Day 7 of Lent, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Although on the way down, "Demons" by Imagine Dragons is a recent Top 40 pop hit whose lyrics discuss some interesting themes for the Lenten Season.

The lyrics represent a dark soul who feels trapped by the demons inside and represent a rather bleak look at relationships and life in general.

The main chorus states:

    No matter what we breed
    We are still made of greed
    This is my kingdom come
    This is my kingdom come

This of course is a reference to the singer's being in opposition to the Lord's Prayer where we pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  It is an honest recognition that our own greed often outweighs any better nature that we would try to emulate.

The song reveals more when it states:

    Don't get too close
    It's dark inside
    It's where my demons hide
    It's where my demons hide

and then later:

    Don't want to let you down
    But I am hell bound
    Though this is all for you
    Don't wanna hide the truth

A little melodramatic but an attempt to be open in all his faults.  In a sense, saying, "This is who I am.  You can't possibly want to be with someone with this many issues."  This continues as the singer states:

    They say it's what you make
    I say it's up to fate
    It's woven in my soul
    I need to let you go

Soloist of the Bolshoi Paul Hohlov as Demon

This is the theme of free will versus determinism again (see yesterday's post). It is a resignation that while this person is bad, he is at least able to see it and part ways so as not to infect the other with this darkness.

This reminds me of when Jesus encounters the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark 5:1-20.  The Demoniac
separates himself from friends and family to live among the dead.  They even tried to restrain him but he broke free of them to live in self-imposed isolation.  This is what the song appears to be leading us toward but we have a final possibility of hope when he sings:

   Your eyes they shine so bright
    I wanna save that light
    I can't escape this now
    Unless you show me how

As Christians, we remember that we are created in God's image.  Even as sin touches our lives, we understand that in Christ we reclaim that original grace.  We may find that after our encounter with Christ, we find ourselves in our right mind just like the Demoniac did. We see that our inner demons may be surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ.  Not an easy thing to do but something that we should at least attempt during Lent.

I'm not a super top 40 guy, but I liked this song for our own Christian Top 40 (days of Lent).

Lyrics (C) 2013 KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records
Picture via Wikimedia commons