By Samira Gast
I was captivated from the start.
I watched as a man took a gift out of his mouth, a bit unusual, but I was hooked. I soon discovered that the song “Gabriel and the Vagabond,” by Foy Vance, took me to a place of deep thought and emotional connection.
Foy Vance has a soothing sound. He fuses poignant lyrics with intriguing images to create a thought provoking piece. The innocent portrayal of reality is captivating. Vance’s desire for change, a longing for God and a thirst for justice is evident. Throughout the video, the monochromatic colors mixed with pencil sketches and flashes of live images made the video and lyrics dance around my head and heart.
Without an invitation, I was pulled into the video as if it was a scene from my own life. Before I knew it I found myself soul searching.
I caught myself wondering what I can do to help people in need, like those shown in the video. What can I say? Who can I talk to? When is a good time? How do I go about offering them something that they might need? How can I meet them in their brokenness and offer hope?
I was searching my mind for what I could do for them when I realized that I had it all wrong. As I listened to the rest of the song, I was reminded that it is not about what I can do for people but what Christ has already done for me. Though my attempts at providing hope for the broken is good, and I believe that is something that God wants from us, it is not all about what I can do. Simply thinking that hope comes from me and forgetting that it first came from Christ is an atrocity.
It didn’t take me long to realize that I am the “young girl on the ground” that the song talks about. There have been points throughout my life that I had no more energy to fight. My ability to care about walking with God seemed to not only vanish but vaporize, leaving no trace of its existence. I wanted to give up, throw in the towel, and not ever look back. Though God, in His infinite kindness and love “laid beside” me and “gently whispered hope.” His whispers of hope brought back to life areas that were dead. I was reminded that I am the one who is broken and in need of hope.
Sometimes it is hard to hear Christ’s loving whisper of hope with all of the noise that life brings. Yet the noise of life does not belittle the fact that He speaks. Christ speaks directly to us, directly to our need, whether we choose to hear Him or not.
May we all bring our brokenness, our emptiness, our lack and our questioning to Christ, no matter where we are. May we realize that we are all in need of hope and respond when it is whispered in our ear. May we get “up to [our] feet and … sing Hallelujah.” May “people in the street … [turn] around” and look. May they see that we have truly found someone and join us as “every knee … bow[s] and every tongue confess and sing “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”
Samira currently lives in Orlando, Florida. Samira works as a calligrapher while attempting to
seize every moment to be adventurous and survive the humidity.