"Rowing," by Soundgarden

I don't dance, but I did when I heard Soundgarden would be releasing a new album with Chris Cornell back where he belongs. You can pick up King Animal for $3.99 this week at amazon. Do it!

The first song on the album, "Rowing," is one of my favorites on this new release. It's gotta a cool grove.



The lyrics aren't complicated, but they are revealing.

Don't know where I'm going I just keep on rowing
I just keep on polling, gotta row
Don't know where I'm going I just keep on rowing
I just keep on polling, gotta row

Can't see the sky, nothing's on the horizon
Can't feel my hands and the water keeps risin'
Can't fall asleep 'cause I wake up dead

These lyrics are the antithesis of Socrates' famous quote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." In this song, there's no pondering or reflecting - just rowing. The verse says,

Moving is breathing and breathing is life
Stopping is dying
You'll be alright
Life is a hammer waiting to drop
Drifting the shallows and the rowing won't stop
Don't know where I'm going I just keep on rowing

This song reminds me of a quote that my dad had hanging on his office wall for years, "Beware the bareness of a busy life." I gotta admit, if I'm not real careful, life and even my ministry can be like this. Just keep doing. Don't stop doing. Why are we doing? Don't know, but don't stop. This kind of thinking can creep into our spiritual lives too. Read, Pray, Bible Study, Row, Church, Volunteering, Read, Pray, Row.

Pick your eyes up and look to the horizon. Where are you rowing? What's the goal - the destination?

The goal is glorious - it's deep union with God through Christ and his Spirit. We're moving in that direction, being propelled, not by our effort but by the currents of the Spirit. Rowing to row, rowing without a destination has to be discouraging. Rowing to get somewhere is invigorating, even if the water gets rough the pulling hard.