Eliacín Ricci over at Kingdom Praxis blogged recently about the New Conspirators conference at which both Tom Sine and a mate Mark Pierson spoke and participated in along with a number of other weird and wonderful people. Apparently Mark pulled out a song by Foy Vance for one of his prayer gatherings, the song is titled “Gabriel and the Vagabond” and is from his cd “Hope” which is downloadable on iTunes (yes, even in Australia). Foy Vance is a Londener musician, his cd “Hope” was his debut release, and with songs like “Indiscriminate Act of Kindness”, “Two Shades of Hope”, “If Only You Could See Yourself Like I See You” and of course, this one “Gabriel and the Vagabond” I’m sure I’ll be playing the cd on loop for weeks to come. Some people might have heard his voice on Grey’s Anatomy as he’s made it’s soundtrack on a night or two, Vagabond made it onto the soundtrack of the episode “Superstition”
The song is great for a number of reasons, I’m particularly touched by the image of someone stopping in the business of the street, the cynicism of the world and the fear of the people to really see the man on the street, enough to get close enough to him to whisper, not a yell, but a whisper, which means in a noisy street there was not only the intimacy of the seeing but also of closeness.
The song is great for a number of reasons, I’m particularly touched by the image of someone stopping in the business of the street, the cynicism of the world and the fear of the people to really see the man on the street, enough to get close enough to him to whisper, not a yell, but a whisper, which means in a noisy street there was not only the intimacy of the seeing but also of closeness.
What makes a man without hope sing?
What makes a girl without hope sing?
What makes a street full of people without hope sing?
I’d argue that it’s the act of being seen that brings the song, to be truley seen, not just in the sides of one’s eyes, not as I turn around and look back on where I’ve been, not as I walk on the other side of the road because I saw the strange man looking at me from ahead, but a true seeing, one that involved intimacy, that involves whispering, that involves laying beside the one on the ground, that involves stopping and really looking.
Mark Yaconelli writes in his book “Contemplative Youth Ministry”
Young people have no presumptions about receiving anyone’s full attention. They’re formed in a world that expects and rewards distraction. They assume that when the phone rings that the caller is simultaneously driving a car, playing a video game, or standing at a cash register. They’re trained to believe that successful people are the ones who can divide their attention among the largest number of activities. To be seen, heard, and fully attended to by another is wishful thinking. People are too busy. Life is too hectic. There are too many tasks to be accomplished, goals to be achieved, and diversions to be experienced. p125
That’s the power of REALLY seeing
The official Video Clip:
A Live Performance:
There’s a man on the corner and his clothes are worn
And he’s holding out his hand
You can see in his eyes as the people walk by
He knows they don’t understand
See, they just think he’s gonna take their money
And go and spend it all on dope
Then a man stopped by him and I saw a smile inside him
As he gently whispered hope
Well the tramp started to cry, just kept saying,
“Why? why? why?
Can’t you see I’m a down and out
I’m 32 and I’ve got this one pair of shoes
And a bad taste in my mouth
I think it’s clear to see that even God don’t love me
Or else why would He leave me this way.”
Then Gabriel just smiled and said be peaced my child
Salvation is here today
He got up to his feet and he sang Hallelujah
People were turning around in the street
He looked them in the eyes and he sang,
“Hallelujah
There’s someone here that you gotta meet
Someone you just gotta meet.”
When the vagabond turned around well without a sound
Gabriel just smiled and disappeared
Then he looked to the crowd and they were laughing out loud
But he could not see them for tears
When his vision came round
There was a young girl on the ground
And he knew she was finding it hard to cope
She never was a fighter until he lay beside her
And gently whispered hope
They got up to their feet and they sang Hallelujah
People in the street were turning around
They looked them in the eyes and they sang,
“Hallelujah
There’s someone here we have found”
They sang,
“Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We are the voices crying in the wilderness
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.”
The people in the street started their sins to confess
in a chorus of,
“Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Every knee will bow and every tongue confess
I’m the voice of one crying in the wilderness
Crying out
Hallelujah, Hallelujah”