Why Are You Struggling There? (Ocean of Love)

Ages ago I wrote this song. It's called "Why Are You Struggling There?" (or alternatively, as my wife prefers, "Ocean of Love"). It's inspired by various personal thoughts and Bible passages regarding the love and salvation that we get when we turn to God.

I wrote the music using an application called "Melody Assistant" but never seemed to quite get around to recording the singing... However, earlier this year my wife and I had a (rare!) spare afternoon alone, so we grabbed the opportunity to record it at last. It's not a perfect rendition, but hopefully good enough for you to enjoy :)

Having recorded it, the next step was to bundle it into a video for YouTube - I considered various options for the accompanying visuals, and in the end decided that it would be fun show the music score as it is being played by Melody Assistant. There are quite a few staves in the music, so you really need to watch it in HD on a reasonably large screen if you actually want to be able to see the notes (and even then it may be a bit of a struggle!). By the way, I can't actually play any of the instruments involved - I just chose ones that sounded nice in Melody Assistant :) - I have no idea if it would be actually possible to play the various parts on real instruments (I suspect not in some cases!).

Anyway, enough waffle - here's the video...

... and here are the lyrics:

Men	Women
My feet were all blistered with hot baking sand, I struggled on forward through parched, barren land, I’d used my last strength to press on to the prize, The fruit of seduction on palm trees of lies.	My journey planned, Seeking a far, distant land, Hoping to win the prize, Aiming for highest skies.
But as I drew near it began to unfold, That all of the fruit that I once could behold, Were shimmering mists that had vanished away, No lakes of refreshment just, dry beds of clay.	But dreams grow cold, Rainbows just don’t lead to gold, Hopes dreamed along the way, Seem to all fade away.
But then, in the midst of my deepest despair, A voice strong as thunder yet gentle with care, Swept over my shoulder and sung 'round my head, It tugged on my heart and my soul as it said:	A lonely tear, Head hung in weary despair, That’s where my journey led, Until a calm voice said:
"Why are you struggling there? Come – I bring joy, not despair. Come to my family above, Come to my ocean of love."
I turned slowly round and I saw standing there, With face like the sun and with flowing white hair, The Almighty God; the Magnificent King, The Ruler of Heaven and Everything.	I turned around to see The Lamb of Calvary, The Prince of Eternity, The King of Kings, the Almighty.
The fire in His eyes and His sword wielding hand, They filled me with dread and I fell to the sand, But then on my shoulder His hand gently pressed, And wonderful calmness and warmth filled my chest:	But when I saw His might, His dazzling face of light, I fell to my knees in dread, But He reached down and tenderly said:
"Stand up there’s no need to fear, Rise and let Me draw you near, Sing, your salvation is here, Dance with the joy that we’ll share."
He lifted me out of that miserable place, With ruby-red blood He cleansed all my disgrace, Poured open His heart so that I could be free, And carried me home to His land ‘cross the sea.
Now free from the desert of endless defeat, I'm walking in sunlight, but not burning heat, For gushing and bubbling around at my feet, Are rivers of love that flow down from His seat.
So friend if your soul longs for meaning and light, Your heart wants to sing and to dance with delight, If you’ll stop and listen, if you’ll turn to see, You’ll hear the same words that He once said to me:
"Why are you struggling there? Come – I bring joy, not despair. Come to my family above, Come to my ocean of love."
"Stand up there’s no need to fear, Rise and let Me draw you near, Sing, your salvation is here, Dance with the joy that we’ll share."
“Come to my family above, Come to my ocean of love."

 

On Psalm 23 and Being a Sheep - Video

Some time ago I wrote a poem based on Psalm 23 called On Psalm 23 and Being a Sheep... Well, I'm now excited to say that I have created a video version of that poem!

This is the first video of this kind that I've made, so I'd love any feedback on it - it has certainly taken quite some time to do, particularly as I have a full time "normal" job and a family, so finding time to work on it hasn't always been easy.

As well as just watching the video, here are some suggestions for some fun activities that you may like to try...

• Read Psalm 23 - The poem and video are, obviously, based on imagining what someone may have been thinking about that psalm, and, after all, he was a little confused about some things, at least at first. So why not look up Psalm 23 in your own Bible and read it for yourself?
• Colouring page - (or "coloring" page, if you're American!) - I've created a colouring page that you can print out and colour in - then, if you like, you can pin the picture up somewhere so you have a regular reminder of your Shepherd :)
• Draw your on picture - Rather than (or as well as) printing out my picture, why not draw your own picture of the Good Shepherd?
• Hide and seek - I've created a little hide and seek game based on the video - there are ten things for you to try to find that appear somewhere in the video. There is also a document with the answers.
• Hold your own show - Of course, you can share the video with your friends, etc. if you want to, or watch it with them, but why not see if you can hold your own show? You could make some characters and use them to act the story just like I did in the video - as you can see, it doesn't even matter if people can see your hands holding the characters. You could base your show on my poem (like in the video), or you could base it on the actual psalm, or you could make up your own words.

Thanks for watching and God bless :)

p.s. You may also like to read some of my other poems...