Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on--from "Jesus Take the Wheel" Carrie Underwood
Jesus, take the wheel! Boy, if only I could bring myself to say it and mean it.
This is one of those songs that probably means a good deal more to those of us with a history of "Jesus speak," a form of communication common among evangelicals and fundamentalists, but nearly unknown outside of Catholic Charismatic circuits. Understand, it is simply a cultural things, like grits at breakfast, or rice, sugar, and butter, or turnip greens with fatback. Not better, not worse, simply a different way of saying the same thing. Utterly alien to most Catholics and "mainline" Protestants. But it feels like home to me.
Dear Steven, I've been listening to this album...er... CD all week! My daughter asked me to get it for this song.
But I'll tell you the one that speaks to me. "Starts With Goodbye" has a chorus that should be the theme song for Lent (or any othing giving-up of things you like but that are not doing you much good).
"I guess it's gonna have to hurt,
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,
And let go of some things I've loved,
To get to the other side,
I guess it's gonna bring me down,
Like falling when you try to fly,
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,
Starts with goodbye."
One of the things I struggle with is trying to make things easier, more comfortable - our society's obsession with instant gratification. This song is a reminder that sometimes the only way to the other side of the suffering is to go THROUGH the the suffering - to experience it in order to get past it, instead of spending so much energy struggling to avoid it. Just endure.
That, and I like the tune.
:)