Today’s Scripture Reading (February
4, 2011): Psalm 4 & 5
As a kid, I actually liked to listen
to Elton John. I think the first record that I ever owned was “Captain
Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.” And my parents took one look at the front
cover of the record and immediately wondered if that record should be in our
house. But one of the things with Sir Elton’s music was the lyrics (which he
did not write.) In my opinion the Best of Elton’s music library are the songs
where Elton teamed up with Bernie Taupin and Bernie provided the lyrics. But
sometimes Bernie’s lyrics were hard to understand. I can imagine Bernie sending
lyrics to Elton and Elton reading the lyrics and immediately getting on the
phone and saying something like “Hey, Bernie. Loved the lyrics you sent me, but
what do they mean?” But the truth was that Bernie seemed to have the ability to
boil down the essentials of life in his lyrics. From hearing Elton sing the
songs, the listener experienced life once again. A couple of years after Elton
released “Captain Fantastic” he released the single “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down
on Me.” The chorus of the song contains these lines:
Don’t
let the sun go down on me
Although
I search myself, it’s always someone else I see.
And as I
first listened to the song, that line was a problem. I mean is that not the problem
that too many of us have – we never really get to know ourselves because we
never really see ourselves. We make up a reality and then blame everyone else
for our problems, but we never really confront who it is that we are – deep
down inside in the reality of the core of our being.
It is late
in David’s life, and David is trying to give to the people around him some of
the wisdom that he had gained in life and part of that wisdom was that when you
go to bed, in that moment when there is silence all around you, examine
yourself – really try to see who it is that you are. Do not bother rehearsing
all the ways that others have wronged you – make the effort to really see who
it is that you are. Because, at least in David’s view, there was no way to
improve who we are and where we are in life if we are unable or unwilling to
look at ourselves. If we want to choose a different path for our lives, the first
step is gaining an understanding of ourselves.
The hardest
thing for some of us is to simply look at ourselves. We are so messed up that
we are afraid that if we really see ourselves we will never get out of bed
again. But really seeing yourself and not who you wish that you were is the
first step to changing your world. Change happens when we are able to change
that line in Elton’s song to “And when I search myself, it is always me that I
see.” David knew that if we were willing to that, it was then and only then
that our world would change – but until we were willing to do that, our lives
would consist of more of the same thing that we are already experiencing. The
only way that we can get better, is to really see ourselves in the silence of
the nights of our lives.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 6
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