Todd Rundgren is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. He’s in great company with the likes of Tina Turner, Carole King, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, and The Go-Go’s.
Do you know Todd? He’s a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, innovator, and producer. He’s been continuously at the top of the music scene since the early 1970's. He’s had hits in every decade, and you can find he has produced some of the greatest musicians in two different millennia.
You may not know his history, but you’ve almost certainly heard his catchy tune, Bang the Drum All Day ("I don't wanna work! I just wanna bang on the drum all day!").
Today, though, I’m thinking about another aspect of Todd Rundgren: modern psalmist. I believe some of his music qualifies him for that. The joy of Hodja makes it a solid contender for a modern psalm; and I could make a strong case for Parallel Lines. There are many others. I leave it up to history and the experts to argue all that out.
The best of his psalms, though, one I doubt anyone would debate, is Mighty Love. It’s a great, thumping, toe-tapping piece of music. In it, Todd and crew contrast lesser love (romantic love; “Eros”) with a lasting, mighty love. The song recounts how the lesser love does not last —even though deeply sworn and strongly intended— because, as the song says, “that’s the way love goes.” But, you’re encouraged to “keep on looking, you’ll soon discover a mighty love.”
So, what is this "mighty love"?
The Bible uses phrases like “mighty waters,” “many waters,” “great waters,” and “deep waters” as a metaphor for serious trouble, overwhelming trouble; the kind of trouble you really can’t get out of by yourself, the kind of trouble that just might be the end of you. Mighty waters.
But there is a countering force to those mighty waters.
Now, Todd Rundgren is not known as a “Christian” singer; you won’t find his music listed on any of the “Christian top 40.” But, as with some other “secular” performers,** he sometimes enters deeply spiritual territory … if only we have the “ears to hear.”
We can put on our spiritual ears and hear that Todd Rundgren’s “mighty love” is actually what the Greeks called “Agape.” You're promised if you “keep on loving, you’ll soon discover a mighty love.” It’s an unconditional love, one that always acts in someone’s best interest, one that lasts; or, as some have put it: “love, in spite of.”
God's love.
As Psalm 29 indicates: God is the master of the mighty waters. Since God is love, His mighty love Is greater than any troubles that come our way, even those "floods" that threaten to, and sometimes do, overwhelm us.
What are you facing today? Mighty Waters?
Keep on looking; keep on loving. You’ll soon discover a Mighty Love.
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**For example: The Pretenders on I’ll Stand By You, Anne Murray on You Needed Me, Josh Grogan on You Raise Me Up, Norman Greenbaum on Spirit in the Sky, and Carole King on Way Over Yonder.
GRAPHIC is an earlier logo of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here’s an article about the very first class of inductees:
Mighty Love (lyrics below video):
Rock History: Top Ten Todd Rundgren songs:
More about Todd Rundgren:
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Join us for DaySpring’s next Lectionary Breakfast this Friday morning. Enjoy fellowship, scripture discussion, and some real joy. We gather on Zoom at 8:00. BYOBB (Bring your own breakfast beverage).
Blessings,
Steve
Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.
SCRIPTURES FOR THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
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