7.07.2008

Musical Musings: Ordinary People, John Legend

Now playing: John Legend - Ordinary People
via FoxyTunes

"Ordinary People"

[Verse 1]

Girl I'm in love with you
This ain't the honeymoon
Past the infatuation phase
Right in the thick of love
At times we get sick of love
It seems like we argue everyday

[Bridge]

I know i misbehaved
And you made your mistakes
And we both still got room left to grow
And though love sometimes hurts
I still put you first
And we'll make this thing work
But I think we should take it slow

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 2]

This ain't a movie no
No fairy tale conclusion ya'll
It gets more confusing everyday
Sometimes it's heaven sent
Then we head back to hell again
We kiss then we make up on the way

[Bridge]

I hang up you call
We rise and we fall
And we feel like just walking away
As our love advances
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I Still want you to stay

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 3]

Take it slow
Maybe we'll live and learn
Maybe we'll crash and burn
Maybe you'll stay, maybe you'll leave,
maybe you'll return
Maybe another fight
Maybe we won't survive
But maybe we'll grow
We never know baby youuuu and I

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Heyyy)
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow


I know I've done John Legend before, and I know that you don't expect to find secular music in a devotional. Bear with me. After all, if Paul could find the Creator in Athens' Unknown God (Acts 17:23), surely I can find something worth working with in a secular song?

When I first fell in love with this song and added it to my library, I marveled at the honest treatment of relationships in it. To take such a frank view of love, to admit that relationships take work and time to survive, but that in the end, it's worth it... I really liked it. And yes, I still see that in here, and that may well be why the original musing is included (if it gets included. If not, you can go back to my website hjourdenjackson.blogspot.com and read it).

But see, there's something I want us to consider beyond romantic love here. You see, while this is really directed at two people in a romantic relationship, there are truths here that go so much deeper, that call to the truths I find in existentialism. You see, there are things we can learn on the small level, to use in relationships with our lovers, but also to expand to a larger view of things and apply to how we relate to other people (and to be fair, Beloved, sometimes we need to take the way we treat others, outside of our family, and offer our families the same level of consideration and respect; it's too easy to take our loved ones for granted. But that's not the main thrust of my point today, so you're getting off easy).

I've discussed existentialism before, and I want to recap it very briefly here, just so that we define our terms. To me, existentialism is about stripping away all the definitions and labels (essence) we carry and getting back to the basics of sheer existence before we make value judgments about people. It strips away behavior and descriptors and respects and loves on the one thing we all share in common; we all exist.

There's more to it than just that, both my understanding and concept of existentialism, and to the larger ideas of Kierkegaard and Sartre (don't worry, you don't have to remember or know how to pronounce or spell the names). But for the purposes of what I want to discuss, that's the core: stripped to the basics, we are all the same. We are all, as Legend sings, Ordinary People.

So what? What's the big deal? Well, it's easy to forget that sometimes. It's easy to forget that there are very few truly evil people in the world (I won't say there aren't any; history proves me wrong on that count), but there are also very few true saints. Indeed... there are far more of the evil sorts than there are of the perfect; there's only been one of the perfect variety! The rest of us? We're all the same folks, the same average Joes and Joses and Joannas (or JoAmbers!).

That means we all make the same sorts of mistakes all the time. We mean to do well, but we make mistakes. He forgot your birthday. He doesn't hate you... he just... forgot. She interrupted you during the game. She doesn't hate you... she just... forgot. She's human, same as you. He's human, same as you. He cut you off in traffic. Her foot slipped off the brake at the red light and she brushed your fender. He miscounted your change. She wasn't Suzy Sunshine. Maybe they're having the same bad day you are... or worse. Maybe she's worried about a sick child she had to leave at home because she's working two jobs just to make ends meet. Maybe he's worried about a distant wife. Maybe she's worried about a mother who fell down at home, or a grandparent who's just been hospitalized. Maybe he just got distracted. Who knows? What was it the last time you were the one making the mistake?

Beloved, this life is short. We get 70? 90? 100? years on earth? And that's if we're lucky. We might get 2 minutes, 2 months, 2 years, 2 decades... you get the idea. You could spend your entire life going from one upset to the next, always angry with someone for some perceived slight. I'd about guarantee you won't get 100 years that way. Why should you waste the few days you get being angry and carrying a grudge?

Isn't it preferable to let go of the little stuff? Isn't it easier to forgive every time, 7 times, 70 times, 77 times, 490 times... or even yet, to choose to not let little stuff get under your skin? It's easy to forgive 490 times if there was never any offense taken. (Where am I getting those numbers? What's this 490 nonsense? Matthew 18:21-35. The Seventy Seven Times is considered by some to actually be seventy sevens of times, thus not 77, but 70x7=490!)

We're just ordinary people. We don't know which way to go. Maybe we should take it slow. Because Beloved, Life is too short not to spend yourself on Love.

7.03.2008

Musical Musings: "Can Anybody Hear Her" Casting Crowns

Musical Musings: “Can Anybody Hear Her”, Casting Crowns
She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her
If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her
Never even met her
(Never Even Met her)

Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me

Does anybody hear her? (Does anybody hear her?) Does anybody see? (Does anybody See?)
Does anybody even know she's going down today?
Under the shadow of our steeple (shadow of her steeple)
With all the lost and lonely people (Lost and Lonely people)
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see?

He is running a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction

My niece, the oldest of a dozen nieces and nephews, actually introduced this song to me, and when I listen to it, it gives me hope that God will preserve a tender heart within her… God can work with tender hearts in amazing ways if only we will let Him.
Beloved, we live in a fallen world. We live among people who make mistakes, who stumble and stutter their way through life. We live with people who hurt, with heartaches deeper than we can imagine, deeper than we can imagine. Just like you and I, who’ve had heartbreaks in our lives, who’ve borne wounds we weren’t sure we could survive, they, too, are broken and feel alone. Beloved, we live with people just like us. Or… almost just like us.
What’s the difference between “us” and “them”? Look past the behavior and look deeper, Beloved, and ask yourself, really, what the difference is. Why is it that when our hearts seem to shatter within us, we are able to get up again and keep going, and it stops them in their tracks? What gives us joy in the face of grief? What makes our lives seem so perfect from the outside looking in?
Christ. Christ is the difference between us. And I don’t mean the simple Sunday School answers… because when you’re really hurting, you need more than simple Sunday School answers to salve a broken soul. I’m talking about the living Christ, the resurrected Lord of the Gospel. The God who limited Himself to human form to redeem us to Him, the God who redeems even our heartbreak from the world to bring Him ever greater glory, the God who changes lives is the difference between us.
You see, Beloved, it’s not that I haven’t hurt in my life. It’s not that I’ve somehow led some charmed life where nothing has ever gone wrong. And even you, Beloved, reading this… you’ve got a heartbreak. You’ve got something in your past that was the deepest wound you’ve ever borne. Maybe it was a miscarriage… hoping beyond hope for a child, only to lose the baby before you had a chance to even name her. Maybe it was the death of a treasured love one. Or a divorce in the family. Or betrayal by a friend. I know there’s a hurt there. And in that way, we are no different from the lost that surround us. It’s what God has done with that hurt in our lives… it’s that we’ve come to a place where we gave ourselves completely to the God who gave Himself completely for us. It’s that we found the strength to surrender to Him. It’s the power of God to resurrect the death in our lives, trading it for His life instead. It’s the grace of God… for without it, we would be as lost as “they” are.
You see, Beloved, there is no “us” and “them”. There’s only “before” and “after”. They are the before picture, lost, stumbling, blind, confused, hurting. We are the after, eyes opened by grace, freed by grace, given peace and life and direction through the great and incomparable grace of God. And it is the deepest desire of God’s heart that we would ALL, every one of us, be an “after”.
God built us to be with Him. In the beginning, He created a garden for us to provide for us and then would come and just BE with us, walking and talking. When we fell away from Him, choosing our own ways over His, He provided us with a way to come back to Him, to walk again with Him in the garden. Even now, Beloved, He longs to woo us to Himself, to show us things of beauty and wonder, to walk with us in the garden.
So how do we get back there? How do we get from before to after? What does all of this have to do with the body of believers and the lost? Christ. Christ is the path that was made to get us back to the garden with God. He is the way. He is the door into the garden. He is the only way to God, no matter what this world would say otherwise. The redemptive work of Christ in our lives through grace takes us from before to after… indeed, that’s what I mean by “before” and “after”… before is our lives before experience the redemptive work of Christ, and after is our lives after we’ve been set free.
Oh, I know, this still sounds like a lot of Sunday School. And for a minute, it will still (though just because something sounds like simple drivel spouted without meaning doesn’t mean that it’s simple, meaningless drivel!). You see, Beloved, we Afters, we’re the Body of Christ in this world. We are His eyes, seeing the pain of our neighbors. We are His ears, hearing the cries of broken hearts. We are His hands, reaching out to the men and women stumbling in the dark. We are His feet, flying to those who so desperately need Him. We are His voice, speaking Love to wounded souls. We are the living embodiment of the change the Befores need, and if they never see it in our lives, will they ever see it at all?
It is past time for us to stop looking at this as an “us” and “them” issue. It is past time for us to stop judging our brothers and sisters for the mistakes they’ve made. It is past time for us to get down off the lofty pedestal we’ve lifted ourselves up on, to get down off our high horses. It is past time, Beloved, to humble yourself. Dare to look at the sinner not as a project or an object, but as a person in need of the same grace you need. There, but for the grace of God, go you and I.
I know what you’re saying. “That way lies madness! There are people who use compassionate people, who abuse goodness. There are people who are looking for every chance to wound and destroy! Why, if I were to give of myself that way, what would happen to me, to my family?” Frankly, you’re right. There are people who use good people. There are people who would take advantage of you. And you know what? You could die.
You know what, though, Beloved? You will die. I promise. Unless Christ comes for us first, death will come for you. Not might. Not maybe. Will. You can take that one to the bank, so to speak. But how will the Befores ever know Christ if the Body of Christ never reaches out to them? How are they to know a Jesus they never see? How will they ever stop being Befores, ever stop being people who use and abuse people and substances until the Body of Christ steps into their lives and shows them the difference?
And your family? You want to change your family? Show them the love of God in action. Show them the radical way that God loves people… not for what they can give Him, but because He can do nothing else. Let them see your life marked not by fear of what could happen, but by Love that changes lives. Let them see the way God’s love changes today, tomorrow, and forever. Demonstrate the history changing power of God, not by ignoring the lost, but by reaching out to them.
Where do I get off saying these things? Let me remind you of the Christ whose name you claim. This is the Man who dined with Tax Collectors (thieves) and prostitutes. This is the man who healed the demon-possessed and touched lepers. This is the man who fed thousands of hungry people who followed him. This is the man who forgave the men who drove the nails through his flesh.
Of course, if that’s not enough to convince you to love radically, (and really, if it’s not, then maybe you’re really a Before after all…) then what about this reminder?
The Sheep and the Goats
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Beloved, you and I are the ones who can make a difference. Stop judging, Beloved. What sin have they committed that carries them so far that the cross can’t reach them? Who are you to judge them as beyond the grip of grace? Who are you to deny them what you yourself have been given so freely? Who are you to disobey the example and the command of Christ to reach out even to the “least” among us?
OK, so now you’re feeling convicted, but you don’t know how to start. I could sit here and give you some concrete steps to take to improve your community… but sometimes, we have to start changing our hearts in order for a change in our lives to really take. So before you go looking for ways to reach out to the lost and hurting people in your life, I want you to pray. I want the heart that beats within you to be as radically changed as your soul was, for your life to really be renewed… because if you choose to do this in your own strength, through your own resources, you will wear yourself out, and you risk treating people like projects instead of people.
So how to start? Pray. Hey, you had to pray to find Christ, right? And isn’t the Christian life supposed to be marked by prayer? Why should this be different. Pray that you will see people the way God does. Pray that you will learn to see them with His eyes, not your own. Pray that He will prick your heart to tenderness for your fellow man. Pray that it will not be you loving them, but rather that you will be a conduit, a vessel, for the endless, unconditional love of God. Pray, Beloved, that you will be the Body, but that He will be the energizing force behind it all. Pray for God to change your heart until you become the man or woman He created you to be, useful to Him for His purposes. Pray, Beloved, that you will see yourself, your fellow man (and woman) and God in the proper perspective.
Then, and only then, Beloved, will you find the ability to love freely. Then, and only then, will fear fade. Then you will find that you can’t NOT love… that the option to not have compassion seems to almost disappear. It won’t make you a sucker. It doesn’t have to leave you a doormat or abused. You understand that you are the child of the King… and that the King takes care of His own. You begin to love as you never could have before. You begin to see as you couldn’t. You’re now equipped, Beloved, to reach out and LOVE the Befores… which is the first step in them becoming Afters! God will reveal the next step to you, far better than I ever could. You will truly become the body of Christ.
Beloved, God longs to redeem every soul on this planet. He needs you and I to see, to hear, to reach out to the people who feel invisible. They need hope. You’ve got it. Won’t you heed the call to Love?

Watch this space

Big changes are coming in the months to come. I've been writing for a long time, and I've been told for a long time that I need to be published, but I've never felt that the perfect storm of things had come together for me to feel like I could actually publish and do something meaningful and not just be another voice in the cacophany.

At least, I didn't use to.

Web 2.0 has changed a lot of things, beyond just the way we use the internet. Among the things it's brought is the right sets of tools and formats that I feel like I can actually try to publish without it being an exercise in futility and defeat.

It's going to take a lot of work, of course. Even when you consider that much of what I plan to publish in book form is already written, I have to save it and format it in a way that it works for a book, make sure that all my legal ducks are in a row, and actually assemble the book. And that's all just the work of getting the manuscript together, and doesn't include any new writing that will happen in the mean time.

As I'm struck by deep, ponderous thoughts, they'll still be here. As I'm struck with flighty silliness, well, those will likely stay here. But keep your eyes open. As we get closer to launch, there will be a new website, and I'll likely start hosting this blog over there. (I may even change which blogging service I use, but there will always be directions to get you there from here).

In the meantime? If you're the sort who prays, please keep me in your prayers. It takes a lot of work, and a lot of courage, to do this. I'll need your prayers.

Thanks, folks!