Pull Me Under

Pull Me Under

Lost in the sky
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Arrows fly
Seas increase and then fall again

This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me
Every day sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last

Watch the sparrow falling
Gives new meaning to it all
If not today nor yet tomorrow then some other day

I'll take seven lives for one
And then my only father's son
As sure as I did ever love him
I am not afraid

This world is spinning around me
The whole world keeps spinning around me
All life is future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last

Pull me under, pull me under
Pull me under, I'm not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is set it right

Dust fills my eyes
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Centuries cry
Orders fly and I fall again

This world is spinning inside me
The whole world is spinning inside me
Every day sends future to past
Every step brings me closer to my last

Pull me under, pull me under
Pull me under, I'm not afraid
Living my life too much in the sun
Only until your will is done

Pull me under, pull me under
Pull me under, I'm not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is set it right

Pull me under, pull me under
Pull me under, I'm not afraid
Living my life too much in the sun
Only until your will is done

Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt

Shalom my friends. Today is an exciting day. We get to explore Dream Theater’s biggest hit—Pull Me Under. This song was their only commercial success. It got much radio play and was pretty well known. This is the song that got me into Dream Theater. It is definitely not my favorite song but it is amazing and has a special place in my heart. So my bro is a guitar and bass player and is pretty dang good at it. One day he was practicing bass in his room and he was playing a song that I thoroughly enjoyed. So I enquired within. I asked him if it was Metallica (I am ashamed of that now since they sound NOTHING like Metallica and are on a completely different level of awesomeness to Metallica). He said no it is Dream Theater (proof that he is a baller. The bass to this song is pretty intense). This encounter was the seed of an obsession—of my discovery of the best band ever. Oh yeah! I hope my blog will play a similar role in some of your lives. So, I am told that this song is based on Hamlet (I would love if someone familiar with Hamlet would show me parallels. I hear the last line of the song is a direct quote). A definite theme of this song is the rapid passing of time and the imminence and abruptness of death. The lyrics are so beautiful and poetic.

So today I had church. It was awesome. The message was on adultery again. The text was Proverbs 7. The preacher focused on the seduction of the temptress. I already blogged on this so I won’t again. I then went to the Old City. First, I saw the Garden Tomb, which is a proposed site of Jesus’ death and resurrection (the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a better candidate though). Then I went shopping. I got an amazing full-length red and gold tunic. It is legit! The only bad thing is it is Muslim garb so I can’t really wear it in public lest I offend someone. Sad day. But I will sport it in the states! Oh yeah!

So if you ever visit the Old City, you will notice there are tons of people (like any big city). They are everywhere. There are people from all over the world; people with tons of different beliefs and personalities. These people all have one thing in common, though. They all will die. Every step they take is a dying step. Every breath they take is a dying breath. There are no immortals in the Old City. There are no immortals in the world. So many people live like they are immortal, though. O, how deceived we are! Rush puts it so well in their song Dreamline, “We are young, wandering the face of the earth, wondering what our dreams might be worth, learning that we’re only immortal for a limited time.” We go through life enchanted by the joy of youth. We live carefree lives that we think will last forever, then we are faced with reality. We face tragedy and we are forced to stare death in the face—and live.

I realized my mortality in October of 2007. I was driving with my friend, Nash. We were heading to our Homecoming dance. I was driving on the freeway in the slow lane, then all of a sudden I notice a big rig was coming into my lane. I swerved to try to avoid him. I lost control. My vehicle started spinning. I spun across the freeway and slammed into the center divider. I then kept spinning and somehow ended up on the right-hand shoulder of the freeway. I spun across a four-lane freeway (the 10 freeway in Yucaipa, CA) twice and survived with only a broken nose. It is a miracle. I should not be alive today. It was like 7:00 P.M. on a Saturday night on a fairly busy freeway. It is not often that the freeway is clear, but by God’s grace it was. If I had collided with another vehicle it probably would have all been over. I would not be here today. But God did not want me to die yet. God still had life in store for me

Before this, I walked through life saying that we are not guaranteed a tomorrow and could die suddenly but I did not believe it. This dance with death made me believe it. I was faced with the imminence and abruptness of death. I was faced with the fleeting character of life. I can’t live as if I am immortal; life is precious. Time is precious. I can’t waste my life. I must seize the day. I must live my life ready to die because I cannot truly live if I do not understand the finite character of life. One can’t truly live until he understands death. Even now I sometimes forget the imminence of death. I must dwell on this fateful event often so I do not waste my life.

My friends, I entreat you, live, being ready to die because living life not understanding and expecting death is dangerous. It leads to regret and great pain for yourself and others.

Look carefully then how you walk,

Not as unwise but as wise,

Making the best use of the time

Because the days are evil

Ephesians 5: 15,16