I had the privilege of sharing the song I wrote, “Ultimate Concern,” at Crooked Creek Baptist Church today. I am grateful to the musicians who participated in learning the song and performing it with me. The inspiration from the ideas of Paul Tillich will be obvious to those familiar with his writings.
Here are the lyrics:
Ultimate Concern
Faith is not a sightless leap you make into the darkness
It shouldn’t be a lame excuse for thinking as you’re told
It isn’t clinging to your views until you’ve choked them lifeless
Faith is a state of being ultimately concerned
Faith is not a box that you can tie up with your loose ends
A cell with your assumptions serving as the prison bars
It isn’t stuff you think you know, it isn’t feeling certain
Faith is a state of being ultimately concerned
CHORUS
You are the axis upon which I turn
Bridge I cannot burn
Ultimate concern
You are my center of gravity
Yet you’re infinity
Faith becomes idolatry when placed in church or nation
Too many playing politics with other people’s souls
It’s not achieved by imposition or by inquisition
Faith is a state of being ultimately concerned
Faith is not mistaking symbols for the things they point to
Worshiping the finger that is pointing at the moon
Sometimes it seems its all you’ve got, the one thing left to cling to
and sometimes you let go and find that it grabs hold of you
CHORUS
But yes there is a leap of faith – a letting go of idols
Trading answers for the questions you have yet to know
The absolutes that hide from you the Absolute, the Mystery;
So let the Ultimate become your ultimate concern
(c) 2013 James F. McGrath