I am a ROCK...

I've been enjoying a great oldies station for the last few months and recently heard the Simon and Garfunkel classic... "I am a Rock." After bee-bopping through the song, and listening to the lyricks, I began to think... That's quite sad actually... Do people really resonate with such conclusions and why? Is there a hurt so deep that causes one to give up entirely, painfully convincing self that being alone is better, refusing to try again, concluding that they even distain anything resembling love or connection?


Listen to the lyrics... (you'll probably end up singing to yourself... great song dispite sad message!) -- OR listen to it... see link above.


A winter's day... in a deep and dark December. I am alone~ gazing from my window, to the streets below, on a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow... I am a rock... I am an island.
I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty, that none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain, it's laughter and it's loving I distain... I am a rock, I am an island. Dont talk of love... well, I've heard the word before. It's sleeping in my memory. I won't disturb this slumber, of feeling I have died, if I never loved I never would have cried.... I am a rock, I am an island! I have my books... and my poetry to protect me. I am shielded in my armour, hiding in my room, I touch no one and no one touches me... I am a rock, I am an island... and a rock feels no pain... and an island never cries...

The song is powerful really... I wondered the writer's intent. Was it to mock such thoughts of isolation or does it really articulate the true feelings of some? Nontheless, it certainly can create a justification in any troubled, hurt and lonely heart to just give up. If one hurts, it's easy to listen to the song and fall into the temptation to sulk and resolve that... yeah... I am a rock... a strong unpenetrable rock... able to go it alone in life! "BUT WHAT A LIE..." I want to scream!!! Resolving to be "a lone tough guy" doesn't define what being a rock is at all. And who says crying and pain are bad and to be avoided at all costs?


No doubt, relationships can be painful at times but being relational defines what it means to be human. If we are created in God's image we are relational beings. To isolate seems not an option. God perfectly relates in his existence as the Trinity... the Father, Son and Holy Spirit experiencing perfect fellowship together. God also, through His Son, died a grusome death to not only make possible a relationship with us but also to scream out to his creation what lengths he will go to for the sake of relationship and the incredible value he places on community and connections. It's as if he is trying to communicate that we can be sure if He, being God and all, experienced pain when reaching out to us in love, that we too can count on some possible pain as we reach out in love to others.

God communicates through his action-driven love that love is worth everything we might give up for it... even life itself. No room for giving up. Do you agree? Jeus gave up his life for it. There is Scripture that says... YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE! WOW!!! Interesting thought. God said LOVE IS THE GREATEST thing we can spend our time doing this side of heaven... a worthy investment! The hard part is there may not be any immediate return on the investment. In fact there might even be loss. Love may not be returned to us when we give it out. It involves that risk every time. The loss can sometimes cause us to close down, stop trying, forget that love is about giving regardless of what is returned... thus the song.


How can we keep loving when the object of our love is causing pain-- or how do we risk loving again when rejected? Without God we can't. No one has experienced rejection more than God. He saw our need and loved us, stepped in to take upon himself our need for healing and yet he is rejected by us over and over again. But he continues to give freely. Does God experience painful emotion in his relationship with us? I think so! Thank goodness he didn't decide to become a rock or an island because of the pain, shutting himself away from us, concluding it just wasn't worth it, changing his perfect character quality of perserverance, forgiveness and long suffering. No, He just keeps at it doing what comes naturally for him. Love defines his nature, and love's nature is to GIVE... God so LOVED...that He GAVE! It almost sounds a little nuts. Give without getting anything back and then just keep giving? That's how I believe I understand God's love-- Is that accurate?


So what about us then? Should we be willing to go out on a limb for the sake of love, regardless of the pain associated with taking risks and possibly being rejected? Or is it better to self-protect? Is self-protection really protection at all or is it self-destruction? How do we embrace Scripture like John 16:33? "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world!" Doesn't it seem if we rest in truth like that it opens the possibility to go out on a limb and face the risk of rejection? It's almost as if God designed our lives to include pain and suffering, along with his guarantee of being an anchor to our soul as we pass through deepest depair. Naturally it feels more logical to be drawn to smooth sailing but what might happen if we choose to sail against the tide of all that comes natural and take chances in the raging water of risk taking, knowing all along there is a strong anchor to steady us, to ground us, to keep us strong enough to weather the storm?


Relationships, like the effects of fuel, empower the quality of life, bringing refreshment where there is a stale exsistence. I hear God asking... "Will you love people for me? I need you to love them for me... get past the surface and be gut-wrenchingly real, realness that frees people to feel safe, safety that soothes, heals and creates a ripple effect that extends beyond your sphere of influence. Let love define you and release limitless possibilities to usher in everything beautiful and purposeful. I CAN USE LOVE. Love is the greatest, remember?"

Why would anyone want to be a Rock or an Island selfishly keeping to self when we can be an unstoppable force of love in the hands of God???


Can I love that way?