Sometimes I See New, Sometimes I Cry (or, For the Love)

Sometimes, while driving around town, I listen to music and it makes me see with new eyes. Take this morning, for example. I locked away Daphne and Gracie, hopped into the Jeep after stashing all the work necessities in the back (and a few non-essentials, such as the disc golf discs), and pulled away to go to the office. As I reached the highway, I realised a song my heart wanted to hear, and clicked the wheel round til it reached Rich Mullins. One button-push later, "Calling Out Your Name" begins to hammer out the speakers...

Well, the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota hills
Angels danced on Jacob's stairs--
Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs

There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe is stilled
With the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer

And I see the hawk burst into flight
And in the east all the horizon
Is in flames
I hear the thunder in the sky--
See the sky about to rain--
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

Listening to this as I flew past familiar hillocks and grass leant on by the old Tennessee wind, knowing they were not the prairies described, yet they felt new. And it made my heart breathe deep.

Sometimes, too, the music makes me cry. When the first song ended, I paused the music to revel for a few minutes before starting another song by this, probably the greatest poetic lyricist I've ever heard...

Aidan, you're young
But, Aidan, you're growing
Fast
Me and your mom and all the love we have
We can only take you so far--
As far as we can--
But you'll need something more
To guide your heart
As you grow into a man--

Let mercy lead
let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They'll find peace
And I'll meet you
In that place where mercy leads

Oh, this song made me cry! Only a few small tears, but cry I did. Cry for the beauty of a foolishness which saves by the awesome power of God. Cry for the mercy which ought to lead us, step by step, to overcome the world. Cry for the church which contents itself with the wisdom of this age--with its tactics of complaint and resistance and advertisement, rather than sacrificing, enduring, overcoming, winning. Tears for the peace of Christ, which He gives, so unlike the peace of this present, dark world; for less activism and more grace-persistent, loving activity; for foolish hearts to break, for my foolish heart to break.

They were but a few tears, but they were enough to move me. Add a cup of hope, stir, and such moments can move many, many more, I do believe.

Comments

Kaysie said…
Hey David!

Brooke gave me your blog address a few weeks ago and I thought I would stop by a say hello! I have really enjoyed reading your thoughts and poems -- it's good to find a fellow poetry lover. :) I will be back again!

Have a blessed day,
Kaysie
Good thoughts to read, my friend...I too have experienced similar feelings while listening to Rich. Keep writing, and let's get out in the woods sometime!

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