Easter Sunday and Angels

So yes, they mentioned Easter on Easter Sunday at church.  Thank GOODNESS.  Sure, the sermon was still wonkily on the Beatitudes but at least there was the Call And Response that every Good Little Christian knows “He is Risen!”  “HE IS RISEN, INDEED!”  And they had decorated with white streamers and stuff, so that was good, so yes, Easter was officially acknowledged, which is good (they also had a Good Friday service, but I still prefer Palm Sunday).

The day before, I was doing some writing and this song pops up on my iTunes (sorry about the ad before, this was the best quality of the video that I could find.) 

U2 ~ "If God Will Send His Angels" '97 by seasonwitch

I’m most familiar with the version that went on the City Of Angels soundtrack, as opposed to the original version on the Pop album.  But since the video they made went with the City Of Angels version, that’s the one I’m gonna work with here.

Nobody else here baby no one else here to blame

No one to point the finger...

It's just you and me and the rain

I’ve always liked the song because of the blatant yearning underlining the lyrics.  We all want God to send His Angels, a sign, a promise, rescue, deliverance, all that stuff.

If God will send his angels

And if God will send a sign

Well if God will send his angels...

Would everything be alright?

And it seemed eerily apropos for Good Friday through Easter Sunday, like most of the song (perhaps not all the lyrics fit, but a large percentage of them do) could have come from Jesus himself, longing for his Father.

If God will send his angels

And if God will send a sign

Well if God will send his angels...

Where do we go?

Where do we go?

I’m not intending to make a flippant comparison.  I know all the traditional things and metaphors and background behind Jesus and Good Friday.  But his transparent longing for his Father to rescue him, and the naked longing behind the song, both are born from the same place, I think.

If God will send his angels

Sure could use them here right now

Well if God would send his angels

One of those things about growing older is that you get more accustomed to the struggle, and less likely to continue calling for a sign that God’s there.  At  least, in my experience, it’s more of a It Doesn’t Matter How Many Times You Ask, God Will Show Up When He Wants To.  And you kind of settle into this okay temperature of living.  What used to be a bubbling cauldron of discontent is more of a subtle beating of I know You’re there, I know You can hear me, You know I need help, please help me (but I won’t be surprised if Your idea of help and my idea of help are completely different.)

Perhaps that’s what growing up is like.

And I don't have to know how /so where do we go

And I don’t need to why

And I don't want a promise

And I don't want a lie/ where do we go

Just know I need you/where do we go

tonight..