Alchemy of Music

Written when? 1997? The words won’t necessarily reflect all my current feelings or thoughts.

I've been listening to WNCB lately. They call it "Christian Hit Radio." "Finally, a radio station that you don't have to apologize for having on." "Bible Study with a beat."

Like "En Vogue" Singing "Never Gonna Get it" only now they are saying "Never gonna get it-never gonna get it-never gonna get salvation 'til you give your life to Him" with mini-skirts and moves.

Christians are learning not to be religious-that's why I like the station. I never again have to listen to a song about how romantic love is going to save me, or about how someone is dying of lost love.

I know more than anyone about lost love and the pain of it, but I still don't desire to hear a song about it. I want to hear about how it doesn't matter when you know God, how you can mend and feel great about yourself just because He lives and He loves you - that's what I want to hear.

Christians, since the beginning, have been turning secular music into praise and worship. That's the "Alchemy of Music." Alchemy is where you turn something like tin into gold. That really can't be done, but in this case we are turning to gold what wasn't worth much in the secular.

In ancient times in the British Isles, a place where a lot of hymns began, our Christian forbears took songs sung in pubs and places of ill repute and made those same songs into hymns. And why? It is because the music itself was much loved by the people already and was inherently pure and worthwhile. The only thing that needed changing was the lyrics. That continues to be true today in the case of rock and roll, jazz and rap.

Look at us today. Once the people of the 19th century in their high buttoned collars sat in the pews of their churches and sang "Rock of Ages," "There is power, power, wonder working power," (sung dead-pan) "Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of creation," and would listen to the "jungle beat" of the black race and frown and call it the devil's music. Here we are today with a whole array of rock instruments doing jazz, rock and roll – flouting every idea of "the devil's music." Isn't it grand? And the reason is that we know that it's not the kind of music that makes it holy or unholy but the attitude in which it is done, the spirit in which it is done, and the words which are set to the music.

One of the ancient songs which was transformed by Christians was this little folk song-a famous song that is done time and time again by folk artists: "The Water is Wide."

The song it was made into is a hymn now found in one of those red Lutheran hymnals - I'd have to do some research to find it.

Another song taken from the British Isles and turned into a hymn was, of course, Greensleeves.
This of course became the Christmas Carol What Child Is This?

Now, in the present, there are a couple of songs that were meant as secular songs to a person, precisely, meant for a woman by a man. Probably more eloquent love poems and songs have been written by men about women than in the reverse- which is interesting when you consider that men are supposed to find it harder to communicate their feelings.

Van Morrison wrote:
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" That's nice: a man is getting around to telling, finally, after a while, that he loves his woman, then says, "have I told you there's no one else above you? WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!

Wait a minute!! You know- it really matters what you say-it matters what you say-even if the meaning is subtle. But here he is literally saying, "there is no one else above you."
That would mean, even God. No one means no one! And that is a problem because that is exactly what we do with the person we fall in love with. We make them our god.
We put them first. We think they have come to save us, and that they will save us. We find no fault in them. We set ourselves up for a huge disappointment.

See, I found this man all of 8 years ago, and he did save me in many ways. Even though I attributed this salvation to God giving me someone to help me, I did attribute so much more just to the man himself. I believed he was the man I should be with, I believed he was restoring my soul, but I was forgetting about the restoration that was possible in Christ alone, without any romance to go with it. He was with me for a year and I was in heaven. In some ways it was painful, but I was in heaven. Then, all of a sudden he left me, and for the next 7 years I swear that I could not forget him or move on, or find someone new, or in any way do anything better than just feel the deepest pain, sorrow, regret and hunger for him.

I only began recently to see the fact that I wasn't relying on God. After the first 7 years of wanting and waiting for this man I finally turned to God for help and restoration, and then after about three years of trying to get back right with God, I finally recognized that I must make God my Lord with regards to this man and I am not waiting for this man anymore.

What happens when we make someone our god is that they prove all too soon that they aren't really capable of being our god. And they prove it in the darndest ways.

And when we find out what they are, we don't want to be with them anymore.

Well, this song is giving the lover the status of a god, and that's wrong. It goes on to say, "You fill my heart with gladness, you take away all my sadness, you ease my trouble that's what you do.."

Oh Ho Ho-- when was the last time you met someone who filled your heart with gladness, took away all your sadness, and eased your trouble-and that was it? The person simply took away all your trouble-no sadness, only gladness. Sure, when we are all first in love, that's the way it feels, that's the way it looks. But how many of you found out very soon after that this person was the trouble- was the sadness-ruined the gladness-HMMM?

Most humans are that way. Know why? Because most humans like you and me don't feel comfortable here on earth. This place is not comfortable or easy- it leaves us high and dry, it gives us terrible fears and unbearable pains. And chances are, the person you love suffers from living here just like you do. ‘Cuz we're all waiting to be redeemed from earth, you know-we're all looking to get the heck out’a here. This is not it, you know.

So, I listen to this song and I think-this is really a song to God. You hardly need to change the lyrics. Van Morrison includes in here that at the end of the day the two lovers will thank and pray to the one-and that's nice. But still, the rest of the song is only deserved by the lover of our souls. It was sung by Rod Stewart, whose voice I so rudely had extracted from the recording when I made a karaoke version of it-and here we have it folks-along with everything else-Karaoke in the church.

"Have I told you lately that I love you
have I told you there's no one else above you..
You fill my heart with gladness
take away all my sadness
ease my trouble that's what you do.

Well, the morning sun in all it's glory
Greets the day with hope and comfort too
You fill my heart with laughter
Find a way to make things better
Ease my trouble that's what you do

And there's a love that's divine,
And [though it's yours
now it's mine]
like the sun
And at the end of the day, I will give thanks and pray
to the one. You're the one

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one else above you?
You fill my heart with gladness you take away all my sadness
You ease my trouble that's what you do
You fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my trouble that's what you do

Then we have a song by a man who was in the group Genesis, who I believe to be Jewish, but I'm not sure. It's just that he did the music for the Last Temptation of Christ
and this might be an easier project for a Jew to undertake. He also has a quality in his music, something that says he is Jewish--I'm talking about Peter Gabriel. Does anyone know if he is or not?

I love his music. His album "SO" is SOOOO.. spiritual and alive, and it is from this album that I take this next song. As a matter of fact, I have decided to make Peter Gabriel sing this song in church. Hopefully this won't subject me to any legal problems--I mean, will he sue me for this?

I am leaving his voice on here and letting him sing his song. Now, here is another song by a man to a woman--so it seems. And once again, the praise is out of this world. This is ridiculous- unbelievable.

Here are the lyrics:

Love, I get so lost sometimes. Days pass, and this emptiness fills my heart. When I try to run away, I drive off in my car. But no matter where I run, I come back to the place you are.

All my instincts, they return, the grand facade so soon will burn. Without a noise, without my pride, I reach out from the inside. In your eyes, the light the heat, I am complete, I see the doorway to a thousand churches, the resolution of all my fruitless searches. Oh I want to be that complete. I want to touch the light the heat I see in your eyes. In your eyes. In your eyes.

Love, I don't like to see so much pain. So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away. I get so tired, working so hard for my survival, but I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive.

All my instincts they return, the grand facade so soon will burn. Without a noise, without my pride, I reach out from the inside.....

The song is In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.

Let this song ring out as an awesome worship to the Lord.