What Micheal Jackson Taught Me

I am not a huge fan of the music of Michael Jackson. Shocking I know!! I must be the only person on the planet, right?! Its not that I dislike it, some of his songs are awesome and without a doubt among the best ever written but I just don’t connect with it. Take Billie Jean for instance, good song but I have never really understood it. Just doesn’t seem to be a song sung from real experience, until later on in his life that is. But I like the melody and the uniqueness of it. I have never really listened to the words though. It’s funny how when you become used to a song in the way it sounds that its meaning is sometimes lost.

I recently start heard a cover version of Billie Jean. Usually I hate covers on principle (yes I am sad and have issues.) A folk band called, The Civil Wars, did this particular version. Its amazing!! When you first hear it you think, “I know this song,” but its only a way into that you realize that it’s Billie Jean. Hearing the song in a different way made me actually listen and take in the words. I heard the story the song tells and was struck by one line that I have never heard before and to be honest it’s the focal point of the song.

“And Be Careful Of What You Do 'Cause The Lie Becomes The Truth.”

Seeing things for another perspective is uncomfortable. Its because when we have to it generally means that we are about to be challenged to change.
The lie becomes the truth. That’s actually a quote Michael Jackson cleverly took from Vladimir Lenin, a Russian Communist revolutionary and the father of the Soviet Union. A man who lived the lie he made others believe and it did become in fact become the truth and still impacts the world.
The principle is true. The lie does become the truth. The more we lie to ourselves about the wrongs that we justify as being okay, the more they take control over our lives and become the reality (truth about us) that we live in.

There is another perspective that we need to see though. Jesus said this, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth that God has much more love for us than we can ever imagine and his perspective is the real truth that we should be living in because it is what brings freedom. That’s uncomfortable for me. It means changing and being willing to change.

The lie becomes the truth. The same can be said of the truth. Truth often repeated becomes the truth. Its about training ourselves to allow the truth is set us free.

Hello Hurricane

The Lord of the Rings is my favourite books in the world. Yes I am one of those! I have read them and reread them. I am always astounded by how one person could write something so vast and deep. There are 2 things though that I love most about the books.

First, it is not about hobbits, elves and dwarves. Yes these are species for the characters of the story but the story is actually about relationships, honour and bravery. These are all things that as humans we can relate to.

Second, reading the books is hard work! It isn’t something that should be undertaken lightly. It took me almost 2 years to read it the first time (I read like a snail). It was hard work and sometimes I thought that I would never get through it. Having finally finished it, it felt like a real achievement (this might not be the case for you speedy readers). But here’s the thing about that, in some ways the hard work of wading through all the pages about Tom Bombadil helped me really identify with the characters and felt like I was part of this mammoth quest.

I think one of the central lessons from the book is the idea that going on a quest or adventure is a big deal. Once you commit, it will change you forever. Perhaps that’s why Tolkien made the Fellowship of the Ring feel like it was building up to the actual story before really getting into it. There is this real sense of anticipation and building towards something bigger and better. Most people I know who have tried and failed to read the book, fail because the Fellowship of the Ring is too long, too in depth and possibly a little boring at times. But that’s the reality of starting a journey. You have to prepare. You have to get ready. You have to make sure that this is for you and worth you doing. You have calculate the distance, make sure you have enough supplies, fuel and that those traveling with you are ready. Some of the tasks are tedious but necessary if you want to complete the journey.

Jesus put it like this, “Count the cost.” Know what the journey or decision that you are about to make is worth it. Make sure that you have the commitment, resources and passion to finish what you started. It’s always good to do that before the journey and not during. You see every journey has its hard bits. It’s “are we there yet?” bits. And its in those times that we need to know that we have prepared properly for the journey.

Possibly my favourite song says it like this:

I've been watching the skies
They've been turning blood red
Not a doubt in my mind anymore
There's a storm up ahead

Hello hurricane, you're not enough
Hello hurricane, you can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows boarded up
All your dead end fury is not enough
You can't silence my love, my love

Every thing I have I count as loss
Everything I have is stripped away
Before I started building I counted up these costs
There's nothing left for you to take away

Lyrics by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot