Five Minute Friday: "Summer."

 

 

Luke 9:25 (NIV) - "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"  

The Monkees "The Door Into Summer" was among my favorite songs when I was a teenager (this was their resurgence in the 80s--I'm not that old).  While I still enjoy the Nesmith/Dolenz harmonies, the great blend of the instruments, and of course, the prominent bass line I would love to learn, the lyrics (that I didn't understand when I was younger) speak of gloomy regret:

[Verse 1]

With his fool's gold stacked up all around him
From a killing in the market on the war
The children left King Midas there, as they found him
In his counting house where nothing counts but more

[Chorus]

And he thought he heard the echoes of a penny whistle band
And the laughter from a distant caravan
And the brightly painted line of circus wagons in the sand
Fading through the door into summer

[Verse 2]

With his travelogues of "maybe next year" places
As a trade-in for a name upon the door
And he pays for it with years he cannot buy back with his tears
When he finds out there's been no one keeping score

(Lyrics by Chip Douglas and Bill Martin.  Copyright 1967)

To me, the "door into summer" speaks of the fun moments and joys of life that were traded for "fool's gold" and "a name upon the door."  I can easily shake my head at such nonsense and lament over someone wasting their life on doing nothing but seeking riches and status while ignoring simple joys and the possibility of friendship and love. But what am I trading for a chance to step through the "door into summer"? I've never been rich or been important enough to have my name on the door (Ok, I had a name plate on my cubicle at work, but that's not the same).  The past 18 months have found me fighting the temptation to trade my soul (mind, will, and emotions) for following arbitrary, fear-filled rules and regulations; trading mental and physical health for vegging in front of escape entertainment; and trading loving friendship for depressing isolation and incessant scrolling through "anti-social" media.  

My "door into summer" isn't about a season, it's about an attitude. Even with the great things that happened in 2020 and the tragic events in my own family, I can't shake the feeling that the year was a wash and never really happened. I can't shake the feeling that I literally lost a year.  Joel 2:25 (NIV) says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten." My "door into summer" is regaining the attitude of summer fun and joy, regaining what I lost, and keeping that "door" open all year long.

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In case you missed it:  

* My last Five Minute Friday post "Quiet" is here.
* My last Wednesday Hodgepodge post, "Salty Dog" is here.
* My last Simple Woman's Daybook post "Junior Asparagus," is here.
* My latest 2021 Flip and Sip Reading Challenge review of Love Does is here.
* My latest Auntie's Workshop post "Finishing and Fixing II" is here.