I don’t know if this was the title of the country-western song I heard (or partly heard), but the phrase came up in the refrain.  And it’s certainly a great line for discussion.  Of the three observations the first two seem to be ranked, and the third appears to be unrelated.

What makes God great?  Let’s say a good ole’ country boy is down to his last few bucks and was given a choice of buying a case of beer or putting that cash in the church offering plate.  Which would he choose? I’ve got a feeling the ranking would be reversed:  Buy the beer and avoid the church.  Like the mealtime prayer, “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our booze.”  It’s the American way.

What makes beer good?  It’s touted as the real man’s drink.  To me it’s nasty.  But there’s a story behind that.  When I was a pre-teen my dad took me fishing with one of his buddies.  Now, my dad was not keen on tending to my needs, and on this one particular trip on one of the many lakes around Orlando, Florida, the temperature began rising, the aluminum boat got hot and I got thirsty.  When I expressed my desire for drink my dad said that he had forgot about me, that we were too far from shore to buy me a Coke, and that all he had was beer.  So I replied boldly, “Give me a beer!”  He said he would give me one, but I must agree to drink all of it.  ”No problem,” said I.  He gave me a beer.  The beer was warm. No ice chest.  I reluctantly drank it all.  Then lost it all.  That did something to my taste for beer to this day.  So I really can’t relate to Statement #2.

But I’m also not sure what to do with the statement that “God is great.”  Sounds like a cheer.  As far as greatness goes, there’s no doubt that he is above anything or anyone we can imagine.  I’d rather say that he’s my all-in-all.  He’s my very life.  He is the epicenter of pure love.  And people are crazy when they don’t fully grasp that concept.

If we take the phrase as a whole, we could say that we feel secure in the fact that he (God) does have the whole world in his hands, that many of the simplest things of life are very good, and that we must be extra careful not to let people control our lives because most of them tend to muck up their own lives.

If we choose to see God’s presence in every aspect of our daily existence, that God made hops that are not only used in brewing, but are also used in medicines, and that God’s amazing love brings the calmness to our craziness, if we will let him in — then we truly have something to sing about.