George Thorogood is a blues artist, known for his gravely voice and slide guitar blues. He's best known for his song Bad To The Bone, which was featured in the film soundtrack to John Carpenter's Christine. The movie was about a demon possessed 1957 Chevy that controlled the souls of those who drove her.
But Bad To the Bone isn't my selection this morning. It's Move It On Over, a Hank Williams song Throrogood covered. Hank Williams went to number 4 with Move It On Over on the country charts in 1947. The song has a twelve bar blues form and was covered by Bill Haley, early Rock 'n' Roll pioneer. The song since then has been covered by a variety of rock and blues artists.
Click the link to listen and come back to this screen to read the lyrics.
http://youtu.be/rXQ4tRlYgM0
"Move It On Over"
I come in last night about half past ten
So move it on over
Rock it on over
Move over little dog, a mean old dog is movin' in
She told me not to mess around
But I done let the deal go down
Move it on over
Rock it on over
Move over nice dog, a big, bad dog is movin' in
She changed the lock on my back door
Now my key, it won't fit no more
Move it on over
Rock it on over
Move over nice dog, a mean old dog is movin' in
She threw me out just as pretty as you please
Pretty soon I'll be scratchin' fleas
Move it on over
Slide it on over
Move over nice dog, a mean old dog is movin' in
Yeah, listen to me dog before you start to whine
That side's yours and this side's mine
So move it on over
Rock it on over
Move over little dog, a big old dog is movin' in
Yeah, she changed the lock on my back door
Now my key, it won't fit no more
Move it on over
Rock it on over
Move over little dog, a big old dog is movin' in
Move it on over
Move it on over
Move it on over
Won'tcha rock it on over
Move over cool dog, a hot dog's movin' in
What can be said about this song in terms of my relationship to Christ? You might ask why it's even relevant to ask such a question. This song has nothing to do with religion. You'd be right, but then again as a Christian I know everything has to do with Christ. He is my all in all. He is the author of life and music is a big part of my life. It could be that I just want to validate my love of Rock 'n' Roll. But my real motive is to illustrate that every song starts a conversation about life. And who better to teach us about life than the greatest life that ever was or is or is to come?
Move It On Over is about a man, presumably in the habit of drinking and carousing, who got locked out of his house by presumably his wife. He has to spend the night in the dog house with the family pooch.
It's comical, and if you've ever been there, figuratively or literally, you can visualize the hole mess this poor soul is in. There's not much to be said about the lyrics other than we understand the situation. The song doesn't say if the two people are married. It doesn't tell us exactly how he was messing around, or the exact reason why she locked him out. The singer doesn't share any remorse for any wrong he might have done. We don't even know if he was drunk.
That's the great thing about songs, when they are vague enough they are open to a variety of interpretations. What I read into song lyrics says more about me than it does the songwriter. The website songmeanings.com gives music lovers a place to share their interpretations. The only comments on Move It On Over is that they like the music. There are no interpretations of the situation described.
When I first read the lyrics, I hadn't envisioned the drinking and sleeping in the doghouse scenario. What I thought of was the nice old dog and the mean of dog than lives inside of us. I envisioned the man thinking of his wife as a person with two kinds of personalities. There's the nice, cool, meek little dog. And then there's the big, mean and hot angry dog who will rip out your heart. The thought also occurred to me that he might be so angry for being locked out of the house that he is becoming the big, bad, mean, hot dog.
The song might begin a conversation about marital relationships, drinking, adultery, character, fidelity, and so forth. But I find more interesting the notion that there are two dogs living in us. There's a nice, meek, cool tempered, little dog in us. There's also a big, mean, hot tempered dog which, with the right provocation, stirs from its slumber ready to fight.
Ken Mansfield, author of Stumbling On Open Ground, tells of a Nez Perce who struggles spiritually as he lives his new life as a convert to Christianity.
One of the elders from the nearby Nez Perce reservation
used to tell the story about an old member of the tribe who had
become a Christian. His name was So-bo-ta, and a few months
after his conversion he asked the pastor who had brought him to
the Lord if he could meet with him. He told the pastor that he
was having a hard time dealing with a personal struggle in his
Christian walk and that he felt like there were two dogs fighting
inside him. He said one dog’s name was Faith and the other dog’s
name was Fear. He said these two dogs were constantly battling
inside him, and it was driving him crazy. The pastor looked at
him intently, thought for a minute, and asked, “Well, So-bo-ta,
which dog is winning?” The old Indian squinted his eyes, stared
off in space as if watching a movie, and then answered in words
so soft that they were almost inaudible: “I guess the one I feed
the most.” (pp. 139)
Fear or Faith? Which dog are you feeding? It's easy to say we are not afraid. We are masters of hiding fear behind anger, or uncomfortable laughter, and collusion with those with whom we want to be on good terms. Depression, some say, is anger turned in upon ourselves. Instead of fighting against injustices in life, we feel helpless, hopeless and begin blaming ourselves and hating ourselves for the unhappy things in life. Yes, we are masters at hiding fear with other feelings, because few of us are comfortable admitting to ourselves we feel afraid. That would be admitting to weakness, or so we tell ourselves.
The truth is that fear is a normal and natural response to a threat to our safety. Whether the threat is perceived or real, fear comes as an alert to our body, mind and spirit. Our response to fear is either, fight, flight or freeze. Some suggest additional responses, but these are the big three.
Spiritually speaking fear is what caused the fall of humanity from paradise. Let's review what happens in Genesis chapters two and three. God places man, Adam, in the Garden of Eden. Adam has everything he needs given to him. He is given Eve as a companion. They are told they may eat of any tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A serpent seduces Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. The serpent tells her if she eats it she will become like God, knowing both good and evil. She wanted to be like God. She wasn't satisfied being God's subservient child. Neither was Adam. Eve gave him the fruit and he ate it knowing he should not. I can assume he liked the idea of becoming like God, too. Or perhaps he allowed his feelings for Eve keep him from saying "no."
How is what happened in the Garden of Eden a fear related action? Eve was afraid that God was keeping her from having her fullest life. God is keeping information from her by telling her she cannot eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As the thought about obeying, she feared the tension of knowing that she could have her eyes opened and know all that God knows. She felt afraid of living a life not knowing. When she realized she could know it all by eating the forbidden fruit, she ate the fruit. Eve reacted to the fear of living with not having something God was withholding from her, rather than simply trust God. Adam may have had the same motive or he could have feared upsetting Eve by not joining in with her transgression.
All sin comes from the well of fear and faithlessness.
Our greatest fear is non-being, according to the existential thinkers of the 20th century. That fear manifests itself in a many ways. The midlife crisis is a perfect example. One fears that they are missing out on life. As they grow older life is not what they had envisioned. They get divorced. They buy expensive cars or other toys to offset the feelings of disappointment. They make radical changes in their lifestyle thinking it will lead to the hoped for fuller life. Rarely does it pan out. Bottom line, fear of death, and the subtler forms of death like rejection and missing out on something we don't have, drives us.
God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us from fear.
Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Christ) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb 2:14-15)The big dog of Fear can sometimes overcome the calmer and more rational dog of Faith. Faith doesn't have to be about Jesus. You can have faith in yourself. You can have faith in science. You can have faith in your Fairy Godmother. What you trust in can often help you to renegotiate your fear response and ease into a sense that you are indeed safe. But only Christ eliminates Death itself. True other religions speak of death as a doorway to other lives or afterlife. But only Christ lived a life completely free of sin. He never allowed fear to overpower His faith.
Salvation is about being set free. Salvation is about transformation from the mean old dog to the nice dog, so to speak. That which makes us mean-spirited comes from the well of fear. For when we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God, as faith tells us, we live in relative peace and happiness. The bible speaks of believers possessing the peace that passes understanding. (Php 4:7)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Php 4:6-7)The means by which we are transformed from one dog to the other is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. One with faith in Christ receives the Lord to live in them. Now a greater power, greater than death, greater than our worst fears, greater than any emotion, is available within.
Paul speaks of this difference quite often in his writings.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal 5:16-25)A person who is led by the Spirit is brought ever deeper into the love of God and eternal riches that outshine anything this world can provide. So the next time you think about letting fear have the upper hand, like deciding you are missing out on life and you need to flirt and cheat on your spouse, consider what's really going on inside of you, before you make a bad choice that puts you in the doghouse.
Thanks Hank Williams for the song. Thanks George Thororgood for your brand of rocking blues which kept this song alive. Thanks to the Spirit which speaks when we are listening, even when we are listening to Rock 'n' Roll.
Dear Lord, save us from fear and give us greater faith. Teach us to feed our faith and allow fear to inform us when we are truly threatened. Amen
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