The rest of this series: Intro and Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
Jon Foreman, Switchfoot and Me
Chapter 6 – The Weight of Gravity
At the age of 26, I was up to my neck in life. A husband employed in full-time ministry, three little girls – one learning to read, one learning to behave, and one learning to sleep – and a tired mind that had daily internet access for the first time. I was learning the hard way about all the negative impacts that endless information and never-ending stories could have on a sensitive heart, as well as trying to savor the life of my dreams while feeling like it might be draining the life out of me.
It was a time when music was a happy retreat, and there entered Switchfoot’s 2006 album Oh! Gravity.
The songs that got my attention the most at the time were Oh! Gravity, and Awakening. These two songs went on repeat every time we entered the car, and will forever remind me of tiny little sandaled feet bouncing against the bases of car seats as small souls immersed themselves in the thrill of music. The upbeat music lifted and carried me, forming happy memories for me and my daughters that will always make us smile.
These days I find myself drawn into the heady lyrics of some of the other songs on the album.
Faust, Midas and Myself is an intriguing contemplation of life. I was first exposed to the legend of Faust in high school, and the tragedy of it has both fascinated and haunted me ever since. The myth of Midas has a similar affect on me. This song that enters into those two stories and brings them to touch on real life always reminds me of how easy it is to seek fulfillment in all the wrong places, and to miss the gift of what’s right in front of us.
My heart beat once or twice, and life flooded my veins
Everything had changed
My lungs had found their voice
And what was once routine was now the perfect joy
Another song that captures my thoughts is Let Your Love Be Strong.
When my world explodes
When my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites
Let your love be strong and I don’t care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thundercloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your love
Last year my world was hit with an explosion that shattered it in a million pieces. In that place of having no control and life feeling like the endless, thundering crack of violent lightning, there was nothing to do but surrender. Nothing but “all of my world hanging on your love”.
As the pieces seem to be slowly coming back together, I find myself wondering if I will ever experience that utter and complete surrender again.
Leading up to, during, and after that time of breaking I lived with a sense of not knowing which way was up. Where is home? Where do I belong? Is there anywhere that everything is okay?
As I’m slowly finding the answers to these questions in a temporal, tangible, imperfect way, I’m also finding the words from this last song to be unshakably true.
In this life you’re the one place I call home
In this life you’re the feeling I belong
In this life you’re the flower and the thorn
You’re everything that’s fair in love and war
All lyrics are in italics and written by Jonathan Foreman & Tim Foreman
