For most of our song catalogue, we have been known for our English songs. But our latest release "Kusog nga gihinumdom" was something that was uncharacteristic for our regular listeners. To which there are those who can't understand our native tongue. Not meaning to alienate them, it was my intention to actually write this blog so that I can reinforce the message of the song. Using the English vocabulary (being the universal language) this time so that I can reach out to a wider audience. However, I can't do a straight translation of the song, as sometimes a word for word translation won't fit properly to the original meaning of the song. So, what I'll do instead is to explore what each part of the song means. By breaking them down part by part.
So let's break down the lyrics of the songs shall we?
Kusog nga gihinumdom
1st Stanza:
Gihinumdom nako ang akong kagahapon
Ang akong panglantaw nga sobra ka dag-um
Ingon ka, salig lang ko sa imo
Ihatag akong kasing-kasing para lang sa imo
Chorus:
Ginoo, tabangi ko sa akong kinabuhi
Tabangi ko nga sa kalisud dili mu buhi
Ang imong gugma akong paglaum
Ikaw akong kusog nga gihinumdom
2nd Stanza:
Sa mga panahon nga nalimtan taka
Imong kong gi pukaw para mu mata
Ang akong pagsalig dili dapat mag-bago
Himuon kini mas hugot pa kaysa kaniadto
Bridge:
Ang akong kinabuhi
Ihatag para sa imo
Para sa imo lang
Ug wala nay lain pa
Wala nay lain pa...
Chorus:
Ginoo, tabangi ko sa akong kinabuhi
Tabangi ko nga sa kalisud dili mu buhi
Ang imong gugma akong paglaum
Ikaw akong kusog nga gihinumdom
Coda:
Ikaw akong kusog nga gihinumdom
In the first stanza, I spoke about my gloomy past. When everything felt so hopeless. Those times before I truly embraced and accepted Jesus Christ in my life. I believe we all have these stories where we feel so hopeless. And we have no one to cling to because we thought that we only have ourselves to rely on. And by our own strength, skill, and knowledge, we believe that possessing them is enough to get us through the day. Then when the tough times comes, and we could no longer trust our self to survive, we begin to lose hope. Sometimes finding no more reason to keep on living. But then, when we come to know Jesus' love for us, and when we put our complete trust and faith in him, a change of perspective begins. Especially when we surrender and give all our heart to him. This is what the first stanza is talking about. From being hopeless and then to know Jesus, who asked us to put our faith in him. And then responding to his call by giving all our heart to him. Completing the process of metanoia.
Chorus:
The chorus is basically a prayer, a plea, asking God for help. In desperation, in the toughest times when chaos and uncertainty come our way. We ask God to help us not to let go and give up on life. And that when all hope is lost, we cling only to him and put our complete trust and faith in him that we'll eventually get through our problems and tribulations. And in full surrender, we declare to God that his love is our only hope. And remember him as the only one true source of our strength.
The 1st Stanza and the Chorus is a reminder of our first encounter with Jesus. How our life had changed for the better, only because we have come to accept him in our life, as our Lord and Savior. And this encounter has strengthened our resolve as a renewed Christian. With a relationship with our Lord and savior that is new, fresh, and still on a stage where we are so filled by his love and his presence in our life. But then we got too complacent. Failing to nurture that relationship...
2nd Stanza
Then we got too complacent with our relationship with God. We got too comfortable to the point that we begin to neglect and forget about him. And then we begin to encounter challenges and hardships. And due to our complacency (or lack of Faith), we begin to think that God had forsaken us. Blaming him for the misfortunes that we begin to encounter. But if we truly have a very strong Faith in him. We put all these in stride and just accept that these challenges and hardships are just God's way of waking us up from our slumber. Sometimes when we get too comfortable with our life. We need to be jolted so that we would be awaken from our false sense of comfort. God has blessed us so much, yet we turned ungrateful and neglected him. God is just nudging us. To help us remember the most important thing in this life, which is our relationship with him. And that we should not allow these "challenges" to shake our faith in him. Or to allow ourselves to lose our Faith in him. But instead, to make our Faith stronger than before. Because these "hardships" that we encounter and learning to accept them, is a testament of how much we love God in return. That in spite of these, our love for him remains unchanged, but in fact should even make it stronger than ever before. That in times of chaos, we could discern and remain steadfast in our Faith in him. I believe when we achieve that type of maturity in our Faith, then we would be invulnerable to whatever life throws our way.
Coda:
Which then leads us to the coda of the song. Which is a passionate declaration that we will offer and surrender our life to God. And only to God alone. This line culminates the overall experience of our journey with our Christian Faith. And appreciating the journey of our Faith is the overall end goal of our relationship with God. Because there will always be peaks and valleys.
So, by putting all these together, the song basically demonstrates the life cycle of a real Christian. A real Christian is someone who is capable of accepting his imperfections. And that through these imperfections, the will to seek out God more and the motivation to nurture and sustain a relationship with him truly is the only goal in our life. This is my hope and prayer when I wrote this song. To get the message across that what matters in this life is Christ alone. Not the fake shallow happiness brought about by the material things that this world could give us. And even when the situation comes when we begin to doubt God. May we be able to see beyond the smokescreen and learn to discern by truly possessing a faith that is solidified by our love for God. God does not test our Faith just for the sake of testing it, but rather it is up to us to reaffirm our Faith in God. Whatever circumstance may we be in.
It is my hope and prayer that this song has blessed you and will continue to bless someone as it travels far and wide. Never forget, God loves you regardless of who you are.
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