Good Tuesday to ya friend! How are you getting by? We are certainly living in an out of tune time wouldn't you say? Well, we are on perfect pitch here at Tuesday's Musical Notes and we have another offering of musical fun with a twist! It's Tuesday...please don't stand up and walk out on me!...
Or perhaps you prefer a little slower, bluesy beat...
Regardless of the translation, "With A Little Help From My Friends" has been an anthem for generations of people who have overcome adversity with aid from the folks around them.
The original Beatles' track was written by McCartney and Lennon the day before the band posed for the iconic cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was the 2nd track from Sgt. Pepper's and comes as a segue out of the title track. The 1978 reissue single (featuring Sgt. Pepper's as the lead in) peaked at #71 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song also serves as the finale of any of Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band concerts. Written with a purposefully limited range, it serves as Ringo's guaranteed vocal on Sgt. Pepper's.
The song did have its detractors as then Maryland Governor and future Vice President Spiro Agnew, moved to have the song banned because of his belief that it was about drug use.
Joe Cocker covered the song as the title track from his 1969 album. This remake features Procol Harum's drummer, B.J. Wilson, as well as some of the guitar lines being provided by Jimmy Page. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The Song Remains the Same" (Led Zeppelin), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Immigrant Song" (Led Zeppelin), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Stairway to Heaven" (Led Zeppelin), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Thank You" (Led Zeppelin)) Cocker's version was a slower chart and was highlighted in the movie and soundtrack taken from the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. What may be even better remembered than it being a cover of a Beatles' song is Cocker's contortions during his performance at Woodstock most famously parodied by John Belushi on Saturday Night Live "With A Little Help From My Friends" - John Belushi
Let's face it, on occasion we all need to have assistance from friends, especially if we sing out of key. Many times, however, we are afraid to ask for that help. It seems, in our pride, we think we can handle anything that comes our way. This reluctance to ask for aid can result in some bad things: burn-out, unmet deadlines, distrust, and disunity to name a few.
Moses found himself in a situation much like the bad things to which we just eluded. He had allowed himself to be used by God to perform incredible miracles. He had seen God move in mighty and mysterious ways. Although he begged God for Aaron's help when confronting Pharoah, we don't see Moses' leaning on his brother very much afterward. Moses probably didn't want to let God down so he did not ask for help in leading the children of Israel's nearly 2 1/2 million people to the promised land. (For perspective, that is a number of folks in between the current total populations of the states of New Mexico and Kansas) So what do you do when you're worried about being alone?
Moses, with 2.5 million of his closest friends in tow, encounters his father-in-law, Jethro, on the way to Mt. Sinai. Jethro has been shielding Moses' wife and sons from the events in Egypt and has brought them out to join the merry band of travelers. What Jethro finds is a worn-out Moses who is playing judge and jury to every contrary conversation that the Israelites are having between themselves. Remember this is a bedouin group of people that is becoming a nation. Aside from natural human morality, there are no laws. They also still have some of the Egyptians who were favorable to them in Egypt among their ranks as well. All of these folks...no rules.
Jethro, as all loving fathers-in-law would do, asks Moses what in the world is going on? Moses explains and Jethro lays out, again as all good fathers-in-law should do, a plan that will ease the burden on Moses' leadership and give him the time to focus on what God is calling him to do.
A close examination of Jethro's advice soon seems familiar. Imagine an arbiter that judges cases on local levels, a more responsible judge decides among a larger group, and so on. Seems like a model the United States adopted when creating the judicial branch of our government. Federal Judiciary of the United States of America - wikipedia.org
Moses is immediately down with this idea as it will lighten his load and give him more time to focus on being the mediator between man and God...for that time.
We all need help every once in a while. Either we aren't physically strong enough to face the challenge or we may not be spiritually, mentally prepped to endure. Whatever the reason, the Bible is filled with examples and advice of those who received a little help from their friends with some really good results in the process. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NASB/The Message/KJV Jesus was rarely alone and the apostle Paul usually had someone with him on his missionary journeys. Their way was made less difficult with a little help from some friends.
Do you need anybody?
I confess this is one of the biggest issues in which I struggle. In my independence and pride, I don't succeed as often as I would if I would just ask for help. Perhaps this is an area of concern for you as well. The best place to start is by realizing that we have a Help that is waiting for us to call out to Him. His name is Jesus and our ability to accomplish good, purposeful things in this life is greatly enhanced when we ask for His leadership over our lives. He is waiting to act as an intermediary between us and God and can provide the strength and clarity that we need to accomplish any task He asks us to do. You need only ask for a little help from this Friend, you'll get by with a little help from this Friend, you can try with a little help from this Friend...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment