Hold On, My Heart

Hold On My Heart

By Genesis. 1991
LISTEN HERE

Hold on, my heart
Just hold on to that feeling

Hold on, my heart
Just hold on to that feeling
We both know we've been here before
We both know what can happen

Hold on, my heart
'cause I'm looking over you shoulder
Please don't rush in this time
Don't show her how you feel

Hold on, my heart
Throw me a lifeline
I'll keep a place for you
Somewhere deep inside
Hold on, my heart

Please tell her to be patient
'Cause there has never been a time
That I wanted something more
If I can recall this feeling
And I know there's a chance
Oh I will be there
Yes I will be there
Be there for you

Whenever you want me to
Whenever you call I will be there
Yes I will be there
We both know we've been here before
We both know what can happen

Hold on my heart
'cause I'm looking over you shoulder
Please don't rush in this time
Don't show her how you feel

Hold on, my heart
Throw me a lifeline
I'll keep a place for you
Somewhere deep inside

Hold on, my heart
Please tell her to be patient
'Cause there has never been a time
That I wanted something more

If I can recall this feeling
And I know there's a chance
Oh I will be there
Yes I will be there

Be there for you
Whenever you want me to
Whenever you call I will be there

Yes I will be there...

The teaching is that the Christ will return, the shepherd collecting his flock. He realizes the importance of the devotion of the disciples and wants them to know he will be with them, to the end of time; however there is risk. The risk that they may not be loyal, they may not remain faithful to the One, the All, who makes the sun and the moon, the very heart of all the Christ has come to share. Yet he assures all that he, the Christ will remain until the end of time. -- St. Matthew 28:20

Tell her to be patient, the world is not yet ready, the place held open for all to enter is a deep, profound mystery. The Spirit makes a place for one and all. Hold on, my heart. I'll be there.

The Prayer of the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful with the fire of your love.

The Prodigal Son
The Bible tells a story of the prodigal son, or lost son. Prodigal because though this son left his father's house, when he returned, his father spent lavishly, even wastefully celebrating this child's return. The origins of this word, prodigy-prodigal, are interesting. In the old English language, prodigy carried the usual meaning of 'omen,' a portentous event.
So while the particular Bible story tells of two brothers, one obedient and one flagrant and a father desperate beyond reason to reunite with the child who has left, spurning his family. The message is clear: once lost, now found.
There is a documentary recently produced by American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) about the lives of 12 people whose origins go back to the protestant christian sect, commonly known as the Amish, a community which believes in community first and always, as a necessary means of witness. They do sometimes nurture the lost souls who see to a way beyond the gates of their community into the wider American community. Leaving is not often welcomed by the Amish. Sometimes they are "shunned."
And yet when they do this, their family may still treat them as the Bible instructs, hoping, looking and waiting for their return, a prodigal child. The family sets a place at meal times each and every day their loved one is gone, to remind themselves of the mercy of the Christ when dealing with a 'lost sheep.' They, as singer Phil Collins sings, Hold On My Heart.

Parents, friends, and others in their Amish community remain apart from the ones who leave. Often they fear hell or damnation, as they understand it, if one lives among the wider society and their materialistic ways. The Amish, you see, highly value plain, simple living. They believe that the clutter of 'stuff' gets in their way and their conversations with God. So they eschew common materialism for the favor of the riches of creation, honest work and community.

The Amish, a breakaway Christian sect formed by followers of Roman Catholic Priest, Father Menno Simons in Switzerland during the counter Reformation. Their faith-ways led them to the relative religious liberty of America and a place in William Penn's Pennsylvania.
They are devout Christians, keeping the way of discipleship before their eyes; their way is independent with minimal hierarchy, no church buildings or seminaries, and a desire to baptize those who come forth willingly. Thus children in these families are church members if they choose it when they come of age.

In another story, the Bible tells us of a certain shepherd and a flock of sheep. When one lamb goes missing, there is an all out search to locate and return the lamb to its flock. This story, unlike the Prodigal Son is without comparisons. There is simply the fact of a lost sheep, now found.
In both stories however, we can take away the meaning that each of us is with value, each has his own importance, irrespective of any other thing we may or may not do in the world, because we are the love and the product of the Creator himself, who has loved us into existence, and means to sustain us with the very same love, the love poured down on us by the Holy Spirit.
So to you, I say, 'Amen, Amen. Be on your way.'