Thank you for that.
I am fortunate in having lived a life mainly without major difficulties and challenges so I tend to appreciate hymns that try to persuade me to get out and change the world a bit more resonant. Not that they actually get me to do that!
It is interesting how life experience impacts so much on how we view hymns/worship songs.
Yes; for me that song is just another reminder that other people have real faith in God while I just have a vague hope it's not a load of wishful thinking. Not particularly helpful therefore.
I've probably mentioned before that Be Still... brings me out in hives. I associate it, and the language it uses, especially in the final verse, with people thinking they could solve my problems by waving their hands on me while repeating clichés and exhibiting glossolalia, all the while writing cheques in God's name which bounced.
Not a song in our tradition, so I had a listen. OK chorus, unmemorable verses, unchallenging lyrics.
The song is based on Psalm 103. I don’t think the lyrics are supposed to be challenging; they are meant to be a comfort to those who are finding life (and faith) difficult. I see them through the lens of someone with manic-depression for whom every day is battle which I might not reach the end of. The verses are a prayer to God for sustenance through the hard times. They remind me of a time in my 20s when my depression was rock bottom, I was newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder and my father was dying and the only thing I could rely on was God. The daily struggle is echoed in the last verse about our death and meeting that with continuing faith. I often use the first verse as a prayer to start my day.
It is interesting how life experience impacts so much on how we view hymns/worship songs.
Yes, it is. And it’s one reason I try very hard—with more success at some times than others—to express my thoughts about hymns I don’t like in a way that’s more about me than about the hymn. It’s all very subjective, and life experiences very much come into play.
Comments
I am fortunate in having lived a life mainly without major difficulties and challenges so I tend to appreciate hymns that try to persuade me to get out and change the world a bit more resonant. Not that they actually get me to do that!
Yes; for me that song is just another reminder that other people have real faith in God while I just have a vague hope it's not a load of wishful thinking. Not particularly helpful therefore.
I've probably mentioned before that Be Still... brings me out in hives. I associate it, and the language it uses, especially in the final verse, with people thinking they could solve my problems by waving their hands on me while repeating clichés and exhibiting glossolalia, all the while writing cheques in God's name which bounced.