Dear Daughters,
A few years ago I watched the movie Les Miserables – Les Miz for short. It’s a fabulous movie based on the novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862. The music in the film is marvelous and moving, emotional and memorable. The story of Les Miz is based on the character Jean Valjean, known as Prisoner #24601, recently released from 19 years in prison and desiring to find a life of freedom but not knowing how.
It’s a long and complicated story, but in the movie there is a lovely song On My Own sung by one of the minor characters, Eponine. It is a haunting, heartbreaking song of a woman having to live life on her own. I learned it quite well because a piano student of mine wanted to sing and play it and asked for my help. So, I immersed myself in the song, singing and playing it so I could teach it well to my student. But an interesting shift took place as I sang it over and over.
Originally, the song is sung by Eponine because the man she loves is only in her dreams, yet she longs for him to be a reality – which never happens. She sings the song on a deserted street in the rain, devastated yet hoping for something more than what she has experienced. The more I sang it I started believing that this was my life, that I was on my own. Slowly, the words I sang became those I felt about God during that time in my life. I had been hurt and rejected by others, my health was failing and I truly felt as if God had abandoned me. So I sang On My Own more and more, often with fervor, believing that in real life I was on my own. God had become a figment of my imagination, a nice awareness but simply a pretend idea.
The words of On My Own go like this:
On my own, pretending he’s beside me
All alone, I walk with him till morning…
And I know, it’s only in my mind
That I’m talking to myself and not to him,
And although I know that he is blind,
Still I say there’s a way for us.
I love him, but every day I’m learning
All my life I’ve only been pretending
Without me his world will go on turning
A world that’s full of happiness that I have never known
I love him…..
But only on my own.
It’s a sad song to sing about a boyfriend or husband you wish were yours, but it’s even a sadder song when you’re singing it about God. God, the one we’re told who has created us, who loves us and desires the best for us. And yet, sometimes it feels like he’s gone, vanished, given up on us – and we come to believe we are totally on our own. I made the mistake of singing that song over and over again, becoming more mournful every time, and actually believing that I had no choice but to live life on my own. I had to look out for me because no one else was going to do it, and so I came to the conclusion that this was my life for a time. Too long of a time.
The melody was so beautiful, the orchestration exquisite, and the musicality itself continued to draw me in. How easy it is to let a 3-minute song become your entire belief system. Philosophers can write books of many wise words, but a winsome melancholy popular song often becomes the mindset of the masses who sing it.
Feelings are strong, they can take us up to the moon at times but also into the depths of despair. It was into the depths of despair that I went. I continued to sing All Alone and for me it became a reality.
So where can we anchor our minds and hearts when these thoughts consume our every waking moment?
Thankfully, a friend gently reminded me that my feelings were only feelings, they were not the truth. I am not alone, I was never alone, and I will never be alone. How do I know that? Simply because the Bible tells me so. The Bible has been an anchor for millions of people through thousands of years. My friend reminded me all the times in the past when Jesus showed his love for me.
So I rewrote the words:
I’m never alone,
The Spirit lives inside me.
Every day, my Lord he walks beside me.
Without out Him, my life would be disaster
Remembering His faithfulness that I have always known…
I love Him, I’m never on my own.
The mindset of the original On My Own is found often in the Psalms. King David and others who wrote the Psalms never denied their feelings, but wrote exactly what they felt, even though it wasn’t true. God is never afraid of our honest cries and wailings. But he loves to have them directed toward Him so He can come and give comfort.
They [the Psalms] are remarkable for recording with brutal honesty the cries of those who are sick and suffering, says Tim Keller. Yet, the hopelessness and despair is only for a season. When we turn our eyes to God and remember, always remember his faithfulness to us and to others in the myriad stories in the Bible, then we can wait patiently and sing songs of hope instead of anguish and gloom.
Love, Mom
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