"More Like Falling In Love"

I first heard this song on a Christian radio station called K-Love. It was love at first sound. The day I first heard this song, Jason Gray shared something about it. He discovered that there was some controversy regarding it, which had him baffled (frankly, it has me baffled too). All I can think is that there are some Christians who hear the song and think that it makes God seem too human (this reminds me of an old heresy that says the fleshly things are evil and the spiritual things are good). The truth is, though, Jason is right.

What is it like to fall in love? For someone, like me, who's never fallen in love, this is a difficult question to answer. However, I believe this is one of the reasons God has granted us with an imagination. When you fall in love, you want to do anything for the other person. You're willing to die for the other person. You would change for the other person. You want to know the other person even more (you can never learn enough). You want to spend time with the other person learning this person's likes/dislikes, friends, family, etc.

With all this in mind, why should the idea of Christianity being "More Like Falling In Love" seem so wrong? In fact, the entire Bible tells the story of God wooing His people back to Him. He did this by sending His one and only Son to die for us. If this isn't love, I don't know what is.

The Power of Prayer

Disclaimer: The following is something I wrote back in 2003 and felt compelled (by personal events) to post here today.

Victoria Beth Roberts

On Wednesday, November 10, 1992, I was in the tenth grade and was attending Starkville High School. This particular day, my parents left for one of my dad’s computer conferences. It was three days before my sixteenth birthday. I was coming down with another one of my colds. As the day progressed, I felt worse and worse. That night I tried to sleep, but could not. I was coughing incessantly and was in such pain that no words could describe. I don’t think there was a part of my body that did not hurt. Eventually, I got out of bed and went to the living room. I remembered that, when I was younger and was sick, my mom would take me to the living room. She would put a movie on for me to watch so that I’d forget about how sick I felt. Remembering this, I decided to give it a try. I made it to the couch and curled up in my intense pain. My pain was so intense that I began to cry. As I cried I prayed begging God to take away the pain at least long enough so that I could sleep. I cannot remember the words I prayed. All I can remember was that by the time I finished praying, I was laughing through my tears. I cannot recall if the pain disappeared. All I can remember was that I was thanking God for His grace and mercy to me. I do remember saying something along the lines of, “Lord, You are so amazing. I started this prayer in tears and now I’m laughing. You are so amazing.” After that, I got up from the couch and went back to my room where I fell asleep.

Eleven years later, as I write this story out, two events occurred that resulted in my decision to write this. The first was the death of a dear friend of mine, Jean Taylor. I had basically known her my entire life. When I heard that she died, I cried. The sorrow was more than I could bear. This event, along with the event of eleven years ago, led to the writing of the song “How Can I.” This song tells, in brief, both of those stories. The second event I am currently going through. On April 28, 2003, I came down with yet another one of my typical colds. It is now May 13 and I’m still suffering. I feel worse now then I did eleven years ago. It is not because of pain, though, but because of the coughing which is keeping me from sleep. On May 12, at about four in the morning, I was not getting any sleep so I decided to try working on a song I had not completed. This song is called “Totally Dependant On God.” Is this true for me? Absolutely! I had some ideas of what I wanted to write, but could not find the right words. So I stopped and prayed. “Lord, I am feeling miserable, but I don’t want You to take it from me because I know it will help on this song. I know what I want to say, but I need You to give me the words I need. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” It was a few minutes before the words came, but they did. After I finished the song, I read it smiling and thinking, “How true is this?” When I finished reading it, I prayed again. “Lord, thank You for this song. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” It is now about five in the morning of May 13, 2003 and I am again finding it difficult to sleep. I decided to go ahead and write this now rather than wait until later in the day. As I read back over this story, I can’t help but cry. These are good tears, though. God is so amazing and I can’t understand why He would love me. He does, though. To this I testify.

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

(Josef Mohr,c. 1816-1818. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/i/silntnit.htm)

I have to disagree with Herr Mohr on at least one point. The night that Jesus was born may very well have begun as a silent night, but it certainly did not stay that way for long.

On a hillside not far from Bethlehem were a band of shepherds who were caring for a flock of sheep. Their job was to protect the sheep from predators and to guard them from injuring themselves. In order for these men to do this, they had to stay awake. It would not be at all surprising for them to talk about various topics or tell each other stories or to sing. On that hillside, it was likely not silent.

The silence was further broken when an angel appeared before them and announced the birth of the King of kings. This angel was soon joined by a host of angels who all sang the first Christmas carol - "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace goodwill to men." It was not a silent night on that hillside.

Once the angels left, the silence resumed for a moment while the shepherds recovered from the initial shock. Soon, though, I can imagine they began talking at once saying such things as "Did you see that?" "Were they real?" "Did you hear what they said?" "Let's go and see this newborn King." I can imagine their words overlapping. Imagine, for a moment, being in the midst of a crowd who are all talking at once. Perhaps that is how it sounded on that hill that night. It was not a silent night on that hillside.

When they decided to go to Bethlehem, it is possible that they ran all that way and as they did so, they would possibly have continued talking about what they had seen and heard. It was not a silent night on the way from the hillside to Bethlehem.

After arriving in Bethlehem and to the stable where Jesus lay, silence resumed as they gazed in awe and wonder at this newborn baby boy. When they left, though, the silence would have been broken as they told everyone about everything they had seen and heard that night. It was not a silent night in Bethlehem.

When the shepherds began their journey back to that hillside from whence they came, they were probably talking about all that they had seen and heard that night. It was not a silent night on the way from Bethlehem to the hillside.

In this one phrase, silent night, I disagree with Herr Mohr. I do agree, though, that it was a holy night.