{"id":3610,"date":"2012-03-17T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-03-17T15:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2012-03-16T02:57:01","modified_gmt":"2012-03-16T09:57:01","slug":"if-i-stand-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/?p=3610","title":{"rendered":"If I Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

One musician who continues to have a profound affect on me to this day is the late Rich Mullins<\/a>. His life was amazing and he had a great musical career but I think the greatest thing he did was move to a Navajo reservation to teach music to the children. He didn’t live in a fancy house — he lived in a hogan<\/em>. After his death, his family started Kid Brothers of St. Frank<\/a> to provide art, music, and drama camps for Native American youth as well as create a traveling music school to go to the farthest reaches of the reservations.<\/p>\n

His songs “Awesome God” and “Sometimes by Step” (“O God You Are My God”) are a worship standard in pretty much every Protestant church\/camp\/ministry as well as a number of Catholic ones. His faith bridged the divide and he had a devotion to St. Francis of Assisi although he never converted to Catholicism. (He did go through RCIA.) <\/p>\n

There are several of his songs that I post every so often because they reflect my feelings. The one that really reflects my faith on a daily basis is “If I Stand”. The chorus (the bolded portion which is repeated twice at the end) is as capable of reducing me to tears today as it was when I heard it 13 years ago:<\/p>\n

There’s more that rises in the morning
\nThan the sun
\nAnd more that shines in the night
\nThan just the moon
\nIt’s more than just this fire here
\nThat keeps me warm
\nIn a shelter that is larger
\nThan this room<\/p>\n

And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper
\nThan mere sentiments
\nAnd a music higher than the songs
\nThat I can sing
\nThe stuff of Earth competes
\nFor the allegiance
\nI owe only to the giver
\nOf all good things<\/p>\n

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
\nThat you will pull me through
\nAnd if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
\nThat first brought me to You
\nAnd if I sing let me sing for the joy
\nThat has born in me these songs
\nAnd if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s more that dances on the prairies
\nThan the wind
\nMore that pulses in the ocean
\nThan the tide
\nThere’s a love that is fiercer
\nThan the love between friends
\nMore gentle than a mother’s
\nWhen her baby’s at her side<\/p>\n

And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper
\nThan mere sentiments
\nAnd a music higher than the songs
\nThat I can sing
\nThe stuff of Earth competes
\nFor the allegence
\nI owe only to the Giver
\nOf all good things<\/p>\n

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
\nThat you will pull me through
\nAnd if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
\nThat first brought me to You
\nAnd if I sing let me sing for the joy
\nThat has born in me these songs
\nAnd if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home<\/p>\n

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
\nThat you will pull me through
\nAnd if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
\nThat first brought me to You
\nAnd if I sing let me sing for the joy
\nThat has born in me these songs
\nAnd if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home<\/p>\n

And if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s the recording that I have:<\/p>\n