Project Switchfoot

Last weekend on the Peace Senior High guy's retreat, we listened to a bunch of Switchfoot songs during our sessions, and it rekindled my love for them. The thing that's amazing about Switchfoot is that they never resort to the cliches that a lot of contemporary Christian groups do, they never bang you over the head with their religiosity, and yet almost every single song proclaims an undeniably Christian message. Lyrically, they're probably my favorite band out there. So, I'm going to attempt something I'm calling "Project Switchfoot". The plan is to go through Switchfoot's songs and do a little write-up giving my thoughts on each one of their songs. I want to do at least one song a week, maybe two if I can manage it (I probably will not). Hopefully, this will keep me writing, and exercise my ability to engage with the things I'm taking in. We'll see if I can keep it up, but hopefully it works out and I actually have things to say.

Since I don't actually own their first two albums, I'm going to start by working my way through my favorite Switchfoot album, The Beautiful Letdown

Meant To Live

Fumbling his confidence and
Wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he’s bent for more
Than arguments and failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more,
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside,
Somewhere we live inside.
We were meant live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves
Somewhere we live inside.

Dreaming about providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we’ve been living with our eyes half open
Maybe we’re bent and broken,

We want more than this world’s got to offer (2x)
We want more than the wars of our fathers
and everything inside screams for second life. (yeah)
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?

C.S. Lewis once wrote "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." I wouldn't be surprised if that quote was on Jon Foreman's mind when he wrote this song. "Meant To Live" is a song about that desire for more than what this life offers. I believe everyone feels that longing for something more, something outside of our everyday lives. Occasionally, we catch glimpses of that wonder that we're searching for, echoes of heaven that squeeze their way through our half-open eyes. Maybe it's the beauty of a waterfall or a sunset, or the rush of skydiving, or the winning shot in a basketball game, or the embrace of a loved one, and on and on. There are fleeting moments where we feel like we've almost gotten there, but they aren't quite the real thing, and they never last. And so, we become moment hunters, grasping for these hints of what we're really meant for, continually making "failed attempts to fly".

As Lewis says though, the attempts to find fulfillment in this world are inevitably fruitless, even if they seem successful. We have countless examples to show us that worldly goods and success are no guarantee of happiness and satisfaction. Consider Michael Jordan, who was undeniably as successful as you can get, yet was so obsessively competitive that 6 years after his retirement, when he was being honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame as the greatest player ever, Jordan felt the need to give a bitter, petty speech aimed at all the people he dominated during his career. One of the reasons The Social Network was my favorite film of last year was because of the final scene. After inventing Facebook, becoming wildly successful and fabulously rich, Mark Zuckerberg sits in front of a laptop and continually refreshes the screen, waiting for the college girlfriend who dumped him to accept his friend request. Even when we are "successful" in our attempts to fly, ultimately we still fail, because there is no true satisfaction to be found in the world. As the preacher in Ecclesiastes says "All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full...the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."

The line from the chorus that is repeated in the bridge is a great line. "Have we lost ourselves?" On the one hand, it questions whether we've lost our original purpose., if things aren't how they're supposed to be. We are meant for so much more, but we did lose ourselves. Sin has separated us from the purpose we were created for. On the other hand, the question is also the means to find that purpose. "Have we lost ourselves?" Christ said he came that we may "have life, and have it to the full," that we might have more than this world's got to offer. He also said "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Have we lost ourselves?