Take Time to Realize (a cover song)

In his encyclical Lumen Fidei, our Holy Father Pope Francis writes that "faith by its very nature demands renouncing the immediate possession which sight would appear to offer; it is an invitation to turn to the source of the light, while respecting the mystery of a countenance which will unveil itself personally in its own good time" (13). In other words, when God gives us the gift of faith, he gives it to us in its entirety, and yet He does not want to simply flood us with it against our will. He wants us to engage in a dialogue, in an ever-continuing expansion and contraction through which we realize that faith, while totally given to us, needs to be nurtured, cultivated, and cared for. Faith will coax out of us all of our strengths and help them to grow; we need to be drawn out of ourselves in order to realize what was already in us, simultaneously giving our consent to be transformed. Grace builds on nature.

It's easy to apply a lot of that to the realm of human love. Sometimes, a great romantic relationship can be there in a nutshell, but it just takes the two people to draw it out of the other person; to help them "realize." It's the age-old drama: guy/girl likes girl/guy, and girl/guy doesn't notice guy/girl.

Anyways. Back in April, my friend Cristina and I wanted to sing a duet at a coffeehouse event, but in the end we couldn't make the event. So we decided to record the song instead. Tis a barebones cover of Colbie Caillat's "Realize." Originally, I wanted to add some piano and strings, but just couldn't figure out exactly how to blend it all together and make it work. Perhaps I'll record a second version later if I feel inspired, or maybe this vocals and guitar rendition is good enough. You can listen to it below, and download it as well if you so desire (and if for some reason the download button doesn't work, you can click "share" and copy and paste the link into your browser).

And to everyone out there praying that the special relationship with that special someone will "unveil itself personally," remember to have faith in God - because he has a great plan for our Vocation, plans for welfare, and not for woe.

Enjoy!