Looking for God Amid Culture
The fascinating thing about looking for God amid culture is sometimes you find Him in unexpected but powerful ways. Today, I felt uncertain about listening to secular music again. But in the morning, I was reminded of the delight of a well-written line encompassing more than it first appeared. [1] Then, after work, while feeling a little down, I thought a good song could pick me up. The question is, what music? Or rather, Christian or secular?
Then, when my car started, my “pick-me-up-song” just began to play. It was picking up from where I had left off that morning. No one else would probably consider it a “pick-me-up-song”; in fact, it was written to do the opposite. It is a song from a father to his child, a lullaby to sleep to. So, why was it a pick-me-up song? I immediately heard in my inner being, “Because you are a good father, and I AM your Father.” Then, Ed Sheeran was no longer singing to his child; instead, my Father was singing to me until I closed my eyes to dream while pulling into the garage. [2]
Not safe, but after I stopped, I hugged myself tight and felt God’s arms wrap around me as I heard, “You look so sweet, my child…And though there’s rain outside you’ll be warm and dry. The thunder and the lighting won’t hurt you now. So, go to sleep my love…”
[1] In Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero, “tea time” is both “tea” and “tee.”
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At tea time, everybody agrees
[2] Ed Sheeran’s Sandman:
Come along for the ride
And in a shake of the lamb's tail, we'll go
Be still now, and close your eyesAnd dream
