Amazing, Rising Grace

What a treat! I just got home from “The Preservation Hall Band” along with “The Blind Boys of Alabama.” By the end of the concert people just kept looking at their hands wondering if there was any feeling left because you can’t listen to 95% of the songs without clapping along; and if you had not been clapping, then you were swaying to the beat. One way or another you were as involved with the band as if you were on stage with them, and sometimes that was encouraged as well! One of the songs that you could listen to without helping along the percussion was “Amazing Grace.” And for me, and for the “Blind Boys of Alabama,” that means singing the words to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun.” I’ve heard “Amazing Grace” in its traditional setting to the other extreme of using the theme tune from “Gilligan’s Island!” But the version that sends a coolness of Spirit in my body every time is when the song is poured out over the minor, soulful keys of “Rising Sun.” Some people object to this version because the original lyrics of “Rising Sun” have been attributed to prostitution or a prison, but how can Grace be anything but amazing to turn those lyrics and actions from:

Now the only thing a gambler needs
is a suitcase and a trunk.
And the only time he'll be satisfied
is when he's down and drunk.

to:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.

My prayer for the congregation?

Amazing God, You rise above our hopes and dreams! You seek the lost and give them a home; You take our sins and wash us clean. Let us remember to whom we belong, and to whom we bless for miracles of changed lives and changed situations. Remaining faithful is not a one-time revelation, but a daily struggle between the world of our culture and the world of your kingdom. We usually keep one foot in each realm, swaying our bodies between each one. Let us call upon you for stability and consistency, for perseverance and wisdom, for help when we are lost. Let us worship You as Lord of our lives, amazed that you have called even us, even now. Amen.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed.

There is a house in New Orleans,
they call it Rising Sun.
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy,
and God, I know I'm one.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
and Grace will lead us home.

Oh mother tell your children
not to do what I have done
spend your lives in sin and misery
in the House of the Rising sun.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.