**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