Arithmetic

I've been counting up all my wrongs
One sorry for each star
See I'd apologize my way to you
If the heavens stretched that far
You are the one I want, you are the one I want

I wont find what I am looking for
If I only see by keeping score
Cause I know now you are so much more than arithmetic

Cause if I add, if I subtract if I
Give it all try to take some back
I've forgotten the freedom that comes from the fact
That you are the sum

(from “Arithmetic” by Brooke Fraser)

At her concert in Atlanta this past September, Brooke confessed to the audience that the words to this song did not come from her. I smiled when I heard her say this, because I have often thought these lyrics composed one of the most beautiful depictions of the Gospel of Christ.

Only an honest and contrite heart can assess it's past and conclude that the heavens do not contain enough celestial bodies to account for the number of apologies needed to bring equilibrium to the scales of righteousness. This truth is especially profound after studying the vastness of our universe, for it contains much more than the millions of pinpoint lights that our eyes can perceive in the night sky. For regardless of our religious behavior and our earnest efforts to compensate for our evil deeds, we cannot even reach the first rung on the ladder to the almighty.

But I cannot help but ponder how we receive this wonderful revelation. After adding up the pieces, there can be no doubt that God initiated my understanding. How else could this truth penetrate the prideful shell of my ego? Such an arrogant heart could never bend a knee if its creator did not somehow first divide or break. What I do not know is whether this alteration occurred in my inception or at a later time. Either way, I must conclude that God is the author and I am just a character in HIS story, and it is up to Him whether I am even a factor in His final equation.