A Time to Laugh

Lite Brite!

I played this once yesterday, and now my lil’ guys can’t stop singing it.

Shaking the Dust.

When I first posted this song on October 31 last year, it was my private adieu to fundamentalism. I couldn’t say that overtly at the time. Circumstances were too recent. The pain was too sharp. The wounds were too fresh and confusing.

Grant had found this Janis Ian song in our collection during a Fall Saturday chore of indexing our mp3 files, and it was too spot-on to avoid. We sat listening to it over and over, stunned at how accurately it expressed our deep feelings of sadness and disappointment.

We were being summarily and completely pushed out of our faith community. I personally had left alone, packing up my office by myself in the middle of the night when the kids were asleep and when the shunning eyes were absent. They literally tried to stop my husband’s singing in the middle of his song–just as he and I were learning how free and full-of-grace that song was. They said our study was foolish and selfish and that the darkness of ignorance was best–a blessing in disguise.

So on this on our own Reformation Day, once again but this time openly, adieu. I hate to see a friend go down in flames without a song, so I leave you with this.

Adieu. God help us all.

I’m leaving by night.
I’m leaving alone.
I’m leaving it lie
When you waken I’ll be gone.
I would not beg for me
As I would not beg for you
Though I’d like to be
The one to see you through.

Every step you have taken
Disappears with the tide.
You’re torn up and shaken
With changing your mind.
You haven’t got the grace
To say you’ll finally decide.
And you haven’t got
The strength to stay to fight.

Those people who surround you
Only want to see you weak enough to crawl.
They’ll lie for you, decide for you
And buy up all your rights
And all your wrongs.
And they’ll try to stop your singing
In the middle of your song;
For they do not want you free
And they will not make you strong,
But only drag you down
In the hole they’re coming from.

They say you are foolish
In wanting the sun.
Say you are selfish
In learning to run.
Tell you that the darkness
Is a blessing in disguise;
For you never have to notice
If you’re sighted or you’re blind.
And they’ll do their best
To keep you from the light.

You’re more than beginning;
You’re learning to fly.
You feel like you’re falling.
But it passes in time.
I hate to see a friend go down
In flames without a song.
So I’m waiting by the doorway
But I will not linger long.

And I’m leaving by night.
I’m leaving alone.
I’m leaving it lie.
When you waken I’ll be gone.
I would not beg for me
As I could not beg for you.
But I’d like to be
The one to see you through.

Serve the Lord With Gladness!

Thanks to my hubby’s generous Christmas gift of an mp3 player, I’m obsessed with podcasts. And thanks to TulipGirl, I’ve found a new source for downloads. In this first (for me!) podcast, a little factoid popped up that can be a compelling retort to some who say I’m a little too optimistic about the Christian life. ;)

You know Old Hundreth, right? The first stanza looks like this:

All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.

It’s based on Psalm 100, of course. But notice the stark change between William Kethe’s words and David’s:

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
   Come into his presence with singing!

Uh. . . . Those two don’t match. Why? Why did Kethe change it? We serve with gladness – mirth, joy! The Vulgate chose lætítia. Luther uses Freuden. And Calvin is practically giddy!

Shout joyfully to praise the Lord,
all you who dwell upon the earth.
Worship the Lord with happy heart;
before him come with songs of joy.

So I think the better, more historically astute question is, why did we all get so crabby? Optimism about the Gospel is a good thing and, I would argue, a Biblical thing. What happened?

Was Gott tut, das ist wohl­ge­tan

We need to sing this song more.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

SYMPATHY

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!

“In Christ Alone”

By Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

More Singing

It’s been a blissful week, this first one of the Summer of Lewis. We walked with our wagon, ate popsicles, got terribly muddy, bathed everyone, lunched on dairy (since the allergy seems to be gone!) and napped all afternoon.

On the way home from church we sang about a boy named David and how he konked “Goliva” in the forehead. The song was a big hit.

Gramma Lewis taught us Gavin’s favorite song to sing all by himself, “We’re Glad Today!” He sang it on the way to church. “Dankoo, dankoo” is all he sings perfectly to this Mommy’s ears. After we thanked God for each family member, Isaac asked, “Where is Heaven?” :) A precious question that Mommy and Daddy hope we answered so that it sounds very different from Disney World. For bedtime tonight, Mommy and Isaac read What About Heaven?, a gift from Aunt Sarah when Isaac and Gavin’s older sister went to Heaven 6 summers ago.

So I’m glad today for my Isaac and Gavin today. Thank you, God in Heaven.

Subversive Grace

As I continue my familial campaign to subvert poorly-theologized kids’ songs. . . . This one is in desperate need of a rewrite.

Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day. Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.

Neglect your Bible, forget to pray, forget to pray, forget to pray. Neglect your Bible, forget to pray, and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.

Like the sanctification process all depends upon us! I tried a few re-writes and Isaac kept asking for the “grow, grow, grow” part. So I figured I had to include it. How about this:

Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day, pray every day. Read your Bible, pray every day, and you still need Christ.

Since God chose me and helps me each day, helps me each day, helps me each day. Since God chose me and helps me each day, I will grow, grow, grow.

Since God chose me and helps me each day, helps me each day, helps me each day. Since God chose me and helps me each day, I can’t shrink, shrink, shrink.

Big Grace

Gavin’s not a fan of the car. And the only thing that works to keep him calm on trips to and from school is to sing. Isaac’s first request is usually “Jingle Bells.” But his second fav is “My God is so BIG!” But there’s only one verse! And I got to thinking that there’s so much more to God than His omnipotence. So a couple of friends of mine, Ruth and Monica, and I put our heads together, and I’m pretty much tickled.

Our additions remind me of that Commencement morning 4 years ago when we discovered that a little Isaac was in my tummy. I read Isaiah that morning and was stunned at how God talks both about His big power and His tender love. I think these verses point toward that tender power of our loving and awesome God.

God’s love is so BIG!
So kind and so gentle,
There’s nothing that stands in the way.
God’s love is so BIG!
So kind and so gentle,
There’s nothing that stands in the way.
As high as the sky,
As deep as the sea,
Around me just like a big hug.
God’s love is so BIG!
So kind and so gentle,
There’s nothing that stands in the way

God’s grace is so BIG!
So free and so flowing,
It bathes me right down to my toes.
God’s grace is so BIG!
So free and so flowing,
It bathes me right down to my toes!
It covers my faults,
Forgives all my sins,
It reaches out sweetly to me.
God’s grace is so BIG!
So free and so flowing,
It bathes me right down to my toes

God’s love is so BIG!
So great and so tender,
There’s no one my God cannot love.
God’s love is so BIG!
So great and so tender,
There’s no one my God cannot love.
My eyes cannot see
how God works inside
to help me love others each day.
God’s love is so BIG!
So great and so tender,
There’s no one my God cannot love.