Atheists & Country Music haters, please keep reading. (And everyone else too.)
Country Music. I hated it when I was a cool, know-everything, teen. Even now I wouldn't call myself a fan. But every now and then I'll listen to it, especially if it's a live performance.
A while back I got a George Strait CD from the library and this song was on it:
A Love Without End. Amen.
This is a plain-jane, nothing fancy, sappy, cheesy Country song. The first time I ever heard it I was on my way home from work. I had to pull off the road and bawl my eyes out because of my JW background. It's all about how a father's love should really be.
If you have 3 minutes and have never heard it, please have a listen on this YouTube link. BTW, if you're an Agnostic or Atheist, (like me) just roll with it and try to take it from a liberal Christian point of view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA_cC51mhR0
If you don't have time to listen to it, here's the lyrics. (Turns out it was written by a guy named Aaron Barker.)
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Love Without End. Amen.
I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye.
Fightin' was against the rules and it didn't matter why.
When dad got home I told that story just like I'd rehearsed.
And then stood there on those tremblin' knees and waited for the worst.
And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."
When I became a father in the spring of '81
There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son.
And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end,
I took my daddy's secret and I passed it on to him.
And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."
Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates.
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake.
If they know half the things I've done, they'll never let me in.
And then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again.
And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."
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Call me a sentimental fool, but I still get misty eyed every time I hear this song. JW fathers aren't supposed to provide this kind of love and Watchtower God certainly won't either. So sad.
If there's an afterlife, (which I highly doubt) I imagine this kind of reception for good-hearted people who try their best. Myself included.
Without getting into a God/No God debate, what are your thoughts on these lyrics?
OM