I remember being a kid and listening to certain tapes in my Sony Walkman so much that they would wear out and sound distorted after a while; kind of like when the batteries were running low or when the dentist gives you too much laughing gas. I would listen to certain albums/tapes so much that I would actually come to hate them after a while. Kind of Ironic, don’t you think? And, FYI Alanis, most of the things you mention in that song are unfortunate, not ironic, but I digress.
The point is, over time I became careful not to “party out” and listen to an album I liked so much that I would wind up hating it. When U2s latest, No Line on the Horizon, came out, I listened to it at least once a day for 2 weeks and decided to put it away until I saw them in concert. Most of the show I saw a few weeks ago centered around the latest album and it was only then I remembered how great this album is.
There is one song in particular that stands out; track 5 is I’ll Go Crazy if I don’t go Crazy Tonight. The last 2 lines of the second verse and the chorus stand out for me:
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it
Oh, a change of heart comes slow
*
It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubting
We’re gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight
All of us spiritual seekers out there who actively pray that the hard hearts of others will soften are sometimes disappointed that the process does not happen as quickly as we would like. I know many people who are seeking to change the hearts of others on important social issues and many are left frustrated that the process takes so long and that little progress seems to be made. We have to remember that such a change does not happen on our time.
The Holy Spirit works more like a sculptor molding clay than a robot fabricating parts for a new Chevy. It takes time to chisel away the imperfect as the artist’s vision comes to life. It cannot be rushed. As the chorus of this song suggests, life is more of a mountain than it is a hill. To successfully climb a mountain requires faith and trust in others. To climb the spiritual mountain of life requires that we trust in something bigger than ourselves and that we make the time to analyze the sources of doubt that invariably spring up from time to time.
I love how the chorus ends suggesting an element of faith that the goal of making it towards the light will be accomplished but only after a little craziness is had along the way. This is a reminder of our own humanity; we may strive to live saintly lives, but every now and then we are reminded by our human nature that we will fall down along the way. The important question to ask is, what do we do when we get back up if we get back up at all?
