Quote: Paul Simon on Contentment
She was beautiful as southern skies.jpg)
The night he met her
She was married to someone
He was doggedly determined that he would get her
He was old, he was young
From time to time hed tip his heart
But each time she withdrew
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks its true
Well eventually the boy and the girl get married
Sure enough they have a son
And though they both were occupied
With the child she carried
Disagreements had begun
And in a while they fell apart
It wasnt hard to do
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks its true
Two disappointed believers
Two people playing the game
Negotiations and love songs
Are often mistaken for one and the same
Now the man and the woman
Remain in contact
Let us say its for the child
With disagreements about the meaning
Of a marriage contract
Conversations hard and wild
But from time to time
He makes her laugh
She cooks a meal or two
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks its true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks its true
What is the point of this story
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts
And our brains
So what do you think? What are the biblical applications of these sociological truths? Is it any wonder that the Scriptures tell us there is great gain in godliness with contentment? What is your Train in the Distance?
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August 5th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Man is looking for the train in the distance or that which will fill the void in his heart. After reading your blog I read Spurgeon’s thought for today.
C. H. Spurgeon
August 5
Law in the Heart
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. (Psalm 37:31)
Put the law into the heart, and the whole man is right. This is where the law should be; for then it lies, like the tables of stone in the ark, in the place appointed for it. In the head it puzzles, on the back it burdens, in the heart it upholds.
What a choice word is here used, “the law of his God”! When we know the Lord as our own God His law becomes liberty to us. God with us in covenant makes us eager to obey His will and walk in His commands. Is the precept my Father’s precept? Then I delight in it.
We are here guaranteed that obedient-hearted man shall be sustained in every step that he takes. He will do that which is right, and he shall therefore do that which is wise. Holy action is always the most prudent, though it may not at the time seem to be so, We are moving along the great highroad of God’s providence and grace when we keep to the way of His law. The Word of God has never misled a single soul yet; its plain directions to walk humbly, justly, lovingly, and in the fear of the Lord are as much words of wisdom to make our way prosperous as rules of holiness to keep our garments clean. He walks surely who walks righteously.
Those mentioned in “The train in the distance” have not found the law of God in their heart.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I used to have a train in the distance constantly, and I loved the sound of each one! There seemed to always be a prettier girl, a nicer car (clothes, house, etc.), a better pedigree, a better job, a better life. But as I grow in the understanding of God and His grace I realize that those “trains” were just the temptations for me to be discontent with what He has so lovingly provided. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
If I truly believe, as the scriptures teach, that God is sovereign and for those who love Him all things work together for good then my wife is the woman I’m supposed to rejoice in and she is the only one for my eye, the job I have is the one I’m supposed to work at as if I’m working for the Lord, the house I own is in the school district it is supposed to be in, and more importantly maybe I’m in it because my neighbor needs to hear of the hope that is in me, the hope that brings peace, reconciliation, and contentment. “E’er since by faith I saw the stream his flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.”
I think Paul Simon, possibly without even knowing it, is testifying to the truth about the condition of fallen man. He is right “the thought that life could be better” IS woven into us from birth. Adam and Eve thought life could be “better”, they believed the lie that they could have the knowledge of good and evil without dying. I guess that was their train and its been coming in the distance for sinners ever since. So many men are still looking for peace, contentment, happiness and even salvation in so many other places and it is futile. God in His mercy has already provided the means for all those things in His Son. “Come, then, with your heaped up sins and be unburdened.”
I thank the Lord, if he would have left me to myself I would have taken the last train out of contentment bound for misery. By his mercy I believe the trains are being diverted, and I know for sure that they don’t sound as sweet as they once did.
Rob
August 6th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Rob and Darrell,
Great comments! Thanks. I believe your comments are more worthy of reading than the original post. Paul Simon is one of my favorite lyricists. His grasp of the sociology of our world is profound. Unfortunately he does not have theology to go with it.
He understands the desperation and the sadness of the situation but not the true hope. The sin that is traced in this song about lack of contentment is amazing. A man lusts after a married woman, he tears that marriage apart by his pursuit of her, he gets what he wanted only to not truly want it anymore, then we see the effects of that sin on the son that was born and the awkwardness of the relationship after its breakup.
His conclusion: we are all just woven this way. Where is the hope in that? There is none.
But if we understand we are woven this way because of the fall and that God has provided his son as the way of freedom from this slavery then we have perfect hope.