The Refrain is "Jesus Saves"

Negro spirituals are for witness, and one affirms that history can be incredibly harsh: "Nobody knows de trouble I see." But it ends with as brave a line as literature could invent: "Glory, hallelujah." And only generous eyes can see both the trouble and the hallelujah. - John W. Carlton

     

    

    Come, all you who are thirsty, 

       come to the waters; 

          and you who have no money, 

     come, buy and eat! 

      Come, buy wine and milk 

      without money and without cost.

       Why spend money on what is not bread, 

       and your labor on what does not satisfy? 

       Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, 

        and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me; 

     hear me, that your soul may live. 

Isaiah 55:1-3

Every once and a while I am surprised.  My life is consumed with routine, the antithesis of surprise, but ever so often, graciously, something I never expected crosses my path.  These moments are truly special, they are the moments we will relive around a fire with friends years later as we dream about tomorrow.  They are glimpses into something far beyond ourselves, flashes of beauty.  Yet what surprises me most about these moments is how often they appear in the simplest ways: a gush of wind, an odd expression on my daughter's face, a song I've listened to numerous times grabbing my heart for the first time.  These moments of mundane wonder haunt me.  I never realize how much I long for them until I experience one and then I'm thrown into an ecstasy so severe I can only respond with tear-filled wonder.  I thank God for these moments, these flashes of divinity.  For really, who else is there to thank.  I sometimes imagine Him as a painter surprised by His own brush stroke, yet overjoyed, giggling even, over the perfect mistake.  Yet the time in between these surprises is far too long and when they come, it can feel as if we had gone another second, we might not have made it. And that is the biggest surprise of all, that we have made it.  That was the surprise that captured me today, that my life is a song and it is a victory song; a song of pain and a song of healing, a song of despair and one of hope, a song of redemption.  So often I walk through this mist called life without any purpose or direction, stumbling about until something calls out to me and I see that it is good.  I hear that distant song calling for me to listen, to stop striving in the dark and merely listen.  It is a good song indeed.  If you have heard it, you know its tune, its soothing melody and hypnotic rhythm. It is a song that knows the trouble we've seen, and God knows we've seen trouble, yet it is a song that has the audacity to proclaim "Hallelujah!" in the very face of those troubles.  


Have you heard this song? Has your wearied and heavy-laden heart rested its burden upon this song?  Hear it afresh today and let the familiar words surprise you and maybe, just maybe we will make it another day. Hallelujah indeed!