Gods of Men

I used to dream of being famous
Well, my name would be a household word.
I thought that it would thrill me, then I saw that it could kill me
Now it strikes me as a little absurd.

I used to dream of being Don Juan,
Of having all these pretty girls on my mind.
It made shambles of my mind, so I found myself a wife
Who's a lover and a friend of mine.

As the world, keeps turning 'round,
You either learn to bend with the wind or it knocks you down.
Turn your back on the gods of men
And the Lord, who is true, will give life back to you again.

I used to dream of being a rich man,
Yeah, I swore I'd have it all someday.
Once you chase it you will find that it isn't worth a dime
Until you're free enough to give it away.

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photo by Issy Craig

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And I used to dream of chasing vengeance
All my enemies would crawl and sweat.
Well my happiness was drained from reliving all the pain
Now I'm learning to forgive and forget.

As the world, keeps turning 'round,
You either learn to bend with the wind or it knocks you down.
Turn your back on the gods of men
And the Lord, who is true, will give life back to you again.

I used to dream of being a wanderer,
With just my sneakers and my own guitar.
Well, it got lonely right away, now I'm happy just to play
With my daughter in my own back yard.

And I used to dream of being a hero,
Yeah, I told myself I'd never fall down.
But I couldn't take the strain and Jesus is the name
Of the only hero I've ever found.

As the world, keeps turning 'round,
You either learn to bend with the wind or it knocks you down.
Turn your back on the gods of men
And the Lord, who is true, will give life back to you again.

by Randy Stonehill
from the album Love Beyond Reason
Copyright 1985 by Word Records

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I used to listen to this song when I was in high school and the words have always stayed with me. "Turn your back on the gods of men and the Lord who is true will give life back to you again." All of my life "the world" has said, if you are willing to pay the price you can have it all. But what was the price? Only my soul, my values, my family, my time, my God. And my immortal soul is worth more than that.

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

BTW, the rock hounds among us will notice that the picture that I chose for this post is Iron Pyrite, a pretty, but worthless rock, also known as Fools Gold. Everything that this world has to offer is passing away and only a fool would exchange the things of this world (Fools Gold) for the true riches of the world to come.

-Dave