Click here for MusicXML. (MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.)
We live in a violent
world. War is raging on every continent. In fact, thirteen major wars are being
fought right now, including the civil war in Myanmar that forcibly
displaced over a million people. As the military was seizing power, my niece evacuated
on one of the last planes out of the country.
We live in an
asylum-seeking world. Thousands of Mexican migrants with their belongings
stuffed into one bag are bussed to “sanctuary cities” in the U.S and simply
dropped off. In a major city just a few hours from my home they fill a third of
the already overwhelmed family homeless shelters.
We live in a
world battling over orthodoxy. In a neighboring state, an education law
resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from public schools, classic works
of fiction, nonfiction history books, even Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary
novels!
The apostle
Paul explains the root of the problem in the New Testament book of Romans.
Three
songs from Romans
1.The Mind of God
We originated in the mind of God. We are created by,
through, and for a triune God to reflect his unity and diversity.[1]
2.Bad
News! Good News!
The problem is
personal. We don’t reflect God’s unity and diversity. We have fallen short of
the glory of God. We are sinners. God’s solution to the problem was personal. God
sent his Son, Jesus, to demonstrate that he loves us. We are forgiven and made
right with God through Jesus’ death.[2]
3.The
Love of God
Surrounded by violence?
Forcibly displaced? Seeking asylum? On the wrong side of orthodoxy? For those
who have accepted God’s solution, nothing can separate them from the love of God.[3]
Click here for MusicXML. (MusicXML™ is
the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files
in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.)
How does one
live with crippling circumstances when God does not change them?
Do you know
someone living with unrelenting pain? I do. At times does it seem like they are drowning? Or
their life is in flames? Have you begged God to ease their pain, to take it
away? I have. Did God answer your prayer? God did not answer mine.
The Apostle
Paul pled with God to change his circumstances and God said, "My grace is
sufficient for you." I wonder if Paul audibly heard God’s voice. Or was he
meditating on God's promises? Perhaps this promise that God made to Israel helped Paul
understand the adequacy of God’s presence: When you pass through deep waters, I
will be with you.
When God does
not answer my prayer for someone who is suffering, I find comfort in that
promise, knowing that God’s grace, that is, his presence, is sufficient even during
times of chronic, crippling, unrelenting pain.
In her book
"A Place of Healing, Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and
God's Sovereignty" Joni Eareckson Tada describes her journey with pain. I
wrote Deep Waters after reading Joni’s book. The song is a music story interweaving
God’s promise and a journey with pain.
A few weeks
after writing the song I had emergency surgery, was in a hospital bed, alone,
in isolation, in pain, unable to sleep, and struggling to breathe. I was in
deep waters. And Deep Waters became my song.
From the album
“This & That – A Little Bit of Everything” this video is scrolling playback
of the song. Kathy
Print sheet
music for strings, flute, and timpani is available for Deep Waters.
You can change
key and instrumentation with MusicXML – digital sheet music.
Click here for MusicXML. (MusicXML is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions of importing MusicXML files.)
