Besides Duran Duran, one of my favorite artists back in those days was Howard Jones. He had the big 80's pop hairstyle, a huge synthesizer and the song "No One is to Blame" to put him on the map. When I was in junior high and high school, I used to spend hours listening to his 1985 "Dream Into Action" album on my Sony Walkman. Here are a few lyrics to his song Pearl in the Shell:
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| What? You wish your hair could do this. |
And the tear flows, for nothing
Actually, here is how the lyrics really go:
And the fear goes on, shadows
And the tear flows, for nothing
Back in 1985, I was so frustrated by the last part of that first line ("shout at dawn" was my best guess at what the lyric was) that I sent in a request to the Howard Jones fan club for the lyrics. A few weeks later this large sheet of lyrics returned and I scanned down until I found the song and that line.
"Shout at dawn" is actually "Shadows"?
Really?!
He's saying "Shadows"?! I couldn't believe I had heard "Shout at dawn." Maybe I had been listening to too much Billy Idol? Anyway, I was glad to have the correct lyrics because I just HAD to know what Howard Jones was saying. I loved him. His music was the soundtrack of my life when I was a teenager. His lyrics were upbeat, optimistic, inspirational---he loved animals, the planet and people of all colors and walks of life and encouraged peace and vegetarianism. (I was all for the love and peace part, but couldn't quite give up the Big Macs.) I bought every one of his albums, wore down my cassettes until they broke and was jealous of my friend Amy who went to all of his concerts and came back from every one with a black T-shirt with Howard's face on it. Even though I never made it to a HoJo concert in the 80's, I knew every one of his songs by heart, even if I made up my own lyrics occasionally. In junior high, I remember singing "Things Can Only Get Better" another Howard Jones top 40 hit, while I helped my mom with the dishes in the kitchen:
"Treating today as though it was the last and final show, get to sixty and feel no regrets..." I sang out.
My mom interrupted me: "And how do you get to sixty and have no regrets?" She rinsed a plate under hot water and handed it to me. I knew the answer she wanted so I gave it to her:
"You retire five years early with a 401K that rivals Warren Buffet's bank account."
Just kidding! I did NOT say that. Dishes would have dropped to the floor. Instead, I said: "You live for God."
She smiled and I returned to drying the plate in front of me, but decided to HUM top 40 from then on.
The other day I read a selection from Soren Kierkegaard entitled "Alone with God's Word" from the book Provocations.
To simplify, he describes the Bible as a love letter from God to humanity. He asks, "My listener, how highly do you value Gods Word? Imagine a lover who has received a letter from his beloved. I assume that God's Word is just as precious to you as this letter is to a lover..." He goes on to describe how someone reads a letter from a lover - urgently, enthusiastically--with a great need to understand every word and nuance and that while they are reading it, they would really rather be alone, uninterrupted in order to ponder and revel in the words the letter contains. He goes on to ask, what if the lover asks for something in the letter? Do we not run out and do it right away? Imagine a letter from the love of your life, asking you to PLEASE do something. Would you not make sure it gets taken care of? You can see why he uses this metaphor. The Bible is a love letter from God to us and it also contains specific instructions on how we are to live.
And yet, if you're like me, you don't read it like that. You read it more like a newspaper. You scan the headlines (i.e. the sections of the Gospel that are easy to understand and get right to the point) and avoid the financial sections that are really complicated and often depressing (the Old Testament.) The Sports Pages are fun (i.e. Proverbs) since there is a lot of action verbs and catchy phrases. Psalms is like a special weekend insert in the paper--there when you need it, full of good reminders about what's out there if you're restless, lonely or sad.
So both Kierkegaard and Howard Jones ganged up on me this week. They convicted me. Here was the conviction:
So how is it that I will write in to the Howard Jones fan club just to be sure I am getting ONE LINE of his song right, and yet skim over God's Word? How is it that GOD writes me a love letter and I read it like I would a newspaper?
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The Bible is a love letter from God. I forget that sometimes. Sure it is long, but it is worth reading. Maybe if I approach it thinking that this is the most important letter I will ever receive, one that the Author, Lover of my Soul, wants me to read, understand, treasure and respond to, maybe then I really WILL get to sixty and have no regrets.
-Hope A. Horner, 2013
www.hopehorner.com
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Bottom line is when I read the Bible like a newspaper or just skim through it, I miss out. A very great phrase. Thanks for posting.
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