My wife and I were listening to some music over the weekend, and one of the songs we listened to was "Time Stand Still" by Rush.I was instantly transported to 1987, when I was 16 and in high school.
I started crying -- and couldn't stop.
When I first heard the song in 1987, I had a feeling of invincibility, that I had the whole world and my whole future ahead of me.
When I listened to "Time Stand Still" today, I felt lost, like I haven't achieved in life what I wanted to achieve. I thought of my hair thinning, how my metabolism is slowing, and how my son is growing up faster than I would like.
Then I calmed down and reminded myself that I will just go wherever God wants me to go and do whatever God wants me to do with my life. That's what I'm meant to do and where I'm meant to be.
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Brant-
ReplyDeleteWhat you're feeling is perfectly normal, an reflets how God wired us. We were made for a world where things don't change. I've felt the same thing that you have (from the same song, no less); I look at my son, and feel an intense longing for him to stop growing up, just for a little while. I love my relationship with him, and I know that someday he's going to pull away from me.
I take comfort in the fact that he, myself, my wife and all my friends will someday be in a place where we will have perfect relationships that will never end. And, according to Matthew 6:19-21, we will also be in a place where there is no entropy. Nothing will mold, wear out, rust, get leaky...sign me up.
The sad part is that the lyricist for Rush, Neil Peart, is actively rejecting God. For him, and anyone who rejects God, this world is as good as it will get. This temporary world with its imperfect relationships, parts that wear out, sickness and calamity are the closest they will ever get to paradise. After death, it gets worse than anyone can ever imagine.
So, "Time Stands Still" is good advice for anyone who doesn't plan on going to Heaven; enjoy it now, because this is all you get.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I hadn't heard about Neil Peart's rejection of God.
It helps to put the song in perspective.
Brant