Call on Me

I've already mentioned Chicago (the band) in this space before, so I beg your pardon for being repetitive. I have one offhand songs in my head just now and it is not going away. Their ninth top ten single was "Call On Me" from Chicago VII. This album had many distinctive characteristics.

First, the album began as a jazz project, and even thought the first disc is almost entirely jazz, the album became their third album to reach number one. It was the first double album of new material since Chicago III, and their last double studio album (so far). It is unique in that each band memeber contributed to the material. All of the songs were written only by the band members. "Call On Me" has the distinction of being the first song written by trumpet player Lee Loughnane, the last original band member to be credited as a composer.

Also from that album, "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long," the first single released four months prior to "Call On Me." The singer in one line of this song says, "I've been searchin' so long
to find an answer now I know my life has meaning . . ." It seems as though this "meaning" is what the songwriter has been looking for for so long.

Jeremiah had a very tough job. All of the prophets conveyed messages of judgement against Israel or Judah, as well as many nations surrounding them. It is not often that a positive message would come from a prophet. But Jeremiah contains at least one of those promising messages. Judah is carried off into exile in Babylon, and as a whole content to just be. Be where they are, be them selves, be waiting for deliverance. They could simply wallow in their mourning of their exile. And some did. It appears that there were many who did not pursue the normal activities of life.

So God says to them, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me a with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

God firsts tells those in exile to live - plant gardens, build houses, marry. He tells them that their well being is dependent upon the welfare of their captors, those who invaded their land, blinded their king and now subjects them to servitude. He then commands them to not listen to those that say that their exile would be short. After explaining his plan for their exile, he gives them words of promise full of hope. It is only after God has told them what they must endure that he says they will call on him, he would hear, they would seek him and he would be found, that he would gather them from where he had sent them.

God created us for relationship with him. With the fall, still created in his image, we have this deep longing for him. He knows we will call on him. He anticipates our searching for him. And even in our brokenness and slavery to sin, seeking for our significance, joy and security in everything but God, we know that the world cannot offer anything to satisfy. When we call on him and seek him, we are changed - a new beginning.

Our calling on him continues, even today when we know firsthand the assurance of his Word. The CEA mark test is slightly (the doctor's word) higher than the last time we had the test. Slightly higher, I believe, means a couple of tenths, not whole points. The oncologist thus assumes that the cancer has found a way to thwart the current chemotherapy therapy, a possibility that was not unexpected.

So we are walking down to paths simultaneously for now: option one is to seek out a clinical trial, probably at Georgetown University Hospital, that I qualify for and that the oncologist is happy with. If one is found, I should begin treatment (I think) around February 9 or so. Option two is a modification to current chemotherapy, the addition of a stronger drug in a pill that I take in conjunction with the chemotherapy.

Not exactly the new we were hoping for, but it is not bad news, either. And either way, we are blessed beyond our wildest imaginings by the faithful work of God through each circumstance and also by all the love shown to us through the body of Christ. We continue to call on him for our sustenance and seeking him for the comfort of his presence. And we have this promise, that he will hear and he will be found. All praise, honor and glory to our great God.