My Crazy Times

Preface: I began writing this piece before the tragic events at Virginia Tech. My heart aches for the families and friends who lost loved ones. Why that person chose to massacre all those innocent people is a question I don’t think anyone will be able to answer. Nevertheless, there are many who will offer up their opinion and in giving their opinion seek to blame someone or something for this senseless evil. In just 48 hours some of those being blamed were Charlton Heston, video games and homosexuals and in time that list will grow to contain conservatives, liberals, gun companies and on and on it grows. Wanting an answer is natural, I just don’t think the truth can be contained in a sound-bite.

H.L. Mencken said, “For every complex problem there is an easy answer, and it is wrong.” What is easy, though, is the answer of how we respond to God and others in the midst of this complex existence. Micah 6:8 (The Message) states:

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what GOD is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously -
take God seriously.

*****************************

Why do junkies continue to stick needles in their arms?

Why does the prostitute sell her body, and why does the husband and father solicit it?

Why do many Christians condone the killing of men, women and children through war and yet base their voting decision on whether a candidate is pro-life?

Why can we not consider more than one way to solving a problem?

Why does the husband beat his wife and the father beat his children?

How can the last become first, and the meek inherit the earth?

Why do we do those things we know we shouldn’t and often times don’t even want to do?

Why can’t we be faithful, honest, peaceful, loving and merciful to all persons regardless of age, sex, race or religion?

There are no easy answers. Sure it would be convenient to be able to give a ten-word response to all these questions, but we wouldn’t be seeking after truth. Truth can be difficult to see, hell, Pontius Pilate couldn’t even see it and it was standing right in front of him, but it can be found. We must be passionate and diligent in our search, but truth is available to us all.

Music often reveals truth to me, stimulating my mind and pricking my heart. The music of Jars of Clay has played a significant role in my own personal journey over the last twelve years, many times putting words to an emotion or thought I couldn’t begin to describe. I’ve only been to one full Jars concert before and it was just an amazing experience, so when I heard that they’d be playing the House of Blues in Cleveland I made it a priority to go. In addition to scoring two press passes to the show I was fortunate enough to schedule an interview with the band.

Needless to say, I was stoked! In the days before the interview my brain was running ninety to nothing with questions and subjects that would be interesting and not the typical artist interview question. Eventually, I had a handful of questions that could carry the interview into a few different directions and would do my best to go with the flow. As I drove into downtown Cleveland on the day of the interview I felt a wave of panic hit me. You see, I hate going into a situation or having to do something I’ve never done before…like having to park in a big city. After a few curses and $10 for valet parking I found myself inside the House of Blues being led back to a dressing room where we would conduct the interview.

The dressing room wasn’t very large and it had a comfy, artsy feel to it, what with the wall size portrait of a naked Janis Joplin. I was in the room for just a couple minutes when in walked Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell. The guys traded off questions and their responses were thoughtful and measured.

In an earlier interview with the Argus Leader, it was made public that Jars has worked on a war protest song (Hero43), which remains unreleased. As you can imagine this created some buzz…”A Christian band doesn’t support this Republican President who also proclaims to be a Christian? How can this be?” So in my attempt to break the ice I borrowed my first question from Stephen Colbert, “George W. Bush, great President or…the greatest President? This got the laughs I was hoping for and to my surprise launched off an interesting dialogue.

Lowell described the song Hero43 as, “exploring a little bit of the danger of holding one man or woman up, higher then they ought to be held”. Adding to his friend’s response Mason purposed that, “I think, especially as Christians, we want marching orders. We want to be told what to think, and what to feel, and what to do, just so that we can get it right. Do I really believe the Gospel is present when we’re in the gray and there’s no black and white and what to do with that and is God really big enough?”

Knowing that perhaps having clear cut, simple answers might make everyday living easier Mason is not blind to how things really are when he said, “The longer we live and are active in a lot of these processes like politics, art and social justice issues we realize that there are no easy answers, there are no absolutes. And what God wants from me, what I’m getting a clear picture of, is that He wants a soft heart, He doesn’t want a right answer all the time.”

My fifteen minutes passed quickly but we managed to also discuss the changes that might come to Jars, now that they’ve completed their contract with Essential Records and how at times it may be difficult to play songs about hope and redemption and how they pull through. All of these and more to come in the full interview transcript.

The following concert later that evening was just 3 1/2 hours of great music. From the opening acts of Disappointed by Candy and NeedToBreathe to the final encore song by Jars of Clay; however, when I close my eyes the only song I can remember is when they performed Oh My God, from the Good Monsters album. There is nothing I can write to describe the sheer moving force of these lyrics and the passion in which Dan Haseltine sings them.

In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, in light of the war for the past four years, in light of the daily pain and hate we are prone to inflict on our neighbors all that is left to say, whether it’s a whispered prayer, a screaming rage or a tearful plea is…Oh my God

Oh my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain
All fools say, “Oh my God”

Oh my God, Why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don’t bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase, and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools; sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found; ailing wanderers
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we’re better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense

Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God

Words and music by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark
© 2006 Bridge Building Music, Inc.
Pogostick Music / BMI / All rights administered by
Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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