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

Day 37 – Wednesday in Holy Week

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:

¹² Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, ¹³ not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside….¹⁶ but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…      (2 Corinthians 3.12-13,16 -18)

 

From Amy Grant:                                  “I’m Gonna Fly”

All of my friends are happy to stay
Here in this yard day after day
But something inside me has called me away
I don’t understand but I know I can’t stay

I’m gonna fly
No one knows where
But I’m gonna fly
I’m lighter than air

Cause I have felt for the first time
I can be myself
No more faces to hide behind
Just a smile and a dream that’s mine
Even if I am the only one who wants to fly

I’m gonna fly…

All of my life seems I’ve waited
For the time to start
Being the person inside of me
Unafraid of being me
No more faces to hide behind
Just a smile and a dream that’s mine
Even if I am the only one who wants to fly

If I had my life to live over again
I’d run barefoot, relax a bit more
And I’d talk to my children
And I’d learn how they laughed
And I’d teach them how I’ve learned to fly

I’m gonna fly…

Cause all of my life seems I’ve waited
For the time to start
Being this person inside of me
Unafraid of being me
Even if I am the only one who wants to fly
I’m gonna fly

 

To Listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9igpzxn8cA

 

To Reflect: 

‘Unafraid of being me’, what a lovely idea.  If only more people could grasp that concept we would be several steps closer to the consummation of the Reign of God.  But it is a difficult place to stand as for many behind such a statement there may seem to be some sort of self-aggrandisement which is unhealthy and contrary to the Good News proclaimed by the One who is The Man for Others.

There are perhaps two extreme poles when it comes to a christian’s view of themselves.  There is the over-weaning pride that rejoices in our own abilities, which I call Little Jack Horner Theology: but there is also the false self-giving of those who follow the ‘very ‘umble’ controlling ways of Uriah Heep. The person who follows Amy’s heeding and learns to fly is neither of these caricatures.

When ‘being me’ goes wrong we are drawn inward and build our own empire, but when it leads to free flight these words match the ache in our heart: 

But something inside me has called me away
I don’t understand but I know I can’t stay

The journey inward – the lifelong one of ‘being me’ – begins with the journey outward following the call of The Other.

This is a risky business.  It will mean not being in charge our own destination, Hildegard of Bingen names this as being ‘a feather on the breath of God’.  It will involve a removal of masks, but how else can we gaze on Him? The journey to ‘being me’ – becoming the one whom He loves and cherishes – means stripping away all those false selves behind which we have been hiding.  “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16.25).  Little wonder so few manage to do this!

How do we find our wings and learn to fly then?  Amy suggests some simple things, walk barefoot, rest in the knowledge of being loved, quiz children and learn how to laugh again.  And then in turn teach others how to fly.

What was the secret to flying in Peter Pan?  Is it not remembering your happy thought?  In the movie Hook, the grown-up Peter Pan’s daughter is able to fly when she shouts out her one-word happy thought ‘Mommy’…

‘I’m gonna fly’; Fly to that One who is both Father and Mother and Lover and in leaving myself behind finally find my way home.  Will you join me?

 

To Do:

Today, go barefoot for a time.

 

To Pray:

Underneath all the texts, all the sacred psalms and canticles, are liquid varieties of sounds and silences: terrifying, mysterious, whirling, sometimes gestating, yet always gentle.  I feel them in the pulse, ebb and flow of the music that sings in me.  As I sing I float like a feather on the breath of God.
Hildegard of Bingen in Pilgrim – Book 4

 

 

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.