Song Spotlight - "Hold The Light"

Song Title: Hold The Light
Artist: Caedmon's Call
Album: Overdressed
Writers: Andrew Osenga, Randall Goodgame

It's been a long year
Like a long sleepless night
Jacob wrestled the angel
But I'm too tired to fight

Every Wednesday
For two years we've met
I've showed you all my anger
My doubts and bitterness

There was no judgment in your eyes
Just the silent peace of God
That felt so real in you
Will you hold the light for me?
Will you hold the light for me?

And I stay up late
Because I cannot sleep
I don't want to face the quiet
Where it's just God and me

I'm waiting for the gavel
Handing me the sentence down
Because I don't believe in forgiveness
Or even repentance now

There was no judgment in your eyes
Just the silent peace of God
That felt so real in you
Will you hold the light for me?
Will you hold the light for me?

I want to feel redemption
Flowing through my veins
I want to see with clear eyes
Beyond lust and hate

I want the war to be over
And know the good guys won
And I want love to hold me
To know I'm not alone

Standing around a willow weeping
We were praying in the backyard
In the chill of the night
The friendship light reminded me who we are

Why this song: The newest CD from Caedmon's Call came out last week. I was pretty excited to get the pre-ordered edition in the mail (for it included a bonus CD and each had two bonus tracks on them). I was even more excited when I actually listened to it and immediately considered it great. So, one reason for picking this song was to get out the word that the newest Caedmon's Call CD is fabulous, and this song I'm spotlighting today might be the best song on the CD. Anyway, it's also Labor Day today. A couple of the lines in the song reminded me of that fact too. Most of the holidays we celebrate have nothing to do with the people who actually get off of work for them. Many celebrate some war or someone's birthday, but Labor Day is a holiday for the common working man!

Why I like it: Let me start by saying how much more difficult it is to do a song spotlight rather than a hymn spotlight. The hymns are easy to talk about, usually a theological concept or some Scripture here and there -- but not songs -- they're often hard to figure out unless you talk to the man who wrote it, but I can do my best to describe what I think it's talking about and why I like it. If I'm off the mark, I'm off the mark..so be it. When I first heard this song, my first though was to think of my accountability group, "Every Wednesday, for two years we've met, I've showed you all my anger, my doubts and bitterness." The tough interpretation for me was what to do with the 'hold the light' part. As Christians, Jesus commands us in the sermon on the mount to let our light shine before men so that they will praise our father in heaven. I know that in many situations in life, we are dependent upon someone holding a light for us - be it a guide, a helper, or whatever. So perhaps there's a double meaning here...I would guess some accountability or small group or discipleship group is in mind here - and the writer is asking his brothers to hold the light for him (both as guidance and perhaps as Jesus meant it). It sounds like the writer is having a tough year and is struggling with a lot of things. I know I can relate. Again, typical of Caedmon's Call style, they don't hold anything back. Really, how many contemporary Christian bands will put lines like "Because I don't believe in forgiveness or even repentance now" in their songs? Very few. But I know that many of us from time to time struggle with these thoughts when we're dealing with other struggles. You and I need people in our life to hold the light for us. And when we're walking with God well, we need to be holding the light for others that may be looking to us for the last string of hope. So..I dedicate this song to the guys in my accountability group. We've been meeting on Wednesday for a couple of years now, and I must say there have been many days that I look to you guys to hold the light for me. Thanks.

Related Scripture: Matthew 5:15-17, Exodus 13:21

Favorite Line: "Jacob wrestled the angel, but I'm too tired to fight." This is the line that made me want to write about it on Labor Day. Lately, I haven't been blogging much, and a lot of it has to do with how tired I am. It saddens me to look back at the days that I'm too tired to fight the good fight. I don't want to be like that. I want to be a fighter, every day. I want to fight the various temptations that attack me in a variety of ways. I want to be a light for those around me, but I can't do that if I'm walking in darkness myself. As football season kicks off, let's be like the guys in the bottom of a pile wrestling for a fumble. In all the mess of life, I pray that I can be the guy who not only dives to the bottom of the pile but comes out holding the ball.