Jesus, We Love You -- Paul and Hannah McClure, Kalley Heiligenthal

 

It must have helped them feel more confident, as they approached parenthood for the first time. That’s what you might say, when you hear what Paul McClure remembers about how he felt -- and the comforting resolution he also experienced -- when he and his wife Hannah were pregnant in November 2013. This approaching fatherhood was a bit scary for him, and then he thought that if he and his family could just say “Jesus, We Love You”, things would be OK; he could handle being a dad, and Hannah would feel no anxiety at being a mom. This Redding, California couple dwelt on, and finally rested in the assurance that the presence of God’s Son would undergird their role as parents to their own son. Things were going to be different for them in one respect, but in another way, the unchanging nature of their most important relationship was something that gave them a firm foundation – a cornerstone (v.1). As they pondered their situation, and the circular nature of Him and what He provides, and how that gets reflected back and forth between us and Him – these thoughts really made these new parents feel His security anew.    

 

You can hear the McClures song story, in their own words (see the YouTube link below), a story that unfolds all the different reactions they had to bringing a new life into the world; it was a time when they were praying even as they made the music. Kalley Heiligenthal evidently also had some thoughts that translated into lyrics for the song the McClures initially crafted; Kalley’s own heartbreaking loss as a parent (she lost her daughter in 2019), and her expression of trust in Him while in the midst of her loss, suggests she and the McClures had voiced something unshakeable in 2013-2014 that was from deep inside all three of them. (See also Kalley’s video interview on another YouTube link below.) In short, to whom else can anyone turn for instructions about life, except to the One who creates life? The McClures felt their son’s (Ezra’s) life would be OK if he was nurtured with the love that both Paul and Hannah had first received from Him. Paul calls it ‘the big…explosive moment’ he wanted to capture in the song, when they would sing the song’s title words. Hannah adds that His love, and how we receive it and redirect it back to Him, was what gave her the lyrics for the song’s bridge section; ‘our affection…devotion’ is given back to Him who first gave it to us --‘for all that you’ve done…’ here’s the appreciation, our anthem to say we are beholden to You. Paul declares that his response to Him ultimately is not only thankfulness, but also adoration and surrender. In Paul’s estimation, realizing and appreciating all that Jesus is makes it easy to follow Him, even when life is hard. The simplicity of loving Jesus…that’s what Paul says is at the heart of the song.

 

Hear some parents talk about the birth of a child…maybe that’s when it hits the human most, that there must be a God who loves. This intricate, little, living person is His idea. ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ – that’s a pretty common phrase that God issues at various points in His creative enterprise on earth (from Genesis to Hosea, in the Old Testament). Where would I be if two people had ignored these words (in the early 1960s)? Is it an accident that living emerges from loving? Change just one letter in either word, and the meaning is transformed. But, is the source changed? What do you think Paul and Hannah thought? Did Kalley change her basic beliefs when her youngster died? These three spoke their answers, and also sang them. You and I can, too.            

   

 

See/hear the story of the song shared here (appx two-minute video) by the songwriters: Jesus We Love You (Song Story) - Paul McClure | We Will Not Be Shaken (youtube.com)

 

Read about two of the songwriters here: The McClures - Wikipedia

 

See a potent video re: a heartbreaking episode in one of the songwriter’s lives here: Kalley Heiligenthal: Learning to Live After Heartbreaking Loss | Better Together TV (youtube.com)

 

See information on the image of the Redding seal here: File:Seal of Redding, California.png - Wikimedia Commons. This work was created by a government unit (including state, county, city, and municipal government agencies) that derives its powers from the laws of the State of California and is subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6250 et seq.). It is a public record that was not created by an agency which state law has allowed to claim copyright, and is therefore in the public domain in the United States.

Good Good Father -- Pat Barrett and Anthony Brown

 

It’s an appreciation that had been ongoing for about four years before these two songwriters decided this “Good Good Father” should be shared more broadly in 2014. The spontaneity of what had first sprung up in Atlanta churches where Anthony Brown worshipped struck others like his friend Pat Barrett, as circumstances in their lives spoke more intently to them through the song’s lyrics. Is He ‘dad’, or ‘daddy’, or ‘father’, and does the adjective ‘holy’ get inserted somewhere for you and me? All of the above, these guys might say, but the point of what they wanted to say was that He’s so very good, along with many other words they used to express their devotion to Him. Their underlying idea is that He’s not distant, though there’s a lot that tries to interfere with that before a believer draws near to this Father.

 

One can imagine that the first time, or one of the first times, that Anthony coaxed a church in Atlanta to sing some lines in the spur of the moment about this ‘good good father’, perhaps he was thinking about a notable gap in his mortal life – he’d had no dad growing up. And, others like Pat shared that becoming dads, with little children any Christian parent wants to nurture correctly, motivated their worship to Him in the song. Pat says he was a recent dad (2-year and 4-year-olds), so the song’s words resonated with him for that reason. Chris Tomlin, in conversation with Pat, also shared that he likewise had little children whom he wanted to be able to show God. How does one do that? Pat echoed that desire; how does one explain the Almighty to a child, introduce to a child the eternal Father who can change lives? Pat further shares that reading about Jesus addressing ‘his Father’ was really challenging in the 1^st Century culture in Israel and Judea, because you just didn’t talk to God that personally. He admits he had to unlearn so much about the cultural inclination to pray impersonally to a distant God, and instead think and talk to Him as Father. You can almost hear the many conversations that Anthony and Pat had about this Father, as they came at Him from different perspectives. Maybe it was Anthony who wrote the words about Him being a ‘tender whisper…in the dead of night’, a reassurance he would have missed as a child from an earthly father. And, Anthony felt His Father’s pleasure that ‘I’m never alone’. That’s really powerful stuff for someone without a human dad in the picture. For Pat, he’d ‘…heard a thousand stories…’ about God, conveying some feelings he says he had to unlearn about God being far away, too distant to address intimately. For both Pat and Anthony, this Father-God provided all the answers for those ‘searching…far and wide’.

 

Pat and Anthony repeat so many words to Him, notably saying he’s good twice – Anthony says once just didn’t seem like it was enough. He’s also ‘perfect’ for sure, with an ‘undeniable love’ that makes me ‘who I am’. Get that – my identity is wrapped up in Him, as it should be, since He made me in His image. All these are written to drive home this point: God is who He is (‘it’s who You are’), and I can revel in being His son, the son of a good good Father. I’m loved, He’s perfect and holy, and Pat and Anthony concede at one point that this ushers in a ‘peace so unexplainable’. It’s a situation that cannot be fathomed, and it’s beyond our human ‘think(ing)’. Their message is just to accept what’s being sung. You and I will be face-to-face with this Father, and then maybe we’ll understand it more. Or, just love Him more.

 

See the original song story here: The Story Behind "Good, Good Father" - Prophetic Crossroads

 

See more details on the song story told here: Chris Tomlin - "Good Good Father" (Story Behind The Song) | 95.5 The Fish - Cleveland, OH (955thefish.com)  (see story from Patt Barrett beginning at 0:50 to 2:22 and 3:34 to 3:50 of the video)

 

See very short explanation of the song’s purpose here: Good Good Father - Lyrics, Hymn Meaning and Story (godtube.com)

 

See some information on song here: Good Good Father - Wikipedia

 

See here for image of Atlanta seal and its public domain status -- File:Seal of Atlanta.svg - Wikimedia Commons This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.

Gentle Shepherd -- Gloria Gaither

She was a new mother, parenting without any experience, and evidently fairly aware that she and her husband might get some things wrong. Gloria Gaither says she and her husband Bill needed a “Gentle Shepherd” to help them guide their young, in the same way an owner cares for each sheep. Admitting that one is naïve, without all the correct procedures and ultimate answers, was a lesson that Gloria sounds like she probably re-learned as she and Bill dealt with each of their children. No two kids are the same, and so the gentle, light touch of the parent as an authority is so necessary for child-rearing, she indicates. How do you suppose Gloria and Bill discovered this principle?

Gloria did not just have an epiphany about parenting in a temperate, mild manner in 1974 when she and Bill began employing the gentle shepherding of their own children. Gloria shares that there were multiple sources that nudged them into this approach, toward this ‘gentle’ direction. Her mother urged Gloria as a teenager in a poem to follow the ‘Great Shepherd’ (God), some foundational advice that was rooted in various scriptures (Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, John). She notes in the few pages of the “Gentle Shepherd” story that parents play a balancing act with their kids – firm control versus autonomy, admonition versus loving support. It was the constancy of God’s words that helped the Gaithers maintain an equilibrium, though how His precepts are applied to each new generation of children must be carefully measured, Gloria writes. She indicates that she and Bill drew upon the Spirit for discernment plenty of times. How else would one know how to shape the God-given gifts of each child and mold them for a future that neither parent could forsee? It’s a recurring theme in multi-generational families like the Gaithers’ clan, which Gloria shares had evolved by the mid-2000s so that the once-upon-a-time parents had grown into grandparents.  Their own kids have birthed five grandkids, and so what was passed along from Gloria’s mother -- and probably long before her, in fact – to Gloria and Bill, and now to their own children and grandchildren, will keep regenerating and reeducating each of their progeny, because of its timeless source.

Gloria relates how a trip to England with her daughter’s family reminded her once again of how sheep and their caretakers behave. The sheep often stray, sometimes into dangerous territory. And, the shepherds are very cautious with those under their care, aware that the sheep are vulnerable, easily misled creatures. We, like the sheep, may be misguided, but at least in admitting our condition, we can run to and cling to a protector, a wise one we know is compassionately looking out for our welfare. Am I in danger, susceptible to all sorts of peril? Sure. But, my God is sure, too. Breathe easier in His embrace, fellow sheep.               

The primary source for the above song story is the book Something Beautiful: The Stories Behind a Half-Century of the Songs of Bill and Gloria Gaither, Faith Words: Hachette Book Group USA, New York, NY, 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Gaither

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gaither_%28gospel_singer%29