Monday, May 31, 2010

Steve Winwood and the Blessed Trinity


Isn't it refreshing when we stumble on a song that gets us pondering the deeper questions? (and a snappy rhythm doesn't hurt either) Enter today's Twisted Mystic, Steve Winwood, with the very popular hit "Higher Love" from 1986.

Think about it
there must be higher love
down in the heart or hidden in the stars above.
Without it, life is wasted time
Look inside your heart
I'll look inside mine.

Now there's some good advice; introspection and exploration! Look within the heart and without to the universe. Funny that this is the very method thatPope John Paul II employs when he undergoes his mammoth teaching known as the Theology of the Body. It's called "phenomenological personalism" (impress your friends with that one). Essentially phenomenology looks at our human experiences - what attracts our hearts, what repulses them, what draws us through this life, forever chasing the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

Steve Winwood (pictured above with guitar seraphim Eric Clapton) asks a very phenomenologically inspired question - "What fuels us in our relationships? What drives us to be more?" It must be, he supposes, a higher love. To this insight, any self-respectin' Christian would respond "amen." And this Higher Love has a Name... The Most High!

Facing our fear and standing out there alone.
A yearning and it's real to me
There must be someone who's feeling for me.

Yes, "somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight," someone IS thinking of you, and loving you tonight! This higher love is in fact real to me too, and I've tasted it even in my human relationships. Don't we talk of our love as being something bigger than just us, something we "fall into?" Well, it's more so something we are drawn up into. The Catechism tells us that "God is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He has destined us to share in that exchange." (CCC 221)

The feast of the Holy Trinity that we just celebrated reminds us of this glorious reality, and our ultimate destiny. Did Mr. Winwood have an inkling of this? Well, who knows, but he's not called a Twisted Mystic for nothing! Listen to this almost mystical prayer from the 80's pop star:

I could light the night up with my soul on fire
I could make the sun shine from pure desire.
Let me feel that love come over me
Let me feel how strong it could be!
Bring me a higher love!

So the next time you're in the supermarket, or put on hold while trying to pay your cell phone bill, and this classic tune comes on, just use it as a chance for prayer. As Bamidbar Rabba once said, "Entrances to holiness are everywhere. The possibility of ascent is all the time. Even at unlikely times and through unlikely places."

Look inside your heart
I'll look inside mine.

12 comments:

  1. Glory to Jesus Christ!
    Hello, Bill,
    I had the pleasure of meeting you at the Congress on Friday. Thank you for this apostolate.
    I wanted to share another song that is popular right now on alternative radio. It's called Trinity by Paper Tongues. There's debate on whether this is a religious song or not. Judge for yourself!
    God bless,
    Marya Tipton

    You got a way of living, Your Ways, Hey I Want That,
    I try to live my life for the people who need a Come Back!!!!!!
    There's too many problems to think that you could fix me,
    My name is called The World & I'm dying of unbelief see
    I'm the Kind of person who's strong & wants to react...
    So feel me when I fight for the cause of bringing Hope Back
    Don't ask me where I'm going, Cause I could never prove that
    But I do have something to say
    Loop)
    I am reaching from the Depths of my Soul,
    Hear me Pleading, I'm a Child im the poor
    I am Needed to Draw on your virtue
    Believing....
    Chorus)
    Trinity, don't say good by, hey you know that
    Time After, Time after we will surive,
    that's Why I'm Still Alive
    Oh,woo, I,
    Love & Action takes the Widow with her Lose, and True Commitment take the Orphans
    Paying their Cost, Were just broken vessels pouring out our wine, Our days a numbered, but yet still
    we walk this line.
    Loop)
    I am reaching from the depths of my soul,
    Hear me Pleading, I'm a Child im the poor
    I am Needed to Draw on your virtue
    believing....
    Chorus)
    Trinity, Don't say good bye, Hey You Know That
    Time After, Time After We Will survive,
    That�s Why I'm Still Alive
    (Bridge)
    The Words Can't Break your Bones, so I release them in a Song,
    unbelief get out my Head, You can't win cause I'm not Dead.
    Prison step aside, cause It's time for us to Rise
    All my people Under Fire, You can Bet this time that I will Survive

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Marya! What a gripping song! I love the lyrics.... a world screaming for redemption... looking up!

    "There's too many problems to think that you could fix me, My name is called The World & I'm dying of unbelief see..."

    All of us know we are broken, and ask who can fix me? There is an Answer ;)

    Thanks for the tip, and please keep 'em coming!

    Peace,
    Bill

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, this is a nice blog. Keep up the good work.

    Just doing some listening to some older songs I like and I was thinking if you could consider the following song. It's by Heart, called What About Love?.

    I've been lonely
    I've been waiting for you
    I'm pretending and that's all I can do
    The love I'm sending
    Ain't making it through to your heart
    You've been hiding, never letting it show
    Always trying to keep it under control
    You got it down and you're well
    On the way to the top
    But there's something that you forgot

    What about love
    Don't you want someone to care about you
    What about love
    Don't let it slip away
    What about love
    I only want to share it with you
    You might need it someday

    I can't tell you what you're feeling inside
    I can't sell you what you don't want to buy
    Something's missing and you got to
    Look back on your life
    You know something here just ain't right

    What about love
    Don't you want someone to care about you
    What about love
    Don't let it slip away
    What about love
    I only want to share it with you
    What about love
    Don't you want someone to care about you
    What about love
    Don't let it slip away
    What about love
    I only want to share it with you


    All I can think of is how it could be the story of one who rejects precisely what he or she is made for -- love. I hope this is an appropriate and good song to look through using the lens of Theology of the Body.

    God Bless and keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have one to by Eddie Money called trinadad.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have one to by Eddie Money called trinadad.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Healthisgod.com is the only complete health and wellness website that you may describe as it yours. We created a site that introduces the collection of health and lifestyle information supported by reliable content providers and genuine user reviews. This is a sincere effort on our part to bring forth a user experience which is engaging, moving, and interactive. Visit for more- Health is God

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nutra Trials defines personal characteristics of different health products including skincare, weight loss, muscle and male enhancement. The study presented here is briefly described for reader convenience and to deliver them assurance with health standards. The best possible answers are given here regarding the selection of an ideal supplement or cream or serum that possibly remains to be safe for health and do not cause any side effects. http://www.nutratrials.com/

    ReplyDelete

  8. Brilliantly Slim: Every new day you keep running over a weight decrease supplement in the market. Starting in the no so distant past, we are sure that is an unending

    number of enhancements which guarantee you sit tight for adversity in a stipulated time period. In any case, we can't fall into the snare of each one of these cases,

    can we? That is the reason we keep our per clients instructed about all the new enhancements moved accessible, incorporating the reviews as for them. We trust these

    articles help you in finding the right enhancement which suits your necessities. Much the equivalent as some other enhancement, today we will review Radiantly Slim

    Diet pills to empower you to comprehend whether you should spend your money on it or not. Read here
    Radiantly Slim Diet, Radiantly Slim Diet Reviews, Radiantly Slim Diet Where to Buy?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post shared I really need this post your blog is very useful to me.It’s great article found on google search and it’s nailed it.
    Keto BodyTone

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very useful post and I think it is rather easy to see from the other comments as well that this post is well written and useful. I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the useful content and I am never being disappointed. Keep up the good work.
    Morgan @ Gowell Health Tips

    ReplyDelete
  11. My reasearch work has just came to a conclusion after reading this brilliant masterpiece
    Beauty + write for us

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great information shared with the users here, its noteworthy one to get a great information for future business purpose.
    Fitness "write for us"

    ReplyDelete