An Open Letter To Chris Tomlin

Dear Mr. Tomlin,

I have been blessed by many of your songs, and appreciate your ministry. I particularly like your reworking of the hymn "Amazing Grace." On more than one occasion I've been moved to tears as I meditate on the the overwhelming thought that my God, my Savior has indeed ransomed me from the chains of my sin.

But there's something about the third line of the chorus that distracts my easily-distracted mind, and so I have to ask you,

"Is that a type-o?"

Before I ever saw the lyrics in print, I was sure it was supposed to be "like a flood. . .rains" not "reigns." But now I've seen it in print a lot of times, and I've never seen it any other way, so I'm guessing you spelled it that way on purpose.

You see, I grew up singing songs like "There Shall Be Showers of Blessings," so I'm quite familiar with the idea of mercy drops falling around us. But I'm having a hard time understanding how mercy can reign like a flood. I suppose a really bad flood "takes charge" of an area. Is that what you meant?

It reminds me of a book I used to see on my Uncle's Father's coffee table when I was a child, The King Who Rained. I'm pretty sure that one was a pun.

I'm sorry to trouble with such a trivial matter when you must be very busy. Since I'm sure you read my blog regularly (and have just been too shy to comment in the past), I thought this would be a good place to clarify the issue, so I can get past my confusion and just worship.

Sincerely,
SJ