heart of the matter

Yesterday, on the way home from work, the perfect song came on the radio. It's rare this happens, right?  I savored it. You might judge my perfect song, but on the rainy drive home, Don Henley's voice spoke to me.

i hope this is the right song. my speakers don't work.

This could be the best break-up song in the world. (Sorry, Adele.) Though, I'm not going through that thankfully...some of th lyrics, that I've known for years, rang true once more....

The more I know, the less I understand. 

And the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again

Yes, Don Henely, preach it. Don't you get sick of feeling this way? Just when I think I have some element of life figured out is the same moment that I realize that I know nothing. It's a vicious cycle. My wise mother told me once, "we're always learning, we never stop." Learning is hard, with learning comes growing and a lot of times that hurts. This happens a lot with our transitions to adulthood, which I'd say can range from age 20-30? Frankly, sometimes I don't like it. The fact that I'm going to be doing this learning bit my whole life is a little tiring. 

But what you've got to do at those times that it gets tiring is refer to the chorus of this lovely tune that points you to the answer...

I've been trying to get down

To the heart of the matter

But my will gets week

and my thoughts see to scatter, but I think it's about....forgiveness

Forgiveness

We've got to get down to the heart of the matter. The point of it all. But, what is the heart of the matter? 

Not in the song, which is talking about the heart of the matter of why they broke up, but the heart of THE matter. The reason why we are here, what's the purpose of all this learning. To become better people? But, what's the point of that? To become better and more moral to make ourselves feel good? What's at the heart of all this? 

This leads me to think about the only thing in my life where the MORE I know, the MORE I understand. Or rather, the more I know, the more I want to understand and that is when it comes to God's love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 

Which is why Easter is a big deal, Jesus rose from the dead, giving proof that he was the son of God.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish but have eternal life. 

There's so much to understand, learn and grasp through that verse in Christianity. 

This is where the heart of everything that happens in this world beats for me. I don't often think about the magnitude of this often as I wish I did. But, when I am learning, struggling, celebrating or wondering what everything is for, it always comes back to this. God's truth, God's realness, God's love.

Even when my will is weak and my thoughts are scattered, it IS about forgiveness. God loved me before I was born and continues to through my weak will and my scattered thoughts. He accepts me just as I am. He'd accept me if I was worse and if I did better his acceptance would be the same. Acceptance, Forgiveness, Grace.

Celebrate Easter on this Sunday! It's when God gave us access to the acceptance, forgiveness and grace through Christ!

(I'd probably have more Heart of the Matter reflections, but I have to go. I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't ruin your weekend .)