Into the Fire

Just below I've posted the lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel's song America. A telling story of the late 60s and early 70s, the times of losing one's way in the onslaught of drugs, sex, rock 'n' roll. The guarded reserves of the 40s and 50s were being shattered in an era of "free" love, total rebellion, irresponsibility, war, protests, "dropping out", and some of the greatest music ever produced by musicians most of whom were heavily influenced by various kinds of drugs. Morality took a serious nosedive into the deep end of a sinful sea.

America didn't move or change, the culture did. And it has been on a downhill slide with each generation's version of justifiable sins tearing up a country that was built on godly principles and eventually referred to as One Nation Under God in its Pledge of Allegiance.

Summarizing the tale in the song as well as the lost ways of those days – and these days – is the line:

"Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why"

Much of the chaos and those empty feelings, the rage and temper tantrums of our days, the perversions, and "politically correct" demands and restrictions from those who are offended at anything and everything arise from having no relationship with the Creator of the universe and mankind. Born into sin, we stumble and paw our way through life with selfish desires and lusts of all kinds wanting our way in every circumstance with little patience to learn what life is truly about. 

It's true you know: we're lost. Without Jesus, we're oh so lost. Presently, eternally. Lost. We can gorge on pleasure, but we will find there's an empty hole at the end of it and it's in our hearts. Reserved for Jesus Christ. Nothing else can fill it because that's how it was designed. The only puzzle piece that fits and completes the whole picture. 

Ask Him. Talk to Him. If you're for real with Him, you'll meet Him. He's not limited by time or space and He will meet you where you are. On a Greyhound, in bed with a stranger, at a racetrack, on an old dirt road, in America, or anywhere else. He's there. And He wants to rescue you from your lost-ness and emptiness. Like no one else can. 

America

Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon

Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies
And we walked off to look for America
Cathy, I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America
Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat
We smoked the last one an hour ago
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field
Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America

Songwriters: PAUL SIMON
© Universal Music Publishing Group
For non-commercial use only.
Data from: LyricFind

Father, a zillion thank yous are never enough for what you've done for me. Thank you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.