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Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
…
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
- Don Henley, The End of the Innocence

I like Don Henley; Don really knows how to paint a glorious picture and then smash it to bits. But, in many ways The End of the Innocence paints an accurate picture of the “already but not yet” state the earthly inhabitants of the Kingdom of God find themselves. It’s brilliant, actually, but Henley has no answers, which makes the song so wistful and depressing. (Thank goodness for Bruce Hornsby’s wistful but bouyant piano work.)

I often think back to my childhood, spending lazy days laying on the cool grass, studying bugs, listening to the wind rustle through elm & cottonwood leaves, and watching clouds roll by. Even then, life was not always idyllic. Bad things happened: things broke, pets and people died, there were rumors of wars. I learned fairly early on that there were things outside of my control, and even outside of my parents’ control. However, for the most part, I did have my parents to rely on. I didn’t have to be responsible for much of anything except getting my homework done. I could hang out in my yard, which was miles away from the rest of the world, and life was good:

But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by man
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind

It’s not the same anymore. I lay out in our yard now, and I’m instantly aware that it needs mowing, or fertilizing, or something. I now have responsibility, to a lot of people. I’m responsible to my family, to everything I own, to my employer, to the hordes outside my gate to whom I have obligations. Everything comes with a bill attached.

Responsibility is the end of the innocence. The way Don Henley writes, it’s all someone else’s fault:

Armchair warriors often fail
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin …

Perhaps we can blame Adam (or Eve). We can pin it all on Satan. Or, if you’re one of the new liberals, on the President. But, in the long run, it doesn’t help:

Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

In the end, there’s really no one else to blame, or at least it doesn’t matter. Responsibility is what it is, no matter where it came from. Behind that, of course, is knowledge; more specifically, the knowledge of good and evil. That knowledge is a weight that we weren’t intended to bear, but as they say, that’s life. We know, and we are aware of responsibility.

This is the end of the song, but not of the story. If the story ended, leaving us only with responsibility, I’d be as depressed as any of the existentialists. However, as the Bible says, “He (God) gives more grace.” Grace empowers us to deal with life in the interim - the world as we know it. Grace also reconnects us with the source of all responsibility, lifting it again off of our shoulders (Come, he who is burdened …). Grace empowers us to mow the grass, as it were, and to get back to laying in the grass.

But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by man
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind

The end of the innocence? No - grace is the beginning.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
- The Declaration of Independence

One of the problems with “we, the people” is that our country began with the assertion that we have been given, by God, these “inalienable” rights. It’s interesting, then, that God allowed His people to spend so much time as slaves. Or, perhaps it’s just us Americans who have these rights?

I ask this rhetorically, of course, not to mention sarcastically. In America, we’re all about rights - we yell and scream over them, file lawsuits about them, and create news stories about them. We’re more than just the land of opportunity; we’re the land of rights. Everybody has rights - more rights than we know what to do with. We’re up to our necks in rights. We’ve got more rights than the Colonel has chicken. I have rights that I’ve never even used.

Do we really have these inalienable, God-given rights? Just where in the Bible might we find them? It has always been my impression from reading through the Bible, especially the New Testament, that we have been given gifts, not rights, except for this: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— (John 1:12). This, in turn, does give us certain rights as “fellow heirs.” However, these rights are not necessarily what is conjured up by the D of I. Physical liberty is not guaranteed (as evidence by Paul and other apostles), eternal life is ours, but again, the apostles’ example is enough to show that does not necessarily apply to physical life. And “pursuit of happiness?” We have joy, of course.

We can debate to death what is ours through Christ- some would even go so far as to say wealth and perfect health (though they are dead wrong). My proposition is this: it doesn’t matter.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
- Paul, Letter to the Philippians

The only heir who wasn’t adopted had all the rights of the one who created everything; that includes the right to crush creation on a whim and start over. He had the right to take whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted, live like a - well - a God. The point is that he didn’t; he gave up all of these rights in order to serve his creation. He gave up position, safety, comfort, a life without pain, a life without hassles, a life without physical death, and - think of it - a life without the confines of a human body.

Jesus, Paul states, is to be our example. To live a life without rights, constantly putting yourself in a position of weakness and humility, serving others. Our expectation is not that we will be great in this life, or rich, or even comfortable. We are not promised this - in fact, we are sometimes promised quite the opposite.

Wow… that kind of takes all the fun out of being an American, doesn’t it?

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

-Paul, Letter to the Philippians

So, what’s the deal with Paul, anyway? He sounds like he should be walking around in a Calypso shirt singing, Don’t worry, be happy. It seems that in Paul’s writings, you can find something for everyone. He calls the Galatians stupid and rants about wanting to do terrible things to a few teachers he doesn’t agree with. To the Corinthians, he has lots to say - and has been branded as a misogynist and anti-marriage as a result. Now here, he comes off like someone straight out of the 60’s: “peace, be mellow.”

Today, anyone who preaches “think nice thoughts” gets nailed by the “serious” Christians. Don’t they? Remember Norman Vincent Peale? Bob Schuller? And what about Joel Osteen? Are they really “Christianity lite” or do they really have something to say? (I confess, I have made fun of Bob, too - we used to call the Crystal Cathedral the “Crystal Lite Church.”)

In this day of war, secularism, evil post-modernist philosophy & strife, it’s not always popular to tell people to rejoice that their glass is half-full, and to pray that it gets filled even more. After all, if people are happy, they can’t be controlled by guilt. They may not even feel compelled to tithe, or to sit through another boring, “do more, try harder” sermon.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is somewhat different than many of his other letters, as this one was not written to correct - if anything, it was just a letter to friends and financial supporters. We might even suppose that this letter reveals the “real” Paul, or perhaps, Paul in a moment of peace.

I’ve always liked Paul, in his various personas, but I think I am especially fond of this one, who, when at the end of the day and his battles have been fought, can say with all sincerity, “Rejoice. Don’t worry, be happy. Give your worries to God, and relish God’s peace. And, think happy thoughts.”