Merry Go Round by The Replacements

I got in on The Replacements at the very end of their career. I had heard about them, but hadn't really taken time to listen to them. I saw the album, All Shook Down in the cut outs at the record store and decided to give them a chance. I was not disappointed. 

These were the days before the internet. It was in the early 1990's when I bought their LP. This was before Wikipedia provided instant information on bands and musicians. This was before Youtube. I couldn't go listen to a few The Replacements songs to check them out. I couldn't go to Spotify or Pandora or Last FM. I had to either find a fan of the band and go to their place and give them a listen, or borrow their albums or cassettes. 

If I had been able to, I might have gotten into this band much earlier. The Replacements, under the leadership of songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, Paul Westerberg, are considered the godfathers of alternative rock. I've never really been sure if I understood what the genre actually is. Alternative rock almost seems to be the umbrella under which any form of rock fits, when it doesn't fit. Misfit Rock might be another way to talk about alternative rock. What's ironic is that alternative rock has become mainstream, so it no longer is misfit or alternative. Go figure.

The Replacements were a Minneapolis based band who started out very punk rock oriented.They were notorious for performing drunk and or stoned. This was a garage band that built a strong Midwestern following and eventually signed with a major label. Even though rock historians give The Replacements a vaulted place as being major league influential, they never really achieved commercial success.

The album All Shook Down had more success than most of the band's releases. Interestingly the album was recorded using hired studio musicians under the direction of Paul Westerberg. The band broke up not long afterwards. Even still, the album was nominated by the Grammy Awards as the best alternative music album.

Merry Go Round was an instant personal favorite for me. I love the song. It hit #1 on the  Modern Rock Tracks charts for four consecutive weeks. When I think of The Replacements, Merry Go Round is the song I think of. 

Give it a look see.  http://youtu.be/uac_KQn9Q-M

Merry Go Round

Songwriter: Paul Westerberg

A "hush" was the first word you were taught
And they watched you wear
The clothes they claimed that they bought
They brought you down
To watch the merry-go around

In fall, you knew how much it cost
A trouble doll around your neck when you lost
You wouldn't make a sound
But I could hear your little heart pound
And I watched your feet slip off the ground

Merry go round in dreams
Writes 'em down, it seems
When she sleeps, she's free
Merry go round in dreams

You wake to another day and find
The wind's blow'in out of key with your sky
Only you can see
And the rain dancin' in the night
Everybody stands around in daylight

Merry go round in dreams
Writes 'em down, it seems
When she sleeps, she's free
Merry go round in dreams

And everybody thinks she's sick
She's got two worlds she can pick
And she's sad

Hush is the only word you know
And I stopped listening long ago
They ignored me with a smile
You as a child
But the trouble doll hears your heart pound
And your feet say goodbye to the ground

Merry go round in dreams
Writes 'em down. it seems
When she sleeps, she's free
Merry go round in dreams

Merry go round in dreams
Merry go round in me
Merry go round
Round and round in me

Merry go round
Round and round in me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lyrics are somewhat sad and just vague enough that you can read all kinds of stuff into them. That's what's great about art. The lyrics serve up images and pieces which we try to put together into a coherent portrait. Our interpretation is actually a mirror image of ourselves.

Some think of this song as a tribute to the childhood of Paul Westerberg and his sister Mary. They grew up with little means and when other kids were getting new clothes each fall, they were wearing hand me downs and stuff from Goodwill or garage sales. 

The first line takes us right into a child's life at home. "A 'hush' was the first word you were taught." That says a lot about the kind of parents this kid had. They raised their kids under the belief that children are meant to be seen, but not heard. Hushing them is a gag order. I'll assume the singer feels the pain of not being invited to share his thoughts. 

The parents who shush you also lie to you, when they claim they bought you new clothes, when they are truly hand me downs given to them from others. Perhaps they didn't have the means and their pride would not allow them to be honest with their little ones. A childhood remembrance is of trips to the park to watch a merry go round, to ride upon it and enjoy your feet flying off the ground.

"They brought you down" may serve as a double entendre. It means her parents took the little girl down to the park to watch the merry go round, but it also means the parents brought her down emotionally. The merry go round is a metaphor, for those troubling thoughts that we keep going over in our head and hearts. Unresolved pain, anger, sadness, and fears can keep us going round and round in circles, spinning to their twisted melodies inside us.

Trouble Dolls (aka worry dolls) from Guatemala

The little girl was aware enough of her parents' posing, and lying to her, that she told her troubles to a trouble doll. The tradition of the trouble doll goes back to the Mayan people of Guatemala. A small fabric doll is fashioned and given to their children. They can whisper their worries and troubles to the doll and place the doll under their pillow. In the morning the doll has taken their worries away. 

Westerberg uses the trouble doll image to speak about his compassionate concern for the little girl and her internal pain that she has carried for years. She wears her childhood pain into her adulthood like a doll around her neck hanging in a pouch. She has grown silent and isolated, but the singer knows she hurts. He can "hear her little heart pound."

The picture of depression, a popular form of spiritual torment and mental illness in our modern world, is a haunting one. The girl is only free of it when she sleeps. And even in her dreams sometimes she thinks of things she must write down, perhaps in a diary. Do these things help her cope, or do they continue her torment?

I can't help but think of the adult girl with her feet off the ground as another double meaning. As we spin on a merry go round our feet fly outward off the ground with the centrifugal force. But what if Westerberg is singing about a girl who hanged herself in despair? Hanging from her noose, her feet are off the ground and her body is spinning ever so slowly. (I've seen too many murder mysteries!)

It's not too far fetched when you consider the pain this girl carries. She feels alienated from her surroundings. The wind is out of key with her sky. She feel alienated from others. They stand in daylight, while she feels like she is under the dark clouds of a rainy night.  Everybody knows there's something wrong with her. She has to choose, whether she will continue to live in this world with the depression and pain she faces daily, the merry go round of emotions and troubling thoughts, or the world of eternal sleep. If sleep is the only time she is free, perhaps eternal sleep looks most inviting.

The singer admits he's not like her. She continues to mourn silently obeying old voices that tell her to "hush." He's moved on and stopped listening to gag orders. Perhaps something happened to her that required secrecy. Three to four women out of every ten are sexually molested before the age of 18. Secrecy is what keeps the child under the power of their perpetrator. 

One last thought on the image of feet going off the ground. Westerberg was familiar with drug abuse. He could be implying the feeling of getting high from drugs. That euphoric sensation, that comes from pill popping and grass toking, or shooting up, relieves the tortured soul for a brief period. If she can deaden her senses she can escape from this painful place, this accursed ground, and fly away in the ether. Like the merry go round, she isn't going anywhere, but in circles. It's only part of an addictive cycle spinning round and round.

What does my faith have to say about the merry go round? I've been there. I've lived with severe depression. I know the plague of troubling thoughts, from which there seems no escape. I did consider suicide at one time. And I was slowly trying to kill myself with drugs and alcohol. I was one of the fortunate ones who survived. I found a way out through my faith in God to heal me.

Jesus met a man tortured by demons. He lived in the tombs among the dead. He cut himself with stones. He was not able to be bound. He broke the chains and rain naked and screeching in the night. (Mk 5:1-5) This man met Jesus and screamed at him.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

 “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. (Mk 5:6-10)

Jesus cast the demons out of the man and they possessed a herd of pigs, which promptly ran into the lake and drowned. The formerly possessed man was now sane, in his right mind, fully clothed and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

This story resonates with me. I've felt crazy like the man described in the story. I've felt that out of control. Jesus helped me name my demons, just as he did them man in the story. Jesus told me to claim His power, just as he exerted his power to exorcise the man's demons. And Jesus tamed my visceral rage, just as he tamed the man. I like thinking of myself, like that man, fully clothed in Christ, in my right mind, which is the mind of Christ, and sitting at the feet of Jesus. In that place I feel such gratitude. In that place I feel free.

Lord, You are the Son of the Most High God. You are God on earth. You are God in me. Continue to set us free from the merry go round of troubles and worries and persistent pains, that we might get off the merry go round and choose the abundant life. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.

Some Like It Hot by The Power Station

The 1980's was a fun time to be a DINK. That's "Double Income No Kids." The 80's were known as the Greed Decade. Corporate mergers, Yuppies, and Wall Street white collar crimes were part of it. Money was flooding the economy in the business friendly environment under Reaganomics. With the excess of spending cash, the bars were full, the dance clubs were rocking and the restaurant trade boomed. House and car sales grew at a healthy pace. The post disco, post punk era of the 80's ushered in a new wave of music that reflected the vibe of the young up and comers. It was big sound, with big drums, to match our big hair and bold and brash clothing.

The Power Station
1985

Robert Palmer wrote hits like Addicted To love and Simply Irresistible and with his side project, The Power Station, charted with hits like Bang A Gong, the T. Rex cover, and Some Like It Hot. Duran Duran, the British new wave group, went on hiatus, and their guitarist, Andy Taylor, and bassist, John Taylor, joined former Chic drummer, Tony Thompson, and Palmer to form The Power Station. You can tell by the titles that Palmer wrote for the party crowd. His brand of pop rock, fueled by his powerful vocals, pumped up the dance floor and was a soundtrack to not a few romantic adventures. Some Like It Hot especially features the dance floor hook ups, but doesn't provide much in the way beyond that moment.

Give Some Like It Hot a listen.  http://youtu.be/rgYqIvnPvqQ

Some Like It Hot

Songwriter: Robert Palmer

We want to multiply, are you gonna do it?
I know you qualify, are you gonna do it?
Don't be so circumscribed, are you gonna do it?
Just get yourself untied, are you gonna do it?

Feel the heat pushing you to decide
Feel the heat burning you up, ready or not

Some like it hot, and some sweat when the heat is on
Some feel the heat and decide that they can't go on
Some like it hot, but you can't tell how hot till you try
Some like it hot, so let's turn up the heat till we fry

The girl is at your side, are you gonna do it?
She wants to be your bride, are you gonna do it?
She wants to multiply, are you gonna do it?
I know you won't be satisfied until you do it

Feel the heat pushing you to decide
Feel the heat burning you up, ready or not

Some like it hot, and some sweat when the heat is on
Some feel the heat and decide that they can't go on
Some like it hot, but you can't tell how hot till you try
Some like it hot, so let's turn up the heat till we fry

Feel the heat pushing you to decide
Feel the heat burning you up, ready or not

Some like it hot, and some sweat when the heat is on
Some feel the heat and decide that they can't go on
Some like it hot, but you can't tell how hot till you try
Some like it hot, so let's turn up the heat till we fry

Some like it hot, some like it hot
Some like it hot, some like it hot
Some like it hot, some like it hot
Some like it hot, some like it hot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lyrics are pretty straightforward. It's a song about the heat of sexual attraction. Phrases about marriage or multiplying implies making a family, but I don't think THAT is what Palmer is saying. He only uses the image of marrying and multiplying as a way to talk about the act of sexual union.

The drive to reproduce is an inborn function of the body. The song is driving music for the dance floor dynamic of mixing and meeting with another for the potential of sexual release, a satisfaction of the drive to reproduce.

When God made humans, God commanded them to reproduce. It's in our nature.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. (Gen 1:28a)

Since the drive to reproduce is a natural directive given to us by our creator, why all the fuss over what the church calls sexual immorality? Why would God want us to be concerned about who we were having sex with?

Let's look at what is around this command in Genesis chapter one. First, we are created in God's image, both men and women. That implies that we are more than animal. There's something divine in us that sets us apart from the beasts of the field, forest, the skies and the waters.

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27)

The writer of Ephesians calls upon Christians to imitate God. Imitating God does not include sexual immorality, sex outside of marriage.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Eph 5:1-7)

What a killjoy, right? Perhaps for the immature, that might seem to be true, but not for those who've gained some wisdom. We learn after a while that sex of sex's sake is empty. Such an approach abuses the gift of our sexuality. Our sexual union is meant for an intimate connection which expresses our love for one another, not simply our animal attraction. To do as the song suggests is to cheapen yourself and devalue the object of your sexual advances.

In a way, Robert Palmer's lyrics sounds like the kind of thing that the serpent would say. You may remember the serpent from Genesis chapter two who seduced Eve into disobeying God. He made the forbidden fruit sound so good, so Eve listened to temptation and not God's warning.

The scriptures are full of warning about sexual immorality. The call to give it a try is the call of temptation and reduces us to animals who cannot control our instinctual drive to mate. The singer says you won't be satisfied until you do it. But what about the next time and the time after that? Sex for sex's sake leads ever deeper into addiction because what one is really doing is creating a dependency in themselves upon the thrill of sex. It's a trap that leads to alienation from God and others.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Eph 4:17-19)

Instead what does the scripture say about men and women? God made Adam and placed him in paradise to tend the garden of Eden. God realized it wasn't good for man to be alone. (Gen 2:18) He made a companion for him from his own body. God made Eve from Adam's rib. (Gen 2:21-22) The rabbis say, "Not from the skull so as to make her above the man, nor from the foot so that she would be below the man, but from the side, close to his heart, where she might be one with the man."

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Gen 2:22-25)

Volumes can be written by what is revealed in this brief passage. Suffice it to say that the only sexual behavior that is truly blessed by God is the covenant of marriage. It's sad that so many fail to acknowledge this gift to humanity. We turn our marriage vows into a ball and chain. We listen to the serpent telling us we are missing out on all the hot fun. We are unfaithful to the one we pledged our heart for life. We do not heed to warnings. We leave victims in our lust led path.

The apostle Paul wrote about the sad condition in which many live. They live as slaves to their appetites. Their god is their belly. (Php 3:19)

For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.Their mind is set on earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Php 3:18-21)

Dear Savior, teach us the wisdom of Your word. Give us hearts that long to do as you will. Lead us to seek life through You, not death through short term fixes to our insatiable appetites. Teach us the wisdom that our souls will not rest until they learn to rest in you. We ask for the spiritual fruit of self-control. Let Your love keep us ever satisfied and yet ever hungering for more of what you give. Amen

All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix

When it comes to 1960's guitar heroes there are few names that rival Jimi Hendrix. He only lasted four years in mainstream stardom, but Hendrix is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."

Jimi Hendrix wrote many songs, like Foxy Lady, Purple Haze, and Fire, but my favorite song by him is a cover of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower. Dylan was an inspiration to a great many rock artists. His songwriting, his searching, his prophetic powers moved a generation. Songwriters aspired to move away from simple pop songs about puppy love and one night stands to more serious material dealing with bigger questions.

Give this gem a listen   http://youtu.be/9lPXiID4JtY

All Along The Watchtower

Jimi Hendrix's
"Electric Ladyland" Album Cover
(1968)

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

"There must be some kind of way out of here"
Said a joker to the thief
"There is too much confusion, I can't get no relief
Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plow men dig my earth

None with a level on the vine
Nobody out of it is worth, hey

"No reason to get excited", the thief he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate, so let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour is getting late"

All along the watchtower, princess kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance, a wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching and the wind began to howl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some have said that at least a portion of the lyrics are taken from a passage out of the prophet Isaiah.

They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!

This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout
and have him report what he sees.
When he sees chariots
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,
let him be alert,
fully alert.”

And the lookout shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
Look, here comes a man in a chariot
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen!
All the images of its gods
lie shattered on the ground!’” (Isa 21:5-9)

These words were written as an oracle against Babylon. Babylonia or Kedar (modern Iraq) was a strong nation to the east of Israel. Isaiah writes during the reign of King Hezekiah. Events shaping the times included the rise of the Assyrian Empire's dominance under King Sennacherib. Babylonia allied with Aramenean and Elamite forces and rebelled against Assyrian control in 703 BC. The Babylonian Marduk-apla-iddina II seized the throne of Babylon. Sennacherib, while fighting against Egypt on one front, split his army in half and put down the Babylonian uprising. There were further rebellions against Assyria in Babylon, and the Assyrians successfully stopped them. In 689 BC Sennacherib completely destroyed the city of Babylon and it remained unoccupied for several years.

What does this history have to do with Dylan? My guess is, if he was in fact drawing ideas from Isaiah for his song, that he was thinking of social upheaval. The biblical oracle is about political change. The city of Babylon which was trying to remain independent of Assyria was prophesied to be destroyed.  God revealed to the prophet what was to happen and to warn the Israelites to be aware and watchful.

How does Isaiah's oracle begin? It begins by decrying the eating and drinking of the leadership of Israel. While they feast, danger is on the horizon. Wake up and get ready. The world is changing. This is the intent, I believe behind the prophet's oracle.

The same spirit is in Dylan's lyrics. Dylan was a modern day prophet of sorts. He wrote songs about the social change in the wind of the late 1950's and early 1960's. His songs probably fueled change. The old order, the so called establishment, was going to be overthrown, just like Babylon.

The joker and thief are chatting about the malcontent of living under an established order led by people who are not on the level, and not worth a penny. The world of the joker is overrun by drunken businessmen and nature falls to the progression of agri-business. Common to the 1960's was desire to live a simpler life enjoying nature, and unplugging from the trappings of corporation driven life. The joker could even be interpreted as Mother Nature as she laments farmers digging up her forests.

The first verse basically communicates the discontent of the younger generation with the established order which is so fixated on progress, economic power, and social homogeneity.

In the second verse the thief responds to the joker's discontent. The thief represents the counter culture of the time of Dylan. They are organizing for the social change that must come. Instead of wasting time bickering and complaining, the thief acknowledges there's been enough talking. Now is the time for action. The hour has come to begin the revolution. So thief and joker go off to join in an organized attempt to overthrow the establishment.

The third verse is where Isaiah may come in. The princess represents the established order. She belongs to the royal family in control. She is watching along the watchtower. Is she alert to the coming revolution? Does she want to see cahnge come, like so many young people wish to throw off the yoke of their parents authority? Is she part of the plot to overthrow her own father and mother?

Or is the princess simply watching from her towered bedroom, with the usual activities of being attended to by servants. As she gazes out the window she notices two riders approaching. The riders are the joker and the thief, perhaps. They bring with them the howling winds of change.

Anytime social upheaval hit the ancient world, prophets claimed God was behind it. The bible depicts God as the shaper of nations and Lord over our our times. It is God's sovereign will being carried out by kings and armies. If this worldview held true for today, we would be thinking that the current social change, to an increasingly liberal society, is the hand of God at work. Some would say America is being punished by God for its decadence. Some would say that the new liberalism is a welcome change, and the hand of God has finally brought liberty and justice to the land. Whatever the case, change is upon us. Choose sides or be like those who drop out and think that life is but a joke.

My response to all this is to faithfully develop micro communities that reflect the love and righteousness of God revealed to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For I am banking on God, the shaper of nations, to fulfill His great promises. I am fully convinced that God is sovereign and involved in what happens on earth. I do not know all that God is planning, nor do I pretend to understand each event. I do trust that God is good and God is faithful. I have faith that God will accomplish all He has promised...a new world free of evil and death.

Here's a slice of Christian hope from Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Therefore God exalted him (Jesus) to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Php 2:9-11)

Change is coming. Choose sides. Be a part of the change by becoming part of the body of Christ, His church. Build holy community that reflects His love and goodness. The church is light in an otherwise dark world. The church is yeast within the dough. Just a pinch causes the whole batch to rise. We are the salt of the earth bringing flavor to an otherwise bland existence. Let's not talk in falsehood anymore. The time is at hand. Wake up, watch, and engage yourself...for the kingdom of God is near.

“The time has come,” he (Jesus) said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:15)

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen

The Real Me by The Who

I've been enjoying a long weekend with my son, AJ. He's only 19 years old and I can see that he has grown into a fine, confident, young man. He knows what he wants to do as a career and is working toward it by gaining an education. He works hard and is comfortable with who he is. 

My son is way ahead of where I was at his age. I was clueless as to who I was. Or maybe I was just too afraid to be what I wanted to be. Immature, wild, and naive, I made all the wrong choices. I made bad choices that I thought were good choices. I knew I was doing wrong, but I thought I knew better. Truth be known, I wasn't thinking at all. I certainly wasn't thinking about the consequences.

During my college years there was a fierce anger in me. I was so anxious about trying everything I'd been told I couldn't. Now that I was out from under the oppressive thumb of parents, I went for the forbidden fruit. Music that was my companion during that time were groups like Pink Floyd, AC/DC, and above all, The Who. By far The Who is my favorite of the British Invasion bands. I loved the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but Pete Townshend's lyrics were spiritually charged. He wrote searching lyrics that helped me name some of my own search for an identity that worked.

If I had to pick a favorite song by my favorite band, it is The Real Me, from the 1973 rock opera Quadrophrenia. The story of Quadrophrenia is about a teen who has four distinct personalities. 

The liner notes illustrate this concept as follows (names added):

A tough guy, a helpless dancer. ("Helpless Dancer" – Roger Daltrey)
A romantic, is it me for a moment? ("Is It Me?" – John Entwistle)
A bloody lunatic, I'll even carry your bags. ("Bell Boy" – Keith Moon)
A beggar, a hypocrite, love reign o'er me. ("Love Reign O'er Me" – Pete Townshend)

After the overture opening to the album, The Real Me jolts the listener in an aural explosion of teenage anxt. All four band members are at peak performance. Moon's drumming is thunderous. Entwhistle's bass sounds like a elephant gun as the thud shakes your rib cage. Townshend's guitar cuts like a knife with sharp power chords and Daltrey matches their power with his unparalleled vocals. 

Perhaps I'm pouring it on too thick for you, but I really feel that excited about this song! As a searching teenager, who was grasping for an identity of who I wanted to be, or should be, this song became a theme song for me.  I sang and shouted right along with Daltrey, "Can you see the real me?"

Give it a listen.  http://youtu.be/H2h1MY70uag

The Real Me 

Songwriter: Pete Townshend

I went back to the doctor
To get another shrink.
I sit and tell him about my weekend,
But he never betrays what he thinks.

Can you see the real me, doctor?

I went back to my mother
I said, "I'm crazy ma, help me."
She said, "I know how it feels son,
'Cause it runs in the family."

Can you see the real me, mother?

The cracks between the paving stones
Look like rivers of flowing veins.
Strange people who know me
Peeping from behind every window pane.
The girl I used to love
Lives in this yellow house.
Yesterday she passed me by,
She doesn't want to know me now.

Can you see the real me, can you?

I ended up with the preacher,
Full of lies and hate,
I seemed to scare him a little
So he showed me to the golden gate.

Can you see the real me preacher?
Can you see the real me doctor?
Can you see the real me mother?
Can you see the real me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an angry young man, insecure, but determined to make something of myself, This song expressed the craziness I felt. I was trying to be cool for the cool people. I was trying to be funny for the funny people. I was trying to be nice for the nice people. I was trying to be smart with the smart people. I was so busy trying to be somebody else, that I didn't even know myself. The visceral cry to be known shrieked inside my soul, as Roger Daltrey sang with a rage I felt inside. 

There's something unjust about this world that forces us into molds, expectations and cubicles. The hamster wheel of the world was what we were all going to school for, and I had no idea what I really wanted to do.  I wanted to sing. I wanted to rock. I wanted to act. I wanted friends who knew me. I was hiding behind masks. I was hiding from my own parents and even my roommate. I was anything but the real me.

The craziness I felt inside made me laugh every time I heard Daltrey sing the second verse. His mother told him mental illness ran in the family. We are all products of some place, whether that be a family of origin or a family of choice. Sometimes we choose a solitary place and live alone with our thoughts. These places form who we are. 

The singer tells of riding by his old girlfriend's home. He remembers her fondly, but when he runs into her on the street she doesn't want to talk to him. She pretends she doesn't know him. Or perhaps he's been hiding, too, so it's impossible for her to know him.

I'm certain there's an LSD reference in the phrase, "strange people who know me come from behind every window pane." The Doors sung the song When You're Strange, a way of talking about tripping on acid. Window Pane was a street name for one form of acid sold around the college in my days. It looked like white chips of paint from a window pane. 

This kid is searching. He is searching his old stomping grounds as a schoolmate, but since his parents kicked him out, he's been sleeping under the pier at Brighton Beach. He's been working for tips as a bell boy. He's been living hyped up on pills. Crawling out of his skin, which seems so alien to him, he searches for freedom. 

He won't find it with the psychoanalyst, or his mother, or his girlfriend. Drugs won't liberate him from this inner confusion. He finally came to the church to speak to the preacher, who only seems intimidated by the angry young man. 

The preacher showed him to the golden gate. I figure that is Townshend's jab at the clichéd and formulaic sharing of the gospel that he had heard a hundred times a school boy. The institution failed to reach him or inspire. The church failed to connect Townshend, and many of his peers, to God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The church cannot lead anyone anywhere we have not gone themselves.

And so we search for a sense of who we are, who we are meant to be, or who we think we want to be. We live in desperation until we come to a place of acceptance. Some settle for being less. Most of us compensate with filling the void with noise, food, booze and endless attempts at catching a thrill.  

Is there a real me? Is there an authentic self waiting to be discovered? 

When I was in seminary we studied Charles Taylor who said each soul is searching for that authentic self. It is a life journey. We set our sight on a horizon and when we get there, we realize it's not the destination. We set our sights on the next horizon and find the same. It's not what we are looking for. We are not satisfied. For those of us who are fortunate enough, our search turns to God. For in Him we discover who we are and whose we are.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1Jn 3:1-3)

I am happy to say my soul has found peace in knowing myself as a child of God. That is the foundation of my identity. The search for the real me is over. I found myself in God. The knowledge that my Father in heaven loves me is all I need to know about me. I don't need to impress anyone. I don't need to win anybody over to see me as successful or competent. My eyes aren't turned toward people for validation. What a great love God has lavished on us! This love answers every question. Even when we don't get satisfactory answers to our questions, the mystical embrace of divine love makes the questions seem irrelevant.

God loves us unconditionally, for He sent His Son to die that we might live forever. I am God's child. I am growing up under My Father's guidance and in His strength. My life unfolds and every day is an adventure of discovering what He has next up for us. The real me is the boy who stood on the pew singing hymns of praise next to his parents in a small country church in southern Indiana.

I recorded and released an album last April 2013. On it is a song called Rock 'N' Roll For You, Lord. That song captures the essence of that boy, the real me. (www.scotttyring.com)  Here's a potion of the lyrics. It's my prayer. It's my song of praise. It's my real heart.

I got a feeling that I know ain't never gonna fade
It used to be so easy to deny my heart’s desire
Lord, you put this love in my heart
And I just got to let it out

I'm gonna rock 'n' roll for You, Lord
As long as I've breath
I'm gonna rock 'n' roll for You, Lord
As long as I've life, I will praise Jesus Christ

Lord, continue to open our eyes to our true identity. We won't know our true selves until we know you. And we won't know you until we discover that the real self is searching for you. Give us grace for the search. Amen

Give To Live by Sammy Hagar

The mid to late 1980's the radio rocked with hair bands who offered up power ballads that all the girls could sway to! Each song follows a sonic formula. Start the song big with lots of sound, big drums, synthesizer, and guitars. Then bring it all down to a quiet piano or acoustic guitar as the rock singer emotes. The song builds again to the chorus and then off to the stratosphere with a Gilmour-esque guitar solo. Break out the Bic butane lighters and sing along!

It seemed every rock band out there had a power ballad on their album collection of rocking tracks. One of the successful artists of the 1980's was Sammy Hagar. He's actually been around since the late 1960's in the southern California music scene. He eventually found success with the band Montrose, but Hagar left the band to start a solo career in 1976. His solo career produced such hots like I Can't Drive 55 and There's Only One Way To Rock. In 1985 Sammy Hagar became the frontman for Van Halen after David Lee Roth exited the band. As part of a contractual agreement with Geffen Records, Hagar released his last solo album in 1987 entitled Sammy Hagar. It was later renamed I Never Said Goodbye. A power ballad called Give To Live made it to the top of Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts.

What I find most interesting about the song, other than its formulaic power ballad approach, is the compassionate call from Hagar to his listeners to give a little in their hearts. the basic message is if you want love, you got to give a little love. It sort of says "be the change you wish to see in the world."

Give it a listen.  http://youtu.be/Had7QGAbfwI


Give To Live

Songwriter: Sammy Hagar

Ooh, I can see that you've got fire in your eyes
And pain inside your heart
So many things have come and torn your world apart

Sammy Hagar, The Red Rocker

Oh baby, baby, baby
Don't give up
Don't give up
Don't give up

(If you want love)
If you want love, you've got to give a little
(If you want love)
If you want faith, you just believe a little
(If you want love)
If you want peace, turn your cheek a little

Oh, you've got to give
You've got to give
You've got to give to live

An empty hand reaching out for someone
An empty heart takes so little to fill
It's so much easier to push instead of pull

Oh baby, baby, baby
Don't give up
Don't give up
Don't give up

(If you want love)
If you want love, you've got to give a little
(If you want love)
If you want faith, you just believe a little
(If you want love)
If you want peace, turn your cheek a little

Oh, you've got to give
You've got to give
You've got to give to live

Each man's a country in his own right
Oh, everybody needs a friend
One friend, one God, one country
No man need defend, yeah

I believe in fate and destination
But so much of that lies in our own hands
If you know what you want, just go on out and get it

Oh baby, baby
Just don't give up, no, no
Don't give up, yeah, yeah

(If you want love)
If you want love, you've got to give a little
(If you want love)
If you want faith, you just believe a little
(If you want love)
If you want peace, turn your cheek a little

Oh, if you want love, you've got to give
(If you want love) oh, give to live
(If you want love) you've got to give
You've got to give, you've got to give to live
(If you want love)

(If you want love) oh, oh
(If you want love) oh, oh
(If you want love) oh, oh
(If you want love) oh, oh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hagar wrote to people who are hurting, hungry and searching. The song addresses those who are angry and hurt by something in their lives. The song calls for compassion on those in need, either because of poverty, or just empty inside. A little bit of compassion goes a long way.

The decade known of its greed, the 1980's, engendered a certain amount disparity between the rich and the poor. As time has marched on the middle class has eroded. I just saw a Facebook post from a school teacher having to take on a second job. Times are hard, even harder than they were for some in the 1980's.

Sammy Hagar is known for his charitable side.

Last summer during his North American Four Decades of Rock tour, Hagar gave about $2,500 to local food banks in each city he visited. Raised in a poor household by a single mother of four, Sammy Hagar spent his childhood summers picking fruit and vegetables so he could afford to buy clothes for school.

"My mom was always half on welfare or food stamps and would get in line during Thanksgiving or Christmas when people were giving away free turkeys," says Hagar, whose alcoholic father abandoned his family. "I grew up like that, and remembered how it made a big difference in our life."

After preaching a bit in his lyrics to Give To Live, Hagar seems to nod to everybody's freedom to be their own guide, their own ruler. "Each man's a country in his own right," Hagar sings. While that is true that we all have freedom of choice, we also need one another. No man is an island. Hagar seems to be trying to call people out of solitary sadness and bitterness and into a hopeful embrace of love. It begins by loving, not waiting for someone else to love you.

Is it any wonder that the New Testament reduces down all religious law to one rule? The only rule in Christianity is "do what love does." The so called Golden Rule, taught by Jesus Christ, is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Mat 7:12)

When Jesus was asked what were the most important commandments in the Law of Moses, He answered that it is to love God and love your neighbor. The Jewish scholars all agreed.

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Mat 22:35-40)

For if you love in the way that God loves us, by laying down His life for us, then you will know love beyond measure.

We tend to follow the kind of economic transactions we are accustomed to in our society. We are capitalist consumers. We know how the game is played. "Nobody gets nothing for free," we say. While that may be true in the marketplace, it's a different world in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of love.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:31b-32)

So go ahead and give a little love and see if your world doesn't improve.

Lord, Your love transcends all the emptiness and cruelty of this life. Open us up to obey Your love and humble ourselves before one another. Help us to be generous souls with glad hearts who know You. Amen

Don't Let It Bring You Down by Neil Young

I was listening to my iPod on shuffle this morning and heard Don't Let It Bring You Down by Neil Young. It's a track off of his third solo album, After The Gold Rush, released  August 31, 1970. Recording began in the summer of 1969 and ended in June of 1970. 

It doesn't take much to understand the times in which this music emerged. The Vietnam War was raging. The country was in the midst of social tremors and significant cultural shifts. The civil rights movement led to violence in the streets of the south. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated the prior year. The youth of America rose in protest with a call for peace and love. The streets of Chicago were filled with rioting, tear gas, and violence, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Pollution in the air and water was a growing concern. The plight of the poor was always apparent, but with less compassion compared to former eras of this great country. This is the world in which Neil Young was offering his encouragement, "Don't let it bring you down."

The lyrical content is abstract, much like some of Bob Dylan and John Lennon's writing. The words paint an abstract picture of ideas and emotions. If there is a consistent message tot eh song it is "Don't let the world, with its obvious inequities and injustices, drag you down emotionally." In other words, don't let the brokenness of this world rob you of hope. Do not fall into despair because of the things in this world that are not as they should be.

Here's the song. Give it a listen.  http://youtu.be/F7letrMf_nE

Don't Let It Bring You Down 

Songwriter: Neil Young

Old man lying
by the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by,
Blue moon sinking
from the weight of the load
And the building scrape the sky,
Cold wind ripping
down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies,
Dead man lying
by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes.

Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around.

Blind man running
through the light
of the night
With an answer in his hand,
Come on down
to the river of sight
And you can really understand,
Red lights flashing
through the window
in the rain,
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying
in a gutter in the lane,
If you're walking home alone.

Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.

Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's no shortage of opinions on what Neil Young meant when he wrote the song. I don't have access today to Neil's thoughts. What really matters, however, is not what Young meant, but what it means to the listener today. All pop music belongs to the consumer. Music means what meaning the listener places upon a song. The interpretation reveals more about the listener, and where he or she is at, than it does the songwriter.

I see snapshots of things that bring you down emotionally, things that are wrong with my world. Here's some of the snapshots Young provides in the lyrics.

1. invisible people, like hobos and the homeless
2. urban blight - skyscrapers obscuring natural beauty, filth, litter, crime, busy highways
3. the silencing of prophetic voices who bring real understanding

The singer feels the weight of this unnatural world that seems to dehumanize people and run past their circumstance without a second thought. The blue moon which sinks from the weight represents mood. It's the singer who is feeling sad or blue. He sees lost people as he rides the tour bus to the next gig, seeing them in city after city. He sees the old men thumbing rides or begging alone the roads of America. He knows of homeless people dying in the cold of a city that does not see them. He looks up at the beauty of the moon, only to see it obscured by the buildings that tower over him. He longs for the purity of nature, but the city chokes it out. 

In such a world, there are those who envision a culture change. There are those crying out to the people to open their eyes and see what we are doing to ourselves and to the environment. We are supposed to be the land of opportunity, but we are missing the mark. But just like the man sitting on the side of the road, these modern day prophets are largely ignored. 

The church could be represented by the blind man, who thinks he holds the answer in his hand. The church, when it validates society's inequities is blind. The church talks a lot about changing the world, but what change has come as a result of religious institutions? One could argue quite a lot of change has come, but most cannot connect the dots so easily. 

The 19th century was a high water mark in America for social transformation through the ministry of the church. Hospitals were built, universities opened, and orphanages created.  It was the church who took upon itself to meet these social ills. Most do not see that history or respect it. Instead they may look today and say, "What good is the church?" We live in a time where more and more think that the church is evil. Religion is bad. Organized religion is blind, some might say. That was certainly true of the hippy movement. They rejected the church, for the most part.

Another way to read the blind man with the answer is to interpret him as the awakened young people of America carrying the answer of peace and love to the rest of the indoctrinated (blind) culture. They demonstrated. They dropped out, tuned in, and turned on. They were pointing to another way to live life in this country that embraced a simpler existence. Many moved into communes, experimental communities where they lived by standards like free love. There was no personal property or personal rights to an individual through marriage. Everything and every body was enjoyed by the community.

Like the white cane in the gutter, the blind man was killed as he was walking home alone. There wasn't enough support to make the new vision for life a reality. The blind man, the hippy movement, was alone against the establishment.

I think my latter interpretation doesn't hold up when you look at the encouragement in the chorus. 

Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.

The castles burning is the hippy movement's victory over the establishment. The castle burning is the people rising up in force against the landlord. Those in power are being toppled. In truth, a lot of what happened in the 1960's did change America forever. The old establishment went down in flames as the decades rolled by. The dreams and visions of the recently awakened began to to find some level of tangible rootedness in society. The women's liberation movement, the American Disabilities Act, The Equal Opportunity Act, racial desegregation, and the like are examples.

So instead of getting down over what is wrong, team up with fellow travelers who have turned from the dogma of the establishment and embraced the new vision of personal freedom and simple living. That is how I am reading Neil Young's song, Don't Let It Bring You Down.

The interesting thing about Neil Young is that he has been a proponent and a critic of the hippy movement. He has been anti-war (Vietnam) and pro-war (post 9/11). In 1986, disillusioned by the new embrace of greed and warmongering, Young released Hippy Dream, on the Landing On Water album. (Listen here: http://youtu.be/400nQvEfwb4) 

Young was watching heroes of the hippy movement dying of overdoses, capsized in excess. He claims that the dream might be over for you, but it isn't for him. The 60's was a victory of the heart, if it wasn't a victory of social transformation.

This all leads me to asking if the hippy dream failed because we all want what the establishment is selling. We respond to all the marketing and have become good little consumers, fuel for the graft machines of Wall Street. For that matter, has the mission of the church failed for the same reasons?

The mission of the church is to make disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. If the world were truly under God's rule, what would life on earth be like? The vision of John's Revelation gives us an answer.

"Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Rev 21:3b-5a)

One of Jesus' parables says that in the new age, when this one has passed, there will be no evildoers or causes of evil. (Mat 13:41) Can you imagine a life with no evil, not even temptation to do evil? The early church, drawing upon the promises of the Hebrew prophets did imagine such a time in our future.

I think until we decide we want that dream more than the new car, clothes, gadgets, the trophy spouse and such, the dream will always be a hope that drives us, but never reaches us. Until human hearts are set free from the idols of the land, we will remain blind with the answer in our hands.

Jesus, you opened the eyes of the blind. Lay your healing hands upon us and open our eyes, the eyes of our spirits, that we may see and believe that treasure in heaven outshines the stuff they're shipping down the road. Amen

Come and Get it by Badfinger

Come And Get It is track #1 on the album Magic Christian Music. It was written by Paul McCartney. Badfinger was singed to the Beatles Apple Corps Label and McCartney provided the band this song.

The song Come And Get It was written precisely for the film score to the comedy film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. In the film Sellers plays an eccentric billionaire who adopts a homeless man, played by Starr. Starr's character, Youngman Grand, decides to gallivant around giving away money to people to bribe them into following his whims. These misadventures are designed to prove that 'everyone has their price.' 

Badfinger released the song in December 1969 in the UK and on January 12, 1970 in the USA. The song went to #4 and #7, respectively.

Realizing the song was written for the film, the plot of the story illuminates the song's meaning. If anyone can be bought for a price, then what is it you want to come and get? How much money would it take to buy you?

Give the song a listen and picture the billionaire fool handing out loads of cash to get people to do silly and insane things, like swimming in a vat of blood, excrement and urine. That was in the film, really!

http://youtu.be/N3TOcw7taBo 

Come And Get It

Songwriter: Paul McCartney

Performed by Badfinger

If you want it, here it is, come and get it

Make your mind up fast
If you want it, anytime, I can give it
But you better hurry 'cause it may not last

Did I hear you say
That there must be a catch?
Will you walk away
From a fool and his money?

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
Make your mind up fast
If you want it, anytime, I can give it
But you better hurry 'cause it may not last

Did I hear you say
That there must be a catch?
Will you walk away
From a fool and his money?

Sonny, if you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you'd better hurry 'cause it's going fast
You'd better hurry 'cause it's going fast
Fool and his money, Sonny

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast
You'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast
You'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast

The lyrics are classic pop. They aren't saying much and what they are saying is said with repetition. The lure of pop is that the melodic and lyrical hooks get stuck in our heads and we are then hooked on the song and the musicians who provided it.

There is an urgency, not so much in the music, but in the lyric. The loads of cash being handed out is going fast. You have the opportunity for loads of cash right now, but you there's a catch. You have to do something terribly humiliating in order to get the cash. Make up your mind fast, because the fool with his money will offer it to someone else if you don't. So you better hurry!

How much is your dignity worth? Is it for sale? How much is you soul worth? Would you sell out your own mother for the right amount? Would you renounce your faith for the right price? Is it true that everyone one has their price? Everyone can be bought?

Abraham, the patriarch of Israel and the father of monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was offered loads of treasure for saving four cities and their rulers from invaders who had taken them captive. Abraham refused because he knew that God had given him the victory and not one else. If he was to be rewarded it would be the Lord whom he serves.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’" (Gen 14:21-23)

After Abram had paid God homage, by tithing 10% of the booty and entrusting it to Melchizedek, the high priest of Jerusalem, he had an encounter with the Lord.

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:1-6)

There's a wisdom being communicated here. God is the very great reward. God can bless His people with life and health and wealth when they remain under His covenant of love. When His people live within His promises and behave according to God's character, they will know life and health and plenty. It does not mean that being faithful to God will bring you billions of dollars. For if life could be measured in dollars, what need would we have of anything but? Instead there are many who discover the pursuit of wealth doesn't buy happiness, nor contentment. It only buys things that ease the pain of not being where we wish to be.

We wish to be satisfied, complete, happy, and at peace. The person of faith understands that God is the way to these, not money. Jesus taught that we must choose which we will serve.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Mat 5:24)

God blessed Abram (Abraham) with a son and their descendants became greatly numerous. This nation of Israel blessed the world with knowledge of God. Christ blessed the world with a relationship with the living God.

Which is the greater, momentary pleasures in this life that money buys, or endless pleasures in the the eternal life given to those who put their faith in Christ? If you agree that eternal life is the greater treasure, then you have to believe it's worth the wait.

So come and get it.

Dear Lord, help us to to make up our minds that You are our great reward and the treasure worth our heart's allegiance. Then we will know peace and security in Your presence and promise. Amen

Lord Is It Mine by Supertramp

Roger Hodgson, lead singer and songwriter of some of Supertramp's most beloved hits is a spiritually aware man. While he may not declare Christianity, he certainly declares God as a reality worth seeking. In an article with Huffington Post, Hodgson shares about his inspiration for many of his songs.

"To tell you the truth, actually, my deepest longing: I really wanted to know why I'm here! What is God? 'God' is the most misunderstood word, and the most abused word, in a way. And yet we're part of it -- there's a very intimate relationship we have with God: in however we understand it; everyone understands God in a different way, but it's very linked with the purpose of us being here.

"And so a lot of what I went to, when I went to an instrument and wrote, is I went to that place inside, of real deep longing: longing for love, longing for God -- and to me it's the same thing, really. Longing for belonging, longing for home. A lot of my songs are talking about wanting to go home, wanting to find home. Home, really, is where you feel at peace, and feel like you belong, and it's an internal thing, it's not 'out there' -- and yet we're not taught that in school, or in very few places in the world. So that was really the place of inspiration, I think: really calling for that place where I felt at peace, and where I felt more unified inside myself.

Read the entire article here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregory-weinkauf/roger-hodgson-breakfast-in-america_b_1336657.html

One of the most moving of Hodgson's compositions and performances appeared on the amazing album Breakfast in America. Lord Is It Mine is a soulful prayer and an invitation for all who search for peace within themselves, who long for love's embrace.

Here's a live performance of Lord Is It Mine by Roger Hodgson.  http://youtu.be/Yyqffz7K7aU

Lord Is It Mine 
Songwriters: DAVIES, RICHARD / HODGSON, ROGER

I know that there's a reason why I need to be alone
You show me there's a silent place that I can call my own
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

You know I get so weary from the battles in this life
And as many times it seems that you're the only hope in sight
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
There's nothing to win, and there's no need to fight

I never cease to wonder at the cruelty of this land
But it seems a time of sadness is a time to understand
Is it mine, Oh! Lord is it mine?

When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
You don't have to win, and there's no need to fight
If only I could find a way

To feel your sweetness through the day
The love that shines around me could be mine.
So give us an answer, won't you,
We know what we have to do,
There must be a thousand voices trying to get through.

This song is communicates well the beauty it seeks. Is starts quiet and solo. The singer is alone with his piano and pouring his heart out. There was a time in those late adolescent days when i too spent lots of time meditating on my own heart and writing songs from the space. I know the love affair with music and its power to open up our spirits to grater things. Music gives voice to hope. Even angry death metal which seems entirely hopeless is expressing a loathing for the cruelty of this life. In protest there is a desire for something more, something pure.

Take a look at the wisdom and the folly of Hodgson's lyrics. This song is a prayer. It is a request to God for peace and love. It comes from a place of tiredness (from the battles of this life) and sadness (at the cruelty of this land). Yet the singer acknowledges that God is calling him away from the battles and the cruelty and just be in His peaceful presence. The singer has experienced this peace before in time alone with God. God has shown the singer that in this silent place of his own, God is the only hope in sight.

Where does hope come from? Is God simply an internal choice to let go? The chorus of Lord IS It Mine says that in this silent place with God we don't have to win or fight. We can just let go and let God love us. The mystic traditions are all about training your body, mind and spirit to be in Gods' presence. I've tried. It's work. It takes discipline. It can be agonizing to push for experiencing the sweetness of the love that's all around us. I think I understand when the singer states, "If only I could find a way..."

But there is a way. Scratch that. There is THE WAY. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6)

The difference between Christian faith and all other religious mystical adventures is that God is actively reaching out to you through His love shown to the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The love that is all around us is in us just waiting for us to know. God has revealed His love in His Son, Jesus.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)

The reason we can't find a way to God in a state of perpetual communion is because of our sinful nature. The garden story in Genesis 2-3 illustrates that sin separates us from this paradisal state. The flaming sword guards the way back into the place we came from. The way back to God is guarded and no amount of effort on our part will put us right with God so that we may "get ourselves back to the garden," to borrow a phrase from Joni Mitchell's Woodstock. 

The gospel, the good news, is that God has acted in Jesus Christ to get us back into paradise to eat from the tree of life and live forever. Jesus is that way. His life gives us the example of how a man lives who is living in complete communion with God. The writer of Colossians says all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col 1:19-20)

God made peace between us and Him by removing the chasm caused by human sinfulness in the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus language seems disgusting. It only makes sense in the context of ancient Jewish faith. Animals were slaughtered as a means of covering over sin. The blood of the sacrifice atones for sin. The separation, the guilt, caused by sinful actions and sinful speech, is removed by the blood of the sacrifice. God Himself gave this means for atonement so that He might dwell among sinners. His best gift of all was the death of God in the body of Jesus. God gave Himself up as a sacrifice to atone for all sin forever. If God loves us that much to die in our place, what other sacrifice is needed? What other invitation is needed? The door to heaven is wide open through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you would find that way to feel God's sweetness through the day and experience the love that shines around you, you will come to Jesus. You will surrender to the love of God shown in Him. You will find that there is everlasting and abundant life in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lord, is it mine?

It is if you will trust that God loves you and has given His Son as a ransom for you. You can be free from the world, it's battles and cruelty, not by dropping out, but by falling into God's hands through His gift to you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

Lord, help us all to see the truth in Jesus, the way in Jesus, so that we might come to the Father and have life in Jesus. Amen

No Self Control by Peter Gabriel

While writing a sermon this week I thought of Peter Gabriel's 1980 release, simply titled Peter Gabriel. The former front man of the progressive rock group Genesis, struck out on his own. Ever a visionary madman, Gabriel bucked the system and released his first three solo projects with no title other than his name. As a result fans and marketers have had to differentiate them by the album cover art of by numbering them. The 1980 release is Gabriel's third solo album and is sometimes called Peter Gabriel 3 or Melt based on Gabriel's face melting on one side in the cover art.

According to a Wikipedia article on the album, Gabriel's dark lyrics were meant as commentary and caution to a world he saw slipping further into moral decay. The song No Self Control can be interpreted as a tragic look into the experience of a psychopathic killer or rapist.

Give it a listen. http://youtu.be/3yEcTB2va5E


No Self Control
by Peter Gabriel


Got to get some food
I'm so hungry all the time
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop

Got to get some sleep
I'm so nervous in the night
I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop

Got to pick up the phone
I will call any number
I will talk to anyone
I know I'm gone too far
Much too far I gone this time
And I don't want to think what I've done
I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop

There are always hidden silences
Waiting behind the chair
They come out when the coast is clear
They eat anything that moves
I go shaky at the knees
Lights go out, stars come down
Like a swarm of bees

No self-control
no self-control
No self-control
No self-control
No self-control
No self-control
No self-control
You know I hate to hurt you
I hate to see your pain
But I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop

Street after street
Night after night
I walk on through the rain
I walk on through the rain
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tragedy of the character is that he seems to be a victim of "hidden silences." I can only assume that silent moments are when things get unstable for this man. He doesn't know how to be alone. He eats when he knows he's had more than enough. He talks on the phone to any who will listen to keep himself from being taken over by what happens when he is alone in the silence.

He is guilt ridden because he knows what he ends up doing. He becomes a hunter of the night. when eh stars come out or on a dark rainy street he stalks for his prey, his next human victim. He wants to stop, but he feels helpless to do so. His mantric complaint echoes in his head, "I don't know how to stop! I don't know how to stop!"

We may not be serial killers, but I'll bet many of us do not know how to be alone in the silence. In the silence we have to encounter ourselves. In the silence our spiritual condition becomes apparent. We are hungry all the time, because we are trying to fill a spiritual hunger with food and snacks. We are busy all the time, because to slow down and pay attention to our inner life would mean having to admit that we are out of balance. We fill the air with music or leave the television running 24/7 because it keep the unwanted cycling of thoughts from driving us bonkers. We cannot sleep easily. Peace in evasive.

We run to doctors or yoga instructors or to psychotherapists to find help for our nagging anxieties and bodily aches and pains. But we don't know how to stop. The gate to life is narrow. It's easier to run the wide road to oblivion.

The New Testament shares a few instances when Jesus drove unclean spirits form tormented people. The most vivid is the story of the man who lived among the tombs.

From Mark 5:1-20:

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Note that the demons in this tortured soul recognize Jesus for who He is, "Son of the Most High God!" In other stories the unclean spirits shout, "You are the Holy One of God!" The point is that unclean spirits, dark thoughts that plague our hearts and minds are terrified before the light of Christ.

Whatever your opinion is on the matter of demons or evil spirits, you can benefit yourself by also recognizing the power of and purity of the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Believe what demons know and fear. Jesus Christ is Lord! All powers are being put under His submission.

The brother of Jesus wrote...

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. (Jms 4:7-8a)

By coming near to God through faith in Jesus Christ, the light of the world fills you and drives out the darkness. By continuing the habit of turning to draw near to God in prayer you will discover the fruit of self-control coming to you.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23a)

In 1995 Andy Park of the Vineyard Church wrote In The Secret.  Let these lyrics be your prayer.

In the secret,
In the quiet place
In the stillness you are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
only for you
Because I want to know you more.

I want to know you
I want to hear your voice
I want to know you more
I want to touch you
I want to see your face
I want to know you more.

Amen

Tequila by The Champs

I woke up this morning with Tequila on my mind. No, I don't mean I wanted to drink tequila. I had the 1958 number hit by The Champs on my mind. The song is primarily an instrumental. The word "tequila" is spoken three times in the song by the saxophone player. It turns out that Gene Autry's label, Challenge Records, had no hit singles. They pulled together some session players to try and create some hits for the radio.

According to Wikipedia:

Dave Burgess (born 1934), a rockabilly singer-songwriter from California who often recorded under the name "Dave Dupree" organized a recording session on December 23 in Hollywood. In the studio that day were Burgess on rhythm guitar, Cliff Hills on bass guitar, the Flores Trio (Danny Flores on saxophone and keyboards, Gene Alden on drums, and lead guitarist Buddy Bruce), and Huelyn Duvall contributing backing vocals. They gathered primarily to record "Train to Nowhere", a song by Burgess, as well as "Night Beat" and "All Night Rock".

The last tune recorded was "Tequila", essentially just a jam by the Flores Trio. There were three takes, and Danny Flores, who wrote the song, was also the man who actually spoke the word "Tequila!". Flores also played the trademark "dirty sax" solo. The song served as the B-side for "Train to Nowhere", which was released by Challenge Records on January 15, 1958. Duvall recalls that the record initially found little success, but, after a DJ in Cleveland played the B-side, "Tequila" skyrocketed up the charts, reaching #1 on the Billboard chart on March 28, 1958.

Give this fun little song a listen if you don't know it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdMTl9zHQ9Y  If you really want to see Pee Wee Herman dance to this song see this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVKsd8z6scw

I used to be a heavy drinker. I developed alcoholism and admitted my dependency. I entered treatment through Alcoholics Anonymous and by the grace of God, I haven't had an alcoholic beverage since 1997.

Back in the days of boozing it up, I used to live in a lakeside apartment in Noblesville, Indiana. There was a bar stumbling distance from the apartment called the Sandpiper. I got to be a regular there. I wasn't married yet. I was in sales. at the end of my day, if I was in town, I went to the Sandpiper around 5:00 p.m. I always ordered a Miller Lite beer and a shot of Jose Cuervo tequila. Salt and limes were provided. The purpose, of course, was to get my buzz on fast. After a while, Gina, the bartender would have my shot of tequila and my beer sitting on the bar waiting for me at 5;00 p.m. I felt special and appreciated. How sad.

In college we used to drink tequila with the worms in the bottom of the bottle. we used to say if you swallowed the worm you'd hallucinate. Most of the time we either never got to the bottom of the bottle before we passed out. None of us ever hallucinated, but we did cheer on the one who ate the worm.

It tuns out the worm was an accident. The worm is a larvae of a moth that sometimes infests the blue agave plant from which tequila is distilled. The agave grows a pineapple-like fruit which is baked, brewed and distilled. In bottling sometimes a worm made it into a batch. As it turns out Mezcal is different from tequila. Mezcal is made from 100% blue agave, where as tequila can be mixed with other alcohol up to 49%. Putting the larvae in the bottle was a marketing gimmick intended to communicate that this is the real stuff first made by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. In the US, that gimmick backfired as most consumers thought it meant a lower quality tequila.

Let this idea worm into your consciousness. Drinking to excess may seem fun, but it's hard on your body, brain and digestive organs. It's hard on relationships too. You are not your best when you are drunk. Under the influence I was totally into myself, my buzz, my good time. I hurt a lot of people in that condition. I did a lot of apologizing. It got old for everyone I knew.

The bible is not anti-alcohol.

The psalmist praises God for all His good creation.

He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts. (Psa104:14-15)

The apostle Paul encourages his young pastor friend Timothy to drink a little wine to settle his stomach condition.

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. (1Ti 5:23)

Wine was considered medicinal in the ancient days. Water was often polluted with microorganisms that made people sick. Grape juice and lightly fermented wines with low alcohol content were served as main beverages for meals. The original drink made from blue agave plants by the population of Mexico, prior to the Spanish conquest, was only 3% alcohol content.

And of course we all know the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding party. (Jn 2:1-11) It was the first of Jesus' miraculous signs that He is the Christ. Moses turned rivers into blood. Jesus turned water into wine. There's a new prophet in town, a prophet like Moses, but rather than curse the enemies of God, He is blessing the people with grace and mercy.

While the bible doesn't call for t-totaling, it is anti-drunkenness.

The writers in Proverbs warn us about drunkenness.

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
whoever is led astray by them is not wise. (Prv 20:1)

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!
In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.
Your eyes will see strange sights,
and your mind will imagine confusing things.
You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying on top of the rigging.
“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?” (Prv 23:29-35)

 Even the apostle Paul warns about drunkenness.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 5:18-20)

I belong to a Christian tradition that once demanded of its members a zero tolerance for any alcohol. Grape juice was served with Holy Communion, not wine. John Wesley built into the general rules of Methodist societies no drinking and no buying or selling of alcohol. His reason wasn't against alcohol itself. He had seen what drunkenness and dependency had done to his country. the society was rotting from within because of alcohol. It was a frivolous expenditure in his thinking. Money's spent for alcohol could be used for much godly work, like relieving the poor.

Here is a portion Wesley's general rules governing Methodist societies. These rules have been broken down to three simple rules: Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.

There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies: "a desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins." But wherever this is really fixed in the soul it will be shown by its fruits.

It is therefore expected of all who continue therein that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,

First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced, such as:

...Drunkenness: buying or selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme necessity.

Read the entire rules here. http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=5068507&ct=6466529&notoc=1

What are we meant for if Christ has claimed our hearts? We are not meant for drunkenness and the lack of self control it brings. In fact a fruit of living under the influence of the Spirit of Christ is self-control. (Gal 5:22-323) There is no down side or hang over from unity with Christ. It doesn't cost any money to praise God, to love Him and let His love fill you. Being filled with the Spirit doesn't harm your health. On the contrary, the Spirit gives life to your body. (Rom 8:11) The same power of life that conquered death and raised Jesus from the grave lives in you through faith.

So the next time you feel the urge to get your buzz on, try prayer, mediation and praise. Open your heart to the divine energy within you through your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. you may or may not feel a high, but keep at it. You will be taken from a life dragged down by stress and mortality to life lifted by love and grace. And as a side benefit...there are no worms. (Mk 9:47-48)

Dear God, save us from drunkenness and chemical dependency. As people in this country line up for recreational marijuana, and our liquor stores are busier than Your churches, awaken this nation to the truth. These choices do not lead to life. They only court death; physical, mental and spiritual death. Help us. Help Your church. God, teach America to bless You that You might once again bless America. Amen