A VERY SPECIAL SONG

Some of you have read my entries dealing with my 2006 trip to Springfield, Missouri with my daughter Amy ("Fine Dining in Greenup"  being one of them).
This piece is drawn from the trip we took last year, in August of 2005.

It is so unfortunate that the Boston area has no comtemporary Christian radio station.  In many radio "markets" of the country, you can find a contemporary Christian music FM station- often with the professionalism or Boston's Magic 106.7 or Worcester's Continuous Soft Rock WSRS 96.1.

As we drove from Massachusetts to Missouri in '05, Amy kept hitting the car radio's "seek" button, looking for Christian music.  We found our first FM Christian music station somewhere around Syracuse, New York, and we heard a very penetrating song called "Held".  At first I was not sure what it was about.  I wondered if it was about a girl who'd had an abortion.  It also seemed to be expressing doubt and disappointment with God.  But by the time we arrived in Springfield, Missouri, we'd heard the song at least a dozen times and had a good handle on it.  It's about the tragic death of a two month old baby, despite prayers that went up for the child.  It expresses the mother's heartbreak.  It also expresses her reaching out to God despite her pain.  The song is very beautiful and very deep.  In Springfield, I bought the album on which "Held" is featured.  On a Sunday morning about a year ago, I played it during our morning worship service and had an altar call.  Many were powerfully ministered to, and there was hardly a dry eye in the place.  Another time, I brought the song to my pastors' prayer group, with a similar result.

"Held" is found on Natalie Grant's "Awaken" album.  It was a huge hit on Christian radio in the Spring and Summer of 2005.  Locally, it HAS been played on Worcester's 96.1, although I'm not sure it's still in their lineup.  Get that song.  You'll love it, but also, make sure you have a big box of Kleenex close by!

The words and music of "Held" were written by Christa Wells.

Here are the words:
Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that Providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling

Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow


If hope is born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our Savior

CHORUS:  THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HELD
HOW IT FEELS, WHEN THE SACRED IS TORN FROM YOUR LIFE AND YOU SURVIVE
THIS IS WHAT IT IS TO BE LOVED AND TO KNOW
THAT THE PROMISE WAS THAT WHEN EVERYTHING FELL WE’D BE HELD

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  (Romans 8:28)