The Taker, Revisited

I was thinking about my kids today and I was reminded of a moment that happened a few weeks ago. I was riding in my car, with my two boys in the back seat. I was listening to some of my "Generation" mixes, getting them ready for the CD.

Now, often when my kids hear me listening to my songs, they'll sometimes sing along. That, in and of itself, feels really good. I like that my kids like my tunes. I know that there'll come a day when they'll hear my stuff, roll their eyes, and say, "Sheesh, Dad. That song is soooo '90s!" And considering just how '80's my stuff already is, I'm in real trouble.

But for now, they still think I'm cool.

But this one particular day, after they'd been signing along for a while, "The Taker" came on. This time, Brendon, the seven-year-old, sat there listening. I just drove and soaked up the mellow groove of the song. Then I hear his voice from the back seat...

"Dad?"

Yeah?

"What's it mean, 'He wore the thorns'?"

I had to catch the lump in my throat. He was referring to the chorus of the song:

"I was the taker
He was the giver
I the forsaker
He the forgiver
He wore the thorns
And I was the sliver
He was the dyer
That let me live again..."

So, I told him the story of how the Roman soldiers, when they heard that he was supposed to be the "King of the Jews" had made the crown of thorns and put it on his head.

"That would hurt"

Yes, I bet that would.

"But at least they said He was the king."

I thought about that. I remembered that some of them, after all the storms and earthquakes, had marveled. I thought of the verse that said "The devils also believe, and tremble".

And then we went on listening to the other songs, and I thought to myself how wonderful it was to have such a teaching moment, even if I'm not entirely sure which of us was being taught.

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com