Mercy & Grace – 40 Days with the Music of Amy Grant

Day 27 – Friday after 4th Sunday of Lent

These Reflections which take the music of Amy Grant as their theme, were originally published in Lent 2015.  They are being republished during the Covid19 pandemic which is affecting the whole world

 

To Read:  

From the Scriptures:

…many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.      (John 6.66-68)

 

From Amy Grant:                               “Saved By Love”

Laura loves her little family
She’s the kind of woman
Who loves them with her life.
But sometimes in the evening
When the world rests on her shoulders
With four walls closing in
She’ll close her eyes
It’s not like she misses being younger
Though she never was in Vogue magazine or on T.V.
her husband loves her dearly
And more than shows her clearly
Kiss her little baby girl
Laura, she’s the queen of the world

Can’t imagine ever leaving now
Now that she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love,
Listen to her quiet heart singing loud
Laura, she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
I know that she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
Saved by love

There’s nothing quite like my family’s love to warm me
Nothing short of death’s gonna ever leave me cold
Still at times it’s lonely
But through it all it only
Makes me love Jesus more
This is what he came here for

I can’t imagine ever leaving now
Now that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love,
He’s gone and turned my crazy world back around
And I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
I know that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
Saved by love

Oh I’m never leaving now
Now that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love,
He’s gone and turned my crazy world back around
And I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
I know that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
Saved by love

I’m saved by love,
That’s right,
There’s nothing I can say
Nothing I can do
Nothing I can say
We’re all just saved by love
Nothing you can say
Nothing you can do
Only love can say
Only love can do

 

To Listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw8OaWTLEyw

 

To Reflect:

Sometimes it is not the big issues, the floods, the famine, the depravity of others, that wears people down.  Sometimes it is just the daily grind of getting on with life. In an unequal world most mothers find life to be a very difficult burden.  Even for those who have enough of the goods of this world it is mostly ‘mum’ who does the ‘heavy lifting’ around the home.

My experience is that, though this may be tiring and wearing, it is also seen by most of them as part of the package of life; it is what mothers do.  Yes, it would be good if they had help from their partner and their children, but it is mother who is the one who lays the kindling, sets the coals and lights the spark that keeps the home fires burning.

Laura in today’s song (I wonder if Amy had a particular friend in mind when she sang?) is one such mother.  Tired and tearful out with a touch of cabin fever coming on, occasionally sighing at the things that might have been if she had chosen other paths (Vogue magazine or TV) yet happy in the love for her child and the love of her man.  She has learnt contentment in the dross of the everyday.  She knows she is loved and so she knows she is safe.

As I look around the families in our parish, ones of all shapes and sizes, I see this ‘salvation’ shining each day.  This is often seen wonderfully in the lives of our lone parents (dads as well as mums) who are over-tired with all the demands of running a home and raising children.  These precious people have hearts made of gold which are as soft as butter.  I see this deeply, though they don’t always have support from those around them, in the lives of the very young teenage mothers.  Their future may have been ripped away when they found they were with child but now that they have a child in their arms they are – perhaps for the first time in their life – safe in the love of another.  All be it the love of a very demanding infant…

Life is hard, but it is made easier and allows for quiet smiles and perseverance when we know we are loved.  And when we are we redouble our efforts to love in return.

Amy goes on to sing about her life in the church.  I wonder if she is singing of what it is like to be part of the family of the Church?  I know at times that family has not loved her and has given her the cold shoulder.  The words “Still at times it’s lonely, but through it all it only makes me love Jesus more” perhaps speak about this?

But even for the Christian who does not have a particular problem with the church family life there can be hard.  Archbishop Justin Welby in talking about the Lord’s Prayer says this, ‘The church is a collection of sinners, so we should expect there to be a lot of sin in the church….but we should also expect there to be a lot of forgiveness as well’.

At the middle of the Church family stands is a Lover, whose arms are always open and to whom we can run when we are tired and sore.  Like the mother of a demanding baby we do not (cannot) run away but instead His love draws us ever closer, “Still at times it’s lonely, but through it all it only makes me love Jesus more”.  When the family of God wears us down the answer is to hug it tighter, pray more fervently, and so come closer to Jesus.  We cannot go elsewhere for there is nowhere else to go.

Only His love can turn our ‘crazy world back around’.

 

To Do:

If you are fortunate to have someone close to you who ‘loves you dearly’ tell them that you love them.

 

To Pray:

Our courteous Lord does not want his servants to despair even if they fall frequently and grievously.
Our falling does not stop his loving us.      (Mother Julian of Norwich in Pilgrim)

Acknowledgements:

All of the music on the video clips from YouTube is © Amy Grant.  If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings.  A full discography and other information about Amy can be found on her website http://www.amygrant.com

Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America

Prayers from Pilgrim are copyright © 2015 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder.