An Influential Truth

Over last weekend I saw I am Legend with Will Smith. In the movie, the song Three Little Birds by Bob Marley plays an influential role in the philosophy of Smith's character, Dr. Robert Neville. As Will Smith sang with the song, I remembered that in another movie, Shark Tale, Will Smith (who is the voice of the main character) makes another attempt to sing Three Little Birds - two different movies, same actor, same song. My guess? Bob Marley is an influence on Will Smith.

Influences emerge. There are obvious sources of influences - suddenly I find myself talking like my father. Other influences can be subtle, I find myself singing a song because it has a deeper meaning for me or reciting a quote from an author or a film. Recently on my ipod I was listening to a song by Skillet, The Older I Get. I found myself instinctively at first, hitting the back button to listen to the song over and over as I ran on the treadmill. After about the third or fourth time it hit me - this song has something to say to me. The lyric that hits me is;


The older I get
Will I get over it?
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I didn't know then it would hurt like this but I think
The older I get
Maybe I'll get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this

Why? I think it is because the greatest regret I have is missing what God wanted to me to know or do, by having done something else. While I can make up for much, I have yet to discover how to reclaim time.

The song is an influence...and while I know that Jesus is an influence on me, and through him I can find all of life that has been lost and more....I think I will wait until a later blog to explore the realities of regret and time lost.

For now I am listening to Skillet and Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. We will see where it goes from there.