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Saints and Singers

PAYG today left me with two things to ponder a while...

Today is the day of Saints Edmund Campion and Robert Southwell and Companions - a day recognising no less than 28 catholic martyrs (10 saints and 18 blessed evidently) executed in the 16th century.  It makes for gory reading, and is a reminder of the less lovely aspects of church history.  I'm not exactly sure how that squared with the rest of what they offered, but because I didn't know who these saints were, I was sufficiently curious to dig a little deeper.

Again today they were using a song by Karen Money, called Surrender.  I havent' managed to find a video or audio of this one, but I did track down the lyrics:

I surrender all to You
The past, the years to come, right now
With every breath I bring to You
My hopes and fears and long discarded dreams
Take them from my trembling hands
Before I lose my nerve and change my mind
Tear to shreds my safety net
And rip up every back up plan I make

If I could only see Your face
I would never hesitate, I'd give my all to You
Through I do not see You now
I will turn my back on every doubt
And I am going to trust that You
In Your own time will work it out

If I could only see Your face
Empty hands bring peace of mind
Your burden is far lighter than my own
And every step I take to You
Leads me ever closer stïll to home.

 
It's quite a scary song, by which I don't mean it is aggressive or nasty, just an incredible level of commitment that is spoken about.  "Tear to shreds my safety net and tear up every back-up plan I make".  Yikes!  But then I guess that's what it means to 'deny one-self, take up the cross and follow'.  I guess, too, it's what the martyrs of old, and the persecuted Christians (and persecuted people of other faiths and worldviews) still do today.
 
Would we really want to let go our safety nets - our pensions, our household insurance, our secure tenancies/home ownership, our savings accounts, etc - and take the step of faith, possibly into the darkness, that the song speaks of, that Christ just may demand?
 
"Before I lose my nerve and change my mind..."  Before we are once again overtaken by the everyday, before we settle again for mediocrity or comfortable Christianity... dare we, dare we offer it all, again, to God?

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