Home Again
Gregory Stephen Popp ©2006
Psalm 23, 1 Corinthians:9-27, 1 Hebrews 12:1-2
You lead me, by the waters
That feed my very soul
You find me, In the darkness
And carry me back home
My shepherd true. My Faithful One
I’m home again. Home again
Though I wander, through the valley
You stay there by my side
My comfort, in the darkness
From death into new life
I shall not want. You are my all
I’m home again
Home again
I’ve run the race
I’ve fought the fight
Please take me, Lord, into Your
Holy, Living Light
Waiting for you, Oh my God
To You I lift my soul
You annoint me, with your holy oil
My cup it overflows
Here I will dwell, forevermore
I’m home again
Home again
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Greg's Story
I am most definitely NOT the only songwriter to reference Psalm 23, but I just couldn't resist. It is one of the most beautiful psalms depicting our Lord as the good shepherd. This song just came to me little by little, as usual with the melody first. I was actually inspired by a Christmas film starring Cary Grant called "The Bishop's Wife". In the film, Grant plays an angel and recites several verses of this psalm to a little girl. I was moved by the beauty of the passage and it stuck in my mind as a topic I wanted to cover.
While my friend Chris was ill and I knew that there wasn't much time left, the afterlife was very much on my mind. I think it's pretty clear in all of the music on this CD. This song just flowed from the depths of my soul. Again, I had a feeling of praise for God's beautiful plan for each one of us, but tinged with the sadness of loss. But there is no sting.
Tracy did a really wonderful job of conveying the gentle, "wandering" feel that I heard when I originally wrote this song. I knew instantly that it had to be a female voice singing this one!
I want to be clear that the "Again" in the song does not in any way imply that we have EVER been to heaven and that when we die we return there again. There is no returning to heaven since we have not ever been there. What I hope to convey by the words "home again", is the feeling of returning home after a long journey. I have little doubt that heaven will feel very familiar to us. Picture a soldier returning from some war returning to his childhood home one evening as the warm, welcoming glow of the fireside beckons him inside to the firm and loving embrace of his parents. That's the sort of feeling that I think we'll feel, magnified a thousand fold, when we reach our final reward. When we're finally, really, "home". |
