Sometimes a pop song comes along that is dreamy, filled with the hope and sheer joy of youthfulness. It makes you feel like the world is a wonderful place, that youth is a passionate, vibrant thing. You sing along to the words without really listening to them, convinced by the positive beat that all is well in the world, and in the song. The song Forever Young by a band called Youth Group is such a song, a worldwide hit, the video filled with images from my youth in the '80s, skateboards and such-like. I love this song, the lightness, the memories that it evokes. Then I look at the lyrics, not that I want to, I want it to be celebratory of my youth, of life, but I have to because I suspect there is something a little sinister going on. There is much that I agree with. The phrase, Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies - I am completely at one with - I don't want to die yet. I have a living, breathing loving relationship with my God here on earth. God created the earth and said it was good, and I'm completely in agreement with him. I love what he has created, the beauty, the wonder, the endless flow of life living and dying, the tides rising and falling. I don't need heaven yet, it can wait, for as long as possible. I have so much to do here, so much to give, to share, to learn, to enjoy. I would rather sit with my God on earth than die and go to heaven. But I remain certain that the same God who created earth has created heaven, and therefore it will be a place of even greater wonder, even though I find that hard to imagine. And the joy that I experience in worship will be greater in heaven as my Saviour will be there, directly present. It's hard to get old without a cause I don't want to perish like a fleeing horse Youth's like diamonds in the sun and diamonds are forever Absolutey, I don't want to just fade into old age. There is a vitality, a recklessness about being young that invigorates and empowers me. But only amongst those youth who have a cause, without a cause young people are not only dull company, but their lives are as desperately meaningless as they are desperately meaningful when they have a cause. All that energy, that passion can be repressed within, a festering poison that leaks out in self destructive ways if there isn't anything positive, life-changing, world-changing cause into which to channel that energy. As desperate as adults who have no cause, no passion, the diamond of youth can easily fade, buried deep within the repressive lifestyles of suburban malaise. But this is, unfortunately, not what the song is saying, it is really saying that there's no point getting old ... I want to be forever young Let us die young or let us live forever ... Some are a melody and some are the beat Sonner or later they will all be gone why don't they stay young? Now we're entering problematic territory. We're no longer merely suggesting that we can stay in the midset of a young person, we have moved beyond that. Now the suggestion is made that it may be better to die young. Do you really want to live forever? And now we're querying the truth of Christianity, yes we do want to live forever, there is no question, it is the foundation of our faith that Jesus died so that we may live forever. And so we end up with a song that sounds happy, positive, full of life, and yet its message is, at the very least, questionnable. At its worst, it is seductively promoting the ideal of youth suicide. I personally wouldn't go that far, but it is certainly an excellent example of where pop music is at, how it can get into one's mind, how you can wander around unintentionally singing words that go against one's faith. The devil is a clever creature, he continues to fool us through the mass media, through songs and TV etc that seem innocuous. In this case, through a perfectly gentle, pleasant, middle of the road pop song. God bless Wheldon www.curzonhobson.com

[quote]Do you really want to live forever? [/quote] I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't matter since I will either way. But the thought is disturbing to me.