At the end of Israel’s lightning conquest of the Promised land, as much a religious procession as armed conquest, standing stones are placed as a memorial. we have a spate of them recently:MLK ,FDR, Korea, WWII. Lovejoy monument here. Cemeteries are parks of standing stones as our the old church yards.
Paul writes in response to the early church in a greek port: what happened to their friends who had died before the second coming? Would they be lost, forgotten, even by God.
With the enormous popularity of the Left Behind series of books, many Americans were introduced to a fairly recent model for coming to grips with apocalyptic material. All the word means is lifting the lid from a pot, to reveal what is beneath.It is a genre of writing for people who want god to intervene as they have no hope of winning on their own. Here in Paul’s first letter, we see him sing its symbols as a way to tell people that the age has turned in the fullness of time, a new and better age has begun in Jesus Christ.
Rapture theology is part of a fairly recent 19th century view that the apocalyptic material is a recipe book. It tries to tie material together from different places in the bible into a predictive framework for out time.Yes, this is clearly apocalyptic end time material. the word rapture comes from Latin, the word means to snatch or be caught up in Greek. The word was carefully chosen in my view as this same word is usually applied to death snatching us from life itself.
instead of seeing as present with Christ at death, we will be united with Christ, the living and the dead.the dead will not be forgotten. Rapture theology takes it all upside down and has the living separated away in their two stage second coming approach. the living are separated from what they fear would be a period of tribulation, so escape, not compassion is its ruling idea. (Joyce ending) In the end, rapture theology is for people who have lost hope in being agents of the kingdom of heaven and passively await a divine lightning bolt to change things that they have given up on.That is why it is so vital for them to see the world as going downhill, as getting worse and worse, as they want to hasten the end. for them, only a small group will be spared from the lion’s den of contemporary life.
Right after All Saints Day, it is a good time to consider these great words, do not grieve as those who have no hope. Note that it decidedly does not say do not grieve, period. The virtue of hope affects our present. it can give us energy and direction, in spite of, the facts on the ground. A basic truth about us is that we grow attached to people. We often do not have great resources to deal with the loss of someone to whom we are attached. We fear that our attachment now mocks us, as we could be absent forever.Paul offers the encouragement that in the new age we can rely on god’s faithfulness. We will be kept together through the new life in Christ, not our memory, not even the strength of our loves. In other words, Christ’s presence, including divine presence in the passage into heaven gives us ground for hope. Still, here on earth we do grieve, must grieve, should grieve; such is the depth of our attachment; such is the depth of our love.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
On Sight and Insight
I write the day of the miraculous eye surgery practice by Dr. Hanish. That has led me to consider the metaphor of sight in different areas of life.In particular, we are a long way from having the miracle of cataract surgery being applied to our lack of insight into situations, relationships, and the dark, screened-off parts of our own personalities.
Recently, I received an invitation for out 40th high school reunion next year (gasp). Much of what we do at a reunion is based on perspective. With the lower angels of our nature, we may hope that the cheerleader or homecoming queen has not aged well, and the better angels of our nature hope for good things for those lower on the awful social scale. Our reactions to changes are interesting. While we accept the changes in ourselves as perfectly proper and natural, we resent the changes in others. Why? I think it violates the playback button of our memory. We want to see people as we remember them, even if we rationally know that cannot be. It almost feels like a personal affront that someone would dare to change from how we recall them in our mind’s eye.
I’ve been reading a new set of essays, The Idea of America, by the eminent historian Gordon Wood. He reminds us that one of the great aspirations of the founding Era was that public service should be disinterested (not as the word has morphed into being uninterested), but objective, public spirited, having a horizon broader than one’s self interest. In our time, we have given up on even te ga of objectivity. While admitting that bias creeps into all of our judgments, is it not still a worthy aspiration” Notice the quality of our national leaders when we had adopted a standard of disinterested public service compared to the lesser aspirants for office with whom we contend in our day.
In an oddly similar way, we may well need the help of a neutral, disinterested party when we examine our relationships. they are too close for us to see well, as jut as it is said that a doctor shouldn’t treat family members, nor a lawyer take on family as a client.One of the great aids of therapy is to have a neutral person who is on the side of the relationship, not either party, help us to see past our point of view, past our bias, and see more clearly into the relationship itself and our roles in it. The therapist takes on the role of a skilled friend who can listen with a third ear, or perhaps see with the third eye where our own vision is distorted.
In spiritual life, consider John Calvin’s metaphor of the Bible being spectacles, glasses. In other words, he thought that we did see but “in a mirror dimly.” Scripture gives focus to how we view the world. Maybe in our time we could switch it slightly to X-ray vision. through Scripture we ca glimpse the world behind the curtain. Put differently, it helps us perceive the hand of God in the world, where we would be blind to it. I have always been taken with the phrase, “the biblically-tutored imagination.” Soaked in Scripture, our imaginations can use images in provocative and deeper ways toward insights. It helps us to peer into that most protected of fortresses, our inner being. In Scripture, the Spirit guides us to make discoveries and to even discover ourselves in its pages. When Jesus healed the blind, it is almost always a signal about some spiritual blindness being touched as well. Perhaps that it the greatest journey that lies before us, to see into the depths of the human self, clearly.
Recently, I received an invitation for out 40th high school reunion next year (gasp). Much of what we do at a reunion is based on perspective. With the lower angels of our nature, we may hope that the cheerleader or homecoming queen has not aged well, and the better angels of our nature hope for good things for those lower on the awful social scale. Our reactions to changes are interesting. While we accept the changes in ourselves as perfectly proper and natural, we resent the changes in others. Why? I think it violates the playback button of our memory. We want to see people as we remember them, even if we rationally know that cannot be. It almost feels like a personal affront that someone would dare to change from how we recall them in our mind’s eye.
I’ve been reading a new set of essays, The Idea of America, by the eminent historian Gordon Wood. He reminds us that one of the great aspirations of the founding Era was that public service should be disinterested (not as the word has morphed into being uninterested), but objective, public spirited, having a horizon broader than one’s self interest. In our time, we have given up on even te ga of objectivity. While admitting that bias creeps into all of our judgments, is it not still a worthy aspiration” Notice the quality of our national leaders when we had adopted a standard of disinterested public service compared to the lesser aspirants for office with whom we contend in our day.
In an oddly similar way, we may well need the help of a neutral, disinterested party when we examine our relationships. they are too close for us to see well, as jut as it is said that a doctor shouldn’t treat family members, nor a lawyer take on family as a client.One of the great aids of therapy is to have a neutral person who is on the side of the relationship, not either party, help us to see past our point of view, past our bias, and see more clearly into the relationship itself and our roles in it. The therapist takes on the role of a skilled friend who can listen with a third ear, or perhaps see with the third eye where our own vision is distorted.
In spiritual life, consider John Calvin’s metaphor of the Bible being spectacles, glasses. In other words, he thought that we did see but “in a mirror dimly.” Scripture gives focus to how we view the world. Maybe in our time we could switch it slightly to X-ray vision. through Scripture we ca glimpse the world behind the curtain. Put differently, it helps us perceive the hand of God in the world, where we would be blind to it. I have always been taken with the phrase, “the biblically-tutored imagination.” Soaked in Scripture, our imaginations can use images in provocative and deeper ways toward insights. It helps us to peer into that most protected of fortresses, our inner being. In Scripture, the Spirit guides us to make discoveries and to even discover ourselves in its pages. When Jesus healed the blind, it is almost always a signal about some spiritual blindness being touched as well. Perhaps that it the greatest journey that lies before us, to see into the depths of the human self, clearly.
OT Notes Josh. 3:7-17
1) this is a mythic account, similar to the Red Sea parting. God demonstrates power over the waters again. to me it has echoes of the ancient Baal story in a fight with Judge River. (see chapter on this crossing in slaying the Dragon by a professor from DePauw . To me, it shows the immense religious confidence of israel to appropriate other stories and fold them into their story.
2) it seems to me to be crucial to note that this military campaign is more like a religious procession and will show itself again in a similar fashion in Jericho.this is an interesting take on the violence of the conquest that is such canard with those who stereotype the OT without bothering to read it at times.
3) the river marks a boundary. so for me it is a liminal place, a threshold.
4) Recall Joshua is the name of Jesus in Hebrew (god saves/helps/delivers)
5) what do you think it felt like for Joshua to enter this long-Promised Land? did he think of Moses, do you wonder?
6) this is a good place to remind the gentle reader that many folks see the conquest stories as not accurately depicting the rise of Israel. Gottwald, for instance, imagines a sort of Maoist peasant revolt from the inside that linked Hebrew settlers with other groups. We catch hints in the stories that the three lightning strikes of Joshua’s blitz did not roll over so easily. Consider that Jerusalem remained a city state for quite some time under the Jebusites.
7) The great Bruce Springsteen has a song the Promised Land, and it also appears in at least one other song, if I am not mistaken.This would be a good place to consider the pluses and minuses of the dream of the Promised Land as physical reality or metaphor.
2) it seems to me to be crucial to note that this military campaign is more like a religious procession and will show itself again in a similar fashion in Jericho.this is an interesting take on the violence of the conquest that is such canard with those who stereotype the OT without bothering to read it at times.
3) the river marks a boundary. so for me it is a liminal place, a threshold.
4) Recall Joshua is the name of Jesus in Hebrew (god saves/helps/delivers)
5) what do you think it felt like for Joshua to enter this long-Promised Land? did he think of Moses, do you wonder?
6) this is a good place to remind the gentle reader that many folks see the conquest stories as not accurately depicting the rise of Israel. Gottwald, for instance, imagines a sort of Maoist peasant revolt from the inside that linked Hebrew settlers with other groups. We catch hints in the stories that the three lightning strikes of Joshua’s blitz did not roll over so easily. Consider that Jerusalem remained a city state for quite some time under the Jebusites.
7) The great Bruce Springsteen has a song the Promised Land, and it also appears in at least one other song, if I am not mistaken.This would be a good place to consider the pluses and minuses of the dream of the Promised Land as physical reality or metaphor.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Dt.34 Sermon Oct 23
find this conclusion to the story of Moses to be heartbreaking. He gets a vision of the future and a view of the Promised land, a smaller view of the tour of the universe given to Job, but he cannot cross over. Is it possible that his death opens the way for others to enter (Ex. 1:37, 3:26, 4:21)? Dennis Olson writes that Moses died ahead of the people. This could be a good device to look at one’s life and see how we react to unfinished work, emotional ties, and even dreams. Part of our envy and frank dislike of the great is that it pushes us to look at our own lives. Even if lack the courage to do so, we know that our lives will seem to fall short of their, and if truth be told the expectations we have of ourselves. Even if we achieve our goals, even some of our dreams, we may well find that it still doesn’t seem to be enough. such is the ravening maw of human covetousness.
Moses is in great shape (but see 31:2) This could be one of the few times where god does take a life. The text emphasizes the words about Moses at the end are almost the same as applied to the mighty acts of God. All right, but God is working through a human being, even one like Moses. We can be God;s agents even if we are not Moses or even Joshua.
The people mourn for the designated period, and then they move on to another stage in the destiny of this new generation.Joshua is the new leader, and acknowledged as such, even though he is not, not, Moses. It is a hard thing to follow a great leader. People may try to claim their mantle, such as the candidates scrambling to claim President Reagan's. The lasting legacy of great leaders is that they imprison current leaders with the memories and influence of their years, even if the situation on the ground has changed radically. In churches, we often find pastor Goode, the embodiment of the church’s success, and pastors encounter that ghost all of the time.
We do well to reflect on a life well lived and still a life with unfinished business. Even if we have achieved goals, we may well have unfulfilled dreams. As Springsteen said, “is a dream a lie that doesn't come true, or is it something worse?” Langston Hughes: “what happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun..or does it just sag like a heavy load?”
What are some things we should attend to? In facing our own demise, basic things such as Power of attorney and planning our own funeral needs. As we contemplate our own end, we can
reach out to heal some emotional wounds or attend to some spiritual matters. Maybe you have a
bucket list? (helicopter ride in St Louis will take care of one of my flying ones as I have been in a balloon and a glider.)It is important to me to keep working on two writing projects that are well underway.
I got into a bit of an argument with a friend of mine over a seminary bringing in the writer Marcus Borg. I think that his audience is a bit beneath a seminary audience, but she likes and respects his work. I think it annoyed me, in part, because, it makes me reflect on my own slow slog in trying to write some projects and my put down is bred of envy and personal frustration. Yet, even as we never finish our goals or meet our dreams, God accepts us, loves us.That is complete.
Moses is in great shape (but see 31:2) This could be one of the few times where god does take a life. The text emphasizes the words about Moses at the end are almost the same as applied to the mighty acts of God. All right, but God is working through a human being, even one like Moses. We can be God;s agents even if we are not Moses or even Joshua.
The people mourn for the designated period, and then they move on to another stage in the destiny of this new generation.Joshua is the new leader, and acknowledged as such, even though he is not, not, Moses. It is a hard thing to follow a great leader. People may try to claim their mantle, such as the candidates scrambling to claim President Reagan's. The lasting legacy of great leaders is that they imprison current leaders with the memories and influence of their years, even if the situation on the ground has changed radically. In churches, we often find pastor Goode, the embodiment of the church’s success, and pastors encounter that ghost all of the time.
We do well to reflect on a life well lived and still a life with unfinished business. Even if we have achieved goals, we may well have unfulfilled dreams. As Springsteen said, “is a dream a lie that doesn't come true, or is it something worse?” Langston Hughes: “what happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun..or does it just sag like a heavy load?”
What are some things we should attend to? In facing our own demise, basic things such as Power of attorney and planning our own funeral needs. As we contemplate our own end, we can
reach out to heal some emotional wounds or attend to some spiritual matters. Maybe you have a
bucket list? (helicopter ride in St Louis will take care of one of my flying ones as I have been in a balloon and a glider.)It is important to me to keep working on two writing projects that are well underway.
I got into a bit of an argument with a friend of mine over a seminary bringing in the writer Marcus Borg. I think that his audience is a bit beneath a seminary audience, but she likes and respects his work. I think it annoyed me, in part, because, it makes me reflect on my own slow slog in trying to write some projects and my put down is bred of envy and personal frustration. Yet, even as we never finish our goals or meet our dreams, God accepts us, loves us.That is complete.
Oct 23 Devotions
Sunday October 23-Resurrection appearances are a glimpse of heaven. it always strikes me as odd as people who claim great faith scurry to the next near death experience of supposed revelation of heaven, but they consistently ignore the resurrection appearances as biblical indicators of heaven. Personally, since the bible is so circumspect in describing heaven, I am leery of anything that purports exact, specific descriptions.
Monday-Presbyterian retreat leader Ira Kent Groff writes that we “wrap our truth in stories.” I think he means that it is hard for us to grasp or even speak an abstract truth. We need to put it into a story for us to grasp and more easily bring into speech. I have noticed that if I can get people to tell me stories of the deceased when I do a community funeral I get a much better sense of the person that when they throw out descriptive words.
Tuesday-should every annoyance be spoken? Part of me thinks that trivial things should just be shrugged off for the mosquitoes they are. On the other hand, if they are permitted to build and fester, how can that be a good thing? Scripture say to be angry but do not sin. We do know from social psychology that a focus on getting anger out routinely, instead of managing it, tends to feed the anger.
Wednesday-Being stubborn is not the same as being principled. Often we are merely being stubborn and we have the gall to lift it to the level of principle.What we often mean by principle is what we want, what we think is correct, without regard for the views of others. It is not the same as persistent activity toward a goal; it resembles more a passive resistance to a change that does not meet our standard or approval. It has a way of breaking relationships and their needed flexibility, so in that sense, it can well be sinful.
Thursday-I heard a young lady of the Occupy movement explain to a reporter that we were at the cusp of a new age, just as people used to say we were at the dawning of the age of Aquarius according to the song of the sixties. How different is that than Rev. Camping predicting that the end of the world was coming on Friday? (I write this section on Saturday, so wrong, again).We all want to try to predict the future. Scripture argues against it, for we act with a vision of the future; we act to build a future in hope, not certainty.
Friday-Years ago, I read a book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty-I’ve gone back to it in memory, as I see that one of its options, exit, has become more and more our first reaction to conflict. Instead of having the loyalty to stick with a group or relationship, instead of being content with having our say, if it is not our way, we decide to pack up and leave. To me exit is the last resort, after all avenues have been exhausted. It strikes me as the action of a child who takes their marbles/.
Saturday-Greek Orthodox Christians place a lot of stock in icons, images of a biblical scene or idea. They assert that they are aids to spiritual meditation, as we are visal beings to a large degree. In their view, they are gateways to the beauty of the Infinite One, the Creator of all, the redeemer and sustainer of all. do you have “holy things” items that help being you into deeper contact with god or are aids to your spiritual meditation?
Monday-Presbyterian retreat leader Ira Kent Groff writes that we “wrap our truth in stories.” I think he means that it is hard for us to grasp or even speak an abstract truth. We need to put it into a story for us to grasp and more easily bring into speech. I have noticed that if I can get people to tell me stories of the deceased when I do a community funeral I get a much better sense of the person that when they throw out descriptive words.
Tuesday-should every annoyance be spoken? Part of me thinks that trivial things should just be shrugged off for the mosquitoes they are. On the other hand, if they are permitted to build and fester, how can that be a good thing? Scripture say to be angry but do not sin. We do know from social psychology that a focus on getting anger out routinely, instead of managing it, tends to feed the anger.
Wednesday-Being stubborn is not the same as being principled. Often we are merely being stubborn and we have the gall to lift it to the level of principle.What we often mean by principle is what we want, what we think is correct, without regard for the views of others. It is not the same as persistent activity toward a goal; it resembles more a passive resistance to a change that does not meet our standard or approval. It has a way of breaking relationships and their needed flexibility, so in that sense, it can well be sinful.
Thursday-I heard a young lady of the Occupy movement explain to a reporter that we were at the cusp of a new age, just as people used to say we were at the dawning of the age of Aquarius according to the song of the sixties. How different is that than Rev. Camping predicting that the end of the world was coming on Friday? (I write this section on Saturday, so wrong, again).We all want to try to predict the future. Scripture argues against it, for we act with a vision of the future; we act to build a future in hope, not certainty.
Friday-Years ago, I read a book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty-I’ve gone back to it in memory, as I see that one of its options, exit, has become more and more our first reaction to conflict. Instead of having the loyalty to stick with a group or relationship, instead of being content with having our say, if it is not our way, we decide to pack up and leave. To me exit is the last resort, after all avenues have been exhausted. It strikes me as the action of a child who takes their marbles/.
Saturday-Greek Orthodox Christians place a lot of stock in icons, images of a biblical scene or idea. They assert that they are aids to spiritual meditation, as we are visal beings to a large degree. In their view, they are gateways to the beauty of the Infinite One, the Creator of all, the redeemer and sustainer of all. do you have “holy things” items that help being you into deeper contact with god or are aids to your spiritual meditation?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Notes on Rom. 8:12-39 for Wedn.
1) Paul calls us children of god through the spirit. How should we then view ourselves and others? What does it mean to you to be able to call, Dad /Abba) or more formally, Father? Do problems of patriarchy arise here?
2)At 53 the authors say that suffering is an arena for god to work. When does suffering seem like divine absence? When can it be ana rena for god’s presence?
3) What do you think of Achtemeier’s position on family that the family that suffers together is the strongest?
4) Paul says that suffering can be seen as the labor pains of the new creation coming to birth. What do you think of this image?
5) While we wait for the new creation, we groan inwardly What makes you groan inwardly? Do you find the renewal of nature a compelling part of apocalyptic vision?
6) Dylan famously spoke of “busy being born, not busy dying.” Paul emphasizes hope as the bridge of present and future. Describe the positive and negative aspects of hope.
7) How do you imagine that the spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words?
8)How do you interpret 8:28? Immediatley the cross intrudes. How do you interpret a cruciform life in a land that emphasizes positive thinking?
9) at 56 they use Achtemeir’s points that conclude that destiny is no longer in our own hands. How is that comforting and challenging to your conceptions?
10) Paul is right to say that troubles and tribulations cause us to doubt love’s power in god. How does he respond? How do you respond to his great assertionin 8:39?
2)At 53 the authors say that suffering is an arena for god to work. When does suffering seem like divine absence? When can it be ana rena for god’s presence?
3) What do you think of Achtemeier’s position on family that the family that suffers together is the strongest?
4) Paul says that suffering can be seen as the labor pains of the new creation coming to birth. What do you think of this image?
5) While we wait for the new creation, we groan inwardly What makes you groan inwardly? Do you find the renewal of nature a compelling part of apocalyptic vision?
6) Dylan famously spoke of “busy being born, not busy dying.” Paul emphasizes hope as the bridge of present and future. Describe the positive and negative aspects of hope.
7) How do you imagine that the spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words?
8)How do you interpret 8:28? Immediatley the cross intrudes. How do you interpret a cruciform life in a land that emphasizes positive thinking?
9) at 56 they use Achtemeir’s points that conclude that destiny is no longer in our own hands. How is that comforting and challenging to your conceptions?
10) Paul is right to say that troubles and tribulations cause us to doubt love’s power in god. How does he respond? How do you respond to his great assertionin 8:39?
Friday, October 14, 2011
Musings on Nick Lowe recording
When I was a young man, one of my best friends was a journalist who supplemented his newswriting with being a music critic. He liked the singer Nick Lowe. As the singer has aged, he feels that it is not appropriate for a middle-aged man with gray hair to sing old rock songs, so he has continue to write and perform more acoustic behavior. I was struck by some of his interviews and performances on radio, so, for my birthday, I got his new recording, That Old Magic. I hasten to add here; I get more religious insight and sensibility from secular recordings than I do from much contemporary religious music, in terms of both content and musicianship.
I like the first cut, Stoplight Roses, the best. He takes the image of seeing someone buying a bunch of roses from a vendor at the street corner, and it blossoms into a song about relationships. Lowe is at the stage in life where he knows that relationships require tending, attention, and care. As an Englishman who loves gardening, he knows that stoplight roses are forced roses that lack the fragrance of a garden rose. For him, roses are a present that should be selected carefully for special occasions or as a desperate plea for forgiveness. Buying them as an afterthought seems to him to be a symbol for making one’s life in relationship an afterthought as well. Love is so precious, so in need of tender nurturing that it cannot be even touched by roses for “love’s promise in cellophane lace.”
Failure to tend love, results in the reason for “house for sale.” No, it is not a sign of our economic doldrums, but a sign that the singer is moving on”because this is a place where love used to reside.” Since it is not more, no mere possessions can hold it occupant any longer. It physical decline matches the decline of the “happy home.” After all, is it even possible to advertise a “home for sale?” Still, he wonders if “peace, love and understanding could make it as good as new?”
Relationships are a two-way street of course. So in Sensitive Man, he realizes that he can read his love’s unspoken looks like a book, but at the same time, he often is lost and needs some more direct clues into her thoughts and feelings, so he won’t be left out in the cold. The great risk is in I Read a Lot, lonely and blue don’t even begin to describe his feelings of being bereft. The person finds time a burden without love, so he retreats into the world of fantasy in reading, “population, one.”
He makes the explicit baptismal point that we need to cast of our old self with its faults in order to discover the new self discovered in love that are new every morning. “That little boy lost look doesn’t seem to work so well anymore.” It is self-deception to think that we can help a relationship flourish if we rely on the shame face we dust off on the back of the bathroom door.”
As he faces aging, he considers his hope of “crossing the Jordan’ at death, “checkout time.” Like so many people he misses that heaven is a gift from a gracious God, not the toting up of a moral bookkeeper who sees if the total of good outweighs the wrongs. As he writes, will I be forever damned for a long-forgotten crime?” Yet, he holds out hope that he shall sing Rock of Ages with the angels.
Still., love renews. Love always, always, holds out hope. He closes the record with “Til the Real Thing Comes Along. Far too often, we withhold parts of ourselves waiting for a perfect love that will not be found in this side of the Jordan. Indeed, as Augustine said, our souls are restless until they find rest in God,” the real love that enables us to love fully and well, on both sides of life’s aisle.
I like the first cut, Stoplight Roses, the best. He takes the image of seeing someone buying a bunch of roses from a vendor at the street corner, and it blossoms into a song about relationships. Lowe is at the stage in life where he knows that relationships require tending, attention, and care. As an Englishman who loves gardening, he knows that stoplight roses are forced roses that lack the fragrance of a garden rose. For him, roses are a present that should be selected carefully for special occasions or as a desperate plea for forgiveness. Buying them as an afterthought seems to him to be a symbol for making one’s life in relationship an afterthought as well. Love is so precious, so in need of tender nurturing that it cannot be even touched by roses for “love’s promise in cellophane lace.”
Failure to tend love, results in the reason for “house for sale.” No, it is not a sign of our economic doldrums, but a sign that the singer is moving on”because this is a place where love used to reside.” Since it is not more, no mere possessions can hold it occupant any longer. It physical decline matches the decline of the “happy home.” After all, is it even possible to advertise a “home for sale?” Still, he wonders if “peace, love and understanding could make it as good as new?”
Relationships are a two-way street of course. So in Sensitive Man, he realizes that he can read his love’s unspoken looks like a book, but at the same time, he often is lost and needs some more direct clues into her thoughts and feelings, so he won’t be left out in the cold. The great risk is in I Read a Lot, lonely and blue don’t even begin to describe his feelings of being bereft. The person finds time a burden without love, so he retreats into the world of fantasy in reading, “population, one.”
He makes the explicit baptismal point that we need to cast of our old self with its faults in order to discover the new self discovered in love that are new every morning. “That little boy lost look doesn’t seem to work so well anymore.” It is self-deception to think that we can help a relationship flourish if we rely on the shame face we dust off on the back of the bathroom door.”
As he faces aging, he considers his hope of “crossing the Jordan’ at death, “checkout time.” Like so many people he misses that heaven is a gift from a gracious God, not the toting up of a moral bookkeeper who sees if the total of good outweighs the wrongs. As he writes, will I be forever damned for a long-forgotten crime?” Yet, he holds out hope that he shall sing Rock of Ages with the angels.
Still., love renews. Love always, always, holds out hope. He closes the record with “Til the Real Thing Comes Along. Far too often, we withhold parts of ourselves waiting for a perfect love that will not be found in this side of the Jordan. Indeed, as Augustine said, our souls are restless until they find rest in God,” the real love that enables us to love fully and well, on both sides of life’s aisle.
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