It’s not often that a mainstream song expresses the spiritual longings of my heart, but driving into work today, I popped in a CD I’d heard a few times and was moved in a new way by the lyrics to one of its songs. The singer who performs the song brings no fancy production or hip technique to it, other than a tremendous voice that never fails to amaze me. As I listened, it became a prayer, expressing my thoughts a day after my candidate in the presidential election lost, and we entered into an era with new threats here at home, and continued threat from without.

My challenge is to not descend into anger and bitterness. Instead, as the song says, I will ask the Lord for “a heart full of tender mercy / And arms I will open wide.” I’ll ask Him to “give me words full of loving kindness / And hands ready to hold up a light.”

The events of the coming years are sure to bring peaks and valleys, but for today, this song is my prayer. If you’re so inclined, you can pray it with me. (I’m leaving out the name of the artist, because I want the song, not the singer, to receive your full attention. But if you’d like to know the name of the performer, e-mail me at crosswalkchristian@earthlink.net.)

For These Times

In these times in which we live
Where the worst of what we live
Is laid out for all the world on the front page
And the sound of someone's heartbreak
Is a soundbite at the news break
With a close shot of the tears rollin' down their face
Blessed be the child who turns a loving eye
And stops to pray
For these times in which we live

In these most uncertain hours
Where the balance of power
Is a fight that is fought every day
And freedom is a word
Some cry out and some whisper
And some are just too quick to give away
Blessed be the one who stands by the one
On the battle line
For these times in which we live

Well give me a heart full of tender mercy
And arms I will open wide

For these times in which we live
Seems like the only answer is
Givin' up on findin' one at all
And we hide behind unsure
Pull the blinds and lock the doors
And hang a pleasant picture on the wall
Blessed is the believer who knows love is our redeemer
And the only breath of life
For these times in which we live

Well give me a heart full of tender mercy
And arms I will open wide
Yeah give me words full of loving kindness
And hands ready to hold up a light
For these times in which we live
For these times in which we live