Life, for most people, is about playing the odds. Take a college kid, for example, he may say, "What are the odds of me passing if I just show up for half of the classes?" Another example is anyone taking a trip to Vegas. They are trying to beat the odds of the casinos for that big payoff. My favorite is when a group of friends look at a member of the opposite sex and say, "What are the odds of me dating/marrying that person?" In every relationship, we face odds. You may have heard me say before, "What are the odds I'd end up marrying a Midwest girl?" Apparently, when you live 9 months out of the year in the Midwest, it's a pretty good chance that you will do that. haha.
Most of the time, when we start a relationship with someone, others around us are already looking forward to the break up day. Some may put together a pool of when that relationship will end, others will instigate it by showing one person in the relationship how the other is no good for them . People love to play the odds. What the people in the illustration I just mentioned don't know is that couples love to play the odds too. They may know that others look forward to their downfall and then, in turn, this drives the couple to overcome the odds against them. In a relationship you need a number of things to make it work. 1. You need God. 2. You need trust. 3. You need communication. 4. You need to work together...so on and so forth. Now, my list is in no particular order, except number 1 being number 1. Oh, I'm sure you can fit love in their somewhere ; )
If you haven't guessed already, I'm sure you can see that today I'm going to talk about overcoming the odds that come with being in a relationship. My wife and I, some may know, had a long distance relationship. We beat the odds of living states away, seeing each other maybe 3 months out of the year (due to differing student teaching schedules). When I graduated MLC, I lived in Nebraska, and she, Minnesota. Every 2 weeks we would switch off making the journey to see each other for a weekend (more like one and a half days due to travel time). In the summer, I lived in California; she lived in Wisconsin,.again, states away. The fact that we couldn't see each other made us stronger in trust, communication, and definitely love. Without love, their would be no dedication, or want to be with the other. Today's song, "All I Need" by Mat Kearney, is a song that tells of an amazing story about overcoming grim odds. In fact, when he describes the first verse, I picture a war. This is a war of lovers vs. the odds of the world.
Here it comes it's all blowing in tonight
I woke up this morning to a blood red sky
They're burning on the bridge turning off the lights
We're on the run I can see it in your eyes
If nothing is safe then I don't understand
You call me your boy but I'm trying to be the man
One more day and it's all slipping with the sand
You touch my lips and grab the back of my hand
The back of my hand
The imagery used here is pretty powerful in that it is a bleak situation for this couple. All around them is terror. He tries to stick up for her and take on this evil coming in to break them apart but she grabs his hand and decides that, together, they should run for safety instead of risking a chance for them to be broken up. Maybe they are at the end of their relationship from outside forces or maybe, somehow, they have created their own demise. Can you sense, reader, that they want to fight to be together? They long to be in the reverie of love, to never be disturbed, or awakened, from it's soft, strong grip.
Guess we both know we're in over our heads
We got nowhere to go and no home that's left
The water is rising on a river turning red
It all might be OK or we might be dead
If everything we've got is slipping away
I meant what I said when I said until my dying day
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me
Maybe it's all gone black but you're all I see
You're all I see
The chorus is beautiful. There is a sound of hope, knowing that there is a chance to beat the odds. The person, here, is going to fight for this relationship, to fight it until he can fight no more. At the end of the chorus, can't you feel, literally, what is going on? Holding on to you, holding on to me, that is, embracing each other for the final blow. Trying to not let go. Holding on so hard that everything around you becomes a blur, the only thing you can see, is the person you are holding on to. That person, being everything you've ever wanted, the love of your life; the person that makes your heart skip a beat; your world; your only one. Reader, can't you see this? This last example reminds me of the movie "Big Fish" where Ewan McGregor's character is at the circus. He sees a girl and his whole world stops. There is everything going on around him that is distracting, but he is focused on this one person. When time starts back up, she leaves and he begins his search for her, no matter how many people say that he'll never find her.
The walls are shaking, I hear them sound the alarm
Glass is breaking so don't let go of my arm
Grab your bags and a picture of where we met
All that we'll leave behind and all that's left
If everything we've got is blowing away
We've got a rock and a rock till our dying day
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me
Maybe it's all we got but it's all I need
You're all I need
The lover's world is starting to fall apart. Everything is coming down and he tells her to hold on tight so she doesn't get hurt. He wants to make sure she is safe, above all things. From the get go of this verse we can't help but think about how this couple can't make it out. In order to survive, he tells her to grab her bags and a picture of where they met. Why a picture of where they met? It's one of those remember when conversations I wrote about in a previous post. They need anything positive that they have to inspire them to keep going, to never give up.
And if all we've got, is what no one can break,
I know I love you, if that's all we can take,
the tears are coming down, they're mixing with the rain,
I know I love you, if that's all we can take.
During this part of the song, the music picks up. This is when, I believe, they are starting their run to safety. This is what they focus on to keep them going. All you need to take in a relationship, to keep it going, is love. Not the puppy dog love because that is seen through rose colored glasses. I'm not saying it's bad, it's fun to be in that stage, but here, I'm talking about the same love God talks about. Love, in the way Jesus loved the church. This type of love is all you need to keep going. It'll beat all odds.
Here, this couple is scared. They have every right to be with the scene the writer is portraying. I think this is one of the most powerful parts. This scene should move anyone who has ever felt true love. No one can break true love. No matter how hard situations may get, the petty fights, the comments from other people, it's like the writer says, "I know I love you, no one can break that, it's all you need."
A pool is running for miles on the concrete ground
We're eight feet deep and the rain is still coming down
The TV's playing it all out of town
We're grabbing at the fray for something that won't drown
This is the final stanza of the journey this couple is trying to overcome. The emotions are running high, you can sense the scramble/struggle to hold on to each other. They are trying to grab hold of anything that won't sweep them away from each other. They are struggling in such a way that all they are looking for is the slightest reason to stay together, to beat the odds. This signifies that they are willing to keep fighting, to hang on to anything that will grant them a longer time with each other.
I don't know if you've every experienced this, reader. Maybe you have experienced people telling you that your other half isn't good enough. I know when I started dating my wife, some of her friends kept telling her that I wasn't good enough, that I wasn't her ex. When I heard this, all the odds that were against me, it gave me more reasons to prove people wrong, not for myself, but for us. You need to fight for each other because love is worth hanging on and fighting for. If you haven't had the opportunity to fight for love, I say, give it a go. I'm not saying get yourself into situations to where you have to fight for it, but when the opportunity comes, don't back off. Stand up strong against the odds, grab the hand of the one you love, and know that if all we've got, is what no one can break, I know I love you, if that's all we can take.
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