A song, some tears, and a few thoughts

Now for something just a bit different....

I've mentioned before how hard it is for me to sing in German. It was almost impossible for me simultaneously to concentrate on saying the words, singing the notes, and understanding the meaning, especially during the weeks right after I arrived.

It's been nice to move slowly past the stage of trying to pronounce the words and into the stage of concentrating on the notes. Over the past 8 months, I've been able to recognize more and more of the songs that we sing regularly at church, which allows me to branch further into translating and understanding the song since the notes are now familiar.

I've noticed that most of my favorites are written by Peter Strauch. He seems to be the Fanny J. Crosby of German hymnists: he's written a large number of hymns and many of them are well-loved and often-sung. From a foreigner's perspective, his hymns also seem to have simple melodies that fit well with the words, and his lyrics are more to-the-point, everyday language than poetic musings, which for me makes them not only enjoyable to sing but also easy to understand.

German hymns generally don't have titles but are instead referred to by their first few words. My very favorite Strauch hymn begins with "Gott wurde arm für uns." ("God became poor for us.") The first time I sang this song was at the ladies' retreat at Neckarzimmern, and it made me cry.

Here is a rough translation of the hymn:

Refrain:
God became poor for us.
God became poor for us
So that we can become rich
Through His poverty.
God became poor for us.

Wealth, honor, careers, influence, power, and money.
All these we seek but are still lonely in the world.
We are never at peace. We always want more
And still our hearts stay empty.

God does not let us go. Come and hear the sound of joy:
When the time came to pass, God sent us His Son.
He left heaven and became human just like us.
His poverty opened the door for us.

From the cradle to the death on the cross at Golgatha
God carried our sins. Our salvation is now here.
He gives us life. He gives us security.
His grace carries us through time.

Strauch based the text on 2 Corinthians 8:9, and the German is simple enough that I could understand while we were singing. I sat there and thought about how true those words are. Jesus really did enter poverty by coming to this earth, and He did that so we could have a chance to become rich in Him. He left heaven, took on a human form, and suffered death in order to carry our sins.

And yet we as humans so often don't realize that or take it for granted and instead seek the "treasures" of this world. As King Solomon discovered, though, it's all "a chasing after the wind." We're still lonely. We're still unhappy. If only we can hear the Freudenton of security in God.

And that brought tears to my eyes.

I'm glad God's grace carries me because I sure do need it.