Too busy to notice

The other night, I went out to iTunes to add some Country songs to my playlist.  I've been listening to The Bull (one of the Country stations here in Atlanta) a lot lately and it was time to make a few purchases.

Revoke my man card if you like, but I really like ballads.  One of the songs that I downloaded (partly because I love the lead vocalist's voice) is "If I die young" by The Band Perry.  I've been listening to it a lot lately, and have gotten really stuck on the words of the last verse...

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singing
Funny, when you're dead how people start listening

Wow.  I don't want to speculate on what the song writer was intending to convey in this prose, but it appears like the desperate words of someone crying out for someone to listen; and in a final act of desperation destroying themselves.  It's quite a sad and tragic thought.

What is more tragic, in this hypothetical case, is the "what if."  What if someone who could help this character in the song see the value in their life would wake up from their own stress, their own self, and their own... busyness to listen, engage, and speak life into their soul?  

The sharp knife of a short life

What's sad is that in many ways this song, and this verse, describes the plight of our culture.  We are too busy and distracted in our own world to notice our own broken souls... much less engage in community and engage with others, get to know what makes their soul tick and vise-versa let them into see what makes our soul tick, and then share and give life.  Instead, we focus on ourselves, the pressures that mount on us, and we react to peoples' external "issues" (the ones that bug us) versus seeing their life story and how we can engage.  That takes time. 


What would happen, especially for those of us that follow Jesus (who was not too busy to help hurting people), if we stopped for a second and looked into people in a caring way?  What would happen if we also stopped and connected with Jesus, the one who gives us life? 

And to... Be still.  Know God, and see people through His eyes. 

Would we be more compassionate?  

Would we be more loving? 

Would we consider those thoughts of greater value than a penny?  

I believe that we would - but we have to be intentional because the current of our culture is to get more busy, more distracted, more "productive" and thus less others-oriented.  This is very convicting to me, because I would never want a friend to write this song describing how they feel about me, but I imagine that some can. I get too busy - and that shouldn't be a reason for pride.  It should be something that brings us to repentance.  


Nickel for your thoughts?