Tag Archives: grace

Funny the Way it is

Funny The Way It Is

Dave Matthew’s “Funny the Way It Is” hits on some profound aspects of our society. Injustice is all around. We need to not only consider the poor of Darfur and their plight but also the homeless in D.C. and the prostitutes in Las Vegas. Funny the way it is. The Church has a role in all of these injustices. We need to see the poor at home and abroad through the eyes of Christ. With the compassion and forgiveness that Jesus extends. “Go and sin no more!” is our proclamation throughout the earth. But the necessary thing is to first have the tender touch and the loving eyes that will have no condescension. The Evangelical movement has been quick to proclaim the sin, but the compassion is often either completely absent or significantly delayed. Funny the way that is. The lyrics are worth some contemplation:

Lying in the park on a beautiful day
Sunshine in the grass, and the children play
Siren’s passing, fire engine red
Someone’s house is burning down on a day like this
The evening comes and we’re hanging out
On the front step and a car rolls by with the windows rolled down
And that war song is playing, ‘why can’t we be friends?’
Someone is screaming and crying in the apartment upstairs

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
Somebody’s going hungry and someone else is eating out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
Somebody’s heart is broken and it becomes your favorite song

The way your mouth feels in your lovers kiss
Like a pretty bird on a breeze or water to a fish
A bomb blast brings a building crashing to the floor
You hear the laughter while the children play war

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
One kid walks 10 miles to school, another’s dropping out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
On a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born

Standing on a bridge, watch the water passing under me