love will show the way

Even though Team Redd is still staving off (1,2,3) the remnants of some unknown malady (probably transmitted via Allison's high school students), we managed to have a great weekend. We were blessed to be a part of the wedding ceremony for two friends down in the booming metropolis of Perry, GA. I was privileged to serve as a guitar player for the service, and Al was recruited to be a page turner for the pianist. (We are a double threat!) Because both bride and groom are actively involved at our church, the wedding was a time of celebration for our church family, a large number of whom were in attendance at both the ceremony and related pre-nuptial activities. Most weddings have a certain number of glitches and hiccups behind-the-scenes that are never even seen by the congregants. One funny moment, though, was when the church doors opened, the pianist began the bridal procession and -- there was no bride! Needless to say, there were several seconds of prolonged tense-ness (which seemed like an eternity to the pianist), but the bride finally entered. And to his credit, the groom never seemed worried at all. :)

On the way down to "middle Georgia," we listened to a few cd's that I had dusted off and rescued from neglect, including David Wilcox's Big Horizon, which is probably his best (and that's saying a lot). Man, that guy is good. "Show the Way" is one of my favorite songs, and I was struck by how well it addresses the problem of evil in our fallen world. Sometimes I think that Christians would be better off if we downplayed the intense theologizing we sometimes employ in the face of disaster and hardship (although there is a time for academic response) and instead, expressed our hope through the arts.

Show the Way
(David Wilcox)

You say you see no hope, you say you see no reason
We should dream that the world would ever change
You're saying love is foolish to believe
'Cause there'll always be some crazy with an Army or a Knife
To wake you from your day dream, put the fear back in your life...

Look, if someone wrote a play just to glorify
What's stronger than hate, would they not arrange the stage
To look as if the hero came too late he's almost in defeat
It's looking like the Evil side will win, so on the Edge
Of every seat, from the moment that the whole thing begins
It is...

Chorus:
Love who makes the mortar
And it's love who stacked these stones
And it's love who made the stage here
Although it looks like we're alone
In this scene set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it's love that wrote the play...
For in this darkness love can show the way

So now the stage is set. Feel you own heart beating
In your chest. This life's not over yet.
so we get up on our feet and do our best. We play against the
Fear. We play against the reasons not to try
We're playing for the tears burning in the happy angel's eyes
For it's ...

(chorus)