Spirituality

A Song for the Season: A Simple Gift

Steve · December 20, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Moon2 — Winter night sky near Springfield, Mo. SJG photo.

Another song from my Christmas CD, “Home Again with You,” produced a few years back with my friends in the band Nathanael’s Creed. Written years ago when collaborator Jim Russell and I played with the Christian folk group Ephphatha, this song was the theme for many of our advent programs back in the 90s. It’s still one of my favorite original songs and the meaning of the lyrics still resonates deeply this time of year, especially these lines:

Are there those not afraid to live by their faith?
Are there gifts as simple as love?

For this recording, Pat Dillender’s exquisite percussion work drives the song and gives it a drive and Latin feel not present in the original version. So thanks for that, Skitch.

To listen, click here: A Simple Gift

A Simple Gift
Words by Steve Givens and Jim Russell
© 2003 Potter’s Mark Music (BMI)
Music by Jim Russell © 2003

The lights of the City of David shine
As a single star pierces the night.
Restless within her a miracle waits
Incarnation of holiest light.

But how can this be? How can she believe?
That an angel came down from above?
Are there gifts so precious they must be passed on?
Are there gifts as simple as love?

Music — Temple musicians in Malaysia. SJG photo.

She rests her head on the arm of this man
Who stood by her though his heart was torn.
Steadfast he searches for shelter and warmth
Soon the light of the world will be born.

But how can this be? How can he believe?
That an angel came down from above?
Are there those not afraid to live by their faith?
Are there gifts as simple as love?

The fear of her labor is now washed away
By the joy of her baby’s first breath.
Deep in the hope of this new life for all
Is a power to rule over death.

But how can this be? And who will believe?
Why the angels now sing from above?
She looks on the face of her child and her God,
He’s a gift as simple as love;

As simple as love.

The players
Lead vocals: Steve Givens
Guitar: Jim Russell
Percussion: Pat Dillender
Bass: Gerry Kasper
*Not sure where Phil Cooper was on this one…either sitting it out or shaking an egg…(or shaking one out and sitting on an egg?)

[If you’re looking for stocking stuffers, the CDs are available for $15, which includes postage and handling. Drop me an email or send a check to: Steve Givens, 51 High Valley Dr., Chesterfield, Mo. 63017.]

Today’s Word: Yes

Steve · December 19, 2013 · 1 Comment

The Annunciation, by Henry Ossawa Tanner (Wiki Commons)

The Annunciation

(Found in Luke 1:26-39, the Annunciation is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus.)

The announcement, the call to her in the midst of sleep,
is the very beginning of the story,
the pinhole of opportunity,
the invitation to grace
the way opening to way.

It is God saying:
“Yes, this is what we will do. We will begin here,
with this one, this girl.
This poor girl from the middle of nowhere.
This will catch them off guard.
Through her we will look like the rest of them,
work and walk among them, be with them,
point them in our direction before they realize it.

This will be, for many, the path of greatest resistance,
not an easy and gentle way,
but a birth and rebirth offered for them,
a way marked by labor and blood,
things unknown to us,
yet necessary for the work we must do in them.
Yes, this is what we will do.
Yes.”

This offer of grace and salvation now extends to us,
The sons and daughters of creation,
and it asks for an answer.
It requires from us the same yes she gave,
Sitting on a rumpled bed
In the middle of the night,
Inviting in the light,
Saying yes.

Ask yourself in silence: To what have I said yes to God? To what have I said no?

A Song for the Season: Christmas to Me

Steve · December 13, 2013 · 3 Comments

Dusting — A light dusting of snow. SJG photo

A little something special for the seasons of Advent and Christmas…another song from my Christmas CD, “Home Again with You,” produced a few years back with my friends in the band Nathanael’s Creed.

Next up is our jazzy “Christmas to Me,” inspired by a beautiful poem by the (now) Rev. Katie Cooper Nix and by the Christmas recordings from pop-jazz heroes like Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. I know it’s early on a Friday morning as I post this, but this one is perhaps best enjoyed in front of a fire with your favorite beverage and your favorite people…

To listen, click here: Christmas to Me

Christmas to Me

Words and music by Phil Cooper, Steve Givens and Jim Russell, based on a poem by Katie Cooper Nix.
© 2007 Potter’s Mark Music (BMI)

Christmas to me, isn’t the lights on the tree
The wrappings and the bows
A reindeer’s glowing nose.

Christmas to me, isn’t so easy to see
In endless games and toys
For little girls and boys.

And no matter where I go
All the trappings and the snow
It just isn’t merry
It just isn’t Christmas
‘Till I am home again with you.

Christmas to me, echoes the mystery
The sacred holy night
A grace so pure and bright.

Christmas to me, lives in the memory
Of family and friends
A love that never ends.

And no matter where I go
All the trappings and the snow
It just isn’t merry
It just isn’t Christmas
‘Till I am home again with you.

The players
Lead vocals: Steve Givens
Guitar: Jim Russell
Piano: Phil Cooper
Percussion: Pat Dillender
Bass: Gerry Kasper
Background vocals: Phil Cooper and Jim Russell (I think!)

Today’s Word: Odd

Steve · December 1, 2013 · 4 Comments

The improbably odd Daddy Longlegs. SJG photo

On more than one occasion, my former spiritual director said to me, “If it’s odd it might be God.” It’s a funny line, a very short poem perhaps, but nevertheless a grain of wisdom to which we would do well to pay attention. For while we very often — perhaps most often — find God in the plain and ordinary moments of our lives, there are also those odd moments of synchronicity, circumstance and coincidence that cause us to pause and wonder, “what’s going on?” And for those of us who hold tight to God and to our lives of faith, we can find ourselves asking, “what’s God up to?”

You know the moments I’m talking about. The phone rings and it’s the very person you were thinking about or needed to hear from to get you through a rough moment. A song comes on the radio and bears just the message you needed to hear. A scripture reading at church seems meant just for you at that very moment. Your dream job becomes available right when you’re best able to accept it. A series of highly improbable events comes together in perfect fashion, leading you to the place you most need to be. Fill in the blank. We’ve all been there.

We can chalk it all up to pure luck or the roll of the dice. We can “do the math” and come up with the odds. We can just ignore that it happened. Or we can begin paying closer attention to the moments and days of our lives and realize that these things happen more often than we ever realized. We can begin to see God living and moving in our lives and call the whole thing a miracle. When we choose that way of living, we find ourselves filled with hope and faith.

Ask yourself in silence: When was the last time “something odd” turned out to be God?

Today’s Word: Gratitude

Steve · November 28, 2013 · 7 Comments

noah — Grateful for Noah. Photo by Ellen Sala.

It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies. Today marks the fourth anniversary of this blog. I started it on a crisp Thanksgiving Day at the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri in 2009, feeling extremely grateful for everything and everyone around me. Not much has changed on that front, except that life just keeps getting better and fuller with every passing day and year.

These four years have brought disease and healing, and they have given us new family members, including Jenny’s boyfriend Zach, our beautiful daughter-in-law Jess and, of course, the new keeper of our hearts, our grandson Noah. We treasure the time with older family members and friends and learn to lean in a little closer when they tell stories that we want to make sure we never forget. Our friends — both old and new — become all the more precious to us as the years pass, and the opportunity to spend time with all those we love is a blessing beyond measure. When you face any kind of serious health issue you learn this fast: It is the presence of those special people that enriches our lives, and everything we have or own pales in comparison to the gift of that time together.

Sunset — Grateful for each passing day. SJG photo.

And so we learn to live in gratitude and come to know that “thank you, God” can be the most important and deepest prayer we can ever say. For “thank you, God” means, “I’m paying attention.” It means, “This is not all just about me.” It means, “Everything is gift.” With Noah in our family, we have a fresh and beautiful reminder of the gift of life, a little divine nudge that we should never take any of this for granted, but rather embrace it all with gratitude.

Ask yourself in silence: For what am I grateful today that I couldn’t even have imagined four years ago?