“I Still Believe”
On Saturdays our companions are musicians.
This song by The Call is a big, bold anthem of belief in the midst of struggle, the perfect capstone for our week, “Stories of Dogged Faith.”
The opening lines, the cave and the forty days, speak to me of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness.
I’ve been in a cave
For forty days
Only a spark
To light my way.
I want to give out
I want to give in
This is our crime
This is our sin
Listen–and then check out the bonus track.
Bonus Track: “Only A Fool (Would Disrespect a Woman)” by Ray Wylie Hubbard
I’m adding this song because we’ve walked with six women this week as our companions, teaching us by their lives how to overcome obstacles and opposition and prejudice. I didn’t set out to write about all women this week, but that’s where “Dogged Faith” took me. I hope you are half as inspired by their stories as I am.
Women in the Bible are often silent and overlooked, and yet they are incredibly powerful and influential in both the Old and New Testaments. Historically, the women of the Bible have not been fully understood and valued, which reminded me of a song by a songwriter who combines gritty Americana with personal introspection and spiritual insight, Ray Wylie Hubbard. Here are the opening lines of “Only a Fool.” Listen and laugh!
God made the world and what’s on it and above it
The sun and the moon which is day and night
Made all the critters and then made man
God looked at the man and said, “Well, that can’t be right”
So God set out to make a better being
Made another body and then up and smiled
Said this soul got a spirited disposition
It’s a glorious thing that can bear a child
And only a fool disrespect a woman
Only a fool disrespect a woman
Only a fool disrespect a woman
A woman is the best thing to ever take place
A woman is the best thing to ever take place
How wonderful this was to wake up to! You are both helping us to hear modern day hymns!
I think they are. Often I find that poets and crooners and troubadours are saying and singing truer things than we get from “Christian” sources.
Thanks for the music, David. The first, wonderful. The second – damn. That’s an anthem.
Yes, the woman I’m married to thought the first song was nice…but the Ray Wylie Hubbard piece was the best!
On break from a zoom Presbytery meeting. The speaker sound has streamed great, but there’s a glitch with the music & singing. So thanks for this. I got my music fix. 😁
You’re right–in the video of The Call singing “I Still Believe” the singers and musicians are not in sync with the words and music. I think it’s just meant to me a montage of the band as the image for the music video.
I wasn’t clear. Your videos were great. I liked both! I didn’t notice anything off. My zoom mtg music wasn’t streaming. It wasn’t lost on me that I wouldn’t even have been an elder during the time of the women you’ve been sharing.
I’m glad you can be what you simply are—an elder.