In Another Light

One of the greatest songwriters of the past 50 years is Wayne Kirkpatrick. I have sung his praises before. To my knowledge he has only produced one solo album, entitled, The Maple Room, and from that album comes the song, “In Another Light.” Although the song is obviously written about a marriage relationship (“Hey, that’s my ring on your finger”), perhaps it has something to say to all of us about seeing things in another light. How often do the “shadows of our yesterday” get in the way of our love for one another? Don’t we sometimes need a new perspective that “tends to the wounds of the past” but looks beyond the wounds of the past. In marriages and other relationships there will always be “demons that rummage through the past of what” we’ve done to each other. In a highly polarized, easily wounded atmosphere, life might be better if we took a step back and looked at things in another light.

On his Facebook page, Kirkpatrick says that he has been “married since 1985 to the same girl I went to high school with and we are still rockin'!” So, despite the challenges noted in this song, he seems to know how to navigate the ups and downs of married life. Take a listen to the song and see if it rings true in one or more aspects of your own relational life.

In Another Light

Words and Music by Wayne Kirkpatrick

Standing like statues

Stubborn unmoving but breakable

You say there’s nothing wrong

But that look is so unmistakable

Angry and wounded

Well I’m sure your reasons are justified

You’re searching for changes

Oh, but there are quite a few you’ve yet to realize

And you would see things differently

If you chose to look at me

In another light

Shadows of our yesterday,

Bow to love and melt away

In another light

Changing the angle

Well baby that could be our only chance

Some new perspective on it

That tends to the wounds of our circumstance

Cause I feel like screaming

Damned if I don’t, damned if I do

Chasing those demons

That rummage through the past

Of what I’ve done to you

You would see things differently

If you chose to look at me

In another light

Shadows of our yesterday,

They bow to love and melt away

In another light

Hey, that’s my blood on your sabre

Hey, that’s my voice in your dark

Hey, that’s my ring on your finger

Hey, that’s my love in your heart

That’s my love in your heart.

You would see things differently

If you chose to look at me

In another light

Shadows of our yesterday,

Bow to love and melt away

In another light

In another light.

Yeah, in another light.

In another light.

And, in another light.

Maybe a love should be strong enough to look beyond the past.

Oh, our love should be made to last.

If I Were You

If I Were You 

(Lyrics and Music by Wayne Watson, 1999, “Field of Souls”)  

If I were You, if I ran this place
There wouldn't be no mercy, no
There wouldn't be no grace
And people that wander off and go astray
I'd make real sure that they would pay
Yeah, that's what I'd do if I were You

And if I were You, if I ran this town
The righteous would be sitting pretty
And the rotten would come tumbling down
Oh, they'd beg and they'd wrangle for a second chance
I'd say, "sorry, boys, but I just can't"
Yeah, that's what I'd do if I were You

But You know me, I'm just a man
Of unclean lips and unclean hands
Some of the thoughts I have
Make me want to run and hide, yeah
Well, I don't know much, but I observe
You've never treated me like I deserve
Your loving arms are always open wide, yeah, yeah

Oh, well, You know me, I'm just a man
Of unclean lips and unclean hands
Some of the thoughts I have
Make me want to run and hide, run and hide
Well, I don't know much, but I've observed
You've never treated me like I've deserved
Your loving arms are always open wide, open wide

If I were You, oh, catastrophe, ooh...
I wonder what in the world
Kind of world would this world be
I guess I'll take my place
Wrapped in amazing grace
Let You be You
Uh-huh, that's what I'll do
Yeah, that's what I'll do
Yeah, that's what I'll do, ooh...

A few days ago, I ate lunch with some new friends and our conversation ranged in many directions and then settled in on philosophies about God and man. We come from very different perspectives on such subjects, but all agreed that the troubles of this world ultimately come down to humans being cruel to other humans. My friends complemented me on being a kind, forward-thinking, religious, person. If I had thought quicker on my feet, I would have quoted Solzhenitsyn’s words to them:

“Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains ... an unuprooted small corner of evil.

Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person.”

The song lyrics quoted above and Solzhenitsyn’s words tell us what we already know. We are usually people who strive to be good and do right. We think of ourselves and our friends as the better part of humanity. Yet, inside all of us lurks evil that has never been uprooted, a small weed in the corner of our hearts. If God allowed any of us to “run the world” it would be a catastrophe. That is why God asks and we do well to acquiesce to letting God be God while we humans take our place "wrapped in amazing grace." “Uh-huh, that's what I'll do.”

Everything You Put In

Yesterday’s blog was about the journey of faith of one of my heroes, TobyMac. I believe that he deserves encouragement for his strong faith and consistent ability to speak the truth of the Gospel in ways that have been heard throughout his 30 plus years in the Christian Music industry. I do not use the word hero lightly. I only have a few heroes and those who read this blog may know who some of my other heroes would be. Yes, sometimes heroes let us down, but TobyMac has kept his faith and a strong Christian ethic that continues to challenge me and many others.

His latest message is that doing things for people that they can’t do for themselves is a higher calling. I wonder how many of us could attest to this truth? Many of us may not have been put in the type of position Toby has recently been in. Caring for every need of a parent as the parent develops dementia and progresses toward death is a difficult thing. I suspect that we too would say, “this is harder than I thought it’d be.” But would we sincerely be able to say that, “empty never felt so full?” and “It’s worth everything you put in.” May each of us be able to say that we have done our best to pour ourselves out for others, just as our Saviour poured himself out for us.

TobyMac

TobyMac, one of the founders of the Christian rock band, DC Talk, has written and recorded songs that have changed the course of Christian music (think “Jesus Freak,” “Luv is a Verb,” and “Colored People”). He created his own record label (Gotee Records) and produced the albums of such bands as Reliant K and Out of Eden. He has co-written books with Michael Tait and Kevin Max and he has sold out stadium-sized concerts around the world. In his solo career, he has released seven recordings and won three Grammys, an American Music Award, and approximately twenty Dove Awards.

In a category all of its own is an accomplishment for which TobyMac (Toby McKeehan; born Kevin Michael McKeehan) will never win an award. In 2012 through 2015, Toby took care of his father in the last three years of his father’s life and has spoken of the nature of this process in several interviews.[1] Three years of taking care of his father’s every need while his father regressed in physical abilities and progressed in dementia has changed TobyMac in profound ways. He has spoken of the slow-loss of his father, whom he says, “was really not with us for a long time before he passed away.” He credits his father as one who taught him the importance of living out his faith. He also says that his father was a driven man who taught him to push himself to be the best he could be. He went on to say that the three years of caring for his father changed his life as he realized the deeper love that comes from doing things for people that they can’t do for themselves. He calls this a “higher calling.”

He sings of this higher calling, and of the struggle that comes with it, in a song entitled, “What Love Feels Like.” You can hear it on his album, This Is Not A Test, and watch a live performance of the song, recorded at the 2016 Dove Awards, on YouTube. The song features DC Talk and was a brief reunion for the band.

Toby remarks that the song is very much a DC Talk style of song that he wanted the other two members to help him record. It has become a main feature in TobyMac concerts, usually using video and audio recordings of Michael Tait and Kevin Max. The hardest hitting lines in the song’s lyrics speak of the weariness that comes with caring for others and remind us that such things are always “harder than [we] thought” but “empty’s never felt so - - - full.”

Love Feels Like

I am tired, I am drained
But the fight in me remains
I am weary, I am worn
Like I've never been before

This is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought it'd be
Harder than I thought
Takin' every part of me
Harder than I thought
So much harder than I thought it'd be 

But empty's never felt so

full

This is what love (this is what love)
This is what love
Feels like
This is what love (this is what love)
This is what love
Feels like 

Poured out, used up, still givin'
Stretching me out to the end of my limits
This is what love (this is what love)
This is what real love
Feels like
This is what love feels like poured out
Used up still willin' to fight for it
This is what love feels like
Yeah, this is what it feels like

Like floating confetti
The beautiful gets messy
When the fallout finds the floor
But in the depths of the trenches
Is the richest of riches
Love is calling us to more

This is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought it'd be
Harder than I thought
Takin' every part of me
Harder than I thought
So much harder than I thought it'd be

But empty's never felt so

full

This is what love (this is what love)
This is what love
Feels like
This is what love (this is what love)
This is what love
Feels like
Poured out, used up, still givin'
Stretching me out to the end of my limits
This is what love (this is what love)
This is what real love
Feels like

 This is what love feels like poured out
Used up still willin’ to fight for it
This is what love feels like
Yeah, this is what it feels like

And now these three remain
Faith, hope and love
But the greatest of these is love

It's worth everything you put in
Everything you put in
It's worth everything you put in
Everything you put in
Everything you put in
Everything you put in
It's worth everything you put in

Love 

This is what it feels like

Poured out, used up, still givin'
Stretching me out to the end of my limits

This is what love feels like
This is what love (feels like)
This is what love feels like
This is what love (feels like)
This is what love feels like
This is what love (feels like)
This is what love feels like
This is what love (feels like)

This is what love
This is what love (feels like)

Poured out, used up, still givin'
Poured out, used up, still givin'
Poured out, used up, still givin'
Stretching me out to the end of my limits

Songwriters: Benjamin Glover / David Arthur Garcia / Toby Mckeehan

Love Feels Like lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

http://bit.ly/2jxSoVd

http://bit.ly/2emc8GH

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[1] “TobyMac's Fulfillment Comes Through Servitude” Ashley Andrews, CBN, http://www1.cbn.com/tobymacs-fulfillment-comes-through-servitude

The Final Move

The Final Move

(Written by Chris Rice, Christopher M. Rice • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc)
(Listen here)

Saw an old guy today
Staring long at a chess game
Looked like it was half-played
Then his tear splashed between
The bishop and the king...oh
He turned his face to mine
I saw the Question in his eyes
I shrugged him half a smile and walked away
It made me sad, and it made me think
And now it makes me sing what I believe

It was love that set this fragile planet rolling
Tilting at our perfect twenty-three
Molecules and men infused with holy
Finding our way around the galaxy
And Paradise has up and flown away for now
But hope still breathes and truth is always true
And just when we think it's almost over
Love has the final move
Love has the final move

Heard a young girl sing a song
To her daughter in her pale arms
Walkin' through a rainstorm

“Because you're here my little girl
It's gonna be a better world"...oh
She turned her face to mine
I saw the Answer in her eyes
I shrugged her half a smile and walked away
It made me smile, and it made me think
And now it makes me sing what I believe

It was love that set our fragile planet rolling
Tilting at our perfect twenty-three
Molecules and men infused with holy
Finding our way around the galaxy
And Paradise has up and flown away for now
But hope still breathes and truth is always true
And just when we think it's almost over
Love has the final move
Love has the final move

(Something right went very wrong
But love has been here all along)

Love and Selfishness

For so the goblin Selfishness would reward the angel Love.
George MacDonald, Phantastes, p. 124, 1981 edition, 1851 original.

George MacDonald, a contemporary of Lewis Carroll, was a masterful writer who poetically described human nature. His books have not been widely read in the last few years but are certainly worthy of consideration. In Phantastes, he wrestles with the concepts of love, lust, pride, and disobedience in ways which challenge every reader to consider their own motives. In this quote, he is asking us to consider what it is that constitutes love and what constitutes self-interest.

A Meditation upon Deuteronomy 6

 

Deuteronomy 6: 1-25 (NLT)

¹ “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, ² and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. ³ Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴ “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. ⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ⁸ Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. ¹¹ The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, ¹² be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹³ You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.

¹⁴ “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, ¹⁵ for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. ¹⁶ You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. ¹⁷ You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you.¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors. ¹⁹ You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would.

²⁰ “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’

²¹ “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. ²² The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. ²³ He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. ²⁴ And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. ²⁵ For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’

God sets down his commands, decrees, and regulations and asks his people to obey them. These are Old Testament Covenant laws, yet they contain principles to which God calls those of us who live under the New Covenant in Christ.

The text calls us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” The emphasis here is that this is not a blind obedience without understanding, nor a rote following of rules. We are to love God and commit ourselves to following him with our hearts, our souls, and our strength.

“Wholeheartedly,” is explained further if we look at some of the following commands. We are to “repeat them again and again to your children.” Repeating them without living the commands, decrees and regulations will not get either generation anywhere. There must be a wholehearted concern for these laws. “Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Although some Jewish followers did literally do this, this was likely not God’s intent; and certainly, simply tying commands on our hands or writing them on our doors is not sufficient. They must be close at hand and must guide the practices of our homes.

The passage goes on to say, “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations.” We do not live in a time when our neighbours worship Ba’al or Molech, but our neighbours may worship material things (consumerism), entertainment, or sexual pleasure. How will we avoid these distractions? By wholeheartedly loving God and committing ourselves to his commands and practices.

Living wholeheartedly for God is not something we do in isolation. Many of the commands God gives his people relate to the right and just treatment of those with whom his people live. He calls upon them to care for the alien, the orphan, the widow. Listed below are a few of the many verses that give us these commands.

Exodus 22:21 (NRSV)

21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 24:20-21 (NRSV)

20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

Romans 12:13 (NRSV)

13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

The last sentence of Deuteronomy 6 says, “For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.” Certainly, we who live under the New Covenant know that it is impossible to literally “obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.” So, it is much more a matter of the “heart” than it is a matter of “doing.” May I always look for the heart of God and seek to follow his heart and his Spirit rather than blindly follow the letter of ancient laws which may no longer relate to the culture in which I live.