We’re so quick to start kicking and screaming when things
don’t go our way.
It’s tragic that the song “Alone Yet Not Alone” got pulled
from the Oscar nomination list. Or is it?
An announcement was made yesterday that the Oscar nomination
for the song “Alone Yet Not Alone” was rescinded. Apparently, there was email exchanged between
the song’s composer and the Academy and, no matter how well intentioned it was,
the Board of Governors took action to protect the integrity of the
process.
It’s so easy to rush to judgment about why this should not
have happened. For sure, it’s just plain sad.
Sometimes I think we worry a little too much about perceptions. In any
case, there will be those who think this was an attempt to silence a message
that points people to Jesus. This song was from a film that did a powerful and
profound job of pointing people to the One True God!
Should composer Bruce Broughton have been more careful? I’m
pretty sure he has some regrets today. But I’m also pretty sure He is taking
comfort in knowing that God will do something really cool with this mess.
There’s something I’ve learned over the years. Whenever
circumstances get really ugly, God does things with those messes that are
bigger, better and more beautiful than anything I could have imagined, hoped
for or done for myself. In fact, it has
been when my life seemed most broken, upside down or backwards that I’ve had my
most intimate encounters with the power, presence and goodness of God.
I think the singer of “Alone Yet Not Alone,” Joni Earekson
Tada, would agree with me too. Joni, more than anyone, knows that God’s
purposes always prevail. No weapon formed against God’s love and reign will
ever prosper. Ever.
The message of this song could bless millions of people. How
many million people would have gone to listen to “Alone Yet Not Alone” if it
had won an Academy Award? How many would have listened if it had NOT won? How
many will go listen to it today — people who would NEVER have otherwise gone to
listen to it — just because they’re curious about this song that got pulled from
the Oscar line-up?
Of course, we’ll never know. Well, maybe Jesus will explain
it to us in heaven. But for now, I trust something bigger is unfolding. I think this whole thing is going down in a
way that God is just chuckling about. There
will be people who hear this song today and in the coming days who will
experience a hope and comfort — and possibly even life transformation —all
because this song never appeared at the Academy Awards.
Let us pray…
Listen to "Alone Yet Not Alone" here.
