On Friday nights, a couple of us generally do a guitar jam session. Last night it was The Beatles. We played some songs from Rubber Soul from 1965, when I was three 😀. It’s strange thinking how young the Beatles were back then. John Lennon would have been 25.
One of my favourites from that album is “In My Life”. I first heard the song in 1974, when I got into the Beatles. Now that I’m in my 60s, that song is much more relevant to me. I have so many more people and places to reflect on. And I am so thankful.
I sometimes convert secular songs to spiritual songs in my own mind. Lennon wrote:
But of all these friends and lovers,
There is no-one compares with you,
And these memories lose their meaning,
When I think of love as something new.
For me, no-one compares with God. But far from losing their meaning, I see all those memories in positive terms. I like to think that God planned out my life. Not everyone is at ease with such a notion, but it’s always a great comfort to me.
Eph 1:11
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
Memories can bring joy but also sadness as we think of what we lost along the way. A very recent secular song, from 2019, touches on this.
When I reflect on my life, I’m often saddened by all the changes. I like to cling to memories, but there’s something – someone greater to cling to. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. That’s why Abide With Me is one of my favourite hymns:
1 Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
3 I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
4 I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless,
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Hibernia Gospel 