I don't sing in front of anyone... except my kids. And that's just because I made a promise to my wife that I would sing for them at bedtime. She wanted the kids to remember me singing to them the way that her dad and grandfather did.
Unfortunately Kids, Daddy doesn't have the Bing Crosby/ Jackson Browne voice like your grandfathers. Mine is more like the scratchy sting of nettle while being chased by the Queen's lovely swans.
However, I have determined myself to the goal of teaching the Sunday school class the following song by Rich Mullins, If I Stand.
Just remember, the louder you sing along, the less likely you will hear me...
Home has always been an interesting concept for me. Sometimes home has meant comfort and chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes home has been a church home. At other times, home was a collection of gathering places where family and friends gather together. Longing for those times, a nap in our library, the joy of a newly organized closet(how this blog all got started), time with my folks on the road to my grandparents...
And all this talk in church about a heavenly home...
Our "stuff of earth," as Rich Mullins puts it, does often compete with the allegiance to our heavenly Father... There are places on earth that I treasure and look forward to returning to...often. Cowpasture River, the Meher Baba Spiritual Center, SCOTLAND (where we met such lovely and dear friends), the banks of Deltaville (Scallop Bay) and the Appalachian Trail which whispers my name...waiting patiently for me to visit on my days off! I have made connections to these places because I often see them as places of rest. I have felt a longing for these memorable destinations because of experiences which I have had there with my family and friends.
There are many more places I look forward to visiting. This spring, I have set apart some time to take some dear friends on a trip to scatter my birth-father's ashes. His family mentioned that he often requested to be sent down the river when his time had come. I will honor that request with a canoe trip in just a few months. Just have to come up with the rest of the money for my kayak!
Reading Rich Mullin's biographical devotional book, An Arrow Pointing to Heaven (James Bryant Smith) was an incredible journey and a welcomed challenge for me. Rich lived and breathed the gospel. He longed to be like Christ. Constantly. He read more, listened more and lived his life more fully that I believe I have ever allowed myself. In many different writings, he mentioned that he would not be afraid to leave this world. There would be no sorrow for him. With the dedication of the great Sun Ra (Le Sony'r Ra), Rich reached out to his creator.
He also, like Christ, had no home, no family which allowed both of these men the opportunity to live the gospel life more fully. But do I have to lose everything to follow Christ?
I have a family that I adore. I am blessed with a wife who understands and appreciates me. My parents taught me self-sufficiency. I have a few very strong personal friendships which recharge me when I meet these people along the road of life.
At the end of the day, I long to curl up with my little ones, read a little Roald Dahl and snuggle up to my wife with a cup of tea.
A bible verse that speaks to me is John 17:4. Jesus says, at the end of his ministry,
"I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work you have given me to do."
Personally, I see this as Jesus' example to us to live this life to the best of our abilities, whatever happens to come our way. For me, I will strive to be a more tender husband, a better father and an observant friend. I long to be a more professional teacher and a better steward, while I am here on this earth.
More and more simply each day.
I think this is why this particular song reaches to me, If I Stand.
The words...
There's more that rises in the morning
Than the sun
And more that shines in the night
Than just the moon
It's more than just this fire here
That keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger
Than this room
And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the giver
Of all good things
CHORUS:
So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
There's more that dances on the prairies
Than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean
Than the tide
There's a love that is fiercer
Than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's
When her baby's at her side
And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things
CHORUS(2x)
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
Notice that Rich points to longing for a relationship with God - stronger than those within our families and friends. He reminds us that we should give God that honor, as well. The same way we would welcome our friends into our homes... we should make a space for God... make time within our crazy schedules for time with him in prayer, in praise and in worship.
So, along this path, I am learning to see God in my love for my family and in the way I learn from my children. I have found more reasons to thank God...not just for his creation in the natural world, but also for his leadership in the dark places of life as well. In those welcoming morning smiles, in the gatherings around our table for celebrations and dominoes... Just as I long for these times, I feel compelled to reach further in my life, to serve the God of my creation. I am thankful for his guiding hand, leading me to the wonderful people and places in my life. I am challenged today to depend more on God, to come to him in times of need and in contentment, and to look for him more often in the wonderful people he puts in my path.
Link of the day...
http://www.rvihn.com/ - Roanoke Interfaith Hospitality Network - a temporary home for those trying to build a future
Quote of the day...
“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.” C. S. Lewis - Til We Have Faces
Bible verse of the day...
"For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good." Psalm 107:9
No comments:
Post a Comment