Lord Is It Mine by Supertramp

Roger Hodgson, lead singer and songwriter of some of Supertramp's most beloved hits is a spiritually aware man. While he may not declare Christianity, he certainly declares God as a reality worth seeking. In an article with Huffington Post, Hodgson shares about his inspiration for many of his songs.

"To tell you the truth, actually, my deepest longing: I really wanted to know why I'm here! What is God? 'God' is the most misunderstood word, and the most abused word, in a way. And yet we're part of it -- there's a very intimate relationship we have with God: in however we understand it; everyone understands God in a different way, but it's very linked with the purpose of us being here.

"And so a lot of what I went to, when I went to an instrument and wrote, is I went to that place inside, of real deep longing: longing for love, longing for God -- and to me it's the same thing, really. Longing for belonging, longing for home. A lot of my songs are talking about wanting to go home, wanting to find home. Home, really, is where you feel at peace, and feel like you belong, and it's an internal thing, it's not 'out there' -- and yet we're not taught that in school, or in very few places in the world. So that was really the place of inspiration, I think: really calling for that place where I felt at peace, and where I felt more unified inside myself.

Read the entire article here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregory-weinkauf/roger-hodgson-breakfast-in-america_b_1336657.html

One of the most moving of Hodgson's compositions and performances appeared on the amazing album Breakfast in America. Lord Is It Mine is a soulful prayer and an invitation for all who search for peace within themselves, who long for love's embrace.

Here's a live performance of Lord Is It Mine by Roger Hodgson.  http://youtu.be/Yyqffz7K7aU

Lord Is It Mine 
Songwriters: DAVIES, RICHARD / HODGSON, ROGER

I know that there's a reason why I need to be alone
You show me there's a silent place that I can call my own
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

You know I get so weary from the battles in this life
And as many times it seems that you're the only hope in sight
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
There's nothing to win, and there's no need to fight

I never cease to wonder at the cruelty of this land
But it seems a time of sadness is a time to understand
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
You don't have to win, and there's no need to fight
If only I could find a way

To feel your sweetness through the day
The love that shines around me could be mine.
So give us an answer, won't you,
We know what we have to do,
There must be a thousand voices trying to get through.

This song is communicates well the beauty it seeks. Is starts quiet and solo. The singer is alone with his piano and pouring his heart out. There was a time in those late adolescent days when i too spent lots of time meditating on my own heart and writing songs from the space. I know the love affair with music and its power to open up our spirits to grater things. Music gives voice to hope. Even angry death metal which seems entirely hopeless is expressing a loathing for the cruelty of this life. In protest there is a desire for something more, something pure.

Take a look at the wisdom and the folly of Hodgson's lyrics. This song is a prayer. It is a request to God for peace and love. It comes from a place of tiredness (from the battles of this life) and sadness (at the cruelty of this land). Yet the singer acknowledges that God is calling him away from the battles and the cruelty and just be in His peaceful presence. The singer has experienced this peace before in time alone with God. God has shown the singer that in this silent place of his own, God is the only hope in sight.

Where does hope come from? Is God simply an internal choice to let go? The chorus of Lord IS It Mine says that in this silent place with God we don't have to win or fight. We can just let go and let God love us. The mystic traditions are all about training your body, mind and spirit to be in Gods' presence. I've tried. It's work. It takes discipline. It can be agonizing to push for experiencing the sweetness of the love that's all around us. I think I understand when the singer states, "If only I could find a way..."

But there is a way. Scratch that. There is THE WAY. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6)

The difference between Christian faith and all other religious mystical adventures is that God is actively reaching out to you through His love shown to the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The love that is all around us is in us just waiting for us to know. God has revealed His love in His Son, Jesus.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)

The reason we can't find a way to God in a state of perpetual communion is because of our sinful nature. The garden story in Genesis 2-3 illustrates that sin separates us from this paradisal state. The flaming sword guards the way back into the place we came from. The way back to God is guarded and no amount of effort on our part will put us right with God so that we may "get ourselves back to the garden," to borrow a phrase from Joni Mitchell's Woodstock. 

The gospel, the good news, is that God has acted in Jesus Christ to get us back into paradise to eat from the tree of life and live forever. Jesus is that way. His life gives us the example of how a man lives who is living in complete communion with God. The writer of Colossians says all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col 1:19-20)

God made peace between us and Him by removing the chasm caused by human sinfulness in the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus language seems disgusting. It only makes sense in the context of ancient Jewish faith. Animals were slaughtered as a means of covering over sin. The blood of the sacrifice atones for sin. The separation, the guilt, caused by sinful actions and sinful speech, is removed by the blood of the sacrifice. God Himself gave this means for atonement so that He might dwell among sinners. His best gift of all was the death of God in the body of Jesus. God gave Himself up as a sacrifice to atone for all sin forever. If God loves us that much to die in our place, what other sacrifice is needed? What other invitation is needed? The door to heaven is wide open through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you would find that way to feel God's sweetness through the day and experience the love that shines around you, you will come to Jesus. You will surrender to the love of God shown in Him. You will find that there is everlasting and abundant life in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lord, is it mine?

It is if you will trust that God loves you and has given His Son as a ransom for you. You can be free from the world, it's battles and cruelty, not by dropping out, but by falling into God's hands through His gift to you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

Lord, help us all to see the truth in Jesus, the way in Jesus, so that we might come to the Father and have life in Jesus. Amen