Youth Blog

“Born in the U.S.A.” 

by Bruce Springsteen

This week we remember the events of September 11, 2001.  Most of us can remember where we were and what we were doing when we got word that planes had been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center that crisp fall morning.  What was to happen in the wake of that tragedy would pull us together as a country and then splinter us once again.  This classic 80’s hit from Bruce Springsteen reminds us of another time split by political haggling and military uncertainty.  This song has been famously misinterpreted by casual listeners and co-opted by arrogant and ignorant politicians.  This is not a flag-waving salute to the United States.  It is an anthem for the forgotten and the mistreated veterans that returned from Vietnam to find that the American public had no use for them.  The war had gone so badly that Americans wanted to forget about it and that meant forgetting about vets and their many sacrifices.  This reality, as unfortunate as it was, has led to a sense that we cannot allow this to happen to those returning from Iraq in the wake of 9/11, and this has meant we cannot critique the war efforts for fear of alienating this new generation of Vets.  How many bumper stickers have you seen calling on us to “Support the Troops?” 

Now you might be wondering what all of this has to do with God!  Well, think for a moment about how religion has influenced our country’s path over the last 6 years.  The current president has had his term defined by 9/11 (a religious-inspired terrorist attack).  We “liberate” Iraq only to watch it descend into chaos when different religious factions struggle for power.  The 2004 reelection of Bush is soaked in religious rhetoric desperately trying to attract people of faith to both sides.  And now we face a presidential election that promises to be even more cloaked in religious talk (regardless of it’s religious walk).  In a world where religion is cited as a basis for everything from elections to terrorism we must take back God from the crazies!  That is to say we must stand up and say, “Wait just a minute!!!   This is not the God I know; the God of love and compassion; the God of grace and mercy.”  The God I follow does not call on us to fly plains into buildings and the God I know does not call on us to react in kind with violent military action.  With all of this co-opting of God I keep waiting for one of the presidential candidates to claim God’s endorsement, but God claims each of us!  God calls on us as people of faith to provide a different perspective; a different voice for this world.  We must take back faith from those who seek to use it as a political tool or a lethal weapon.  We must tell the world that God is about love. 

Springsteen models it for us.  “Born in the U.S.A.” is a mix of pride and criticism.  It declares in one statement that we can be proud to be a citizen of the U.S. but that does not mean we a ccept what happens.  This song alternates between the critical verses with their stinging hopelessness and the anthemic chorus claiming “Born in the U.S.A.”  We can be proud of our country, but we must make our voice heard when our country needs help becoming something in which God can be proud.  We may be “Born in the U.S.A.” but we are Children of God.  Let’s live like it!

Grace and Peace,

Peej

“Born in the U.S.A.” lyrics

by Bruce Springsteen

Born down in a dead mans town

The first kick I took was when I hit the ground

You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much

Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

Got in a little hometown jam

So they put a rifle in my hand

Sent me off to a foreign land

To go and kill the yellow man

Born in the U.S.A….

Come back home to the refinery

Hiring man said son if it was up to me

Went down to see my V.A. man

He said son, don’t you understand

I had a brother at Khe Sahn

Fighting off the Viet Cong

They’re still there, he’s all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon

I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary

Out by the gas fires of the refinery

I’m ten years burning down the road

Nowhere to run aint got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A., I’m a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A., I’m a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.

Song of the Week (First Week of Sept.)

“When The Levee Breaks”

by Led Zeppelin

This song was written and originally recorded by a husband/wife blues team in 1927.  The lyrics specifically refer to a 1927 flood of the Mississippi Delta that devastated the residents destroying homes and farms and crippling the economy of the region.  If that sound familiar it’s because Katrina was not the first and will not be the last devastating natural disaster to face humanity.  It happens to be the one we all think about now but that will unfortunately change as we are confronted by the next storm, fire, earthquake, etc. Led Zeppelin recorded the song as the final track on the now famous IV album (known for the intoxicating “Stairway to Heaven” among others).  The music is haunting as John Bonham’s thundering drum beat intros the song and we are forever haunted by the lyrics of the bridge “Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, when the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.”  When the water of life is rising you’ve got to move!

Disasters like that of Katrina call us as humanity to task in two ways.  First it reminds us that we are not in control of creation.  In our world of cloning, space exploration, global economies, etc. we humans can get pretty arrogant about our place in creation.  Rather then seeing ourselves as a part of a greater creative experience, we behave as though we are in some control over the world we inhabit.  Then comes Katrina (or the next big natural catastrophe) and we ask “Why does this happens?”  Creation is not our personal sand box.  We are a part of this creation; at the same time both beautiful and brutal. When we start thinking that we are somehow better then the rest of creation we forget that we live because creation allows it.  God’s world is amazing and wondrous; complex and yet simple.  We are not called to lord over creation with our advanced intellect but rather to protect creation from the destructive, self-absorbed tendencies of a humanity that is out of touch with God’s love.

That brings me to our second task.  In the wake of tragedy, we are called by God to not only love creation in all its forms but to respond in love to the needs of others.  Just as humanity can become selfish as a species, we tend to become selfish individuals of humanity.  We turn our backs on each other and overlook the glaring needs of the other until a storm like Katrina makes it impossible to ignore.  Katrina exposed the deep racial, cultural and economic divides in the Gulf Cost region, but before we feel all noble in helping those in need in those regions devastated by this latest storm, we must realize that there are people in need here in Fort Collins, CO.  The media focus on something like Katrina exposes a reality that exists everywhere and we must not only respond to this tragedy but God calls us to respond to the great need all over the world and yes in our own backyards!  That need and our call to respond does not stop at the boundaries of humanity but extends to all creation.  If God calls it good then who are we to challenge that. 

Ultimately, it is not when the levees of life break that we are challenged but when life returns to normal and we allow “normal” to go unchecked by the love and grace of God.  Our Challenge is to keep God’s love in front of us like a pillar of fire in the darkness of life and use that light to seek out those in need, even when they are not on the evening news! 

Grace and Peace,

Peej

When the Levee Breaks (Lyrics)

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break, [X2]

When The Levee Breaks I’ll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]

Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,

Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don’t it make you feel bad

When you’re tryin’ to find your way home,

You don’t know which way to go?

If you’re goin’ down South

They go no work to do,

If you don’t know about Chicago.

Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,

Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,

When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned, [X2]

Thinkin’ about me baby and my happy home.

Going, going to Chicago… Going to Chicago… Sorry but I can’t take you…

Going down… going down now… going down….

Welcome to the Youth Blogfrom First United Methodist Church of Fort Collins, CO.  My name is Rev.Joel Kershaw (a.k.a. Peej) and I will blog here on a variety of topics that mayinterest youth of faith.  I will reflect on current events of the day,recent holidays, but mostly on pop culture.  I will post my reflections ona song from pop culture and I invite you to give your point of view. Comment on my reflections, give your own or suggest other topics. Together we can ignite our faith and interact with our world!  Bring iton; I can’t wait to hear your voices of faith!