There are times in everyone’s life when things just happen and you can’t do a thing about it.
Like when you slip on an icy sidewalk and everything flings out of your hands while you fall flat on your back. Or when the car spins out in front of you and you can’t maneuver around it. Or when you stand at the edge of the emotional tsunami, mouth wide open and arms pushed forward in hapless defense. Some things you cannot fight.
Some of my friends recently experienced the wind-whipped firestorm that engulfed a placid suburb. No fire hose or slurry or heroic efforts could have stopped those flames. They just bore down in all their fury.
It’s not just fire that we stand helpless in front of, but flood, and twister and hurricane. We cannot stop them.
And it’s not just the natural elements, but cancer, dementia, and arthritis all strip our self-control.
And it’s also those human floods, when she says she isn’t in love anymore, or when your child walks away from the faith, or a lifelong friend turns the other way.
Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
This amazing song is by Colorado musician Lionel Young. He has written about the helplessness of the flame that engulfs everything in its path. It’s timely for the fires that we see every year, but timeless in its message for life.
This song doesn’t offer many answers but cries out in anguish. Like those old spirituals, crafted by those with no hope but God. There was no real escape, no refuge. So they have sung their sorrow.
This song is a modern-day lamentation and we all know the tune.
So, have you ever been hit by something in life and you just can’t get out of the way? What should we do?
I filmed this original song by Lionel Young. He’s an award winning blues musician .
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