Mothers and Time

Featured Song: Watercolour Ponies, by Wayne Watson, from the 1987 album of the same name.

Today is Mother’s Day, 2009. It is, I have heard, one of the busiest days for telephone traffic of nearly any other day of the year.

Some recollections of mothers are, sadly, not positive. For those people for whom this is true, I express my condolences. I myself had a childhood that was made more enjoyable by the closeness I had with my parents, and it was my mother who held the household together. She loved we three children deeply, and was very selfless in her care. I am grateful for the life she provided for us, and love her all the more for it.

From the point of view of being a parent, I have learned many of those things about children and parenting that I believe she told me once I would understand “some day”. And one of those things is the relative speed at which life seems to run as an adult compared to the time it took to pass when I was a child. I posted here about the tendency to “turn around” and suddenly finding that the early years of your children has come and gone in a flash of time. It seems like not such a long time since my two children were babies; about twenty years later, they are both in college and facing the future of their own adult lives.

For a mother, then, there is the sweetness of holding a baby, the joy of playing with the young child, the busy time of handling their school years, the even faster pace of high school, and then they are gone. Your relationship is changed, and although still parent to child, it now (hopefully) takes on some of that of “friend”.

To the mothers in the world, living and past, I dedicate today’s song. Wayne Watson’s lyrics give a picture of a just a small aspect of the life of raising children.

There are watercolour ponies
On my refrigerator door
And the shape of something I don’t really recognize
Brushed with careful little fingers
And put proudly on display
A reminded to us all of how time flies

Seems an endless mound of laundry
And a stairway laced with toys
Gives a blow by blow reminder of the war
That we fight for their well-being
For their greater understanding
To impart a holy reverence for the Lord

But baby, what will we do
When it comes back to me and you
They look a little less like little boys every day
Oh, the pleasure of watchin’ the children growin’
Is mixed with a bitter cup
Of knowin’ the watercolour ponies
Will one day ride away

And the vision can get so narrow
As you view thru your tiny world
And little victories can go by with no applause
But in the greater evaluation
As they fly from your nest of love
May they mount up with wings as eagles for His cause

But baby, what will we do
When it comes back to me and you
They look a little less like little boys every day
Oh, the pleasure of watchin’ the children growin’
Is mixed with a bitter cup
Of knowin’ the watercolour ponies
Will one day ride away

Tags: family, Wayne Watson

Featured song: Breakfast Table, by Chris Rice, from his 2005 album, Amusing.

I attended a funeral yesterday for a uncle that I’ve not had much opportunity to see in the past few years. He had lived a long life, but as with everyone, the body finally wore out and he had to leave us. In the service held for him, I was again reminded that living in this world was never promised to be problem free. Jesus specifically told us about this, in John 16:33. I like the way the Message Bible has put it:

I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.

The word “difficulties” here is translated as “tribulation” or “trouble” in other versions. In the Amplified Bible, it is clarified to mean “tribulation and trials and distress and frustration”. That pretty much covers all of the things that might come my way!

This might refer to the problems I had getting through my day at work today, or dealing with conflicts within my family, or the test I have to take in that class that I am struggling with. Or it might be dealing with the loss of a family member to death. In all of those situations, Jesus says that He’s been there already, and He has already won. Referring again to the Amplified Bible, Jesus says, “I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.”

Not only has Jesus gone ahead of me and taken captive all of these problems and losses I will face, but He has given me comfort in the situation. 

I have posted a number of songs in the past that dealt with heaven, and the joy I anticipate with being there someday. Here is another one, which gives me comfort as I await my time to join my friends and family in heaven, when God sees fit to end my time here. It is sung as by a husband to the wife he has lost, but can apply to anyone we love who has gone one before us.

Was it a million miles to heaven
Too far to hear my lonely song
Or is it just my imagination
I hear you humming along
I only hold you in my dreams now
I wake up with cold and empty arms
Lord help me get through
This long night without you
And soon as the morning comes
Soon as the morning comes

Save me a seat at the breakfast table
Save me a dance around the Milky Way
And save me a thousand years
To whisper in your ears
All I’ve wanted to say
Save me a smile and an angel’s feather
Save me a walk down the streets of gold
And baby, we’ll change our minds just like old times
And maybe we’ll just fly away
Or maybe we’ll stay

My lucky doll, you’re in heaven before me
You were my taste of heaven here
Remember we loved to talk about it,
We couldn’t wait to get there
So you go on and find your way around now
But remember I’m here missing you
Do me a favor and say hey to Jesus
And tell Him I’m missing Him too
Tell Him I’m missing Him too

Then save me a seat at the breakfast table
Save me a dance around the Milky Way
And save me a thousand years
To whisper in your ears
All I’ve wanted to say
Save me a smile and an angel’s feather
Save me a walk down the streets of gold
And baby, we’ll change our minds just like old times
And maybe we’ll just fly away…

Save me a seat at the breakfast table
Save me a dance around the Milky Way
And save me a thousand years
To whisper in your ears
All I’ve wanted to say
Save me a smile and an angel’s feather
Save me a walk down the streets of gold
And baby, we’ll change our minds just like old times
And maybe we’ll just fly away…

Oh, maybe we’ll fly away, we’ll fly away

‘Cause I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you
Baby let’s fly away
We’ll fly, we’ll fly, we’ll fly,
And we’ll have forever
We’ll have forever and ever

I can’t wait to see you
I can’t wait to hold you
I can’t wait to see you
I can’t wait to hold you again

You were my taste of heaven
We’ll have forever
I can’t wait to see you
I can’t wait to hold you

Tags: Chris Rice, Heaven, hope

Featured song: Room Noise, by the 2nd Chapter Of Acts, from their 1983 album, Singer Sower.

If you have been reading this blog for very long, it has probably become apparent to you that I am a person who is nostalgic, who enjoys looking back at his past. I treasure my memories, and believe that being aware of where I have been gives me an grounding to help steer me to where I am going. One of the things that I enjoy looking back on is the music that I grew up hearing — not only pop music of the 1960s and 1970s, but also the music on the records in my parent’s collection, music that was the background of my earlier years. In my goal of adding things to my digital library, I am also digitizing some old record albums that I fondly remember hearing so long ago. The music was the background of that part of my life, and hearing the music can take me back to those days. 

As a part of this immersion in music that I grew up with, I also have this mental connection with music that causes me to have lyrics of songs pop up when I hear things said in conversation around me. Someone says, “I’m leaving,” and my mental music machine may switch on to Peter, Paul & Mary, and I hear, “I’m leavin’ on a jet plane / I don’t know when I’ll be back again” will start playing in my head. 

The other thing that my inner iPod would do to me when I was in high school was to have a stuck replay button for the last song off the radio that I heard before I left home that morning. I had to try to make sure that the last thing I heard as I walked out the door was a song that I liked; if not, I might have infinite plays of a song that was definitely not on my top ten list.

So, background music for me can be enjoyable or agonizing, depending on what I have playing currently. Even now, nearly 40 years later, I find that a song that starts in my head will likely be here for quite a while, until I purposely “change tracks”, and get another song going. And, as in high school, this may be good or bad.

When Jesus music first started, the people who played and sang these songs took the music of their lives, and put words to that music that spoke of their new love for the Lord, or about His Word, the Bible, or about many other topics of the Christian life. They did it out of an earnest desire to make Him known, and to do so to as many people as possible. But as time passed, and some of their listeners changed their musical focus from secular music to this Jesus music, the intensity of the original impact sometimes faded. Instead of listening to and being influenced by the words of those songs, letting themselves be brought closer to their Lord, the music became just another style of background music for their lives. 

I know that this was (and is) a danger that I face today in the music to which I listen. There is really nothing bad about having God-focused music flowing into my ears, even when I’m not actively listening to what is being said; it still can have an effect on me. But when I just live my life the way I want to, and I do not try to daily change into His image, the music itself may become a kind of an idol that I worship, rather than being something that functions to bring me closer to Jesus. 

The song on which I am focusing today, Room Noise by the 2nd Chapter Of Acts, points out this danger. It’s not that I have to put all of my mind and soul into each song I listen to. But I have to make sure that the music is more than just another form of entertainment, just another song I like, running through my head during my day. I am sure that in many cases, these songs were written out of a desire by the performer to get a message across, to help bring me closer to Jesus, encourage me to grow, and pray, and reach out to others. The music of my life should not just be there to “make me happy”, but to serve as a springboard to the person God is urging me to become. No more “room noise”! Listen to what it says!

No more conversation
No more idle words
Pitter, pitter, patter
Words fall from your ladder
Pseudo gospel music
Music everywhere
But not a single drop
to drink anywhere

I don’t want to be room noise,
generically speaking,
I don’t want to be room noise,
no one will stop and hear me,
Hear me… hear me, hear me!

Down on bended knees,
doing what you please,
as you say…

Gospel, gospel music’s
an alternative,
Then you never have to
change the way you live…
Idle idol lyrics
floating through the air
Invisible netting
Emotional snare…

I don’t want to be room noise
generically speaking
I don’t want to be room noise
no one will stop and hear me
Hear me… hear me, hear me!

Down on bended knees,
doing what you please:
Pharisee!

I don’t want to be room noise,
I don’t want to be room noise, Elevator music
I don’t want to be room noise, Elevator music
I don’t want to be room noise, Elevator music

Tags: 2nd Chapter of Acts, Add new tag, past, renewal

The “loner” in life is actually a misnomer.

There are no true loners. Oh, it is true that some of us wish to be left alone, and prefer solitude to the company of others. But my very presence on this earth is designed to be part of a larger community. How I interact with my family, friends and acquaintances, and the strangers I meet, all has an impact on the world around me. I can be a force for bringing those around me into a different place today: My depressed attitude, speech, and actions can make others feel the same way; my anger can cause others to react defensively or in anger; my joy or humor might elevate someone else’s sad mood.

Nor does only my presence have consequences on others; even my absence can have an effect on those who love and care about me. If I have been an annoyance or irritant in my little world, there may be some relief when I go away, but even an irritating child can be loved by his mother and missed when he is not around.

I have a part and you have a part in the design of this world, and we contribute to the whole, just as do threads in a tapestry. An individual thread might seem unimportant, but the Weaver knows the picture that He wants to make; that thread makes small details stand out, and helps to make the picture complete. Ask God what part you have to play in his design, and be sure that you are allowing Him to work His way in your life!

Teri DeSario sings about this beautifully on her 1985 album Voices In The Wind, with the song Tapestry.

I am a thread in the tapestry
I have the Master’s hand on me
And then He weaves me carefully
Making textures as He goes

Each of us part of this Great Design
You’ve got your part and I’ve got mine
All of our lives are intertwined
As the fabric starts to grow

Through thick and thin
The Master weaves us in
Young and old
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry

Taking the lovely and the plain
All of our laughter and our pain
Passing them back and forth again
The pattern can be seen

And when we’re finished we will be
A perfectly woven tapestry
A beautiful new creation seen
For all the universe to see

Through thick and thin
The Master weaves us in (yeah)
Young and old
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry

And every thread is known by name
Not a single thread the same
Every thread is known by name
As we’re woven on His Name
Into a tapestry of love

Thick and thin (together)
The Master weaves us in (together)
Young and old (together)
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long (together)
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry
Everlasting tapestry

Together
Together
Together
Together

Tags: fellowship, Life, Teri DeSario