Lyrically Inspired

Yeah.  I know.  My writing took a couple skips and then dropped right off a cliff.  But I am not giving up my resolve.  Just having some hiccups.  There's been a lot going on in the last month. Isn't that the story of life for most of us?  Not a good excuse.  Still.  Come on, creative juices.  We need to warm up here.  In less than a week I'll be on my way to a unique creative arts workshop in the mountains of New York, put on by the renowned Lamplighter Ministries.  And I don't feel ready.  But ready or not, I'm going!

So....where were we?

I'm not going to try to dig into the deep recesses of ideas I have tucked away to write about someday. Today, just for the sake of revving up my engine and writing something, I will share some rather random inspiration that came to me last night while trying to fall asleep.

This inspiration comes in the form of song lyrics.  A song that I have on my nighttime playlist on my ipod.  The song is May It Be, made popular by Enya, Celtic Woman, and The Lord of the Rings film. It is not a spiritual song, per se.  But as I listened to the lyrics, I realized there are some spiritual truths in it.  If you are familiar with the song, particularly in the context of the Lord of the Rings story, you may enjoy these insights.

For your reference, here is how the song goes....

May it be an evening star shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road; Oh how far you are from home

Mornie utulie (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadows' call will fly away
May it be your journey on to light the day
When the night is overcome, You may rise to find the sun

We see in Lord of the Rings something of a spiritual journey.  An epic battle between darkness and light.  A journey of some of the smallest, most unlikely candidates for heroism, through shadow and suffering and great temptation,,,,,a quest to destroy the darkness or die trying.  A quest to save whatever remains in Middle Earth that is good and beautiful and carries the promise of a brighter future.

I would suggest some spiritual parallels in these lyrics to our own journey through life.

The evening star to shine upon you.....In Scripture, Jesus Christ is called not the evening star, but the Morning Star!  He says, "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12  As we walk in the darkness of this broken, sin-twisted world, Jesus is our guiding star, the light leading us through, and as the Morning Star, He heralds a coming dawn!  Hope!  A glorious future!  An emergence out of darkness and evil.

A true heart when darkness falls....darkness is upon this world, but if we cling to Jesus, the Truth, He will keep our hearts steady and show us the way to walk.  There are times in our lives when a certain darkness will fall upon us....a darkness of trial, a night of the soul....illness, depression, loss, grief, crisis....and in those times, we need faith and hope in Jesus to strengthen our hearts and pull us through.  Only He can keep your heart true in the hardest moments.  Only He gives you a heart to cling to Him.  We are weak, but He is strong!

You walk a lonely road....oh how far you are from home.
We are not home in this world, because it has been corrupted from what it was meant to be.  The Bible says the children of God are like strangers and aliens in the world, looking for a better country, a homeland.  Our home is the presence and glory of Jesus Christ.  Heaven is our home, and one day soon Jesus is going to make everything new and bring heaven to earth!  The journey here can be very lonely.  Followers of Jesus walk the road less traveled.  We feel far from Home as the end of the race and the final consummation of what we will be....but we are never far from Him.

Darkness has come, and darkness has fallen.....
Right now, the prince of this world is Satan.  Also known as Lucifer, the angel of light.  He masquerades now as an angel of light, but in truth his light has become darkness, because He thought to make Himself God to be worshiped.  So we are living in the territory of the prince of this world, the prince of darkness.  His shadow lies over us like the shadow of Mordor in Middle Earth.  But that's all it really is....a shadow.  The valley of the shadow of death....it is nothing to be feared, because if you belong to Christ, death cannot actually hurt you, and evil cannot touch you!

Believe and you will find your way.....yes, if you believe in the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life....Jesus Christ, Son of God!  "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."  Acts 16:31

A promise lives within you now.....As children of God, we have the Holy Spirit within us as the promise, or guarantee, of our inheritance.  He assures our hearts that we are children of God, adopted into His family, and heirs of all His glorious riches for eternity!  We do not yet see all of our inheritance, or hold it in our grasp, but it is ours.  Faith teaches us to confidently hope that we already have what we cannot yet see.  It is like a financial trust that is held for a child until he comes of age. We have this promise that we will "come of age" as sons of God and receive everything that He has prepared for us!

That the shadows' call will fly away.....the prince of this world and his shadow of evil are always trying to lay claim on us.  But one day he will be forever defeated and banished....Jesus has already won the victory on the cross!  On that day we will never again have to fight the shadow calling to us....we will live in the light of God Himself, in whom is no darkness or shadow of turning!

May it be your journey on to light the day.....
Jesus told His disciples that we are the light of the world....like brightly lit cities on a hill that draw those lost in darkness to His salvation.  Part of our purpose and journey through this world is to light up the darkness.....and if we run the race with endurance to the end, our lights will be swallowed up in the endless day of God's glory!

When the night is overcome, you may rise to find the sun....
This is the most wonderful line in the whole song!  Can you see how it speaks of the glorious destiny of our journey as sons and daughters of God?  We know that the night of sin, evil, and the great dragon, Satan, will soon be finally overcome, and we will be raised to immortal life in the kingdom of the SON....where there will be no need for the sun to light the day, because God and the Lamb will be the light of that kingdom, and there will be NO MORE NIGHT!
"And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."  Rev. 21:23
"They will see [God's] face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more.  They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever!"  Rev. 22:4-5

So there you are.  May it be, indeed.....this is the great hope and assurance of the redeemed children of God....that these things WILL be....because Jesus Christ has made them so, through His death and resurrection!  And all the people said....AMEN!!!