aaron niequist
darkness isn’t a friend
when will healing begin?
who will fight for the small?
who will fight for us all?
when will goodness prevail?
when is it safe to exhale?
when will the hungry be filled?
when will the terror be stilled?
how long – will sadness be thick?
how long – before it’s all fixed?
how long – God are you sick?
this planet’s broken, well, have You forgotten us?
hope and history yell
help us Emmanuel
Heaven is closer than Hell
save us Emmanuel
we say – hate doesn’t win
we’ve seen – Redemption in skin
we say – let the celebration begin!
we’ve seen the end of the story and Heaven wins.
©2008 AARONieq Music
in december of 2004, our church was celebrating the hope of Christmas. we began by focusing on the pain, sorrow, and darkness of reality, and then asked some big questions about redemption and the future. the light only seems helpful if we’re honest about being in the dark. this song was the midpoint of these somber services that eventually exploded in hope and celebration. to me, the key line is “God, are you sick?” I’m not sure if I mean “weak/unable” or “twisted,” but when we look at the present state of His world, I think it’s an important question to wrestle with.
musically, I’ve always wanted it to be both moody and beautiful, fragile and powerful. It’s a conflicted song, not sure if it’s mourning or celebrating, and I hope the music hangs in that tension.
