Yesterday as Josh Groban walked toward me I smiled and thought to myself, I wonder if he’ll pause look around the room and ask, “Whose writing all those mysilentscream posts about my songs?”

If you missed those posts, here they are:
Hidden Away
Our Hiding
Secrets & Hiding
Secrets: As If.

Josh Groban and TreeHouse
False Alarms by Josh Groban
Brave by Josh Groban
War At Home by Josh Groban
If I Walk Away by Josh Groban

Human Trafficking and The Prayer by Josh Groban
Believe by Josh Groban
You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up) by Josh Groban

Reader JenniferMacLeod[~= @JenMacAtlGA82 recommended that Josh Groban’s “You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up)” be included in this series.

I had forgotten about the song, and when I watched the video I fought back tears.

Watch You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up) here. (Lyrics below)

I cannot begin to tell you how accurately this song describes what I have experienced at TreeHouse since 1989.
– Teens lost, lonely, and screaming-longingly to feel heard.
– Parents seeking, searching, and silently-longing to be encouraged.
– Friends hoping, hurting, and helping their friends limp along.
– Youth ministers, teachers, counselors, politicians and police officers looking for solutions.
Every week I see the looks on people’s faces when they feel heard and find hope.

I love Josh Groban’s song You Raise Me Up
Give it a listen:

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up… To more than I can be.

Recently I stated in a staff meeting that we had never, ever required a piece of information as part of our paperwork, and that it would be an unnecessary bit of micro-managing paperwork.

It took about forty-eight hours before I needed to apologize as someone graciously pointed out the error of my ignorance.

I was certain what i believed was right, but I was truthfully wrong.

Note: I’ll be apologizing at the next meeting, tomorrow.

When I heard the song Believe by Josh Groban I loved the melody, but I didn’t know how to move past my thoughts of every time I, or someone else I know of wholeheartedly believed misguided “truths”.

The other night my wife, my daughter and I watched the movie “The Help.” As the movie ended the tears continued. My heart was breaking for men, women and children entrenched in overt and covert human trafficking.

I remembered why I pray: Because I am desperate for a power greater than my own to do that which I cannot.

Josh Groban’s song The Prayer is one such prayer. He begins: 1

I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know

Josh Groban wrote the song War At Home after one of his visits to the Bethesda Military Hospital. Josh, like many celebrities, visits people hospitalized to offer compassion and encouragement. Josh feels grateful for the sacrifices that our military forces make on behalf of our country. He visits people in the hospital to encourage them.

Josh Groban explains the song’s origin in this version of War At Home.

A fallen brother,
He’s a
A fallen husband,
He’s about to be woken in his hospital bed
Doesn’t want to rest
Just wants to run
And he’s tired of being told that he’s the lucky one

While watching footage of the recent Boston Marathon, I, like you, felt shock and awe watching brave people run toward the scared and injured. I felt humbled by their bravery. Josh Groban wrote a wonderful song about being brave.

Josh Groban – Brave

Wake up, wake up, the sun cannot wait for long
Reach out, reach out before it fades away
You will find the warmth when you surrender
Smile into the fear and let it play

Josh Groban’s song False Alarms is about a dating relationship, but the feelings he’s feeling can also apply to other relationships where there have been hurt feelings.

False Alarms

Far across this red horizon
I am walking down the line
I am picking up the pieces
That this storm has left behind

After all the clouds are fallen
I would breach the battered ground
Turn your darkness into light love
Turn your silence into sound

But I can’t cage you in my arms
When my heart is jumping forward
To avoid your false alarms
And you can’t tell me not to stay
When I opened up your window
And I watched you fly away

More Unintended Consequences

Clearly the consequences of our actions is not always foreseeable:
– Sometimes harmless pranks go horribly wrong
– Oversights have lead to industrial accidents
– Forgotten oil plugs destroy car engines

On a more personal level, sometimes…
– Friendly banter is misunderstood as flirting
– Couples breakup when they want nothing but
– Partyers having fun get alcohol poisoning
– People try meth and become addicts
– Teens have sex and become unintended parents
– Parents try to build a relationship with their kids and it seems to backfire

Even More Unintended Consequences

Unintended Consequences

The German weekly Der Spiegel has a report about the unintended consequences of child labor laws in one Pakistani city known for producing soccer balls.

Apparently children were frequently employed in the factories, until child labor “advocates” in the West forced companies like Nike and Adidas to ensure that their suppliers weren’t employing children. But what happened to the kids? Surely after they were freed from their toiling in the factories they went to school and now have well-paying office jobs, right?