Mar. 10, 2014
by Bob Farrell
Tomorrow is a Whole Other Day
In this blog on Feb. 3, I featured my song “Carry On” and talked about how unfair life is and the roots of that condition, that stretch all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And about how critical it is for each of us to get back up when life flattens us, get in touch with God’s plan, and get on with our lives.
There’s no doubt Jayne and I have experienced ups/downs, good/bad, lovely/ugly, carefree/time-worn, happy/sad - all the full spectrum of life. And we’re not unique in that - the rains fall in each and every person’s life.
In a span of ten years we started over twice: once after bankruptcy in year 2000, and again after the 2010 Nashville Flood wiped out everything - house, belongings, keepsakes. And in between those cataclysms we had re-grouped, re-upped, re-started: got up and got on.
All the while knowing God had not singled us out for exceptional punishment; He wasn’t mad at us - life is just serendipitous, sometimes crappy, and certainly no respector of man.
Last week I released my first book, When the Rains Fall, chronicling the entirety of our flood experience down to this day. My motivation for writing the book was simple: to convey to anyone listening in how God always has a purpose and a plan - in the midst of every single calamity in our lives.
You can go get the book and see how miraculous was the aftermath and build-back after Flood Day 2010 - it’s quite a story (and, by the way, I promised to give you the 4-1-1 on how to get your free copy of the 30th Anniversary dance-mix of “People in a Box” - remember? That’s how you get it :).
But today I want to feature a song that came out of me - eventually - after our bankruptcy: "Believin'". No mud involved, but loads of devastation.
The bankruptcy was not sudden, it took years to ramp-up. I told some of this in my book, so I won’t repeat it here. But what I want to stress is the stress: leading up to and in the wake of that failure. And make no mistake, it was a failure.
And that failure got all over Jayne and I: full-on clinical depression for her and a black-hole gloom for me. I locked up mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically; retreated on to the couch in our tiny condo and couldn’t be nudged off it for literal months.
Can you relate? Ever felt like the meaning of life meant to swallow you whole? In my somewhat self-indulgent-but-nonetheless-paralyzed state I could not seem to jump-start. But, thanks be to God, He eventually sliced through the gloom.
I had made Him a Stranger, but He was having none of it. Jesus quickened me, empowered me, and booted me in the seat of my humanly-frail pants - reminded me that to be a believer meant believing.
All the while knowing God had not singled us out for exceptional punishment; He wasn’t mad at us - life is just serendipitous, sometimes crappy, and certainly no respector of man.
Last week I released my first book, When the Rains Fall, chronicling the entirety of our flood experience down to this day. My motivation for writing the book was simple: to convey to anyone listening in how God always has a purpose and a plan - in the midst of every single calamity in our lives.
You can go get the book and see how miraculous was the aftermath and build-back after Flood Day 2010 - it’s quite a story (and, by the way, I promised to give you the 4-1-1 on how to get your free copy of the 30th Anniversary dance-mix of “People in a Box” - remember? That’s how you get it :).
But today I want to feature a song that came out of me - eventually - after our bankruptcy: "Believin'". No mud involved, but loads of devastation.
The bankruptcy was not sudden, it took years to ramp-up. I told some of this in my book, so I won’t repeat it here. But what I want to stress is the stress: leading up to and in the wake of that failure. And make no mistake, it was a failure.
And that failure got all over Jayne and I: full-on clinical depression for her and a black-hole gloom for me. I locked up mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically; retreated on to the couch in our tiny condo and couldn’t be nudged off it for literal months.
I’ve had times when the fear and the darkness were out to cover my soul
I lost hope when the meaning of life seemed to mean to swallow me whole
Somewhere on this road to destruction my eyes were flooded with light
I took strength from the voice of a Stranger whose words would stand me to fight
Saying, “This will not last - This, too, shall pass!”
And I believe in believin’
When life is bringin’ nothin’ but pain
Yes, I believe in believin’
That time will send my troubles away
Still there’s a God and a reason
Tomorrow is a whole other day
I believe in believin’
I stood tall on a mountain of promise and saw the places I’ve been
I felt faith when I gazed at the future and knew I’d walk to the end
Saying, “No road too long - I will go on!”
That’s what happened to me, anyway. When you’re in the gutter it’s a truth that wherever you look is up - and sometimes in order to rise up, all that’s required of you is to re-ackowledge who you are and who He is.
I believe in believin’.
Tomorrow is a whole other day.
(from Bob Farrell Collection - Lyrics by Bob Farrell/Music Bob Farrell and Six Fyne, circa 2007)
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