love - Well, look through the window - Tell me what do you see - A
beautiful planet - Peace and harmony - Think love you're surrounded -
We
are one you and I - Gather your leaves together - There's only love
until we die - Until we die." But God promised us never ending
life through his Son. That will be a subject for another day.
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After six consecutive
Cornerstone Festival experiences in the corn fields of Illinois,
Michael is fully aware that the journey has never ended. Yes, it has
gone through many phases and many changes but through it all Michael
has remained steadfast in his faith. He has raised his family in a bond
of love that cannot be broken. He has focused and worked hard to
prepare for the journey ahead. Michael has learned that he has not
traveled this life alone but that from his early days God has blessed
him with the presence of many angels who have helped guide Michael on
his journey. Certainly at each of the past six Cornerstone experiences,
Michael has been fully aware of the presence of the angels of God and
their ability to speak to him not just with words but with unspoken
thoughts of great power. Enough to take his breath away or bring him to
tears in swells of emotion as God spoke to him through his angels.
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As Michael looks forward, he
cannot help but wonder what the angels have prepared for him. Certainly
it is possible that Michael knows more than he is letting on. After
all, did he not at one time stand before the very throne of God? Or was
it all just a dream? "Well
they say time loves a hero
but only time will tell - If he's real, he's a legend from heaven - If he ain't he was sent here from
hell." Lyrics from an old Little Feat song that still
ring
true. Sometimes, you just never know where the dream stops and the
reality begins. "But I wake up
dreamin' again. And, oh, the things I see. I wake up dreamin' again.
I only wish I knew how to make this dream come true." By Little
Feat off Down on the Farm.
On a side note, Michael married a woman named Linda Lou the year before
Down on the Farm was released. Life certainly has it's odd little
'coinciences,' doesn't it?
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