Moving Melodies: The World I See In You

During my brief forray into the world of the college student in 1993 my sister and I went to a concert at an Oklahoma City University by a Christian Recording Artist I hadn’t ever even heard of but Erin liked.  I went for the experience.  I had not been to very many concerts in my lifetime and I wanted to broaden my horizons…  Also I think I MAY have gotten the ticket for free… Maybe.

The concert was actually quite fun and I came away from the venue that night with, if you can believe it, a cassette tape.

For those of you youngsters out there, a cassette tape was a little plastic cartridge, roughly the same size and dimensions as your iPod touch (just lighter) that had two wheels inside with a magnetic tape wrapped around them, which through some sort of witch craft scientific engineering actually had sound recorded on them.  You had to have some sort of specialized player in order to hear the recordings.*

Anyway, nearly 20 years have passed and I still enjoy the music on that cassette tape, though I did purchase it a second time in the form of a digital download when I became a part of the iPod generation.

For you old fogies out there, an iPod is a device, roughly the same size as your old cassette tapes (only heavier) with wheels and boards inside, which through some sort of witch craft scientific engineering actually have hundreds and hundreds of hours of sound recorded on them.  You don’t even have to have a special player to hear them, just some earphones.  They are self contained with controls right on them.  Ask your Grandkids.  They’ll show you.

Today, as I was driving to get my lunch a song from that album came on my car iPod.  (For those of you youngsters out there, an album is… eh, nevermind.)  For the first time, I thought a little more about what the lyrics said and was both amazed and saddened to realize how far-reaching the sentiment isn’t among the Christian community.

Pay special attention to the lines in bold.

The World I See In You
Recorded by Margaret Becker

No one could ever make me doubt it
No one could make it be more true
Written in a stone, and set in cement
Are all the things I feel for You
When I look into Your eyes, I see the love that I need
When I look into Your world I see everything I’d like to be

CHORUS
I believe in, I believe in, I believe in
The world I see in You
I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in
The world I see in You

No back is ever turned in Your world
No hand is ever pulled away
Love is the law, the jury and judge
And the only debt there is to pay
When I look into Your world I see a land of Mercy
When I look into Your world I see the place I’d like to be

I believe in, I believe in, I believe in
The world I see in You
I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in
The world I see in You

I believe in, I believe in, I believe in
The world I see in you
Got to have it, I got to have it, I got to have it
The world I see in You

In Your world I’ve yet to see
A man too far, a mark too deep
A prodigal or refugee
That could not find shelter in You

I don’t believe in politics, no heavy-handed moralists
Right wing supremacists, lame brain rhetoric
Cultural genocide, judgment from the justified
Your world isn’t that
Your world isn’t that
I believe in love
I believe in truth
I believe in mercy
And the passion of pursuit

I believe in, I believe in, I believe in
The world I see in You
I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in, I’d like to live in
The world I see in You

I believe in, I believe in, I believe in
The world I see in you
Got to have it, I got to have it, I got to have it
The world I see in You

*Realizing that I just this week heard that the last vehicle with a manufacturer installed tape deck has just gone out of production, if anybody actually reads this post who really doesn’t know what a cassette tape is, I will be very, very sad.