One of the challenges within the 2019 12 Song Challenge was to write a “Funeral Song”. As soon as I started thinking about the task, two particular bereavements came to mind – one almost 20 years ago where a close friend who lived with us for a while as he battled an alcohol addiction died shortly after moving out. For both my wife and I we have never felt loss like that – never felt so absolutely knocked by a situation – we probably cried ourselves to sleep for months rather than weeks. The second is also the inspiration behind the song on the EP The Journey Continues, entitled When I am broken. That song was written with the express intention of being accessible corporately to give church chance to voice some of their thoughts and questions. However, as I set about the task, I felt that I found my personal voice in response to that loss – one that I don’t think I’d actually allowed to come out as yet, so I was thankful for the challenge as it gave that words.
I guess the final line of the chorus has a different meaning for these two losses – “enter into your rest” for Adrien was a life that was promised where every waking moment wouldn’t be consumed with him resisting the cravings for a drink, and for Andrew, the rest was from Christian and secular service – a life of putting the needs of others before his own, but always keeping his eye on the prize and knowing where his eternity lay.
This is the original version of the song, intended to be able to be sung at a funeral. I later tweaked it to have a broader focus and both were included on the EP. However, this was the true origin of the song.
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6 years ago