Stevie Wonder recorded “Higher Ground” in 1973 for Innervisions, playing nearly every instrument himself, because apparently one Stevie was plenty. Days after the album’s release, a car crash left him in a coma. A friend sang this song into his ear, and his fingers began tapping along. Through a Christian lens, it’s a song about second chances. Stevie sings of getting another try before the world’s done turning, and that’s grace in plain clothes. God doesn’t grade us on our first attempt; He keeps lifting us higher. Believe me, I’ve needed more than one take. This one’s for Lily, with love: keep climbing, one step at a time, toward higher ground.
“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2
— JC
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