I seem to be a little dry lately and don’t have a lot to say, either in real life or here in on my blog. So I haven’t been saying much. That’s why you haven’t seen me around here very often. I have a feeling that might be changing soon (or not), I don’t know.
A little while ago, Mike Todd did a really good piece on atonement (it’s long) and it sparked some really great discussion. I read through it all and tried to jump in the conversation here and there, but … as I said, I’m kinda dry right now. So I just listened and absorbed it all. If you weren’t privy to it, I’d recommend reading it now. Or not. I’m just telling you about to set the scene, so to speak. So you know what I was percolating on.
In the meantime, I’ve been watching a lot of afternoon television the last couple of weeks. It’s been keeping me company while I’ve done lots and lots of sewing. I have two channels I prefer in the late afternoon and they run re-runs of “murder” television, as my family calls it; Law & Order, mostly, but also Bones and House. One episode of either Bones or House ended with a song one day that I could not let go of. It was a mostly a refrain that went, “none of us are free, none of us are free, one of us in chains, none of us are free.”
So I did some internet sleuthing and found the song and artist. Bought the whole album from iTunes. It’s a blues album. I’m a sucker for the blues. If someone held a gun to my head and forced me to absolutely choose a favorite genre of music, I likely choose the blues. Of course, I like almost all genres equally, but there’s something about the blues that gets under my skin.
The song is “None Of Us Are Free” by Solomon Burke and you can enjoy it below … watch the video and listen hard to the words. It’s a spiritual wrapped up in the blues.
This song reminds me that no matter what theory of atonement you subscribe to, in the end it doesn’t matter. We are all bound up in this kingdom together until we enter God’s Kingdom …. all together.
None of us are free. Maybe that’s why this gospel of my own personal Jesus always feels so empty and void.
None of us are free. One of us are chained. None of us are free.
