I have been working on a new song since the beginning of Lent. I keep tweaking the music, but I think the lyrics are solid. They reflect my prayer during the Lenten season as I examined my own challenges and flaws. The thought that kept coming to me was that of trying all the time to be good and holy, failing some of the time, but being called to keep trying. That’s where the words of the Chorus come in: “We fall down and we get back up to rise in you!”
The Pre-Chorus has also been a revelation to me. I liked the image of us as precious wine, but flawed in our humaness (i.e., “broken vessels”). I also thought the writings of one of the early Church Fathers spoke to our condition: “Human hearts laid low by sin.” The question we face when we fall to sin is: What do we do next? The answer is rather simple. We turn to Christ and ask him to lift us back up again. Through forgiveness, through mercy, and through the sacrament of Reconciliation, God gives us another chance to live the true and pure life we long to live. God leads us to new life in Him – his love never fails!
These are the lyrics to this song:
To Rise In You
Pure and true, trying to be just like you.
In all we say and do, but sometimes we fall.
Knocked down again and burdened by the weight of sin,
You reach down to free our hearts again with mercy and love.
We are blessed, but we are broken
Though we try, we fall to sin
Help restore us to your graces
To die to self and rise again.
On our knees, prying for complete release,
You set us free with mercy and love.
Renewed again, we promise to avoid all sin.
You lead us to life in you again;
Your love never fails!
We are blessed, but we are broken
Though we try, we fall to sin
Help restore us to your graces
To die to self and rise again.
We lift our prayers to heaven.
We lift our hands and hearts to you, our Savior.
Send down your grace from heaven.
Teach us to die to self and rise in you.
We are blessed, but we are broken
Though we try, we fall to sin
Help restore us to your graces
To die to self and rise again.
Copyright 2012 Daniel R. Donnelly. All Rights Reserved.
Deacon Dan Donnelly 