Mark Meynell at Quaerentia offers several thoughts on some of NLOTH's tracks (with more to come) as he prepares for a speaking engagement on the band. Also, just do not miss his Wordle of the album lyrics here: quite revealing!
Excerpt on "Moment of Surrender":
"Then comes the magical lyrical turning point: It’s not if I believe in love But if love believes in me, Oh believe in me. Fabulous. This is the invasion of grace - or rather the yearning for it. There is a sense of wonder in a great human relationship that love has come - but surely it is even more applicable to Christ’s call (and he’s just cried Oh God in the previous line). There is a shrinking back, a doubt that love might not come cf. George Herbert’s LOVE BADE ME WELCOME.
"But the key change comes at the moment of surrender, I folded to my knees. This is echoed earlier in the song by another role reversal - playing with the fire till the fire played with me. But that’s what happens when we start getting involved with God - he is so much bigger, so much greater. We put him in the dock only to find ourselves in the dock; we think we’re doing him a favour by loving him, but find that his is the greater favour. Such surrender could sound like a subjugation, a resignation. But the music lifts it up to a moment of joy - with the Edge’s backing vocal giving it a sense of shared joy.
"And that is done without any concern about passers-by. Who cares what they think?"
[Update: The @U2 blog has picked up the Wordle.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment