Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

• Matthew 28:16-20

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; neverwill I forsake you.”

• Hebrews 13:5

“What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,
that you examine them every morning
    and test them every moment?
Will you never look away from me,
    or let me alone even for an instant?
If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
    Have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

• Job 7:17-21

“Ev’ry time we say goodbye
I die a little
Ev’ry time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little

Why the Gods above me
Who must be in the know
Think so little of me
They allow you to go

When you’re near
There’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere
Begin to sing about it

There’s no love song finer
But how strange the change
From major to minor
Ev’ry time we say goodbye

When you’re near
There’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere
Begin to sing about it

There’s no love song finer
But how strange the change
From major to minor
Ev’ry time we say goodbye”

• Cole Porter, Every time We Say Goodbye

I have written about the times that my wife and I said goodbye a few times.  I have even quoted from this Cole Porter song in the past.  Indeed, saying goodbye to your wife when you knew you would not meet for months, and the little baby in her arms, in each of the military moves, a child roughly one year old, that child would be a lot different than when you next see them.

But in this series, I have been mostly looking at love songs that might, or in a couple of cases never would, be a worship song with one or two words changed.  But this one needs a title change.  Yet, there are elements of our love of God in the song.

But right off the bat, we do not ask gods. There is one God, three persons, but one God.

Without God, I die a little.  Without God, I wonder why a little.  No. Without God, we would simply die.  Without God we would wonder why a lot!  But those elements are transferable.

The times in which you are communing with God, maybe not outdoors where the sensations can be literal, I often feel as if the air has something of Spring about it.  Some type of rebirth to it.  And in my mind’s ears, I might even hear a lark singing.  Mostly on the literal sign of things, when I hear the robins return to nest in the rafters, the sound of the robins tells me that it is Spring or soon will be.

But the lark or the robin singing cannot be a finer love song.

But then, the imagery changes.  The chord changes from major to minor.  The earthly love has gone.

For those who do not play musical instruments, especially the piano or other instruments with keys or striking notes, xylophone as an example.  Let me explain the minor chord.

Let’s start with the key of “C” since it has no flats or sharps.  A major chord would be the C, E, and G.  If you play the notes at the same time, like on an organ, you get the C-major chord.  It is pleasant.  It sounds welcoming.  It is harmonious.

Whatever chord you play, the major chord is the first, third, and fifth notes in that key’s scale.

But now, flatten the E.  Flatten the third note in that key’s scale, the middle note of the chord.  In some major chords, for a particular key’s scale, the middle note might be a black key on the piano or organ.  Still, you flatten that note by going to the next lower white key.  The chord is no longer pleasant.  It feels a bit ominous instead.  You do not feel welcome, maybe feeling a bit concerned.  But there is a certain amount of sad harmony involved.

The shift to a minor key is how the movie greats changed the mood.  You knew that what you saw as a wonderful scene in the movie was about to change.

Cole Porter wrote the song for music lovers to understand while many who did not have a clue about major and minor chords would not have a clue.  When a loved one leaves and you say goodbye, things are about to change, and it is probably not going to be a welcome change.

But that, along with the title, is how this does not work as a worship song.  God never leaves us.  He will never forsake us.

Saying “Amen” at the end of your prayer does not say “goodbye” because God does not leave.  “Amen” basically means “so be it.”  Thus, we pray, and we say that God’s will be done, and we punctuate that with “Amen,” but the prayer goes on as God stays with us and knows all our thoughts.

The Scriptures above talk about God never leaving.  We focus on the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, but no, the end of the Gospel of Matthew should be called “The Great Promise.”  Jesus will never leave us, even until the end of time.  The verse from Hebrew 13 talks of us being content because God will never leave us nor will He forsake us.  And in Job 7, Job laments after Eliphaz the Temanite has told Job to confess his sin.  Job says a lot of things over a couple of chapters.  Job asks questions, but one of the questions in the middle of this part of the lament is in spite of Job’s suffering, he asks God “Don’t you always keep your eyes on me without looking away? And am I never alone, not even for an instant?” (my paraphrase).  With God, there is no “goodbye.”

Here is Ella Fitzgerald singing Every Time We Say Goodbye.

We can have that major chord continue on.  God is there right now.  If you are one of His, there is never a reason to say “goodbye.”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.