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The following is what I sang to myself on the morning of my 62nd birthday this past September 28. I sang it and kept adding verses and expanding it, and it grew into this…
Pay no attention to punctuation. This is poetry.
Man in the Mirror at 62
You don’t look good at all you’ve gotten fat
You don’t look good at all you’ve gotten fat
I really am appalled
At what I just now saw
You don’t look good at all you’ve gotten fat
You don’t think straight so whattaya think of that
You don’t think straight so whattaya think of that
You don’t think like you used to do
I really am ashamed of you
You don’t think straight so whattaya think of that
You don’t look like the guy I used to know
You don’t look like the guy I used to know
You don’t look like a man at all
You better sit down before you fall
You don’t look like the man I used to know
You don’t have even ears anymore
You don’t have even ears anymore
One sticks out the other hides
You could flap them but you’d never fly
You don’t have even ears anymore
You look just like a man who’s had a stroke
You look just like a man who’s had a stroke
One eyebrow’s up the other down
Even your smile looks like a frown
You look just like a man who’s had a stroke
You look just like someone I used to know
You look just like someone I used to know
I knew you well or thought I did
But you were me and I was a kid
You look just like someone I used to know
You look just like a man who’s lost his mind
You look just like a man who’s lost his mind
I look at you from inside out
I feel your fear and see your doubt
You look just like a man who’s lost his mind
I wish you could forget what you have been
I wish you could forget what you have been
I wish you could erase it all
And be who you were before the Fall
I wish you could forget what you have been
I wish you could unsee what you have seen
I wish you could unsee what you have seen
I wish you could see the world again
The way you did when we were friends
I wish you could unsee what you have seen
You must not linger here anymore
You must not linger here anymore
You’ve seen enough now get out boy
Live your life and seize the joy
You must not linger here anymore
You look just like a man in need of grace
You look just like a man in need of grace
You look just like the man who fell
While underneath the Tempter’s spell
You look just like a man in need of grace
You look just like the one for whom he died
You look just like the one for whom he died
He died for you upon that cross
To redeem your sins and cover your loss
You look just like the one for whom he died
You still look like a man of God to me
You still look like a man of God to me
A man whose life was all but shattered
But still kept all that really mattered
You look just like a man of God to me
You’ve got a lot of living left to do
You’ve got a lot of living left to do
Just look at you you’re not dead yet
Go do what you do and get what you get
You’ve got a lot of living left to do
Thanks, Mom, for the testimony of faith and hope
Some of my theology was formed, and much of it was informed from the piano bench of a small Baptist church. There, every Sunday, sat my Mom to accompany the congregational singing and often to sing a “special.” Recently, I asked my family to share their favorite hymns and songs Mom sang. Songs flooded in, memories in melody, as people remembered the powerful and tender way she preached the gospel in song.
As I was writing this piece, I remembered one we all missed. How many times did I hear her sing When Jesus Comes? I am not sure, but many. I can still hear her powerful alto voice singing it with such conviction…
One sat alone beside the highway begging,
His eyes were blind, the light he could not see;
He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows,
Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee.
When Jesus comes the tempter’s pow’r is broken;
When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.From home and friends the evil spirits drove him,
Among the tombs he dwelt in misery;
He cut himself as demon pow’rs possessed him,
Then Jesus came and set the captive free.“Unclean! unclean!” the leper cried in torment,
The deaf, the dumb, in helplessness stood near;
The fever raged, disease had gripped its victim,
Then Jesus came and cast out every fear.Their hearts were sad as in the tomb they laid him,
For death had come and taken him away;
Their night was dark and bitter tears were falling,
Then Jesus came and night was turned to day.So men today have found the Savior able,
They could not conquer passion, lust and sin;
Their broken hearts had left them sad and lonely,
Then Jesus came and dwelt, Himself, within.When Jesus comes the tempter’s pow’r is broken;
When Jesus Comes by James Washington Gaines (1881-1937)
When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
Twenty-two, sixty-two, or eighty-two. It doesn’t matter. When Jesus comes, it is never too early or too late.
Footnotes
- How long was the Prodigal Son gone? How far did he go? How much did he waste? What was the Father’s reaction when he came to his senses and brought what was left of himself home? (Luke 15)
- How long was Moses in the desert before God came and got him for the mission of a lifetime? (Acts 7:30)
- Even if you were born blind, so what? When Jesus comes…(John 9)
- “While there is life there is hope,” wrote Cicero.
- I say, “Where there is hope, there is life.”