Thank God, You're here

You're the beginning of ev'rything
maker of air & cloud & wing,
You're the creator of stars that sing
Thank God, you're here.

We've enjoyed watching the TV show 'Thank God, you're here'. The format's a great one, they have lots of imaginative comedians on it, & the creative input just works. Not always, but mostly.
So, when our pastor, James Winderlich, chose this theme for a thanksgiving Sunday, it was a great opportunity for a new song.
I thought I'd come up with a beauty, but it met with limited(!) enthusiasm. A different music style was suggested, a different approach. It worked, & I think the song might have quite a bit of life.

I've found I can use it in many different places, always a good sign for a song. Quite a few schools, where the percentage of christians is not very high, have really got into it. It's often hard to identify the reasons why it works well, but a sense of humour, the light-hearted music, the inclusion of unexpected words, like 'tyrrannosaurus' sure help it along.

So we can thank God that 'God's here', & each of us is here, you & me both.

Fabulous fish in the ocean,
beautiful birds in the air;
under the ground, under water
— woh, another world there.

Just like Jesus

Our twin sons turned 33 today! We celebrated over a good meal last night. (Thom had flown over from Melbourne) They joked about being the same age as Jesus — at least he was reputed to be that age when he was crucified.
Wrote a song by the above title. Started it 10 years ago after an artwork called 'Piss Christ' was put on display at the Melbourne Art Gallery. Some Christians got very upset about it. The work was withdrawn after one person attacked it and damaged it. A letter in a newspaper wondered why. After all the work showed pretty accurately how Jesus immersed himself in all the rubbish of the world in order to save it.
I was pleased that NCYC included the song in their 2003 collection (in Newcastle).
'Just like Jesus to be in stuff like this. The situations we avoid he never seemed to miss. He touched a leper's wounded skin, he held a dead girl's hand. While others cursed the darkness, he lit candles through the land.'
Just like Jesus.
I'm pretty sure that neither Dorothy nor me, nor any of our 3 children are just like Jesus. Hopefully there's a few bits that have rubbed off.

Like a child

Two of my very favourite songs are often "relegated" to 'children's songs'.
I've always liked 'The Blind Man', though I didn't use it for many years. These days, give me half a chance & I'll include it. The same goes for 'If you're black or if you're white'. I always get people to 'own up' to who they are (black/white, tall/small ...) by first putting hands up, then standing up for the qualities that they have. "And don't forget to sing!" It gets people laughing & I think that's great! 'Blind Man' too is heaps of fun. Add hand-claps (2 after verse-lines 1 & 2), a soft to loud 'woh-oh-oh-oh' going into the chorus, & a 'baby-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh' at the end of the chorus.
Both songs feel great. And both songs celebrate the love God has for each one of us, no matter who or what we are. They put into practise Jesus' idea that we should become like children. The songs are simple, but not simplistic. Like a lot of Jesus' words, they're profound & simple at the same time.