Noticings – January 19, 2022

NOTICINGS…

January 19, 2022

I know, I know. It’s a month early. But I figured I’d beat the rush and go ahead and get the February blahs started now! There’s nothing wrong, per se. Life is actually pretty darn good. My relationships, my work, my health, they’re all strong and nurturing. So why am I feeling blah? It’s not even February yet. A colleague asked me the other day how I was doing. The word that popped out of my mouth wasn’t blah – it was weary. I’ve been pondering that response ever since. Weary. Yup, that’s the word.

As almost always happens in my life, that reminded me of a song. (Yes, there’s a song for everything!) The song is called, sure enough, “Weary”. It’s by a Canadian contemporary Christian group out of St. Catherine’s called Newworldson. They never became super-famous like some groups, but I loved them because they were so unique and musical. One fascinating thing about them is that they released two different versions of this song. But first, here are some lyrics:

Weary, I’ve been weary for the longest time
Weary, living with a worried mind
Can you hear me? I could really use a friend
Weary, and I’m knocking on your door again

So, whose door is the singer knocking on? God’s door? Or maybe your door? Or both? The rest of the lyrics suggest it’s addressed to God, but in practice God works through us, so I think it’s both. That’s interesting, but not fascinating. What’s fascinating to me is that the first version they put out was slow and ponderous. Clearly it was sung by someone with the blahs, whatever month they’re in. But then a couple years later they re-recorded it at a significantly faster tempo and with a groovier groove. Can you sing about weariness without plodding? Yes, you can! And they did.

The tempo makes a huge difference. Yes, we’re still weary, but there’s a hopefulness about it. There’s a sense that there’s light to be rediscovered and felt. It’s almost like the first version they’re in the depths of it, and they’re not really certain that someone will answer the door when they knock. But in the second version they’re knocking with a sense of hopeful confidence that weariness is not the final answer. Maybe that’s one of the gifts of a deep and rich faith life. No promises that weariness will never come again – of course it will! But underneath it all there’s a resonance and a remembrance that there’s Something More too, and all it takes is a knock (or a prayer) to reconnect with that ‘something’.

Here are links to each version of the song. I hope you’ll give them a listen.
Slower version ~~~ Faster version
And I hope if you’re feeling some blahs, and some weariness, that you’ll take heart in remembering that you’re not alone, and the door will most certainly be answered when you knock!

(Click here for a video version of Noticings)