Staying Together

Lets Stay Together

by Al Green

performed by Seal

LISTEN HERE

I, I'm so in love with you

Whatever you want to do is all right with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Let me say that since, baby, since we've been together
Loving you forever is what I need
Oh let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Oh let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad, alright, oh yeah
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Oh tell me why, why, why, why, why, why
Why people break up, turn around and make up
I can't see, you never, never, never do that to me
You better not do, staying around you is all I
All these eyes will ever see

Why won't you say that me, everybody says
That let's, let's stay together
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Everybody says, "Let's, let's stay together
I'll keep on lovin' you whether, whether
Times are, oh times are good or times are bad
Whether, whether good or bad, happy or sad
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

In today's disposable, scientific world there is a decided trend towards absolute consumerism. We want products and services that will please us, that will perform to our expectations. When they don't, we often leave them aside and search out something else, as if at a smorgasbord.
It is pervasive and growing, even if perhaps without conscious awareness. A consumer, after all, is someone who consumes, eats it all up, and then goes out for more.
When it comes to people, we sometimes treat them like things too.  More people, more relationships, ever hungry for more and more, if for only a momentary pleasure or thrill before the sameness, the stress and loneliness sets us to searching once more.

Many want to "dump" what is challenging, what is uncontrollable, and find what suits. Our modern language and electronic media trends reflect this.
And yet deep down, in the stillness of the heart, in the soul, what satisfies is a sense of "can do" as in 'I can do this. We can succeed."   We want to know where to place our confidence, where our heart may rest. We may want to know that what lies in you, lies in us too.

"The one who perseveres to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:3-13

A Car Accident

 "The long, winding road home. It leads me to your door... 
crying for the day... Hey Jude!" Paul McCartney

The other day I came to an intersection in my town and observed while waiting at a very long light, a car accident. There were no fatalities, no apparent injuries. The cars were in the process of being towed; the occupants stood at the side of the road, alternately being interviewed by the police and looked wide-eyed and dazed. A police officer was orchestrating the traffic around the mishap at rush hour.

Often we have a certain reality of how the world is and how it must work, how it should work. Then something jolts us, violently even, to our fuller senses, like a car crash. Even a "fender bender" is stressful. An accident such as a high speed collision, a roll over or a side impact or a tire blowout are all potentially fatal occurrences. The stress level can become very high, as a survival instinct, like fight or flight. I noticed the young men involved. Clean cut, they appeared to be university students; one was wearing clothing suitable for a Judo or Aikido class. His companion clutched some folders and notebooks to his chest and stared about vacantly. The other driver was equally vacant, seated on the grass also staring into space. The apparent passenger(s) spoke to the police.

It was striking how they appeared so befuddled, so vacant, these competent, intelligent, university men. Their world as they knew was suddenly altered; their stress and ability to cope was challenged. In the blink of an eye, their everyday existence, their ideas and values were laid out on the pavement. Their (former) car was destroyed. Taking it all in so suddenly was extremely stressful. Who could think otherwise? In an instant they were forced to speak about their vehicle in the past tense, their intended activities were possibly quite lame. It was suddenly a greater, wider reality: survival.

Reminded once again about how small and fragile each one of us are in this vast world, under great, blue skies, I thought about no matter how we get there, to the place of ungroundedness, there is always some help to secure our foundations, to establish our mooring; we have one another and each other. It is love that makes the day liveable and love that brings us close once more.
For those men involved in the accident under great, sudden stress, no doubt their loved ones were most on their minds, and they, those loved, were soon to express their own horror at the possibility of the loss of each other.
The tow truck finished its work; the policeman re-opened all lanes now that the debris was removed. The traffic moved on. It was all in a day.

Come to the Water

Come to the Water

lyrics by Unknown

Oh let all who thirst, let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing, let them come to the Lord.

Without money, without price

Why should you pay the price, except for the Lord.

And let all who seek, let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing, let them come to the Lord.

Without money, without strife

Why should you spend your life, except for the Lord.

And let all who toil, let them come to the water.

And let all who are weary, let them come to the Lord.

All who labor, without rest

How can your soul find rest, except for the Lord.

And let all the poor, let them come to the water.

Bring the ones who are laden, bring them all to the Lord.

Bring the children, without might

Easy the load and light, come to the Lord.

Sometimes, sometimes often, in a life we have the feeling of being tired. Just plain tired. Our daily existence is plain and unvarying; our creative self left without outlets. Perhaps we're a bit down; our soul needs a rest. In a simple life, we might have just sat down or taken off for our heart's desire, but today's modern life has its own requirements and its own demands. We might, as did the Emperor in the story, The Emperor's New Clothes be oh, so tempted to be turned by flattery, by those who seek advantage at our expense. Yet we may choose another way, to be simply present, without money, without price. Easy the load and light; distribute your burdens to those who care and to those who give light.

Why should you spend your life, except for the Lord. There are all kinds of lords seeking our attention. Today we may leave our devotions at shopping malls, department stores and the like; only to emerge with trinkets in return. We are just tired of those things. They don't seem to last; we gain no certain peace. Earning the sums of money takes an ever consuming amount of our time and stresses us. Carefully considering what we need and what matters is a valuable way to actually enrich our lives, reduce stress and gain control of the "devotional beasts" who would seek to make their claims upon us.