Free at Last

For the first Friday in February, Black History Month, I thought this was a fitting post forSongs of My Faith.

I can't remember a time where equality wasn't tied to my faith.  I'm not exactly sure where this began.  It could be from the understanding that race was not a qualifier to follow Christ.  This came to light for me in the intentional meeting of my childhood church, Mint Hill Baptist, with Greater Providence Baptist (a predominantly black congregation) on the 5th Sunday of the month which began in the mid-90's.  Or it could be tied to the eye opening words of Paul in Galatians 3:28, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

Wherever it began, I remember vividly the quick connection I felt to DC Talk's title track on their Free at Last Album. Like many of DC Talks tracks from this era, there is an interesting audio intro to the track. You hear, a pastor or minister of music conducting the congregation to sing the spiritual Free at Last.  The group then proceeds to tie the spiritual to their new take on the song.  I love how the spiritual merges a personal freedom for slaves to a spiritual freedom found in Christ. The group draws on this with nods to Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech. No doubt as my faith was continuing to grow, this song encouraged the deep connection for me between equality and faith.

So this month as we remember the struggles of many to fight for equality for blacks in America, let us celebrate the freedom we have in Christ and continue to not only be aware of those who do not have equal footing in our country, but work to bring about equality for all.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mf-J0QJJRw]

O Christ, Surround Me

This summer while at Middle School Montreat, I was introduced to the most beautiful prayer.  I had intended to blog about it and then proceeded to get distracted and forgot about this enchanting hymn.  Flash forward five and a half months and I'm sitting in worship looking at the bulletin.  There, listed as the final hymn, I see O Christ, Surround Me.  I think to myself, "I feel like I know that song, but that's not a Baptist hymn I grew up on."  So, I flip to the page and begin to read the words.  Spilling from my heart, the tune comes back and I am again overwhelmed by the beauty of this hymn, this prayer. O Christ, Surround Me isn't actually a staple in the Presbyterian hymnal.  In fact, it is one of the new hymns introduced in the Glory to God hymnal that was recently released.  In 2004, Richard Colligan wrote the hymn inspired by the breastplate prayer of St. Patrick. Colligan penned the song as he was working on his masters thesis.  I love how he blends spiritual formation with congregational singing in this hymn.

God be the love to search and keep me God be the prayer to move my voice God be the strength to now uphold me O Christ, surround me O Christ, surround me

For me this opening verse is very humbling.  I more and more find myself needing to ask God to guide my voice.  As an extrovert I am quick to speak.  For me, beginning my day asking God to guide my voice means that I will speak the truth in LOVE.  That I will use my words to build up.  That when people hear my voice, they would hear a word from God.

Bind to myself the name of Holy

Great cloud of witnesses enfold

Prophets, apostles, angels witness

O Christ, surround me

O Christ surround me

The words of the Shemah echo as I start to sing these words.  The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deut 6:4-5) I do want to bind myself to that reminder daily, with the many who have gone before me.

Brightness of sun and glow of moonlight

Flashing of lightning, strength of wind

Depth of the sea to soil of planet

O Christ, surround me

O Christ, surround me

All around us, if we are looking, we can be reminded that God is with us.  With this verse, I feel a prayer rise asking God to open my eyes to that very reminder.

Walking behind to hem my journey

Going ahead to light my way

And from beneath, above, and all ways

O Christ, surround me

O Christ, surround me

This verse is a summation of Psalm 139.  As a college student trying to figure out my vocation, I really struggled with where I was going.  What step was next?  For me the verses of the Psalmist were a comfort.  Although, I am confident I am following God's call, I often need the reassurance that God is hemming me in, that God was there, is here now, and will go ahead of me.

 

Christ in the eyes of all who see me

Christ in the ears who hear my voice

Christ in the hearts of all who know me

O Christ, surround me

O Christ, surround me

I'm grateful for all the verses of this hymn, however for me, this verse IS IT!  This is the prayer I want to offer over and over again.  These words move me to tears, because of how beautifully they express the cry of my heart.  I want others to see God instead of me, I want them to hear God in my voice, I want them to know God because of the way I live.  So, today, I pray again, that Christ would surround me.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBJDWsufLPg&w=560&h=315]

I'm Not the King

**Over a year ago I wrote a post, What is "Songs of my Faith?" with the intent of beginning an every Friday blog series.  If you didn't read the article, which is an explanation for this post, stop now and do it. And finally 19 months later the series begins!**

If you knew me in high school you knew that I LOVED contemporary Christian music, but there was one group that was head and shoulders above the rest for me, Audio Adrenaline.  In fact, I loved the group so much that one year as a gift my parents bought me a membership to their fan club and from then on I was an "Adrenaline Junkie." My deep fanaticism began with Audio A thanks to my sister Kathryn. One year she came home from a Fuge camp singing one of their songs and my life was forever changed (I'll blog about that song another week).  I liked them so much that when our big sister Kristen came home from college, I may have pillaged her CD collection to procure my first Audio A album, Bloom. (Sorry about that Kristen. I may have also taken a Clay Cross, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Mariah Carey, and a Boys2Men CDs. Looking at it now, you had to have known, I mean it was a lot of CDs.)

For me the Bloom album was incredible because it was rock music about God!  I fell in love with all the tracks, but in particular my e-mail namesake "I'm not the King" (yes, my first e-mail address was imnottheking@msn.com).  The song has plenty of pop culture references that I did not get as a 9th grader (Jim Morrison as the lizard king for one), but I completly understood the message that we are lacking without Christ.  "I am not anything, without the King of Kings, Oh yea!"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7GnuB5QwE]

Today as I listen to the song it makes me nostalgic but I also find encouragement.  Some struggle with the idea of king imagery for Christ because of the kingdom/crusade imagery that can be found all throughout history.  However, the lyrics speak so beautifully to why I am comfortable calling Christ our King, "A king is someone to trust and love, like the King of Kings, that I sing of."