The Timeless songs of James Taylor

Growing up I spent endless hours listening to the sultry broken-hearted songs of James Taylor. I almost knew them all. The neat thing was that he sang about life on Cape Cod and in the Carolinas. We seemed to travel familiar paths. I always wondered how he felt about God. He seemed so contemplative that it must have been a subject of at least one of his songs. Today I found that song - Up From Your Life. It broke my heart.

So much for your moment of prayer, God's not at home there is no there, there.
Lost in the stars, that's what you are, left here on your own.

You can only hope to live on this earth, this here is it, for all it's worth.
Nothing else awaits you, no second birth, no starry crown.

For an unbeliever like you, there's not much they can do that would turn you away.
Though I hate to see you surrender, you need to surrender, we must find you a way to
Look up from your life, up from your life, look on up from your life, look up from your life.

All these years I have gotten lost between the 6 strings of his melody and totally missed his philosophy. This song was sung with all the 'country road' easy but defined a more perilous path. It is one thing to have doubts about existence - but to turn it into a song and then to have that song addressed to the unsuspecting 'easy listener' confounds me. It regrettably reminded me that all things move us in one of two directions - toward God or away from God... even on a country road.

An Imperfect Perception of Perfection

Today is the morning after watching my New England Patriots lose to the NY Giants. They not only lost the Super Bowl but they failed in their quest for perfection. It seems to me that nature itself abhors perfection. Whether found in humanity or the nature of the universe, perfection may be mutated towards but remains ever elusive. The amazing thing is that perfection is not something found in creation but seems to be the aspiration of all creation to achieve. Maybe there is something of perfection that is imprinted within us as a remnant of the image of God. We feel the compulsion to be perfect. Yet, the more we strive for it the more we are left feeling like Tom Brady and the Patriots the morning after. There is something calming to know that we are perfectly loved in this imperfect state of existing. Our hearts will never know grace and mercy greater then when we are loved so completely by God while living in the shadows of our own weaknesses. I'm weary from just watching the football equivalent of perfection. Our hearts can use a rest too. The only perfect place is the love of God.