Aches and Praise Seven Hundred and Twelve

Posted on 2025-05-02 in English |

Dear friends,  
 

Do you sometimes have a song in your head that you keep hearing over and over? The lyrics that I have been remembering are from a song by Joni Mitchell:

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” I couldn’t remember when she sang it, but thanks to a search on the Internet, I saw that it was written in 1970. According to Wikipedia,  

“In 1996, speaking to journalist Robert Hilburn, Joni Mitchell said this about writing the song:

I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart […] this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.

The song is known for its environmental concern: “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot” and “Hey farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now”. The line “They took all the trees, and put ’em in a tree museum / And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em” refers to Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu, which is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered.”
 

            In an article on the Internet about mistaken reports of people dying, the following is listed: “On October 7, 2022, People accidentally published their advance obituary for the singer-songwriter online, with the placeholder headline “Joni Mitchell Dies at TK AGE”. The article was soon removed from the website, and a spokesperson for Mitchell’s record label confirmed she was alive.”

            When I was a teen, I enjoyed going to a concert in Montreal where Joni Mitchell played guitar and sang many of her compositions. I also saw many bands perform during Expo ’67. While I liked the concerts, they paled in comparison with watching my children perform in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas when they were in their teens.  In thinking about family, these words come to mind: “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God. I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!” After searching the Internet, I found that these lyrics were also written in 1970. Here is the article:
 

THE FAMILY OF GOD                                                                    

 

Well-known Gospel songwriters, Bill (1936 – ) and Gloria Gaither (1942 – ), were home for Easter and attending their home church in Anderson, Indiana. They heard of a young man in the community who had been severely burned when an explosion demolished the garage where he worked. Doctors did not expect him to live through the night.

A church prayer chain was activated, and church members prayed all night for the young man. When church members gathered to celebrate Easter the next day, they received word that the young man was recovering. The pastor reported he had just spoken to the doctor, who told him the young man had a chance to pull through. The church family rejoiced in the answer to prayer.

As Bill & Gloria went home after the Easter service that morning, they talked about what a wonderful thing it is to be part of a family of believers and to be able to pray together to our Father in Heaven. Before long, the Gaithers did what the Gaithers do… they wrote a song…
 

          Read this hymn and – today – thank God for your church family… and then go spend some time with them this Sunday.

 

CHORUS

I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God;
I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
for I’m part of the family, the Family of God.

You will notice we say “brother and sister” ’round here,
it’s because we’re a family and these are so near;
when one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
and rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.
 
(CHORUS)
 
From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
no longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
from rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I’m not worthy to be here, but, praise God I belong!
 
(CHORUS)
 
May the Lord give you great joy as you worship Him!
 
Scripture for the weekend: “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you , according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” Ephesians 3:14-16 (NASB).
 
Thought for the weekend: “Hope for the Christian is a confident expectation of a guaranteed result.” – Paul David Tripp.
 
By His grace,
 
 

Steve

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