Imagine there's no...

You've heard the song. Beautiful. Wildly famous musicians made it world-famous and its magic lingers on.

Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try,
No hell below us, Above us only sky;
Imagine all the people living for today...
Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too,
Imagine all the people living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one.
Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one.

Those who know me may brace and cringe for the diatribe, the disgusted dismissal of the drivel. (Come to think of it, that sounded about right!)

But no, a song that has such appeal deserves thoughtful attention. A few bullets and I'm done:

• The music is beautiful and enchanting.
• The words are too, combining for magical aesthetic harmony and otherworldly power.
• The meaning expresses grand longings of the human spirit, coupled with impossibly obtuse philosophical awareness.
• The meaning mocks the reality we live with.
• While we dare not mock the desire for peace, the means by which such peace will be gained is cruelly naive.
• Peace will never happen this way, because people are fallen. Every. One. Of. Us.
• Christ brings the now and not yet. Real peace from the inside out now. That reality giving tangible hope for the 'yet-to-come' -- the new heavens and earth where the curse of sin is no more and peace rules.
• Proof? The mystery and glory of the cross.

So I find, in the end, the lyrics damnable and damning, as is anything that fundamentally denies reality. I understand the truly figurative meaning of the various words. By "religion" for example he can only mean organized religion as such; for to disallow the concept of religion would negate the song's message. He is doing nothing if not proposing a new religion of peace.

But in a world wildly afflicted with something badly wrong; and with a purview that disallows both sin and possible real personal savior, the song fails. Deeply sad, because so beautiful. And that makes it all the worse.