Hanging on

© Paul Mitchell

On Songs of Praise on Sunday, the tenor, Alfie Boe, was featured. He was the youngest of nine children of a Catholic family and, yes, he said, faith had remained very important to him. The two great moments of his adult life were holding his dying father in his arms and being present at the birth of his daughter, Gracie. Nice chap and nice voice, I thought. 


He sang the first verse of "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer"and then a song I didn't know. Usually I get cross when a pop song (or in this case a Country and Western song) is inserted into Songs of Praise. It's hardly great poetry. However, as it was apparently Alfie's choice, I gave it the time of day - and, when I heard it, thought of the friend I mentioned last time. And so, M, this is dedicated to you and your lovely daughter - and to all families holding on even when they've had enough:


"In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see,
She was sent to rescue me.
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes.

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal,
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace.
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength when I am weak;
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes.

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger,
Oh it puts a smile in my heart,
Everything becomes a little clearer,
I realize what life is all about:

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough,
It's giving more when you feel like giving up.
I've seen the light;
It's in my daughter's eyes.

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future,
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave,
Maybe raise a family.
When I'm gone, I hope you see how happy
she made me,
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes." (James T Sinclair)


You can hear it sung by Martina McBride, the American artist who made it famous, here, or about 18 minutes into the iPlayer recording of Sunday's programme Songs of Praise, here. The heart of the song, of course, is the human expression of God's sort of love:
"I realize what life is all about:
It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough,
It's giving more when you feel like giving up." It works both ways, and it happens because of love - which is what life is all about.