This Peace

My son was born 18 hours ago. He sleeps in the hospital bassinet a few feet away as I steal these moments to write a note, flagging to the world a momentous day in the life of our family. There is so much I'd like to say, and more that I'd like to journal. For now, there just isn't time. Maybe someday there will be time.

I can't remember whether it was Wordsworth or Coleridge who said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility. If that is true, it helps explain how Sara Groves' song "This Peace" makes sense as a song about feeling grateful and serene about everything that has come to pass and yet not really having the time to write a song about it. Right now this song is running through my head, an expression of what the poet in me is feeling, and a promise of good things to come.

It's a whisper in my ear, it's a shiver up my spine.
It's the gratitude I feel for all that's arrived.
It's the mystery appeal that's been gratned me tonight;
This peace.

No time to paint a picture,
No time to write it down,
Just time enough to breathe it in, and linger.

Welcome, baby boy. I adore you. You can have my time. Here is a picture for the world.

See, what a morning

Though my post is a day late, this song does not come up short.

Best sung by a choir, "See, What a Morning" is a "resurrection hymn" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, who are rapidly becoming my favorite writers these days.

It is actually kind of a dreary morning today where I live, but it was beautiful on Easter Sunday, which was yesterday. Yet, the weather is not the point. Easter Sunday as a day on the calendar, in my opinion, is not even the point! Nor is the main issue whether you have bunnies and eggs (we do).

My point is that this song makes the point about the everyday glory that has been the reason for everyday hope ever since the event: "He lives! Christ is risen from the dead!" I suppose I came to believe in the power of the resurrection before I came to actively believe in the resurrection itself. I was challenged at just the right time, a few years ago, and didn't lose hope, but rather pondered how I had always believed it unquestioningly, and whether or not I still could. The world says that a resurrection from the dead is impossible, but there are those in the world who deny God even exists. The world is often wrong, and can be wrong about the most important things.

More or less, I realized I had to actively believe in the resurrection if my faith was going to mean anything at all. I think I already knew enough about the working of God's power to realize that not even death was strong enough to hold out against it. There had been deaths of other kinds that I'd witnessed - the death of joy, of love, of hope - and I'd seen God bring those back to life. In my little heart, that was enough for faith. The world was wrong.

I have not talked much about the song yet. One thing I love about the way this writing team works is that they weave together more than once concept in a stanza or a line. The words are so alive. I little bit of poetic explication is necessary to lead up to a great example.

Verse 1 is about the actual morning, the emptiness of the grave, the completion of God's salvation plan (or maybe it's the furtherance? I won't dither). The second verse is about Mary weeping at the grave, hearing the Lord's voice speak to her, the voice, the writers point out, that will continue to speak until He returns. Isn't God like that - speaking personally and unexpectedly to us when we weep, feeling alone? Verse 3 is about the majesty of Christ, the functioning of the Trinity, and our union with God through Christ. Here's the whole (short) verse:

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow'r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

Well, out of all that, my favorite line is, "the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty." I just rest in that - my faith is held, covered, by the Holy Spirit, who is at work within me. That's how I can believe in the resurrection, and in the working of His power in the world today. Life is not over when it seems over - we are raised with him. The future is not dull - we shall reign with Him. This is a privilege God has reserved for His children that I don't fully understand, but I know the Bible talks about it and that it must be true. Just haven't looked into it much. I should.

Thanks to the choir and director who led us in this song yesterday. It was truly a glorious morning.


From the album In Christ Alone.