What would Bono do?

It is a beautiful day in sunny Florida today! For me, the palm trees never get old, being close to the ocean doesn't get old (sometimes forgotten though), but the insipid sound of sea gulls does. Get me some alkazeltser!
Things around here have been going well and I've been more busy during the day at the office, which is good. I've also revamped some goals for my vicarage, well, in the department of my evangelism module. I've kinda scrapped the former idea I had (so much so that I'll not write about it), and I've gone with a new one. We are doing an Easter Eggstravaganza! Which will be really cool. It's going to have many different things going on, in a fast-paced fashion (about 10 minutes at each station, that the people who come will choose what they'll do). I'm not going to write about all the details here and now, but God did provide me with something that I feel more confident about and something that can, potentially, help the congregation grow...it is, but isn't, a numbers game.
I'm approaching my 5th year of being on a U2 kick. Seriously, there isn't much that is shaking me off from listening to (and watching) their music. In fact, I might listen to an album or two a day. Further, last week, I think that I listened to just about all of their albums in one day, while in my office! I bought their U2 live from Chicago, when Ross and I attended the show there, and I've watched it so many times already!
My U2 kick started in mid-2001, as I prepared to go on my mission trip to China. I've always enjoyed their music, but their new album, at the time (All That You Can Leave Behind), inspired me a lot. It was the beginning of my questioning how much I really wanted to be a weather man and was in the midst of my uber-involvement in campus ministries at UND. The first song, and hit, off of that album is "Beautiful Day." I remember listening to that song on the roof of our hotel in China. What I don't remember is hearing the lyrics "See China right in front of you," that is towards the end of that song. Once I got back to the US and heard that, I was floored.
That's an interesting story, that I'm sure that I'm going to tell many times throughout my life, but there is something more to U2 than just music. Something that I've been pondering the past week is: How can a group, like U2, have more of a positive reaction to their music, than a "Christian" band? One of the real interesting things about U2 is the faith that is within the band. Larry, Adam, and the Edge aren't too talkitive about their faith, where they are in their walk with God, but Bono is. From my church's subscription to Group magazine (www.groupmag.com), Bono recently sat down with Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone) and Ed Bradley (60 Minutes) to talk about the success of U2- and, perhaps more important, the bizzare mix of stardom and Christianity. In both conversations, Bono pointed to Jesus as the reason for getting things done. In his quest to get people on board with him and his cause for Africa, he spoke to those on the religous-right (he's a little bit more of a leftist), and questioned their lack of involvement with people who have AIDS. He made parallel between those who have AIDS to those who were lepers, that Jesus hung out with them, even though they had this disease (that could kill them, just like AIDS could kill- it doesn't all the time).
I do have a point to all of this Bono, U2 talk. Bono is like King David, in that he has his problems and his sins, but he still is after God's heart. (He's said somethings that I haven't agreed with, but is it possible for us all to agree all the time? No.) Bono is one who lives by God's grace, how Lutheran is that? Very much so, in my opinion. We cannot depend on ourselves, on our own ambitions, but only on God's grace. We could all use a little more "Bono" in our lives.