Pulling out from my driveway this morning, I caught Steve Winwood’s 1980’s hit, “Bring Me a Higher Love.” Maybe you’ve had this experience before: it’s a song I’ve heard countless times over the years, yet have never actually heard the words. Today, as I finally listened carefully, I realized the enormous relevance it has for this particular week, traditionally called Holy Week. Here is the opening stanza:
Think about it, there must be higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above
Without it, life is a wasted time
Look inside your heart, I’ll look inside mine
Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk blind and we try to see
Falling behind in what could beBring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love
Where’s that higher love I keep thinking of?
With needy hearts and impaired vision, surrounded by the world’s pain, longing for a “higher love” to safeguard our souls, we have the opportunity, in Winwood’s words, to “think about it.” In busy routines and multi-tasking, we can slow down to read, to pray, and to think upon the passion of Jesus. Of the activities we’ll observe and celebrate this week, such concentrated reflection is surely among the most rewarding.
