14 Jun 05 Calling All Angels

A friend of mine brought this song by Jane Siberry to my attention. It was performed by Jane Siberry and K.D. Lang in the film Until The End of The World.

a man is placed upon the steps, a baby cries
and high above the church bells start to ring
and as the heaviness the body oh the heaviness settles in
somewhere you can hear a mother sing

then it’s one foot then the other as you step out onto the road
how much weight? how much weight?
then it’s how long? and how far?
and how many times before it’s too late?

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don’t leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we’re cryin’ and we’re hurtin’
and we’re not sure why…

and every day you gaze upon the sunset
with such love and intensity
it’s almost…it’s almost as if
if you could only crack the code
then you’d finally understand what this all means

but if you could…do you think you would
trade in all the pain and suffering?
ah, but then you’d miss
the beauty of the light upon this earth
and the sweetness of the leaving

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don’t leave me alone
callin’ all angels
callin’ all angels
we’re tryin’
we’re hopin’
we’re hurtin’
we’re lovin’
we’re cryin’
we’re callin’
’cause we’re not sure how this goes

I think about pain and suffering quite often. Usually I’m thinking how to avoid pain and suffering. If given the choice, certainly our first impulse would be to trade in all of our pain and suffering. We read the stories (look at Hebrews 11) of all those men and women of God who endured so much for God and we think “I’m glad my name is not on that list!”

This, as the above lyrics suggest, would cause us to miss the beauty of the light upon this earth and the sweetness of the leaving.

Put another way, if life here on this earth was without trouble, was without pain and suffering, we would never want to leave. On the contrary, life here on this earth abounds with trouble, is full of pain and suffering and most of us still have trouble wanting to leave. We have trouble wanting to leave even though God has provided something better for us!

Even with all these faithful witnesses begging us to lay aside those things which entangle, enslave, and ensnare we have trouble running the race. We often find it difficult to keep our vision focused on Jesus. We forget the shame and scorn he joyfully endured for us. We forget the hostility he endured and we grow weary. Yes,

we’re tryin’
we’re hopin’
we’re hurtin’
we’re lovin’
we’re cryin’
we’re callin’
’cause we’re not sure how this goes

And even in our uncertainty we just have to keep trying, we have to keep hoping. In spite of the hurt we keep loving. Through our tears we keep offering our petitions, calling to the only One who can save us.