Day 23

Welcome Back!

I am currently on a journey to listen to nothing but Christian Music for 30 days straight, and this blog is dedicated to documenting that journey. I have been writing about my experiences over the last 3 weeks on this blog, and if you want to learn about what started this journey, or simply why I chose to do it, then I suggest that you go back to the beginning and read the very first blog. And if you want to see if this blog has had any impact on my life up to this point, then I suggest that you go and read any other of my blogs. Now, let’s get into the blog for today.

Good Morning! Now, I understand that whenever you are reading this, it might not be morning for you, but right now, as I write this in a Starbucks café waiting for my girlfriend to get done working, it is very much still the morning. And the reason why I am up this early is because I am trying to get caught up on all these blogs. If you didn’t know, I am a little behind because of life getting in the way, but I am going to spend the next hour and a half writing at least 2 blogs, and then possibly another one later tonight. so hold on tight, because we are about to dive in.

The song that I want to spotlight today is a song from a band called For King and Country, and to be honest, I am surprised that it has taken me this long to write about this band. This band is one of the biggest bands in the world right now, not just Christian music. They have been one of the only bands that I can remember of that has had mainstream success, and consistent mainstream success, yet has stuck with being a band that sings about the glory of God. So for that, I would have to say that they are an inspiration to many. Now, the song that I am writing about is not the song that many of you might be thinking of, which is joy. their latest single to have both mainstream and Christian radio success. However, you would be mistaken. Don’t mix that up though and think that I am saying that song is not worthy of your listen though, because it for sure is. If you have not seen that song, then I suggest that you go listen to it immediately and go watch the music video while you are at it. The song that I am highlighting today is actually the title track off their latest album, and it is called burn the ships. The reason that I want to highlight this is because there is a really cool history lesson that is tied into the theological lesson that they are singing about, which I find really cool. So if you are ready, we are going to dive into the song now.

The song starts off with a very sharp and distinct piano key, that almost comes across as poignant, but without the sad connotation. It is hard to describe the emotions that it evokes, but it is definitely a distinct chord that will make you feel something. The song starts off very mellow and slow with this chord, but as you will see throughout your listen through, the song will pick up and become more grand throughout the course of it’s play through. The lyrics start: “How did we get here? We’re cast away, on a lonely shore, it’s hard to take, for a moment more, we’ve got to, burn the ships, cut the ties, send a flare into the night, say a prayer, turn the tide, dry your tears and wave goodbye.” There are a few ways that you can interpret that verse, but I think that the main way two main ways to interpret it are a fractured relationship between a couple, and a fractured relationship between man and God. That is the beauty of this song, because it can be interpreted through those lenses the entire song. As the lyrics state, “How did we get here? We’re cast away, on a lonely shore.” it can sometimes be hard to figure out how you get to the place of disconnect where you might find yourself. The hard truth is that the disconnect is not something that happens immediately. It is usually a slow fade away from each other, whether that be with another person or with God. The “cause” for finding yourself on that lonely shore is usually a lack of intention, and disregard for the other person until you no longer feel connected with them. Now, I do want to say that when it comes to our relationship with god, that lack of intention and disregard for the other person is very one sided, and that one side would be us lacking intention in our relationship with God. I feel as though this blog has done a great job of explaining that God will never turn his back on his people, and because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are ALL his people. Anyways, getting back into the song, the lyrics continue by singing a line that you only hear a few times in the song, but it is the title of the song, and it is what I want to talk about next.

For those of you who read this blog, and have played sports, then you probably know the expression “Burn the Ships”, or if you are a big history buff, then you would know it as well. But for those of you who don’t know the expression, then let me enlighten you. The expression comes from the story of Hernan Cortez. Hernan was a Spanish conqueror in the 16th century, and he was in charge of conquering the Aztec empire, and claiming the land of Mexico for the Spanish empire. He understood the risk of this mission, and when his ships landed on the beach of the Yucatan, he wanted to let his men know that they did not have the option of retreating. He did not want them to have the idea in the back of their minds that if things got hard, then they could go back to the ships and go home. So he ordered the ships to be burned, so that his men were offered only two choices; conquer the land, or die. Now I understand that is a bit harsh and severe, but it got the job done, and I think there is a great lesson to be learned from this story that can relate to our lives here on earth, and our faith walk. The reason why Cortez burned the ships is because he wanted to remove any sense of safety or comfort that might have allowed the soldiers to hold back in the fight they faced. When you know that you have the option to retreat and go back to safety and comfort, that option is very, VERY, easy to take when things get tough. And I personally believe that is why a lot of people struggle to make a difference in the world today. Burning your own personal ships means that you are going ALL IN on whatever it is that you are doing. In the context of this song, the artists are talking about burning the ships of past problems and insecurities that might be holding you back from giving yourself over fully to your partner. Or maybe they are saying that the ships we need to burn are our need to control things in our life, and the idea that God can never fully forgive or accept us for who we are. Whatever your ship is that is holding you back, you will never truly experience the fullest of your blessing until you go All in, and burn the ship. Whatever is holding you back, and keeping you from committing fully to either your partner or God, that is the ship that you need to burn. And that is the main thing that I want to get out of this song, but I do want to talk about the main chorus as well, so let’s get into that briefly.

The main chorus starts right after the first verse finishes saying the last line. There is no musical build up to the grand crescendo that is about to happen, because that build up has been done through the way that the guys are singing the song. This is one of those songs where the main chorus BURSTS onto the scene, and the first lyrics of it are: “Step into a new day, we can rise up from the dust and walk away. We can dance upon the heart ache yeah, so light a match, leave the past, burn the ships, and don’t you look back.” As you can see, this just a triumphant declaration of the things that we already talked about. This song is a cry for us to get up on our feet, burn the ships of the things that are holding us to our past, and step into the light of the new day. Whatever is holding you back from your relationship with God, whatever your past trauma is, light the match, leave your past, burn the ships, and DON’T YOU LOOK BACK! Trust that God has a plan for your that is going to not only work out for your good, but also for his glory. I hope that you have found encouragement from this song, and I hope that you feel the inspiration to burn whatever ships are holding you back in your life. Thank you for reading, and may God bless you.