Resurrection Songs

I have been thinking recently about resurrection songs:  songs that have helped to re-create life in me, songs that woke me up after a long period of blah, songs that were a catalyst for transformation. Resurrection songs bring not just a spring to my step, but a Spring to my life.

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I love Spring. It is such a time of beauty and renewal, like waking up after a just-right sleep. The rains refresh and wash clean.  Spring, with all its scents and sounds, is a herald of hope.

Not all Springs look the same, though, especially in my beloved Colorado.  Some Springs skip in wearing a garland of warm, sunny days. Other Springs blow in with an impatient huff. Some Springs come as you'd expect, with bright blooms and cheery songbirds. Other Springs are what you least expect, piling 3 feet of snow on top of your daffodils.

One thing is certain in springtime:  change.

The changes may be as bold and stirring as the riot of color in a bed of tulips or the heady fragrance of a fruit tree in full bloom. Or, the changes may be as quiet and unobtrusive as the unfurling of a leaf or blade of grass poking up through the dirt.  Spring might announce its presence with a cacophony of chirping or sneak in behind the drip, drip of melting ice. Loud or soundless, obvious or not, the changes of Spring are nevertheless dramatic...just like the Springs in us.

We tend to look forward to Spring and the changes is brings. Winter has its place and is a beautiful season in its own right, but I've never heard someone say, "Man! I wish the winter would never end. I just can't get enough of the biting wind and gray skies." Even if we're a fan of winter--snow and skiing and hot chocolate, there comes a point when we're ready for change.  Though we feel this way about the weather, can we say the same about change in ourselves?  We welcome the season of growth in nature...why do we sometimes dread it in ourselves? Granted, it can be more comfortable to sleep and it's definitely warmer under the covers. Staying still and curled up uses much less energy than breaking through the crust or bursting the seed pod.  But why do we fear the change and burrow deeper, preferring to stay in our own personal winter?

Here videos of some of my resurrection songs:

Babel: More than a Mumford & Sons song

Maybe you know the story...ancient earthlings decide that they'd like to build a tower to heaven. The Genesis 11 narrative implies that a common language is the key to their strength and success. Their united efforts don't go unnoticed (which was the point, after all. They said so themselves.) But, maybe they hadn't counted on the creator of the universe taking notice...

I've always subscribed to the Star Trek vision of how things should be: you know, a united earth and a galactic federation of planets. So God's action in this story--garbling the people's language and scattering them across the earth--has always been a little bit puzzling to me. It appears not only to instigate, but to encourage division and a whole lot of unnecessary drama for the rest of history.  It's this weird, depressing story that seems to be about a capricious Being quashing unity out of fear.  If you're like me, though, you know that God is good. You know that he does not change like the shifting shadows. You know that he is perfect in love, not motivated by fear...

I have been thinking about Babel recently, not as a monument of ruin to mankind's pride or selfishness or greed and not as a portrayal of God's sovereignty or power...

There is value in learning a second (or third or fourth) language. I have believed this for as long as I can remember. The practical benefits for business and diplomacy are multitude, but that's not what I'm talking about.  The true value in learning another language is in finding what was lost at Babel.

Complete perspective. Perfect perception.

What if each language is really just a shard, a jewel-piece of the precious stone shattered and scattered at Babel?  Recently, I memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 in Spanish.

5 Confía en el Señor de todo corazón,
    y no en tu propia inteligencia.
6 Reconócelo en todos tus *caminos,
    y él allanará tus sendas.

I memorized this verse in English way back when in Sunday School, so it is a friend that I have visited again and again. Learning the Spanish version helped me see something new. It brought a more complete perspective to the familiar verse. (This can happen when we read different translations of the Bible even in the same language, too.) The version I've known for years says, "acknowledge him in all your ways." The Spanish version--as I'm understanding it--says something more along the lines of, "recognize him in all your paths."  Same verse, many facets.

God's motives at Babel are beyond me. Maybe we simply weren't ready for the kind of unity that a common language brings. Maybe we couldn't yet handle the responsibility of such a treasure. All I know is that in the meantime, we get to acquire that treasure one bit at a time. Knowing that I have access to only a very small piece of the puzzle is humbling but exciting as well. It means that there is so much more out there to learn and discover, so much more to understand. It means that there is a greater whole that we are all a part of. If we know only our native tongue, we are seeing only one facet of a magnificent jewel.

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Music has been described as a universal language. Maybe. Regardless, I think that just like learning different languages, listening to different genres of music or interpretations of a common theme has great worth. Check out the two songs below. Both explore themes found in Proverbs 3.

Senses Fail--The Path

Here is a link to the lyrics because I would hate for the style to prevent you from hearing the message:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-path-lyrics-senses-fail.html

Jaci Velasquez--Trust in You

Recently Added

I recently added several songs to my 2014 Playlist.

It may not be immediately obvious why a couple of them made the cut.

Faithful by Hawk Nelson: This song made the list because one line stuck out when I heard it on the radio. "No matter how many times I break, you promise always to keep me safe." No one, least of all God, ever promised that life would be trouble-free. In fact, Jesus promises his disciples the exact opposite in John: "In this world you will have trouble." I may fall apart or be broken more times than I care to count, but I will always be held and put back together by expert hands. In the ways that really count, I am made whole. (Check out Col 1:18-20 in the Message)

Touch This Light by House of Heroes:  When I've mentioned the open hands theme to people, one of the first images that comes to their minds is hands lifted in praise or surrender. The first image that comes to my mind is of hands cupped, holding something. This song brings to mind an entirely different picture of open hands, hands that are not passive, but rather active. Reaching. Seeking. Embracing.  I also love the line that describes Jesus as a rebel king. At every turn, he challenged the social and religious mores and the staid traditions of his time. Yet even in this, Jesus is the example of living with open hands, toward God and others. "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

With the majority of the other songs, you can see by the titles alone why they made the list.

Surrender by Tina Jenkins Crawley:  This is the one and only song suggested by someone else (so far), but definitely one of my favorites!  The first time I heard it, it was like a good friend sitting down to share her heart with me and speaking the very thoughts and feelings on my heart. I will be coming back to this song in a later post...

Sanctus Real has been a go-to band for me the past year. I included two of their songs, Closer and Pray, on the list. 
     Closer is a song I have listened to countless times because it reminds me to live in gratitude, in the wide open space of grace--a slave set free.  This song also challenges me to direct my thoughts and feelings in such a way that God is "the only tie that binds my heart."  This is most definitely an aspect of "open hands" because what holds our hearts is also what we cling to the most tightly. "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it." (Matt 10:39)
    Pray very simply describes those times that I have to acknowledge that I have no control over a particular situation or person and that...I'm gonna "lift my hands and pray."

Release the Panic by Red: No playlist is complete without at least one Red or Skillet song and besides, I had to have a counterpoint to all the softer, mellower, more reflective stuff on the list.  Sometimes ya just gotta scream and release the panic--this song lets me do that.

Let It Go by the Neighborhood:  I loved the sound of this song the first time I heard it and the title made it a shoe-in. There are things you just have to choose to let go. Regrets. Control of the future. How others feel about you. Failures.  Pre-conceived notions that only "Christian" music can point you toward God. =D  (I am definitely not advocating that you listen to something crazy and claim you hear God's voice in it, but if a song inspires you or motivates you to positive change, who cares whether it has a Christian label or not.)

I'll use these songs and the others on my list as jumping points, inspiration and prayers throughout the year. 

If you have a focus, goal or theme for 2014, I would love to hear about it! Tell me which songs are part of your soundtrack for 2014.