"I'm Yours..."

"...Well open up your mind
and see like me
Open up your plans
and damn you're free
Look into your heart
and you'll find love
...love, love, love...

Listen to the music of the moment 
people dance and sing
We're just one big family
And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved
...loved, loved, loved, loved..."
- Jason Mraz

My friend Kim posted the video of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" on her blogsite, Ad Infinitum earlier this month, and it made me so happy I couldn't get it out of my bee-bopping heart for days.   I thought, this is a very happy song.  I like it.  It makes me feel really happy and hopeful.  So I was so surprised when I saw the above photo by Abu Sall on another friend's Facebook newsfeed, and thought of this happy song. 

I've been thinking about "why" all afternoon.  Why would I look at this heart-wrenching photo of a young Palestinian girl standing in the midst of a bombing site in the Gaza, and think of this song.   I wondered if there was something wrong with me.  Had my heart become hardened to the horrors of war?  Had I lost my humanity?  Was I suffering from some version of emotional disengagement that felt more like Gallow's Humor, than the compassion I longed to have characterize my response to the pain felt by victims of terrorism and violence.

And then I realized that the song was not outside of me...it was not a pop tune stuck in my head, it was a divine imperative...a persistent prayer...an affirmation of this child's spiritual right to be free.

Because she is His. 

She is not a Palestinian victim...she is a spiritual, blessed child of God.  She is "cared for, watched over, beloved, and protected" by an all-powerful Father who cherishes and adores her. She is not an orphan of war. She is not a tragic statistic. She is not a survivor. She a princess of the kingdom of heaven, governed by her Father, a loving and benevolent sovereign..and she is His.   I've loved praying with this song today...as it played over and over again in my heart. I was joined by a chorus of all the world's children -- children of every age, race, culture, religion, gender, and socio-economic definition. 

But here's the funny thing, everytime I'd heard this song by Jason Mraz, prior to today, I had heard it in Jason's voice.   But this evening, I realized that today, I had been hearing the song all day in a girl's voice.    I was clearly hearing a girl singing, "But I won't hesitate no more, no more, it cannot wait I'm yours..."   It was a voice so sweet and lovely.

Then tonight I was visiting another friend's Facebook page and noticed that she had posted a video of her daughter, Kendra,  covering this song.  It was uncanny.  I clicked on the play arrow and there was the voice I had been hearing all afternoon. 

Seeing Kendra singing, "I'm Yours" with this photo of a Palestiniam school girl on my desktop reminded me that prayer, as Mary Baker Eddy says, really is "God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind"....all mankind.  God had sent me a prayer through my friend Kim's blog, showed me where He was establishing His kingdom...not an Israeli kingdom or a Palestinian kingdom...but God's kingdom, and gave it a fresh, new "voice" so that I would recognize His hand in it all.

Oh, dear Father, I too am "Yours"....
Kate