Have you ever heard of the Japanese production management term “Just In Time”. It seems appropriately fitting, ironic even, on this Sunday afternoon. The Bing family just spent most of last week with Miyu, our new Japanese exchange student friend/”adopted daughter”, and saw her leave to return home on Friday. That evening, we gathered around the Tele to watch “In Time“, the suspense/action/treatise on society movie starring Justin BSB Timberlake. In the storyline, ordinary people only have finite amounts of time to live, and must make choices each day as if there was no more time to be had. People “with all of the time in the world”, in contrast, seemed to walk around in a trance, afraid to live for fear of dying and “wasting all of that time”.
As discussed earlier, yours truly turned 46 last week. One of the small gifts from family was an iTunes gift card, and thanks to memories of a weekend concert spent with two buddies last summer, I was inspired to purchase Styx Greatest Hits. Due to a little home improvement project Saturday, I spent several hours listening to the album while gripping a paint roller. In so doing, I was reminded of the ballad written by them over two decades ago that had a surprisingly spiritual message to share:
Every night I say a prayer in the hope that there’s a heaven
And every day I’m more confused as the saints turn into sinners
All the heroes and legends I knew as a child have fallen to idols of clay
And I feel this empty place inside so afraid that I’ve lost my faith
Show me the way, show me the way
Take me tonight to the river
And wash my illusions away
Show me the way
And as I slowly drift to sleep, for a moment dreams are sacred
I close my eyes and know there’s peace in a world so filled with hatred
That I wake up each morning and turn on the news to find we’ve so far to go
And I keep on hoping for a sign, so afraid that I just won’t know
Show me the way, Show me the way
Take me tonight to the mountain
And wash my confusion away
And if I feel light, should I believe
Tell me how will I know
Show me the way, show me the way
Take me tonight to the river
And wash my illusions away
Show me the way, show me the way
Give me the strength and the courage
To believe that I’ll get there someday
Show me the way
Every night I say a prayer
In the hope that there’s a heaven…
Reportedly (according to Wikipedia) “Lead vocalist/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, a devout Roman Catholic, originally wrote the song for his son, Matthew, as a pseudo-hymn about the struggle to keep the faith in a “world so filled with hatred”.”
So, why is it that we seem to wander around, questioning “why” and living as if we are afraid “to enjoy life“?
Then, this morning’s lesson at church came around. The first of a series of messages over the next few weeks, ” How To Enjoy Your Life” resonated with me today in a good way. Speaker Jeff McMillon did a great job of reminding us of two key things:
1) We need to choose to live each hour in the Spirit, and
2) We should live each day confident that God made a masterpiece when he made us, and each has a place and a role to fill.
Amen.
Show me the way, show me the way
Take me tonight to the river
And wash my illusions away
Show me the way, show me the way
Give me the strength and the courage
To believe that I’ll get there someday
Show me the way.
Just In Time, indeed.
