Imagine All the People Living Boring Lives, No I Mean Really Boring, Incredibly Boring, Dull! Dull! Dull!

Ok, so that may overstate it a bit, but not much. This is the "Imagine" post. It seemed to get the most votes. The idea for this came from the opening ceremony of the Olympics as I listened to Peter Gabriel very capably sing it. It was also the first time I think I really thought about what would happen if these words were a reality. Ok, I'm listening to it right now. Here are the lyrics:

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Now, I like the song. It has a simple beautiful melody and I think musically it is my favorite solo Lennon song. And to it's credit it is really trying to have a positive message. But it is so idealistic, and worse, if lived up to would make life utterly dull and would drive humanity into indifference. Imagine there is nothing to resist. In weight lifting that causes atrophy, in life that causes apathy. Not to mention humanity has a grand way of screwing up wonderful things.

We are already experiencing some of this in our culture. We have life so easy that we entertain ourselves to death. We have tried to eliminate every struggle and difficulty with convenience, drugs, entertainment, and any other avoidances you can think of. Life in America is difficult in part because we have it so easy. A life given to no struggle is a shallow, selfish, and boring life. It kills the human spirit. Imagine a nice new novel. Here's the story line. Little Johnny had a great life. Nothing bad happened to him ever. Everyone was always nice. He was nice to everybody. He lived his life in complete peace. The end. Okay, who wants to read that novel? It would be terribly boring.

Now there are some sentiments in the song that are great, and what the church should be about: no possession, no greed, no hunger. But then there is the line "Nothing to kill or die for." Sure, nothing to kill for is great, but nothing to die for? Until you find something worth giving your life to that is greater than yourself, you haven't lived. (Chose wisely, if it does involve killing, it is not a wise choice, unless you are Dietrich Bonhoffer, and I still don't know if I agree with him or not.) Part of the problem with our society is there is nothing bigger than ourselves, and pleasing ourselves is an endless pit of loneliness and subtle despair.

This song is really a concept of heaven, except it denies the existence of the very thing it wants. But the difference is there we are in the presence of the greatest greatness, and there is no focus on ourselves. And then to deny hell is to deny any sense of justice. Side note--> my guess is since God is a creator, those in heaven with Him will get to experience whatever His next creation is. As if the eternal God would only create once. He created the angels before time, and who knows what happened before then. The creation story lives on and on and we get to be a part of it.

Okay, so I've scattered a few thoughts out there. Here is my real beef with the song. Okay, so sure this is great, how do we get there, or is it simply the longings of an impossible dream? Then is becomes pointless sentimentalism that puts us right back into entertaining ourselves to ignore the difficulties of this life. Idealism without its talons gripped in reality annoys me greatly. So maybe this is how it should be, but so what if it isn't how it is. Give me some clues to let me know how to get to where I should be. What about the reality of evil? And what happens when a hurricane or earthquake strikes this idealistic world? Mother nature still has a mind of her own.

Okay, my other thought on it. We used to have a world like this, but we wanted more, so we ate of a fruit that gave us knowledge of good and evil, and now we've seen the other side and long to go back, but we would have to let God be God to do that, and that is too risky to give up that kind of control, so we'll just dream about it.

I don't want "Imagine." I want the power of the myth. I want "The Lord of the Rings, "Chronicles of Narnia", and "Braveheart." Only when the potential for fantastic failure is present is there a chance for glorious success. I would rather have to fight evil than to drown in the dull drudgery of apathy. I don't want safe, I want good. And I want that good to be adventurous. For that is what stirs my heart and makes me long for something greater. It's what motivates me to love furiously and take chances. I play it too safe already, and it holds me back. I sometimes have bouts of indifference. It kills my soul. But tragedy endured brings me alive, and when I am experiencing great pain, I also have the potential for the greatest joy. But most of all, it is when I can live the most selfless and help the world get a little closer to what John Lennon wanted in this song (except for the religion part, true selfless loving religion is glorious; it is legalistic selfish religion that is disgusting and allows people to try to use God to justify their own hatred.) Because when I am here, I look beyond myself and truly listen and love those around me.

(written to "Imagine"-John Lennon, of course, followed up with Charlie Peacock-"Kingdom Come" and Phish-"Junta")

P.S. I read the article, Matt. It was quite amusing. Apparently the message was "Peace, we need peace." Now you don't have to order the pay per view show and save some money. So I wonder how John Lennon feels about heaven now?