"...life is complex, and the idea that you can break it down or fix it in a few steps is rather silly. The truth is there are a million steps, and we don't even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing. I have come to believe the sooner we find this truth beautiful, the sooner we will fall in love with the God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us to not rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic mantras, or genies in lamps, but rather in His guidance, His existence, His mercy, and His love."
- Donald Miller, "Searching for God Knows What"
This quote reminds me of a song I wrote close to 20 years ago and that we're putting on our new CD (to be released in March 2009):
Quick Fix
c.11/18/1990 by Bob Young
When I skinned my knee Momma made me feel better
but the wound still needed time to heal
When Betty broke my heart you know I wanted to die
somehow I survived that long ordeal
Heartache to heartache I grew strong
learning to take whatever comes along
and now I don't want a quick fix,
I don't need a quick fix.
I went to Sunday School, I heard the Golden Rule
from folks who fought over chairs and padded pews
When my friend got fired he made their prayer list
but they kept their cash - he didn't share their views
I grew disillusioned but I held on
`cause there's no confusion between right and wrong
(I think that's wrong)
but I don't want a quick fix,
I don't need a quick fix.
No, no - I don't want a quick fix -
Mister, you can keep your quick fix!
Some talk of pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye
Well, I believe in a place called Heaven
No tears, no fears, no sin, no dyin'
but in the meantime I've got to keep on livin'
through laughter and sorrow, sun and rain
sharing the Savior's great love and pain
I don't want a quick fix,
No, no - I don't need a quick fix.
Hey, hey - I don't want a quick fix -
Mister, you can keep your quick fix!
It turns out that I also put it into a beat poem (all you first edition owners of "The Big", please raise your hand...):
Nix
c.3/17/1989 by Bob Young
The ecstatic fanatic
is an addict
for the hot quick fix,
but what sticks through shocks
is nix (or not a lot, at least).
They feast on yeast,
they lick the bowl,
and in the end
they lose the life
and the control
they pained and strained
and racked their brains
and sweated and fretted
and dreamed and schemed
and tried and died
to hold on to.
Nix on the quick fix.
I wonder if I've actually learned this lesson yet? Or maybe it's one of those lessons that keeps coming back around again and again to pry yet one more grasping finger off the hold of my life. In any case, God is relentless and will settle for nothing less than my complete trust in His way, His goodness, and His timing. Nix on the quick fix.
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