Good morning…
Last Monday’s post set off a creative chorus of responses. Our post, A Little Boy’s T-Shirt, ended with an invitation. “If the joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), what song lyrics well up in your brain when strong emotions get all steamed up? P.S. If you feel compelled, send me your brain’s knee-jerk reaction and together we will bring out into the open the lyrics living inside.”
My dad responded from Ohio, reminding me of two silly songs we sang as kids: “How about ‘Sam Sam the Lavatory Man’ and ‘The Great Ship Titanic?'” Many of you shared brief snippets of your living lyrics: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” “Thank you Lord for saving my soul. Thank you Lord for making me whole. Thank you Lord for giving to me, Thy Great Salvation so full and free.” “When Peace like a river attendeth my way; when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.” “He’s making diamonds out of dust; He’s making diamonds out of us.” “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.”
During a time of deep loss, one of you recounted, “a song came from God, not me, the opening song from Oklahoma but with one word change, “Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a wonderful feeling, Everything is going GOD’S way.” Another wrote: “Reading your post and scripture I immediately go to my favorite song The joy of the Lord is my strength by Audrey Assad.” Many more of you took time to share your stories.
******
“I love the “song on my t shirt” post,” one of you wrote. “In addition to the blessings that come when we, as grandmas, can pass along songs to our grandkids, a beautiful blessing comes when I go with fellow deacons to local retirement homes to serve communion and a homily. In the ‘memory care’ area, it is sadly easy to wonder why we are even there, as the cognition of these souls is mostly depleted and what you can see are blank eyes or odd gestures. This is until we begin our singing of the old hymns. These folks brighten up and sing along to their precious ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ or ‘How Great Thou Art,’ as well as to the truth of ‘Jesus Loves Me.’ Thanks for your words that greet me each morning. My good friend from Brunswick, GA, introduced me to this gem. Blessings from Montana.”
******
“Lately, the song that plays over and over in my mind is ‘Orange Sky’ by Alexi Murdoch. It’s haunting and beautiful, and probably subject to interpretation,” a mom of young children wrote.
I replied, “So what would be your interpretation at this time in your life?”
She elaborated: “It’s a good question. I’ve wondered why it stays stuck in my head so much. Partly because I love the image of my girls as literal sisters standing hand in hand and receiving God’s salvation, while also being each other’s rocks. I never had a sister, so raising two girls is a wonder of its own.
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my sister standing by
With my sister standing by
I said Sister, here is what I know now
Here is what I know now
Goes like this.
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, in your love, in your love
******
“Being a musician and married to one, I am a song lyric nut,” one of you admitted. “I’ll share a story from my childhood – my mother would often sing to my sister who was born with a rare genetic brain disorder. I remember one day my mother crying as she was holding her. My sister couldn’t speak yet, but she began to vocalize this song – ‘Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning. Leaning on the everlasting arms.’ I think it was the message my mother needed to hear from a God who is always there for us. Thanks for listening to my memory.”
******
“Dear Sue,” she wrote. “I found it enlightening that many songs, including the one you sent after the memorial service and the one I shared with you, compare our journey of faith in regards to the ocean. Why is that do you think?”
“I love your question about the ocean,” I replied. “I think it’s the relentlessness, the ebb and flow of the undertow, and our puny powerlessness as water pulls sand from under our toes. Faith is trusting what we cannot see and the grandeur of the ocean fills our senses with the power of the invisible God. When we stand on the shore, amazed by the vastness, the rhythm, the unique sights, sounds, and smells of something so much bigger than us, I think God feels more undeniable, more tangibly real. Songs sometimes do that for us too. Repetitive, rhythmic, relational, we are quietly comforted by the songs singing in our souls. Life-giving lyrics remind us each personally, “God is real and God is with me.”
…Sue…
P.S. Thanks to Gina MacFarland for this fun picture of soulful singer Gwen Hughes, taken on the trampoline in our backyard.
