Musings on "How He Loves"

I know "How He Loves" is, like, sooooo 2007, but in all my days of tangenting, it has somehow slid under the radar.  Given the wild success (joking; I have no success criteria) of my last post about worship music, it now feels like the time to finally address the elephant in the room.

"How He Loves," if you're not familiar with it, is fascinating because it splits every church into two groups: those who roll their eyes when the "sloppy, wet kiss" line comes, and those who wait til 2 seconds after the service to start avidly defending the song and presenting the backstory of its origin (as if we eye-rollers haven't heard it 3,000 times).

But arguments about that line -- "heaven meets earth like a sloppy, wet kiss" -- are seriously tired.  It might remind you of an affectionate kiss from a lovable puppy.  Perhaps it conjures images of a half-blind over-perfumed great-aunt.  Or maybe memories of middle school's "seven minutes in heaven" (woah! heaven reference!).  I don't really care what that line does for you, because I want to focus on the violent imagery found elsewhere in the song.


The violence of God's benevolent grace
Warning: content may not be suitable for children

Verse 1:
"He... loves like a hurricane; I am a tree bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy."

With Hurricanes Katrina, Ivan, Ike, etc. (including Bob, if you were on vacation with my family in 1991) still in the back of everyone's minds, this seems like an unnecessarily off-putting choice to symbolize God's mercy.  It's especially weird since God's mercy is defined (by Wayne Grudem) as His "goodness toward those in misery and distress."

Verse 2:
"If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking."

What strikes me as strange about this is that the line ends with "sinking."  I think "floating", "diving", or "swimming" could have done the trick without the implication of death by drowning.  Again using Grudem's definition, God's grace is His "goodness toward those who deserve only punishment."  Isn't it ironic, then, to explain it using the punishment one would receive from a pirate?

Verse ???:

This has naturally led me and at least one of my friends to come up with our own violent images of God's love.  Here are a few ideas...

His love chops me to pieces like a chainsaw

I am in the fetal position, being pummeled by God's kindness

A freak gasoline fight accident of God's faithfulness burned me to a crisp


Put on your writing caps
Seriously, please comment. There's no pressure. You will receive far less scrutiny than the dude who originally wrote "How He Loves"

Give me your best new lines of violent imagery.

What do you think of "How He Loves" and its many metaphors?

Jon