Welcome to Tuesday, the first Tuesday of December! Exciting isn't it! Welcome to be the place that combines cool licks with the occasional frosty commentary, it's Tuesday's Musical Notes, coming to you from the recently windswept plains of Arkansas! Did we mention it's December? (So...really we don't know what the weather will be like in our plains!)
Ahh! December, the month where our focus turns toward giving. Secrets abound as we attempt to conceal that just-right gift for that just-right person. Whether we intend to or not, the relationships we have for folks seem to soften beginning with Black Friday and continue through New Year's Day. Why is that? Why are we not consistent with the stability of the relationships we have? Why do we possess in our lives those relationships that can only be described as tense, labored, or uneasy?
Today on Tuesday's Musical Notes we explore the "bad blood" between 2 brothers as we ease on down the road towards the biggest "better to give than to receive" time of the year and maybe, just maybe, provide some insight into relationships, good, bad and ugly. ("The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" - official trailer)
Why do you give to others? Do you really know the person in which you spend resources or do you feel an obligation due to a working or casual interaction? Is there charity in your heart as you search for their present? Does anyone really know what time it is? Why drink the water from my hand? Why follow me to higher ground? Enquiring minds want to know!!!
They barely had a band when the 1993 single "Shine" (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Shine" (Collective Soul)) went roaring up the charts to #11. They had produced the promo album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid as a means to score a publishing contract. They soon found it in record stores and selling very well. Lead singer Ed Roland however, still considers it a promo album. Upon completion of the full length, studio-produced, Collective Soul, Roland said, "It's so funny for people to compare the two. It's like comparing one band to another band. This record is our first record, flat out." (Miller, Gerri No One Hit Wonder, CS Shines With Album #2 Metal Edge (Spring 1995)) Regardless of which album is first, the early efforts of Collective Soul established them as one of the 90's favorite Rock Groups.
In an interview with the website Songfacts, Roland gave a brief description of the inspiration behind the #20 hit "December". "We were going through a tough time with our first manager, and I just felt like at the time, a lot of stuff happened really quickly. You've got to remember, we had a hit song before we had a label or even a true band. So, that relationship started to deteriorate. And while we were in the studio, it came pretty naturally. I just wanted to talk about how I felt I was being used and whatever I did was not good enough ever." ("Ed Roland of Collective Soul". Songfacts. Retrieved January 21, 2018) "December" is about...you guessed it...connectedness to other folks.
And just like that, we're back to relationships!
The very first relationship resulted in the need for the parties to separate. In Genesis 1, we see that perfect God could no longer be associated with humanity due to the sin of disobedience. Since that time mankind has had strains on relationship with God and with everyone else. One of the premier examples of strained familial relationships occurs between the sons of Isaac. Esau and Jacob. In Genesis 25:19-34 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel we read the origin stories of Esau and Jacob. Their relationship was contentious seemingly even in the womb. Rachel was having such a hard time with her pregnancy, that she cried out to God. God provides the perspective Rachel needed by speaking directly to her. God told Rachel, "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples butting heads while still in your body. One people will overpower the other, and the older will serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23 The Message) I'm not sure how much comfort this provided Rachel, but it was enough to get her through to the delivery time.
Esau and Jacob's story continued to be one of struggle. Esau was a "manly" man whom Isaac loved. Jacob was more the "indoorsy" type and was adored by Rachel. Esau sold his right as the firstborn to Jacob because he wanted something to eat, and Jacob would later deceive Isaac into giving him the blessing of the firstborn. Their relationship could only be described as dysfunctional. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Hold the Line" (Toto), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Little Lies" (Fleetwood Mac)) Due to his deceit, Jacob was afraid of what action Esau might take. So again a separation of the parties ensued. From Genesis 26-32 NASB/The Message/KJV, we read the story of Jacob and how God blessed him. God even changes Jacob's name to Israel during this time, thus beginning the nation God had promised to Abraham and Isaac.
With the passing of time, people usually mature. While this is not always the case, I have found that relationships that I have renewed and restored through social media (that's the good side of Facebook!) are significantly different than they were when I last had interaction with that person. Much life has occurred and we find ourselves in different places with different life stories, but yet the same need and desire to have the familiarity of long term consanguinity with someone else as a part of our life.
While Esau and Jacob didn't have Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, they did have the relationship of being raised together, in whatever way that developed. This tie would be the unbreakable bond, that would eventually reunite brothers who had been separated by deceit. And in Genesis 33:1-17 NASB/The Message/KJV hope springs eternal as we see those mature good relationships winning out over the petty, immature bonds which kept Esau and Jacob separated in the first place.
December promise you gave to me, December whispers of treachery...
Maybe you have that relationship that needs to be renewed. Maybe you are like Jacob and are fearful of what the reaction would be if you reached out to the other party. Ultimately, believers are called to love God and then love everyone else. This applies to every relationship we have. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB/The Message/KJV describes what that love looks like. This should be our goal with every connection to people.
As we continue this season of giving (let's face it Black Friday has been going on since the 4th of July), let's make infusing love into our relationships as much a priority as selecting that just-right gift, let's make investing in that strained kinship through maturity the first instead of the last option. Let's seek out past infractions and give the gift of restoration. In so doing, we take the best opportunity to make this December truly "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"!!! (Andy Williams - Tuesday's Musical Notes)
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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