Now is the time for new life! We have been on a journey of urgency this Lent. The refrain and title of a song we have been singing, performed and written by Cyndi Lauper and Robert Hyman (Warner Chappell Music and Concord Music Publishing LLC) entitled “Time after Time” has marked the repetition of that urgency.
Time after time during the weeks of Lent we have focused with the statement Now Is The Time…
…for CHANGE
…to LISTEN
…to turn from greed to SOCIAL JUSTICE
…to BELIEVE
…to be SERVANT LEADERS
One of my greatest convictions is that God speaks to us through the talent and wisdom of our culture. Not everything about the secular world is good, but I believe that with prayerful reflection and activating our spiritual imagination we can hear God’s voice speaking to us in various profound lyrics of popular music. This premise of mine is the bedrock for the Mass of Rock. I want to strongly suggest that messages from popular music can enrich our feelings for God and, as I often say, “Rock ‘n Roll is the soundtrack of my life.”
I have long felt and heard God speaking to me in the words of beautiful music, most often meant to convey feelings between people. It is the relational dynamic of many emotions that transcend one relationship or one dynamic into a realm of spiritual engagement with God.
If we use the words of scripture to articulate God speaking to us, we can also do so with the words and images of our culture. If scripture is the inspired word of God, I can’t help but feel that some of the powerful, passionate and tender lyrics of popular music are inspired by the same God.
So using Lauper and Hyman’s words let us hear God saying :
If you’re lost you can look and you will find me,
Time after Time
Being lost, looking for and finding a God who is looking for us is so consistent with the penitential theme of Lent and this happens…time after time.
As we gather to celebrate the light and new life of Easter this year, let us also hear God saying more through Lauper and Hyman’s lyrics, and so beautifully performed for us by Gene Garcia and our other talented musicians:
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting,
Time after Time
Now is the time to celebrate Easter. Now is the time to embrace that God gives us new life and we can embrace it through the sacred combination of our faith and God’s grace.
May I suggest that this Easter God is waiting for us to trust in the new life that comes only from Him. Let us be guided by the beauty, creativity and the best of our culture complementing the deep and rich stories of scripture and the strength of our tradition to join a very persistent God. God loves us, time after time. God forgives us, time after time. Christ beats death and suffering, time after time.
God is waiting for us to fully embrace this.
Happy Easter!