Beautiful Letdown - Switchfoot

Time for me to share another song. This one isn't because I heard it and loved it, or because it ties into a special day, or because it's sung by Bon Jovi. I am sharing this song just because I wanted to listen to it. And so you get to listen to it as well.




Here are the lyrics:

"Beautiful Letdown"

It was a beautiful let down
When I crashed and burned
When I found myself alone unknown and hurt
It was a beautiful let down
The day I knew
That all the riches this world had to offer me
Would never do

In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt
I was trying so hard to fit in, fit in,
Until I found out
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
But I don't belong

It was a beautiful let down
When you found me here
Yeah for once in a rare blue moon I see everything clear
I'll be a beautiful let down
That's what I'll forever be
And though it may cost my soul
I'll sing for free
We're still chasin our tails and the rising sun
And our dark water planet's
Still spinning in a race
Where no one wins and no one's one

I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I'm gonna set sight and set sail for the kingdom come
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
But i don't belong
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
Kingdom come
Your kingdom come

Won't you let me down yeah
Let my foolish pride
Forever let me down

Easy living, not much like your name
Easy dying, you look just about the same
Won't you please take me off your list
Easy living please come on and let me down

We are a beautiful let down,
Painfully uncool,
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools
Oh what a beautiful let down
Are we salt in the wound
Let us sing one true tune

I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
Feels like I don't belong here
Let me down
Let me down
Feels like I'm let down
Let me down.
Cuz I don't belong here
Please
Won't you let me down?

St Patrick's Breastplate

I don't have the time to write a post this week. So instead, and because it's St Patrick's Day, I'm going to share with you the song and the prayer, St Patrick's Breastplate. The song is very beautiful. I hadn't heard it until I went looking for something to share on my blog today.

"The Deer's Cry" or St. Patrick's Breastplate - Rita Connolly




Prayer - St Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

U2 - Yahweh

One of the top stories to come out of the Vatican this week is that, in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, Gaetano Vallini has reviewed U2: The Name of Love by Andrea Morandi. Okay, maybe it's not one of the top stories. In fact, it's probably more like somewhere down the bottom. But it is a good excuse to write a post on one of my favourite songs, Yahweh.

Actually writing a post may have been a bit of an exaggeration as well. This could end up being just an embedded video from YouTube.

Because I'm sitting here and I really do not have any idea what to write about this song. But I think that's part of its appeal. It is a song I like to listen to when I am struggling, when I am depressed, when I feel inadequate. It's a song I like to listen to when I don't know what to say.

I first heard this song when I was going to the Pentecostal church. One thing about Pentecostal worship music is it tends to be very positive. Even when it speaks (or should that be sings) of difficulties, it is always followed with a line about how God will solve our problems and make everything right again. Which is fine, I guess, in a way. But I often found it a bit fake. How many times did I sing songs about life being so wonderful when you have God, when my life was a complete mess? It's hard to sing Hillsong music without feeling like a complete hypocrite sometimes.

But Yahweh (as in the song, Yahweh, not the God, Yahweh) seemed real. This was not happy clappy music. It was a song about struggle, about sin and about pain. Yet for all that, it is a song that has hope in it as well. There may be darkness before the dawn. But there is a recognition that there is a dawn. Pain comes before a child is born.

I like secular music about God because it doesn't try to paint a glowing picture. It does speak honestly about how people feel about Him. And sometimes, I think, we need that honesty. We need songs that speak to how we really feel, not just how we're meant to feel. Another song I particularly like is Hey God by Bon Jovi. That is definitely not a Christian song. It speaks about struggles and basically asks God, why he isn't doing something. To give you an idea, here's some lines from the chorus:

Hey God, there's nights you know I want to scream
These days you've even harder to believe
I know how busy you must be, but Hey God...
Do you ever think about me

This is not a song I agree with. And yet it is a song that I like because I know there are many people in the world that feel like this. And I really feel for people who are reaching out to God, but feel like God just isn't listening to them, or that he doesn't care or maybe that he doesn't even exist. But that's a subject for another post.

By the way, the article from L’Osservatore Romano can be found here. It's in Italian. But you can translate it through Google Translate.

This post was originally published at my old blog, http://www.fringefaith.com. But it does seem a waste to let a post that combines both Christianity and Bon Jovi just sit there. So I’ve decided to publish it again here.


Bon Jovi is the band I never quite grew out of. I started liking them as a teenager. And even though my taste in music has changed considerably since then, and I no longer like many of the bands I liked them, my love for Bon Jovi remains.

I think one of the reasons for that is that Bon Jovi continues to produce great music. Another reason is that everybody needs at one teenage band they don’t quite grow out of. And the third reason is that a lot of Bon Jovi’s music seems to say something to me about faith and God. I once joked to a friend that if you think of any song that has the words ‘God, faith, Jesus or prayer’ in it as a Christian song, then I spend a lot of time listening to Christian music. Of course, they’re not really Christian songs. But they do have some good messages, from a Christian perspective.

So here are my top 5 Bon Jovi songs, purely from a faith perspective.

Hey God!

Hey God -

Tell me what the hell is going on

Seems like all the good shits gone

It keeps on getting harder hanging on

Hey God,

there's nights you know I want to scream

These days you've even harder to believe

I know how busy you must be,

but Hey God...

Do you ever think about me

I like this song because it reminds me of all the people who want to believe in God, but find it hard to, because life isn’t working out the way they want and it seems like God doesn’t care. Now I don’t think God’s role is to go around making sure that everybody’s life is perfect. But the fact remains that life is tough for some people. And often it’s hard to believe in God, when life is tough.


Everybody’s Broken

It's so hard to believe

It's easier to doubt

You're trying to hold in

But you're dying to scream out

It's okay to be a little broken

Everybody's broken in this life

It's okay to feel a little broken

Everybody's broken, you're alright

It's alright, it's just life

Take a look around

Tell me what you see

Is who you think you are

Who you wanna be?

This song sounds a bit depressing, but it’s actually quite a feel good song. I know I love to play it when I’m feeling inadequate or like I just want to retreat from the world for a while, because I’m too ‘broken’ to belong to it. Because it reminds me that everybody is broken. We all have problems. We all have pains. We all have things that need fixing. We’re all sinners, in other words.


Welcome to Wherever You Are

Maybe we're different, but we're still the same

We all got the blood of Eden, running through our veins

I know sometimes it's hard for you to see

You come between just who you are and who you wanna be

If you feel alone, and lost and need a friend

Remember every new beginning, is some beginning's end

[Chorus]

Welcome to wherever you are

This is your life, you made it this far

Welcome, you gotta believe

That right here right now, you're exactly where you're supposed to be

Welcome, to wherever you are

This song is similar to Everybody’s broken, in that it reminds me that we all have problems, and none of us are perfect. I particularly like the line ‘You come between just who you are and who you wanna be.’ It reminds me of Romans 7:15: I do not know why I do the things I do. I do not do what I want to do. But I do the things I hate. I think many Christians can relate to the fact that we are caught between who are are and who we want to be. But it’s a reminder also that, even though we’re not yet at that place where we do want to be, we should be thankful for being where we are.

Keep the Faith

Walking in the footsteps

Of society’s lies

I dont like what I see no more

Sometimes I wish that I was blind

Sometimes I wait forever

To stand out in the rain

So no one sees me cryin

Trying to wash away the pain

Mother father

There’s things I’ve done I can’t erase

Every night we fall from grace

It’s hard with the world in your face

Trying to hold on, trying to hold on

Faith: you know you’re gonna live thru the rain

Lord you got to keep the faith

Faith: don’t let your love turn to hate

Right now we got to keep the faith

Faith: now its not too late

Try to hold on, trying to hold on

Keep the faith

It was really hard to find a small portion of this to cut and paste. I just wanted to use the whole song. This song is a reminder that having faith is hard. And that the world isn’t that nice a place sometimes. There are things out there I don’t want to see. Things that cause me pain. And things that make it very hard sometimes to continue to live as a Christian. But despite all that, despite all the pain, despite all the ugliness, despite all the ways that I fail, I’ve got to keep the faith anyway. I’ve got to continue to believe and hold on to God.

I am

I Am

When you think that no-one needs you

Sees you or believes you

No ones there to understand

I Am

I'll be there to be that someone

When you think that no one, is there to hold your hand

I Am

We're just who we are, there's no pretending

It takes a while to learn to live in your own skin

Say a prayer that we might find our happy ending

And if you're in, you know I'm in

I'm ready and I'm willing

Okay, I see this song as basically a song about God. And it is such a beautiful reminder of the love that God has for us. Because when we think no-one sees us, or understands us, God is there. Yahweh (I am) is that someone who will always be there. I also like that line that says, ‘It takes a while to learn to live in your own skin’. Another reminder that we’re all on the journey. None of us are where we need to be yet.

Instead of a Show - Jon Foreman

One of my favourite songs at the moment is Jon Foreman’s Instead of a Show. When I first heard it, I listened to it at least 10 times, over and over and over. And I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager listening to a new Bon Jovi album. Then I played it to my kids. Then I played it to my friends. And now I’m going to play it for you. Well, I’m going to include the video here and say please, please listen to it. It really is a brilliant song.



It sounds a bit like harsh when you first listen, especially at the beginning. You could be forgiven for thinking this is sung by a person who really doesn’t like churches – or at the very least some kinds of churches. But the song is actually based on a passage in Isaiah. I’ve included the passage at the bottom of this article.

The song and the bible passage are both a reminder that all our outward expressions of religion don’t mean a thing to God, if we’re not doing what he wants us to do. And I know that Christianity is about grace, not works. Yes, none of deserve God’s forgiveness. And the only way we can be accepted by God is by His grace, not on anything we may do. However, that doesn’t mean that what he wants us to do is not important. It matters more to him than our sacrifices and our worship. There’s no point in raising our hands to God in worship, if we’re going to keep them clenched up and out of sight when someone wants a helping hand.

We feel spiritual because we look spiritual. But God wants more from us than to simply look spiritual. He wants more than a show.

Dare I say it, but a lot of churches put a heap of effort into producing a good show. They have the large worship teams with trained musicians and easy to sing along songs. They have the dancing and the swaying and the screaming and the praying. They have people speaking in tongues and being slain in the spirit. They have large auditoriums with an abundance of lights, screens and speakers. They have merchandise stalls set up, where you can buy books and CDs and DVDs that are going to bless you. Going to these churches can be more like attending a rock concert than a church.

But it’s just a show. And it’s not the show that counts.

Here is Isaiah 1:11-18.

11 "The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?" says the LORD.
"I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

(from Bible Gateway)