**Pop Culture Echo** Only Here On Earth

I'm going to occasionally do these Pop Culture Echo posts (don't you love that term) when ruminating about how my Christian self relates to, well, the pop culture world we live in. I so often don't pay as much attention to I should to the music, art, writing, and other media that surrounds me. I am trying to be better about that and keep a record of my commentary on things. This is the first post. 

The song "My Way" is iconic. It's become a pop culture echo. We hear it in movies, ads, and whenever someone is feeling very Sinatra during Karaoke. I heard a snippet of it recently near the end of some movie I'd fallen asleep on and I have been thinking about it ever since.

I think that we hear "My Way" and swell up with a sense of accomplishment. We can reassure ourselves with the lyrics when we have hit a rough patch in life. It's a melodic pat on the back, a comforting and worldly "there there" to soothe our egos after a battle with some failure or hard-won triumph. But it is very worldly and should mean nothing to my Christian self.

The lyrics are shown at the bottom of the post, and you can see what I mean about the worldly and self-reliant attitude of the words. Most harrowing, in my opinion, is that the song is talking about the end of someone's life. Maybe that's why it's kind of a ballad for the recently deceased. When I was younger, I thought it was a song I would have liked sung at my own funeral. Now I see the words and realize the sentiments expressed are the antithesis of what I want for a eulogy.

If you are someone who has given your life to Christ, go take a look at that song and see if it has anything to do with your faith. Only here on earth does my way - or yours - mean anything that counts.

So, take a look at the lyrics and the next time you hear this song, pay close attention to what it's telling you. If you think about it, in a movie about the fall of angels, I could totally see Lucifer singing this song with glee.

Here are the lyrics with my emphasis added in places and my commentary in italics bold:

My Way

(by Paul Anka)

And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friends, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case of which I'm certain (How certain are you? You've done things YOUR way but are about to meet God)

I've lived a life that's full

I traveled each and every highway (narrow is the way, according to the Bible)

But more, much more than this

I did it my way (I tried things 'my way' for years & it didn't give me peace)

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do (What did you have to do & what has it gained you?)

And saw it through without exemption

I planned each chartered course

Each careful step along the byway

But more, much more than this

I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall

And did it my way

I've loved, laughed and cried

I've had my fill, my share of loosing

And now, as tears subside

I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way

Oh no, no, not me

I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got (without God, there is nothing worth having)

If not himself then he has not 

To say all the things he truly feels

And not the words of one who kneels (There it is: pride of self)

The record shows, I took the blows

But I did it my way (And, now you are about to step out of this life and face....Who?)

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Claude Francois / Gilles Thibaut / Jacques Revaux / Paul Anka

My Way lyrics © Warner Chappell Music France, Jeune Musique Editions, BMG Rights Management, Concord Music Publishing LLC, Suisa

No thanks, my friend. If I have to close my eyes for the last time on this life, I don't want to open them to look upon God and tell Him how proud I am to have done it my way. As a matter of fact, I could do that. I could stand in judgment on my own record - of sin and guilt - or I could stand there with the spotless record of the Messiah who shed his blood for me.

Peace

--Free

The President, Peace, and Prayer

This is a copy of what I posted yesterday on my blog FreeBeingFree 

Not many people will understand this at first, but I feel so sorry for Donald Trump. My heart is almost breaking for that man. Let me explain why I say this.

In my life, I have felt mean and vindictive. In those times, I was not happy with myself. I wasn't even that aware of my own pride or ignorance or stupidity. I've been a Christian for a long time but I have only been experiencing the Christian mindset for a short while - 6 or 7 years or so. Before then, I was still too full of myself to let God fully inhabit me. I was easily hurt by slights from others and just by the world not being fair - or in being adequately in awe of me. 

I was always chasing happiness and I finally caught it.

These days, I spend a lot of time accepting what life is. It's not perfect or even totally bearable at times but I am here to live it. Because I am forgiven, I have peace. And being forgiven doesn't mean I don't still get my feelings hurt; it doesn't mean that I don't have many regrets over things that I can replay over and over in my mind on bad days; it doesn't mean that I don't still struggle a lot with my emotions. Being forgiven means just that. My sins are forgiven but I still live with the consequences daily.

Donald Trump is someone I can feel sympathy for because he is, after all, just another human being. I don't believe that someone who reacts to life and other people the way that he does is truly at peace. I've been there.

There is a song I remember from the days I spent in a Pentecostal church. I left that church and the people of that church, but I always think of the words from that song as being the truest lyrics I know: 

"This joy I have, the world didn't give it to me. The world didn't give it and the world can't take it away."

Those are the lyrics most people think of when they think of that song but my favorite part is about "this peace I have" that the world didn't give and can't take away. 

For me, peace is the bonus that came with the salvation the Lord gave me. It's my manna or "daily bread". It's what I have in my soul in spite of any stress or depression my body or mind might go through. 

A few years back I watched a documentary about a woman suffering from mental illness. After she left the care of an institution, she spent months squatting in a vacant house and died from exposure during the cold of winter. She kept a journal and the title of the documentary was taken from what she wrote: "God knows where I am."

I was in such a shaky place in my own life at that time - grieving and lost and under spiritual attack - that I related deeply to that dear woman's story. I was sad and in a lot of emotional despair but I immediately understood just what she meant: God knows where I am. And that is my peace.

I want Trump to know that God knows where he is - in his frustration and pride and pain and needs. I want him to feel the beauty of God's forgiveness and love. I want him to feel what I feel when I read these words from Psalm 139:1-6.

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

So, yes, I still get angry with Trump. I rant and rave when he says or does another cruel or ignorant thing. Still, I come back to the thought that God loves him just as He loves me. God wants Trump to have peace. He wants all of us to have peace. He doesn't want us to be hurting and angry and mean and blind. - or even brilliant and successful and kind but still blind. And that is why I have made a commitment to pray for this man. I know that people prayed for me.

Finally, let me borrow from pop culture lingo to clarify something about Christianity: this is not a religion, it's a lifestyle. Jesus was anti-religion and he wasn't about institutions and pomp. Jesus didn't come to build committees and choirs and church boards. Jesus was born, lived, died, and then rose and he did all of that for me, for you, and for Trump. So, while we still live, let's pray for one another.

Peace

--Free

Imagine Heaven

 Years ago, I liked that song by John Lennon, "Imagine". I didn't think about the lyrics critically or in context to Lennon's personal beliefs. I just liked the melody and the way the song made me feel.  All this time later, after giving my life to Christ, I realize how silly such a song is. Why on earth would I want to imagine no heaven?

This morning, scrolling Reddit, I saw this photo of "the inside of a hydrangea" posted by this person. 

Nature is so beautiful. This world is so amazing and we are so amazing. God created us and all that is the earth and the heavens. Now, try imagining that.

I often do try to think of what heaven will be like. I realize that all the beauty we see here is nothing compared to what we will see in heaven. It's pretty incomprehensible, isn't it?

The other day, I was listening to a seminar on the intricacies of DNA and the beautiful complexity of it.  (Here's an article on DNA.) The entire time, I kept trying to understand how some men refuse to believe in an Intelligent Designer and I decided that man as a species hates to concede that he is not superior to all.

Because I do believe in the God of Abraham, I do believe he created this world and I do believe he created a heaven for us to "retire" to. What I have trouble with is imagining that heaven. There are things so beautiful on this earth - nature, art, music, language - that I can hardly wrap my mind around it all. 

Got Questions has an article about heaven that is interesting. This is copy/paste excerpt so that the links are preserved:

The city is filled with the brilliance of costly stones and crystal clear jasper. Heaven has twelve gates (Revelation 21:12) and twelve foundations (Revelation 21:14). The paradise of the Garden of Eden is restored: the river of the water of life flows freely and the tree of life is available once again, yielding fruit monthly with leaves that “heal the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2). However eloquent John was in his description of heaven, the reality of heaven is beyond the ability of finite man to describe (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Heaven is a place of “no mores.” There will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more sorrow (Revelation 21:4). There will be no more separation, because death will be conquered (Revelation 20:6). The best thing about heaven is the presence of our Lord and Savior (1 John 3:2). We will be face to face with the Lamb of God who loved us and sacrificed Himself so that we can enjoy His presence in heaven for eternity.

So, just as an exercise, the next time you get a chance - or are stressed, worried, depressed, etc, - just try to imagine heaven. 

Peace                                                                                                                                                              --Free