Does this ever happen to you?
You hear a secular a song on the radio -- maybe it’s an old song you’ve known forever -- and suddenly the lyrics take on a different meaning than whatever you had previously associated with them. Do you ever hear a secular song and think, “That could be God talking to me?”
When I was in high school and attending a retreat, a priest had me and my classmates listen to a song called “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg. Imagine, the priest said, that God is singing this song to you.
He then played the song, and here is what God sang to us that day:
“Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens
I've been in love with you.
"Stronger than any mountain cathedral
Truer than any tree ever grew
Deeper than any forest primeval
I am in love with you.”
I had heard “Longer” before but never paid any particular attention to it. I loved it after I imagined it coming from God’s mouth and heart. Who else could claim to have loved me since before creation? Who else could love me with a love that strong, that true and that deep? Certainly no mortal.
Recently another song I associate with high school crept into my head. It was “All Er Nothin’ ” from the musical “Oklahoma!” way back when my class performed for the rest of our school. In case you’re not familiar with the song “All Er Nothin’,” it’s a dialogue between a cowboy and his girlfriend in which he’s asking her to stop chasing the other guys and be faithful to him alone, to give him all or nothing.
I was at home putting away groceries when these lyrics from the song popped into my head:
“With me it's all er nuthin'.
Is it all er nuthin' with you?
It cain't be ‘in between’
It cain't be ‘now and then’
No half and half romance will do!”
I sensed it was the Holy Spirit whispering to me, asking me for faithfulness, for my all. It’s so easy to love God “in between” and “now and then.” But for Him, “No half and half romance will do!”
What does our Lord sing to you?
Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.
