Back in 2003 award winning English singer/song writer Dido (real name Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong) put out her second big CD Life for Rent. The title song is a melancholy number about feeling disconnected, unable to commit to love or life.
haven’t really ever found a place that I call home
I never stick around quite long enough to make it
I apologize that once again I’m not in love
But it’s not as if I mind
that your heart ain’t exactly breaking”But if my life is for rent and I don’t learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Reflecting on the chorus -“my life is for rent”, “nothing I have is truly mine” I find myself asking the question – what do I have which is truly mine? Certainly not my house, my car and my many possessions: a fire, a flood, a thorough burglar and they’re gone. My family and friends? Kids grow up and move away. Their days of dependence race by and they rapidly become their own people – which is as it should be. Friends also have an annoying tendency to move on – scattering themselves around the world.
My wife – surely she is truly mine? No way. She is not my possession, we are lent to each other for a while, to love and cherish, but relationships are fragile and can be shattered by one bad mistake. And even if we make it the full distance the contract only lasts till death doth us part.
OK my body, my mind – those have got to be mine, right? Wrong. When I was young and inordinately proud of my physique I never imagined that I’d become white haired, arthritic and lumpy. Our bodies betray us and although we can delay the ravages of time with exercise, diet and surgery eventually the wrinkles win.
Already I find myself struggling to recall names or standing in front of a cupboard unable to recall what I wanted inside. My mind, although I’ve cluttered it with furniture, is only rented. Like everything else in life eventually I’ll have to give it up.
Jesus pointed out that it’s foolish investing our time, energy and passion in the transitory things of this world. “Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (Luke 12:33 from The Message) This strikes me, especially during a major recession and during Lent, as vital advice.
Life For Rent – Dido
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