Merry Go ‘Round- Kasey
Musgraves
I heard this
song on the radio and instantly fell in love with it. The creative play on the
word ‘Mary’ and the soft, sad lyrics struck me. I’ve replayed in multiple
times. But I keep wondering why (…aside from the fact I usually play a
song until I kill it)?
Despite the
sorrow this song spins, I found something beautiful in it. There’s something about
brokenness that keeps us quietly listening… waiting.
We listen because we want to know… is there a mend?
Ever heard
the story of Pandora’s box? It’s part of Greek mythology that a young woman
named Pandora naively opened a beautiful box that let lose disease, starvation,
murder, and every dark thing into the world—but at the very bottom, the only
beautiful thing inside—was hope.
This isn’t
far from our own story. Eve bit into the seemingly-beautiful apple that
unleashed sin and death into our world.
But hope was also born. A gift
was yet given.
Even though
this song doesn’t ‘lyrically’ speak of goodness, beauty is yet there. God shows
Himself in Kasey’s voice and the notes entwined together in a pattern that
holds our attention. He is evident, even if He is not spoken of.
But here’s
what really grabbed me: the sound of
faint hope. No one speaks of feeling broken unless they believe that by
speaking that they may find an answer.
Isn’t it
beautiful?
Even in the darkest corners of life,
we’ve been given the ability to hope
for hope.
Emily Dickenson wrote a stunning picture of what this looks
like:
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in
the soul,
And sings the words without the tune, and never
stops, at all.”
We’ve all got the same beautiful bird living
in our lungs. If we breathe, hope breathes.
And where we
place this hope has the power to either pull us away into despair, or sing us
homeward into the goodness of a God
Who Loves.
We all seek
a savior. No one gets through life without feeling stuck.
When I find
myself here, when life seems overwhelming,—who
am I asking to set me free?
…And what
kind of freedom am I looking for?
The ‘Merry
Go Round’ Kasey sings of may not stop spinning. The father, mother, and brother
sung about in this song may still be stuck on their addictive form of ‘Mary.’
The small town may stay small. But real hope
is not found in placing our hope in the changing of other people, or even our
circumstances.
Real hope
begins with the Gospel.
It begins
with a change in us.
The love of
Christ pierces through our nightmares. The empty hopelessness our sin leads us
into.
Our eyes can be opened. Our hearts can be softened.
Our thoughts can become beautiful.
Our actions, our words, our deeds, can become selfless. We can become joy-full.
ALIVE. HEALED. NEW.
Whatever the
bird sings within your chest, here is where we are meant to REST. Our song by
which we seek hope is meant to lead us to the CROSS. To blindingly beautiful, true hope.
Real hope is not wishing; it is knowing that a promise will come true.
And these are the
promises: Death has no sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). He will come for us. This
World will pass, but He will not (Matthew 24:25). We are loved, forgiven,
cherished. We are called my child. A
City Not Forsaken (Isaiah 62:12). He will begin a good work in us (Philippians
1:6), and use all things to conform more and more to the character of Christ
(Romans 8:28-29).
Taste and see, nothing on earth holds more hope than His promises do.
HIS love is
…everlasting…always…undying…
Every beautiful word that we dream love can be described
by is found in the Cross.
Rest easy,
hope in Him will not disappoint. Praying for you, whoever you are, for a heart
that hopes in HIM to right the wrong.
“For God
alone, O my soul, wait in silence
For my HOPE
is from him.
He only is
my rock and my salvation
My fortress;
I shall never be shaken.
On God rests
my salvation and my glory;
My mighty
rock, my refuge is God.”
- Psalm
62: 5-7
I started
with a song about sorrow. Here’s a song about being lifted from darkness into
light, from hopeless to full of hope:
Like an Avalanche- Hillsong United
