Jesus Calls Us

A simple song with a charming little tune. I appreciate it for its firm but gentle message. It was written in the 19th century, but society never changes. We still have distractions of many sorts that threaten to draw our eyes from Jesus.

Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
saying, “Christian, follow me!”

There’s a lot in the world to distract us. Over the years I’ve found more and more of it to be less and less important. Not just the usual things that you get warned against chasing, like popularity or wealth. But there’s so much out there to excite our interest and draw us in. The world offers entertainment, learning, belonging, or simply “here’s something to stave off boredom”. These can be fine in proper proportion. But all of this can drown out Jesus softly and tenderly calling for our attention. All of it can take up time and space we could use to serve others, further God’s kingdom, and store up treasure in heaven. We just have to be careful.

As of old the apostles heard it
by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred,
leaving all for Jesus’ sake.

Other people have given up a lot more than you or I likely ever will for the sake of eternal life. Writing checks for the church, standing up for unpopular people, volunteering with charities — these are relatively small sacrifices in comparison. No need to feel too stressed about it. Or we might be called to give further. But not further than we’re capable of going.

Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying, “Christian, love me more!”

We are called to something better and more lasting than the entertainment the world pushes at us. Fulfillment on Earth, happiness of others, and treasure in Heaven hereafter. It’s not a drudge, but a gift bring offered — if we can hear it and respond.

In our joys and in our sorrows,
days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures,
“Christian, love me more than these!”

Really something I continue to work on, less distractions from doing what really matters.

Jesus calls us! By thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear thy call,
give our hearts to thine obedience,
serve and love thee best of all.

Gordon Lightfoot and the rhymes that tie it all together

Gordon Lightfoot died earlier this month. He wrote great lyrics and had a great voice to sing them with. His most famous recording, probably the one he’ll be known for by any future generations who know him at all, is “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. And it’s a great song, although I think the ends of lines have a little singsong curl to them that isn’t appropriate for the subject matter. But my favorite is “If You Could Read My Mind”. The writing is on another level here. Lightfoot is comparing a dissolving relationship to various tropes in romantic books and movies. Look at this rhyme scheme:

I walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three-way script
Enter number two
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me

But for now love, let’s be real
I never thought I could act this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it
I don’t know where we went wrong
But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back

And after a light musical interlude, the music quiets down for a serious final thought:

If you could read my mind, love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old-time movie
‘Bout a ghost from a wishin’ well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
But stories always end

And if you read between the lines
You’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
The feelings that you lack
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it
I don’t know where we went wrong
But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back

You see everything he did here? For starters, the last verse/pair of verses return full circle to the ghost in a well at the beginning of the song. At the beginning there was some idea that the ghost could be set free if the speaker’s partner would just look at him and understand. But now the ghost is locked away where nobody will ever go and the end of the story is nigh.

And these last two pairs of verses both draw on movie imagery, but they are also tied together by repeating the underlying point that the speaker ends the song on: the speaker doesn’t know what happened and feels at a loss to fix it.

But they’re also tied together by the words I’ve bolded and underlined that rhyme with each other across the verses. These words are perfectly suited where they’re located to refer to what has gone before: coming back from the imagery to the real situation and a movie star that acts in one case, your lacking feelings and my own feelings in the other. These rhymes bind the two verses together even more tightly and it’s just really beautifully elegant. I’ve never noticed this level of creative harmony before and I may never again.

This is just such a good little song.

Anyway. Other Lightfoot hits that I like — I can’t claim to have delved into his discography — are “Carefree Highway”, a real earworm of a refrain when you’re in the morning-after blues mood, and “Rainy Day People”. Looking at the Youtube suggestion box, I’m not the only one who mishears the first song as “Every Highway”. Nobody’s perfect.

Favorite five musical artists

(A.k.a. when you’ve already put effort into gushing about something once, why not post it again elsewhere?)

1a. Simon & Garfunkel. I’d like to think people still know who they are. They were my favorite even when I was a child who was disinterested in playing favorites.

1b. Carbon Leaf. So much of their work just perfectly vibes with me. They are rock, yes, but I think the Celtic influence might help keep them from being too overbearing about it. Variety of music, variety of topics, and through it all, happy or sad or philosophical, there’s a sense of 1) not blaming anyone and 2) there’s gonna be a tomorrow and I’ll make it. There are a lot of, shall we say, introvert-friendly songs and some heartwarming coming-together/emotionally connecting songs. And, crucial for someone whose brain was starved by early ’90s pop music, good lyrics. They’re the only group I buy by the album at sticker price. Their pre-2001 albums and Five Alive aren’t recorded too well, but everything else is good. They’ve headed more into folk territory since going fully indie but that’s fine with me. My favorite is “Lake of Silver Bells”, and I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion, but Indian Summer has the highest number of their S-tier songs. (And it doesn’t hurt they’ve used butterflies in their branding.)

3. The Inner Banks. They were putting out an album every four years for a short while. The second-worst thing to happen in 2016 was their breaking that streak. I think they just sound so good. The instruments sound so good, their energy is just right, “Rockets” is one of the only songs I’ve ever really sat and listened to and thought “I’m not sure how much I like this, it’s too much to process in one sitting, but I know I want to hear it again immediately”. “Come Back” is gorgeous. The first album is almost entirely instrumental, but lyrical songs are a higher percentage in the later two albums. They aren’t on Youtube much, but they should still be on Spotify.

4. Gonna be a nerd and cite Jennifer Wang, Rob King, etc. for their work on the Might and Magic 6 soundtrack. This is my happy music. If this were an actual band it would be #3. It cheers me up whenever I play it. Any of it. Scary, creepy, adventurous, sad, it’s all gorgeous and embedded in my heart. I also have 7’s soundtrack, with the same leading names on it, and it’s got some great music but it’s much less inspired.

5. There are no more actual bands on my shortlist, sorry. I’m sure I’ll mention more in the future though. But for now: Descent 1 music is still something I play a lot, either the official .mp3s or fans’ de-midification efforts (Daniel Jones and Lyris in particular, but good luck finding their recordings on the Web). I used to start up the game just to bounce the automap around the screen and listen to the music. So good.

He Leadeth Me

You may notice these have all been ye olde hymns. I grew up with the standard UMC hymnal, where only a sprinkling of “newer” or “diverse” hymns had been included. Later we got a supplement, but I never had much time with that. I don’t remember noticing any particular hymn in there except “I’ll Fly Away” from O Brother, Where Art Thou?. And I like the old thees and thous because they carry more weight to me. But I’m okay with a version that uses less formal, more modern language. Just don’t change the meaning and try not to ruin the poetry, you know?

A lot of “contemporary worship” songs are . . . I don’t want to disparage any work done for God by someone with their heart in the right place, but they’re pretty thin gruel. They’re the musical equivalent of homeopathic treatment. Any deep truth or catchy tune that was originally present has been watered down beyond recognition. There are a few new songs (“new” meaning post-2000, let’s say) that I think are pretty good, but I just don’t understand how elevator music is supposed to convince a nation bedazzled by the world’s offerings to return to God.

Anyway. “He Leadeth Me” was written in 1880, inspired by Psalm 23. It’s a hymn of comfort, with a gentle, comfortable tune that still swells in the right places.

He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

If you remember the late ’90s, you may remember the brief angel fad, at least in America. There were several angel songs on the radio, cherubs were everywhere at the department store, guardian angel bumper stickers were a fact of life, Touched By An Angel presumably starred someone as an actual angel touching people’s lives.

Personally, I never was into guardian angels. How much better to have God Himself looking out for me, right? To lead me, not just through the Bible, but through the daily presence of His Spirit. Certain People seem to be bent on considering a superficial reading of the Bible as the beginning and end of everything God has to tell us. But God can, and will, reach us through any part of our lives. Like a shepherd, He’ll steer me away from the worst and toward the best. It’s a comfort, but remember, it requires me to respond by actively choosing to follow.

Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s flowers bloom,
By waters calm, o’er troubled sea,
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

One of these days I’ll talk about a hymn that doesn’t contain water metaphors, honest. But this is such a pretty verse, with the soft consonants and long oos complementing the gentle tune.

Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content whatever lot I see,
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.

We like freedom of choice and we like to be able to go our own way. It’s particularly emphasized in the US. But part of following Jesus is to bow to God’s guidance. And that’s been hard for me. I’m not very greedy, but I am strong-willed about wanting to do what I want. And, honestly, not feeling “very greedy” can be its own problem. What materialism I do have seems small compared to some others’, but if it gets in the way of living how I should live then it’s just as bad as theirs. Whatever part of your life gets in the way, Jesus says, get rid of it. So it’s been an experience learning to want less and less, and learning to give or to obey that still small whisper from the Spirit, over the years. I’m still nowhere near where I might be. But you know what, every time I give in and do what I feel called to do, whether it’s a moral or practical question, it honestly works out long-term and I feel good. Every single time.

And when my task on earth is done,
When, by thy grace, the victory’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

Nobody really wants to die, but passing through death is part of our lot. We’re designed to move on when we’ve lived a full life. The writer refers to life as a task, to remind us that we aren’t just spending our days in any old fashion, but that we each have a mission to carry out, that God will lead us through. This is a reminder to not fear death’s sting. I still dread it somewhat, honestly, but it’s a dread undermined by the promise of joining Jesus in eternity.

He leadeth me, he leadeth me,
By his own hand he leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
For by his hand he leadeth me.

So much “contemporary” church music leaves out our response to God’s blessings beyond maybe “yay I love Jesus”. That’s not good. We’re called to do more than be happy and go on with our lives the same as before. We’re called to follow Jesus the Good Shepherd down the straight and narrow path. And when that path feels treacherous or difficult to find, we can rest easy because we are led as if by His own hand.

It Is Well With My Soul

I like music and I like Jesus, and I like a lot of the old hymns, so I think it’ll be fun to talk about some of them and what they mean to me.

First up is a classic that has come to be one of my very favorites over the last few years, “It Is Well With My Soul”. Originally written in 1876 by Horatio Spafford, with the tune by Philip Bliss. Like a lot of older hymns it has a lot of verses that aren’t all necessarily included in every hymnal, and the words are tweaked over the years by this or that editor, but this is the text that I’m familiar with.

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!

The central idea of the song is right here, in this beautiful verse. Whatever is going on in my life, my eternal soul is safe and well. The Jewish word shalom means both peace and wholeness, and that is what Jesus brings spiritually. He brings the water of eternal life so that the soul need never thirst for more. And I respond by storing treasures up in heaven where worldly circumstances cannot touch them. It is well with my eternal soul!

Moving across the country, changing jobs, changing schedules to accomodate a growing family. Feeling tired, feeling frustrated, feeling rushed, concerned about money, worrying about health. Life doesn’t always happen the way I want it to happen, but wherever I wind up and whatever I’m doing, I have that core of peace and wholeness to carry me through it.

The writer chooses to pair peace with sorrow, which is not the most obvious pair of opposites but carries spiritual truth. Peace could have been paired with bustle or war, or sorrow with joy. But the connection is that external peace should not lure us away from seeking inner peace. And grief, pain, or fear are the emotions that most divide us from God. In this context, both peace and sadness are extremes that can push or pull us away from God’s peace.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Next is a focus on the facing of difficulties. Like the temptation of vice, or a rough day at work, or what the writer went through if you read that Wikipedia link above. Whatever is going on in the world, however attacked I feel by events, deep down I always have the assurance of God’s love and support. Learning to lean on that as I age has brought me calmness and confidence when facing new or anxious situations.

Some people wonder why Jesus had to specifically go through the ordeal of dying on the cross. We Christians can take it for granted, but’s a fair question. I think there are a number of reasons, but the one relevant here is that it serves as assurance to us that God so loves the world as to send his only Son to be murdered for our sake. On that solid rock I can confidently stand, though all around be shifting sand.

My sin — O, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part, but the whole —
Is nailed to the Cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Why follow Jesus? This right here.

Sin is not the violation of some arbitrary set of commandments. It’s the breaking of one’s relationships by mistreating or acting against someone. We are broken people who act against loved ones, against ourselves, and against the world around us, through selfishness or foolishness or just ignorance. Sometimes we outright rebel against God. We do it in small ways, we do it in big ways sometimes. And by doing so we act against God’s wishes that we live in love.

The forgiveness of sin by the cross, once and for all, frees us from the emotional burden of guilt for all our past mistakes, and we can be new people, repenting of our old ways, filled with hope and love. We can move forward in restored relationships where mistakes can be overcome rather than compounded, because we now have a right attitude and the guidance of the all-knowing Creator. It’s freedom, it’s relief, it’s power. It offers wholeness and, with nothing to fight for because we are whole in every way that ultimately matters, brings peace.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

I can find peace, even as I and the world around me struggle with pain, fear, turmoil, or disappointment, because I know a new day is coming when the story of this existence is complete, and God will set all things right and sweep away pain forever. And if I do my part to prepare for that day, I will share in the celebration.

It is well with my soul!
It is well, it is well with my soul!