Tonight I’ll be at the Warner Theatre to see the progressive metal band Dream Theater! I like lots of music that might be called “rock”, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Imagine Dragons and even twenty one pilots, but this is the only band in this genre I like.
Why am I posting this? Only one of my friends likes this band, and I’m going to the show with him! This post might get 0 “likes.” As much as I want to get “likes” on my social media posts, life is more than that. Everyone reading this is a Creation of a Benevolent Creator, and an individual work of craftsmanship. None of us are an accident. Therefore, like what you like, but also be encouraged to put more craft into your daily life, at work and home. Because you yourself are a craft, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23). Seek to be what you were made to be. Don’t just “play it safe.” Define success differently.
So, what does Dream Theater sound like?
I considered posting the most “accessible” song by them I could find, but that wouldn’t fit the point. Instead, here is their instrumental “Dance of Eternity” which changes time signatures 108 times in just over 6 minutes. Oddly, the original drummer (and co-writer) on this song was in a Beatles cover band for a while.
Nearly all of you will hate this song, but this band does what they do and inspire some to also pursue their idea of “excellence” in spite of the outcome for their Facebook “likes”.
If this song is too much, the video for “Pull Me Under,” their only song that got any radio play is linked here. Tonight I’m wearing the T-shirt from that tour in 1992. The show was at Pier 6 in Baltimore during a heavy thunderstorm. For those that haven’t been to Pier 6, it’s basically a stage in front of seating under a big tent, open on 3 sides. It was a great show.
Today we come back to a weekly series on the Psalms of Ascent, a group of 15 Psalms used as a liturgy for Jews in ancient Israel traveling to Jerusalem for feasts. Last week I wrote: “To today’s Christian, the Psalms of Ascent remind us not only of our need for salvation apart from law, but they prepare us to regularly contemplate His provision to accomplish that salvation.” Psalm 119 praises God’s law, but the following Psalms let us know that the law cannot deliver salvation.
The first Psalm of Ascent, Psalm 120, picks up from verse 136 of Psalm 119: “My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law,” but it also starts where the pilgrimage starts geographically. The full Psalm 120 is:
“A Song of Ascents.
In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!
Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!”
Each person traveling to Jerusalem came from a different place. Meshech was in the far north; Kedar in the far southeast. The Psalmist does not live in both places, but picture is that the same problems exist everywhere. Everyone lives among people with lying lips, a deceitful tongue, and who hate peace. Each of us in our own way are such people. In verse 3 the Psalmist is frustrated about what to do about this: “what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?” The next verse says that force or coercion won’t solve the problem. It must be solved internally because mankind is fundamentally broken. Society isn’t the cause of the problem, but an outcome of the problem, and we are frustrated with it.
However, those following the familiar liturgy of these Psalms would know that this frustration is only the beginning of their preparation to worship in Jerusalem. The place we all live – this entire creation – is groaning for a solution, a way out, and struggling to find it. All of mankind is in this boat together, but we’re “gonna need a bigger boat.” The pilgrimage begins with knowing we have a need that we can’t satisfy ourselves.
On their days- or weeks-long journeys to Jerusalem these pilgrims had to bring the baggage from their home lives with them – literally and figuratively. They certainly lied to and fought with each other on the way. The trip lasted too long for them to pretend. Their baggage was visible to all, and they couldn’t make the trip without it. But they went. In today’s church, do we go to a place that is full of “good” people, however we define that? No, we go to a place with people just like us. We begin as sinners among sinners, from Meshech to Kedar, but we long for a better place.
If you are in distress, call out to the LORD for a place of peace, not just for eternity but for your journey to it. The church is “called out” to both places. The journey is worth it.
Coda The title of this post, if you haven’t already guessed, comes from the musical West Side Story. The song is about the love between Tony and Maria, members of rival ethnic groups that insist on fighting even though they aren’t sure why. Therefore, Tony and Maria long for a place where the world’s hate doesn’t tear them apart.
In more ways than one, the sentiments of the song echo the last verses of today’s Psalm:
“Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!”
Here is the song from the 1961 West Side Story film:
This post continues a series on the Psalms of Ascent. To start at the beginning, click here, and for the next post click here.
I love this song. I first heard it at a year-end event for my son’s Christian Service Brigade and thought this is what not only teenagers, but everyone, should hear!
“While I’m on this road you take my hand Somehow you really love who I really am I push you away, still you won’t let go You grow your roses on my barren soul”
It’s been 6 months since I first posted “42 is Not the Answer.” I had no goal in mind, only to organize what thoughts I had and hoping to encourage others by sharing them. There’s a saying that sharing Christ is like one beggar offering another beggar his only loaf of bread.
Progress has been slow – I still have not posted some of the earliest ideas. The Word file for “42” was created in January, and the file for the next expected blog post was created in February!
I had in mind some things about format, frequency, etc. Short posts were not part of “the plan,” but here we are.
On our path to eternity, my plans are not what matter and I only hope to use what tools I have to honor our Maker and King.
Thank you for traveling with me.
Borrowing the lyrics from this song, I think I’m learning to trust the fall. Take a listen.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 