WEBVTT 00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:24.300 You ever have a love you couldn't deny and a 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:30.410 life you couldn't survive at the same time? I 00:00:30.410 --> 00:00:32.829 don't mean a high school crush or that two -week 00:00:32.829 --> 00:00:35.689 fling that fizzled out when you realized they 00:00:35.689 --> 00:00:39.130 put ketchup on spaghetti. I mean the kind of 00:00:39.130 --> 00:00:42.450 love that gets in your teeth. The kind that sits 00:00:42.450 --> 00:00:45.469 in the marrow and refuses to leave even when 00:00:45.469 --> 00:00:49.289 you've begged it to. And yet, right alongside 00:00:49.289 --> 00:00:54.469 it, a life that keeps grinding you down. A rhythm 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:57.329 that eats your good days and gnaws on your bad 00:00:57.329 --> 00:01:01.369 ones. A road you can't seem to walk without leaving 00:01:01.369 --> 00:01:05.269 blood in the gravel. That's where we're living 00:01:05.269 --> 00:01:09.349 in this episode. We're not just unpacking a song 00:01:09.349 --> 00:01:11.650 tonight. We're stepping into a story you might 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:15.590 already be in. And before you start telling yourself 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:18.329 this is about somebody else's bad decisions or 00:01:18.329 --> 00:01:21.730 somebody else's heartbreak, just sit still for 00:01:21.730 --> 00:01:25.530 a moment because you might hear your own footsteps 00:01:25.530 --> 00:01:29.859 in here. This is Theology in Three Chords. I'm 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:31.659 your host, Brother Jim. Some folks call me the 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:35.239 semi -seminarian. Some folks call me red. Around 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:38.599 here, we treat folk songs like sacred texts. 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:42.120 We believe the same God who spoke through Isaiah 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:44.359 can still speak through a Max Stalling lyric 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:46.939 or a Jimmy Buffett turn of phrase. And you know 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:49.640 what? We're going to listen for that kind of 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:52.939 speaking in this one. Now here's how this works. 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:55.140 We drop the needle on the track, not just to 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:57.299 admire the melody or not along with the hook, 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:00.599 but to walk around inside it. We're looking for 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:03.739 the cracks where the light gets in, the moments 00:02:03.739 --> 00:02:07.019 where the songwriter accidentally or maybe on 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:11.319 purpose preaches a gospel that maybe they didn't 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.379 even know they were holding. We'll follow the 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.680 characters where they go, ride shotgun through 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:20.289 the wrecks. See if the same grace that found 00:02:20.289 --> 00:02:25.270 them might find us too. And while you're here, 00:02:25.370 --> 00:02:27.490 I'd be grateful if you'd pull up a chair at our 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:30.210 little table. Click that subscribe button. Share 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:32.550 the episode with somebody who's got their own 00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:35.409 love they can't deny. Life they can't survive. 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:39.090 And leave a comment telling me where this story 00:02:39.090 --> 00:02:42.229 might have hit home. You never know. Your story 00:02:42.229 --> 00:02:44.150 might be the thing that helps somebody else keep 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:47.759 going. Pour yourself a cup, turn the lights low, 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:50.979 and let's do what we do here. We're going to 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:54.180 step inside Mike McClure's Jack of Diamonds and 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:57.599 see where the ditch meets the high road and maybe 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.599 where the captain's voice still calls, I'll meet 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.979 you halfway. I'll see you on the other side. 00:03:19.050 --> 00:03:23.270 So, let me ask you again. Have you ever had a 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:26.310 love you couldn't deny and a life you couldn't 00:03:26.310 --> 00:03:30.710 survive at the same time? Not a postcard romance, 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:34.669 something rougher, truer. The kind that shows 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:36.870 up uninvited and takes your chair like it paid 00:03:36.870 --> 00:03:40.289 rent. The kind you feel in your teeth when you 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:44.240 try to sing over it. You walk the house at midnight 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.539 because the rooms can't hold it and the quiet 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:50.020 keeps handing you questions you don't want to 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:54.319 answer. You pour glass to hush the noise, but 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.240 the ice is louder. You step out onto the porch, 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:00.319 the town's asleep, but your heart's up late, 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:05.080 tapping its foot, wanting a verdict you don't 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:10.530 have. That is the ache this song stands in. The 00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:13.069 split down the middle where longing and survival 00:04:13.069 --> 00:04:16.050 glare at each other like strangers who share 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:20.430 a last name. Jack of Diamonds doesn't tidy the 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:25.529 gap. It sits in it with you. And it tells you 00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:30.790 the truth out loud. Well, the Jack of Diamonds 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:32.470 and the Queen of Hearts hit the road and hit 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.870 the dark, hit the brakes and tried to park, but 00:04:34.870 --> 00:04:39.629 they slid off in a ditch. We know these two because 00:04:39.629 --> 00:04:42.310 they live in our mirrors. The jack of diamonds, 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:45.629 a little shine, not much crown. A man with enough 00:04:45.629 --> 00:04:47.589 charm to get dealt into the hand, not enough 00:04:47.589 --> 00:04:50.610 wisdom to set the table. The queen of hearts, 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:55.110 I mean love with gravity. Tender and dangerous. 00:04:56.350 --> 00:04:59.149 The kind of card that makes every other card 00:04:59.149 --> 00:05:03.930 in the deck nervous. They launch fast, headlights 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.750 cutting the black gravel, sprays like a choir 00:05:06.750 --> 00:05:10.310 of sparks. But speed isn't the same as direction. 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:14.149 And hit the dark is the honest line nobody wants 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:17.370 to say out loud. When the brakes finally matter, 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:21.009 it's too late. The ditch takes what the road 00:05:21.009 --> 00:05:24.730 won't keep. You know what? We've all lived in 00:05:24.730 --> 00:05:28.730 that skid. We've called it adventure because 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:31.689 we were proud, or escape because we were scared, 00:05:31.709 --> 00:05:36.029 but the truth, it was drift, dressed up. We weren't 00:05:36.029 --> 00:05:41.529 steering, momentum -wise. Sometimes, sometimes 00:05:41.529 --> 00:05:44.930 the ditch's mercy stops the car you wouldn't 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.870 stop yourself. Well, they played the game while 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:51.050 the elevator ran down the shaft to the promised 00:05:51.050 --> 00:05:53.810 land, hit the ground with a heavy hand, and the 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:57.410 conductor flipped a switch. cut to a box of soft 00:05:57.410 --> 00:06:01.069 light and bad music. The elevator slides like 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:03.589 a lullaby, and we tell ourselves it's going somewhere 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:07.310 good. We play the game to pass the time, shuffle, 00:06:07.490 --> 00:06:10.170 deal, pretend the odds are always in our favor, 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:14.449 but listen, the cable's grown. The promise is 00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:18.569 underground. That's the wrong geography for a 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:22.720 promised land. The stop is hard enough to rename 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.680 your bones. Somewhere above the ceiling, the 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.540 conductor. Call him fate, temptation, the house 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:31.660 throws a switch with a bare hand. You didn't 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:36.860 choose the floor. You were delivered to it. And 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:39.980 we all know that ride. We've smiled on the way 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.100 down because it felt easier than looking up. 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:45.660 We've all called the descent progress because 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:51.439 momentum is flattering. Until the impact. When 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.480 gravity has a hold of you, bluffing will not 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.839 save you. But naming the floor you hit might. 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:03.319 So the devil came back on the prow, low and steady 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.740 with a heavy growl. Slowly growing darker now, 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:12.040 there's a rapping at the door. There's a sound 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:16.279 habits make when they remember you. It isn't 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:22.240 loud, it isn't patient. Low and steady. Like 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:27.019 it's done this walk with you before. The room 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:30.379 dims by degrees. You forgot what color your walls 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:34.079 were in real daylight. Then comes the knock. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:39.000 Measured. Like the visitor thinks he has a key 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.600 and is just being polite. We know that knock. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.459 We know that posture where your hand finds the 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:51.540 doorknob on its own because at least the old 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:57.540 trouble is familiar. We, not just you, we both, 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.300 you know it, we've gone quiet at 2 a .m. We've 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:03.379 stalled in the hallway with our palms sweating. 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:06.759 We've opened, we've closed. We've stood still 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:08.899 until the wrapping faded and felt both relieved 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:13.899 and lonely about it. The enemy rarely kicks in. 00:08:14.670 --> 00:08:20.069 He waits. And grace teaches us how to wait him 00:08:20.069 --> 00:08:25.829 out. Well, it's the four wands with the ace of 00:08:25.829 --> 00:08:29.910 cups. Somehow, that just don't add up. Sorry, 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:33.529 fellas, lots of luck. Can't feel that anymore. 00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:37.470 And now the deck changes languages. We're not 00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:39.710 just shuffling spades and diamonds. We're handing 00:08:39.710 --> 00:08:45.129 out emblems. Four wands is a homecoming. A canopy 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:49.429 strung with lights. The ace of cups is first 00:08:49.429 --> 00:08:54.809 poor grace. Love that won't run dry. And in another 00:08:54.809 --> 00:08:58.009 room, these two cards start a dance and end with 00:08:58.009 --> 00:09:02.990 a toast. But here's the verdict. That just don't 00:09:02.990 --> 00:09:10.529 add up. Wrong table. Wrong room. Write symbols 00:09:10.529 --> 00:09:14.450 in a house with rigged math. Can't feel that 00:09:14.450 --> 00:09:18.529 anymore. Lands like a doctor tapping your knee 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:25.529 and getting nothing. The reflex is gone. Some 00:09:25.529 --> 00:09:29.889 of us have learned numbness as survival. Turn 00:09:29.889 --> 00:09:32.470 the nerve off so the blade can't find it. Then 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:35.049 one day the good comes near and the switch is 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:38.850 still stuck. We watch our own heart like it's 00:09:38.850 --> 00:09:44.200 behind glass. When your jaw nerve is asleep, 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:46.740 don't panic. Sometimes it's the splint that kept 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:51.299 you from shattering worse. So the first refrain, 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:56.080 I've called out to my captain. I said, sir, I've 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:00.519 gone astray. Am I too far gone to come back now? 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:06.940 He said, no, son. I'll meet you halfway. Here's 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:09.799 the question with teeth. No, decorate the prayer 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:13.679 pretty, just the old fear in a new accent. Am 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:18.019 I too far gone? And that half -sentence answer, 00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:22.220 no, son, carries a father's palm on the back 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:24.500 of your neck. I'll meet you halfway as mercy 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:27.919 with its boots on. Not a map, not a lecture. 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:33.100 Movement. Start walking. I'm already walking. 00:10:34.700 --> 00:10:37.559 And we hear this, and the room changes temperature. 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.059 We, plural. Because one of the holiest tricks 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:43.639 Grace pulls is convincing a whole crowd that 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.320 the answer was for them personally and being 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:51.200 right every time. Halfway isn't a bargain. It's 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.960 how love shortens a road that you can't on your 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:58.679 own. Well, a couple of things I've come to know. 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:00.879 The good times come, and they will surely go. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:05.320 And liquor is like a torpedo. Tangles as it tears. 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:11.820 Tired truth. The high burns quick. The come down 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:16.720 lasts longer. And the bottle and whatever wears 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:19.139 the bottle's mask in your story doesn't just 00:11:19.139 --> 00:11:22.659 hit, it binds you up. It tangles as it tears. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.080 That's the perfect cruelty. The wound that won't 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:30.080 let you swim away from it. And we've learned 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.940 to sanctify our torpedoes as tools. It helps 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:36.679 me sleep. It helps me speak. It helps me forget. 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:40.559 Then we wake to find lines wrapped around our 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:44.659 ankles like eels. The ocean doesn't care if your 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.500 excuses are eloquent. It just continues to pull. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.820 If you're tangled, it doesn't mean you're weak. 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:54.139 It means you've found the lines that need cutting. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.659 It slammed into my sinking ship, wrapped itself 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.460 in barbed wire fence, wiped down and cleaned 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:04.820 the fingerprints by drunks that moved the chairs. 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.500 Now the camera backs up and shows the room at 00:12:08.500 --> 00:12:11.259 a slant. The ship wasn't steady before it was 00:12:11.259 --> 00:12:15.039 hit. Remember, it was sinking. The barbed wire 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.799 is the lie that pain can protect you. Wrap it 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:21.320 tight enough and no one will get in except you're 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:25.269 the one bleeding. Wipe down and clean the fingerprints. 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:27.590 We know this ritual. Clean what can be cleaned. 00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:31.690 Explain what can be explained. And draft an alibi 00:12:31.690 --> 00:12:37.210 that sounds like maturity. Then that last line, 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:39.549 slurred and brutal. Drunks that move the chairs. 00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:42.929 The scene betrays itself. The center cannot hold 00:12:42.929 --> 00:12:47.539 that the furniture has its own agenda. We've 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:50.279 walked into our own lives, knocked a shin on 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:52.679 what used to be in the other corner. Faith, trust, 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.960 breakfast, bedtime. We blink, squint, turn on 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.259 more lights. The room keeps lying. Or maybe we 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:06.200 do. You don't have to prove the room is straight. 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:08.980 You could admit it's crooked and ask for help 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:13.500 to level the house. This one's my favorite. Verse 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:18.659 8. Well, lazy burning turning lanes, lower lumen 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:21.740 hurricanes, twisting up the wetter veins of the 00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:28.100 path of least resistance. Road and sky both misbehaving, 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:31.539 lazy burning turning, feels like driving through 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:35.379 a fever dream. Lanes that wander, shoulders that 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:39.179 melt off the side. The storms sit low like they 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:43.370 pay rent. Gauges spin, north forgets itself, 00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:47.330 and the path of least resistance starts talking 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:50.929 to us like it's our friend. Come on, this way's 00:13:50.929 --> 00:13:55.269 downhill. We know that voice because we used 00:13:55.269 --> 00:13:57.470 it to coach ourselves through bad weather and 00:13:57.470 --> 00:14:03.289 worse choices. We told our legs to rest while 00:14:03.289 --> 00:14:07.480 the current had its say. We've woke up in another 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:13.080 county wondering who moved the state line. Ease 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:16.899 is not the same thing as peace. If the wind is 00:14:16.899 --> 00:14:19.179 pushing, test its theology before you follow 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:23.600 it. So I crossed the road way up on high. For 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.299 love I could not deny. With a weathered brow 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:29.559 and my crooked eyes stared off in the distance. 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:34.740 Here is the hinge you can hear click. So I crossed, 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:37.580 not crawled back to the ditch, not rode the elevator 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:42.600 again. Crossed. Exposure. Risk. Traffic. And 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:46.080 not for thrill this time, for a love I cannot 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.919 deny. And the body keeps the score, weathered 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:55.580 brow, crooked eye. We can't get a makeover. We 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:59.620 only get direction. The gaze settles where the 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:03.450 road gets thin and clean. Their horizon looks 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:07.610 understated and trustworthy, and so you step. 00:15:09.929 --> 00:15:13.350 We've made that shy, stubborn turn. We, plural. 00:15:14.590 --> 00:15:18.330 Some of us limped into it. Some of us laughed 00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:22.669 from nerves and cried three steps later. Some 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:25.429 of us called a friend and said nothing, letting 00:15:25.429 --> 00:15:28.909 the silence witness the crossing. Don't wait 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:33.009 to feel holy. Just aim your feet and go. Wholeness 00:15:33.009 --> 00:15:38.950 often shows up in motion. And now the second 00:15:38.950 --> 00:15:41.950 refrain. I called out to my captain. I said, 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:46.769 Sir, I have gone astray. Am I too far gone to 00:15:46.769 --> 00:15:50.629 come back now? He said, No, son, I will meet 00:15:50.629 --> 00:15:54.149 you halfway. Say the question the same way. Let 00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:57.610 the words wear a groove. The second time tastes 00:15:57.610 --> 00:15:59.950 different because your mouth remembers the first 00:15:59.950 --> 00:16:06.120 answer. Still you ask, and still the answer comes 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:11.139 like rain. Unsurprised, unfancy, but enough. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.120 We're all standing in that mid -road motel lobby 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.600 somewhere, hands in pockets, dust on our cuffs, 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:23.220 waiting to hear if we get to check back into 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:27.039 a life that won't kill us. Clerk looks up with 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.450 a face we can't read and smiles. Like he knows 00:16:30.450 --> 00:16:35.629 our dad. Repetition isn't faithlessness. It's 00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:39.730 how hope practices breathing. One more time for 00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:43.490 the scar tissue. Am I too far gone to come back 00:16:43.490 --> 00:16:47.570 now? No, son. I'll meet you halfway. Same syllables, 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:53.029 same cadence, same answer. Louder somehow because 00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:57.200 your ribcage finally made room for it. The line 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.879 lands like an arm across your shoulders. Simple, 00:17:01.019 --> 00:17:07.839 warm, weight that blesses. Some truths don't 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:15.140 get truer. They just get closer. So I'll ask 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:16.759 you how we started and I'll mean it the same. 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:19.460 You ever had a love you couldn't deny and a life 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:22.450 you couldn't survive at the same time? If you're 00:17:22.450 --> 00:17:25.130 standing in that split, hear this as clean as 00:17:25.130 --> 00:17:28.869 a train whistle on a cold night. Halfway is already 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:32.509 happening. Put your foot on the high road. He's 00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:35.990 already running towards you. When you feel the 00:17:35.990 --> 00:17:38.009 ground turn from gravel to pavement under your 00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:39.930 heel, don't look back to see how far you've come. 00:17:39.990 --> 00:17:52.630 Just look up and see who's coming. So, here we 00:17:52.630 --> 00:17:56.569 are on the other side of Jack of Diamonds. We've 00:17:56.569 --> 00:17:58.589 been down in the ditch, dropped down the elevator 00:17:58.589 --> 00:18:01.269 shaft, felt the hurricane twist the weather vanes 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:03.049 and crossed the high road with a crooked eye 00:18:03.049 --> 00:18:06.150 toward the horizon. And if you're anything like 00:18:06.150 --> 00:18:08.710 me, you're hearing that first question perhaps 00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:13.230 a little differently now. You ever had a love 00:18:13.230 --> 00:18:17.569 you couldn't deny and a life you couldn't survive 00:18:17.569 --> 00:18:25.660 at the same time? At the start, maybe you were 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:28.279 picturing a woman, a man, a face you could still 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:31.460 see in the corner of your memory. But now, maybe 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:36.000 that love's not just romance. It's the kind of 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.000 love that feels like it's holding you together 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.880 even when your life's being pulled apart. Maybe, 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:46.059 maybe, maybe that's God's love. Maybe it's the 00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:50.400 stubborn ember of your own soul. Maybe it's both. 00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:55.559 Here's the thing. I'm not here to solve it for 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.920 you. Some songs, some questions aren't meant 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:01.880 to be tidied up. This one ends just like the 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:04.920 road does, still stretching out, still waiting 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.640 for you to take a step. And the captain's voice, 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:12.519 it's still the same answer, halfway. It's what 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.339 I love about this kind of storytelling. It's 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:19.930 not here to preach you into a corner. It's here 00:19:19.930 --> 00:19:21.990 to walk with you down the middle, even if your 00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:26.029 shoes are muddy and your map's upside down. And 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:29.089 if this conversation meant something at all to 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:31.869 you, if it stirred something in your chest or 00:19:31.869 --> 00:19:33.690 gave you a little company on your high road, 00:19:33.789 --> 00:19:38.150 do me a favor. Hit that like button. Share this 00:19:38.150 --> 00:19:40.329 with somebody you know is fighting to keep a 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:42.849 love alive while holding the rest of their life 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:45.450 together. Subscribe so you don't miss the next 00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:48.920 time we find gospel in the gravel. Leave a comment. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.579 Tell me where this song met you. Because I read 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:54.700 every single one of them. Because here's the 00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:57.019 truth. This podcast isn't just me talking into 00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:01.380 a microphone. It's us. Building a long table 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:04.339 out here where the weary can sit. You bring your 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:07.539 story. I'll bring mine. And we'll see if between 00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:09.619 the two of us we can hear the spirit humming 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:13.900 along under the static. Until next time, I want 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:16.869 to leave you with this. Whether you're stuck 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:18.750 in the ditch or halfway across the high road, 00:20:18.809 --> 00:20:21.809 whether your love is tearing you up or holding 00:20:21.809 --> 00:20:24.349 you together, grace is already walking toward 00:20:24.349 --> 00:20:28.509 you. You might not see her yet. You might not 00:20:28.509 --> 00:20:32.849 believe me yet, but she's coming. And when you 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:36.730 call out, because you will, the answer will be 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:42.890 the same. No, son, I'll meet you halfway. See 00:20:42.890 --> 00:21:00.009 you next time. Chapter 6. Therefore, leaving 00:21:00.009 --> 00:21:02.769 the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let 00:21:02.769 --> 00:21:03.329 us go on.