Fix You and Psalm 22
I have been wanting to preach on Coldplay's song Fix You for some time, and I think I have finally found my chance. Good Friday is tomorrow, and one of the lectionary readings is Psalm 22, which is the Psalm that Jesus "quotes" or rather, uses, on the Cross, before he dies. Though Fix You isn't exactly something I would probably sing on the cross as I was dying, it might fit into a different form of use.
Psalm 22 is known as a psalm refelcting the suffereing of an individual. It is a prayer on behalf of someone who is suffereing, the form we have for our Good Friday service is the first half or so, the second half, being left out, primairy becsaue its fous is on praise. ANyway, the psalm is the "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" psalm and it is a powerful lament of someone who is in the throes of deep anguish and pain. Someone who is the middle of a more than challenging period of their life, a time where they are not sure they will be able to survive, a time when they are ridiculed for what they believe in and who they are at the core of their being. Psalm 22 is a lament, a prayer for help, a screaming for God to remember and come to the aid of this individual.
Fix You is a similar lament, it seems to me, and again, this is my own perspective, bring your own interpretation to the song and see what you think. It is a lament and a prayer from someone who is seeking and desiring to be in community, seeking and desiring to be healed, seeking and desiring to be saved. Or is it, the main Chorus, "Lights will guide you home/and ignite your bones/And I will try to fix you", seems more like the voice of someone who is seeking to heal, not be healed, seeking to embrace, not find, seeking to love, not be loved. THe verse where the singer says, "I will try to learn from my mistakes" seems also to indicate that the person singing caused the tears to stream, the pain to be felt and the brokeness to come through. It seems as though the singer, the pray-er is the one asking for forgiveness, asking to help and asking to heal or fix the object of the song.
Just a few comments about this song, it is interesting to sit with on Good Friday and the whole idea of a mourning people, a people who have not spoken truth to power, a people who have caused pain and agony in the world. A people who have a need to fix the mistakes we have made and prepare to learn from them so we may never ever repeat the errors of our past. Sing this song to Jesus Christ on the cross, pray this song to the one nailed to a tree, see what it might move within your soul, see what it might reorient in your mind. THen come to realize this is the song of Christ, the ballad of God speaking to us, filling us with the spirit to be ones who are put togheter and made whole so we can light the world afire with our passion and love of God.
May God bless you this holy week and keep you!
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Psalm 22 is known as a psalm refelcting the suffereing of an individual. It is a prayer on behalf of someone who is suffereing, the form we have for our Good Friday service is the first half or so, the second half, being left out, primairy becsaue its fous is on praise. ANyway, the psalm is the "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" psalm and it is a powerful lament of someone who is in the throes of deep anguish and pain. Someone who is the middle of a more than challenging period of their life, a time where they are not sure they will be able to survive, a time when they are ridiculed for what they believe in and who they are at the core of their being. Psalm 22 is a lament, a prayer for help, a screaming for God to remember and come to the aid of this individual.
Fix You is a similar lament, it seems to me, and again, this is my own perspective, bring your own interpretation to the song and see what you think. It is a lament and a prayer from someone who is seeking and desiring to be in community, seeking and desiring to be healed, seeking and desiring to be saved. Or is it, the main Chorus, "Lights will guide you home/and ignite your bones/And I will try to fix you", seems more like the voice of someone who is seeking to heal, not be healed, seeking to embrace, not find, seeking to love, not be loved. THe verse where the singer says, "I will try to learn from my mistakes" seems also to indicate that the person singing caused the tears to stream, the pain to be felt and the brokeness to come through. It seems as though the singer, the pray-er is the one asking for forgiveness, asking to help and asking to heal or fix the object of the song.
Just a few comments about this song, it is interesting to sit with on Good Friday and the whole idea of a mourning people, a people who have not spoken truth to power, a people who have caused pain and agony in the world. A people who have a need to fix the mistakes we have made and prepare to learn from them so we may never ever repeat the errors of our past. Sing this song to Jesus Christ on the cross, pray this song to the one nailed to a tree, see what it might move within your soul, see what it might reorient in your mind. THen come to realize this is the song of Christ, the ballad of God speaking to us, filling us with the spirit to be ones who are put togheter and made whole so we can light the world afire with our passion and love of God.
May God bless you this holy week and keep you!
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