everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Friday, February 17, 2006
Longing for home
I heard this song on the radio as I was coming in to work this morning. Normally, I'm listening to one of the greatest inventions of mankind - sports talk radio. However, this morning, I turned on to a local "Christian" music station as I drove my daughter 
to school and myself to work.
I wrote last fall about Rich Mullins on the anniversary of his death, and I mentioned one my favorite lyrics, which was from this song. I especially like that last line about "longing for home." When Rich talked about heaven in his songs, he usually called it "home". He knew he was an alien in this world, that he belonged to another, and that someday he'd leave for home. He talked about it like we might talk about our own home when we're in another city, state, or country. I wish he was still here to write more songs about home, about God, about his love for us, because he was one of the best at it during his time here. But his goal was not to write more songs. His goal was not to live here as long as he could. His goal was to make it home. And he did.
It's hard to say if this is my favorite song of Rich's. "Sometimes By Step", "The Color Green", "My Deliverer" and "Hold Me Jesus" also stand out for me, but this is probably one of my top three. Since I'd heard it again this morning, for the first time in quite a while, it's on my mind again, so I thought I'd share it here.
to school and myself to work.I wrote last fall about Rich Mullins on the anniversary of his death, and I mentioned one my favorite lyrics, which was from this song. I especially like that last line about "longing for home." When Rich talked about heaven in his songs, he usually called it "home". He knew he was an alien in this world, that he belonged to another, and that someday he'd leave for home. He talked about it like we might talk about our own home when we're in another city, state, or country. I wish he was still here to write more songs about home, about God, about his love for us, because he was one of the best at it during his time here. But his goal was not to write more songs. His goal was not to live here as long as he could. His goal was to make it home. And he did.
It's hard to say if this is my favorite song of Rich's. "Sometimes By Step", "The Color Green", "My Deliverer" and "Hold Me Jesus" also stand out for me, but this is probably one of my top three. Since I'd heard it again this morning, for the first time in quite a while, it's on my mind again, so I thought I'd share it here.
If I Stand
Rich Mullins and Steve Cudworth
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
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 allegence
I owe only to the Giver of all good things
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
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