Sunset over Manhattan, image by Annavanilla
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking before you,
while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen,
any God but you doing such deeds
for those who wait for him.
-Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-3
In his homily on Sunday morning, my deacon connected the Isaiah text, above, with a song from West Side Story(below). Give a listen to the song with the scripture in mind.
O God,
some days I really do need
for you to open up the heavens
and come cannonballing into my life
with help and healing!
And some days, Lord,
you seem just out of reach
when I want so much
for you to take my hand
and lead me safely
wherever it is I need to go.
Help me to trust
in these Advent days
that something great is coming,
that you are coming into my life.
Open the heavens, Lord,
and open my heart for you to enter
and dispel my fears.
I wait for you, my God... I wait for you.
Our Father...
H/T to GB for his homily!
-ConcordPastor
In my youth I can remember turning up the stereo when no one was home and playing this song on the album, West Side Story. What memories hearing it again. The song filled me with a hope that someday I would find what I'm looking for. All I can say is God's time isn't our time. And I still have hope and I'll still looking.
ReplyDelete"Something's Coming" is an excellent song for an Advent homily on anticipation
ReplyDeleteBut, Concord Pastor, that's a really cheesy version you selected! Michael Ball?!
Back at imeem, be sure to check out the original B'Way version by Larry Kert.
Paul: I did listen to the Kert rendition but found that it sounded a little dated and so, gulp, I went for Michael Ball. The one I really liked but Imeem doesn't offer for free, is the one by Barbara Streisand - what o you think of that one?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. The orchestration of the Streisand version is kind of cheesy, too.
ReplyDeleteStreisand's version reminds me of her "Don't Rain on My Parade" - the tempo and drive in both are the same. But there's something about the way she delivers it that wins me over.
ReplyDeleteIf readers want to see what we're talking about here, go to immeem.com
and search for Something's Coming. You'll find all the possibilities Paul and I are writing about. Let us know what you think!