But I don’t think God calls us to contentment. I don’t think He promises balance. There are too many Biblical examples of God interrupting His people’s lives, calling us away from balanced lives to serve, and to do something amazing for Him and His glory.

Does that mean we should give in to chaos though? I don’t think so – God may call us to something to difficult, but He promises to take care of us. In Psalm 30, the Bible says that, “weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” We will face suffering, but we will also rejoice in His providence at the healing of that pain. We shouldn’t be discouraged by disorder.

God gives us ups and downs in our lives, and I feel like we should embrace them. The choice between the boredom of balance and the craziness of chaos is a false dichotomy. We shouldn’t let work or pleasure take over our lives, but we also shouldn’t seek sameness. I think we should strive for rhythm: a life rhythm that allows for tempo changes, lulls and crescendos. I believe we need to order our lives without trying to exert a level of control that rejects God’s great disruptions. We should seek a four-to-the-floor beat, knowing that He may shift the time signature. And that change only makes our lives more musical.

Will somebody wear me to the fair?
Will a lady pin me in her hair?
Will a child find me by a stream?
Kiss my petals and weave me through a dream?

This is more than floral poetry. It’s the words of a Flower that wants to be loved. Minnie switches to third person for the next part:

For all of these simple things and much more a flower was born.
It blooms to spread love and joy, faith and hope to people forlorn.

Now we understand this Flower is something more; it inspires in us love for each other, and hope for a new future. She then sings:

Inside every man lives the seed of a flower.
If he looks within he finds beauty and power.

Inside all of us is the spirit of this Flower. This kind of love, this spirit, may seem hard to find in our selves. But as the music swells we hear a chorus that answers the first verse, telling us our hopefullness has been fulfilled. Here, in this world, the flower has come.

Ring all the bells, sing and tell the people everywhere that the flower has come.
Light up the sky with your prayers of gladness and rejoice for the darkness is gone.
Throw off your fears; let your heart beat freely at the sign that a new time is born.

Amazing.

That word received new meaning to me when Kirk Franklin released “Imagine Me.” In the song, he says:

This song is dedicated to people like me, those that struggle with insecurities, acceptance and even self esteem. You never felt good enough; you never felt pretty enough, but imagine God whispering in your ear letting you know that everything that has happened is now… gone.

Imagine that – every sin, every mistake – all gone. God is so compassionate that when you go to Him for forgiveness, He clears away all those things. Gone. We don’t have to deserve that forgiveness; we can’t earn it. But He gives it to us anyway. This is His renewing and transforming grace.

Do you have a song that, on those days you wish you’d stayed in bed, really lifts your spirits?  “Sing” by Roni Size and  Jocelyn Brown is that song for me.

The melodies, in their ascension, define upliftment.  And my favorite part is when Brown sings, “Peace is breaking out all over…”  Imagine, in a time of war, the idea of peace breaking out!  This track is soul music at the speed of love, encouraging us to sing for peace.

Do you ever find yourself caught up with the things you don’t have? Maybe, from time to time, you think, “I deserve more than this.” Maybe it’s been a while since you got a raise, and you’re thinking, “I work hard every day, and it’s about time I got some more money.”

If you’re like me, it’s about the time you’re dreaming of that new flat screen when you hear about someone close to you struggling to pay her rent or buy groceries. And you get that sinking feeling – that realization that you got so caught up in yourself and your wants that you forgot about somebody who was struggling just to get by.

Maybe this is when you pray, “Lord, let me be grateful for all that I have, and help me remember those with so little.”

I think this is what Sharon Jones is talking about when she sings:

When I start demanding
More than the rest
When I start moaning
I didn’t get the best

Just remind me of the man
With nothing to eat
And remind me of the other man
With no shoes on his feet

These lyrics come from a song by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings called “Humble Me.” In the song, Jones seems to offer a prayer, asking God to “Humble me, humble me. Don’t let me forget who I am.” She sings:

And when you hear me asking
For all kinds of fancy things
Things you never had, no
And things you know you can’t bring
Don’t be afraid to
Humble me…

This particular verse is fascinating because Jones says “things you never had.” But if she is in fact talking to God, who created all things, why does she say “things you never had?” I don’t know for sure what she had in mind, but I do know that God, who could have come to earth as a king, came instead as a servant. No flat screen. No house. He could’ve had fancy things, and He could bring us fancy things now. But it’s not about those things, is it? It’s about loving God, and loving each other (especially the man “with no shoes on his feet”). How humbling is that?