as I have been thinking of 1 Corinthians 13 and Paul's admonition to grow up, stopping thinking and acting like a child and start thinking and acting like an adult, in response to leaving something behind that has probably stunted my growth in many ways (I may talk about it in a public venue at some time), I keep thinking of a song by Toad the Wet Sprocket, a song that I have shared on my blog before.
It is a song that has been a prayer of mine since I first heard it over a decade ago. Throw it All Away can be a little preachy and obvious, but sometimes the best sermons and Bible passages are not particularly subtle, especially if we don't have the ears to hear the nuances.
The line that has always stuck out to me, is this: "with the time I waste on the life I never had, I could have turned myself into a better man."
take your cautionary tales
take your incremental gain
and all the sycophantic games
and throw 'em all away
burn your tv in your yard
and gather 'round it with your friends
and warm your hands upon the fire
and start again
take the story you've been told
the lies that justify the pain
the guilt the weighs upon your soul
and throw 'em all away
tear up the calendar you've bought
and throw the pieces to the sky
confetti falling down like rain
like a parade to usher in your life
take the dreams that should have died
the ones that kept you lying awake
when you should've been all right
and throw 'em all away
with the time i waste on the life i never had
i could've turned myself into a better man
'cause there ain't nothing you can buy
and there is nothing you can save
to fill the whole inside your heart
so throw it all away
won't fill the whole inside your heart
help me empty out this house
the wool i've gathered all these days
and thought i couldn't do without
and throw it all away
1 comment:
I love this song too. Though I assume that the spirituality of the words is influenced as much by buddhism as by christianity from some interviews I've heard with Glen Phillips, the fact remains that simplicity isn't just to be craved it is something we must actively pursue. This is a place where there is some crossover with both of these spiritual paths. I gather thoughts and ideas, possessions and successes, failure and sin, the good with the bad. It's up to me to throw out the collections or odd parts that would influence my decisions in unhealthy ways.
I've tried to get a few churches to use this song to set up a sermon. Some thought it was too harsh. One which my surprise you was going to let me sing it but requested I change "sycophantic games" because they didn't understand it. Not sure if they thought it was dirty. Anyway they decided in the end not to have an opening song for time reasons.
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