As I sat in the examination chair at Southwest Medical Center, there to get a skin cancer removed (cut) from my elbow, the Doctor came into the room for the procedure.
We had our usual greeting, and as he spoke to the young lady assisting him in medical terms, he suddenly said, “Alexa play Creedence Clearwater.”
I complimented him on his choice of music all-the-while, wondering how he knew I was a Creedence fan. It’s a bit scary, actually!
The first song up was Bad Moon Rising, written by lead singer John Fogerty.
In my morning Bible reading, I’m in the Book of Ezekiel. As I listened to the lyrics, I thought with all he had to deal with in that time of the destruction of ancient Israel, the prophet Ezekiel could have maybe written that song.
“I see the bad moon a-risin’ I see trouble on the way I see earthquakes and lightnin’ I see bad times today
Don’t go around tonight. Well it’s bound to take your life. There’s a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes a-blowin’ I know the end is comin’ soon. I fear rivers over flowin’ I hear the voice of rage and ruin
Don’t go around tonight. Well it’s bound to take your life. There’s a bad moon on the rise, alright
Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we’re in for nasty weather, One eye is taken for an eye
Well don’t go around tonight. Well it’s bound to take your life. There’s a bad moon on the rise
Don’t come around tonight. Well it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise”
There’s a line in the lyrics Ezekiel himself might have written: “Hope you got your things together, Hope you are quite prepared to die.”
As I did a bit of research, I discovered John had written that song in troubled times. He said, “The song was a metaphor. I wasn’t just writing about the weather. The times seemed to be in turmoil. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I knew it was a tumultuous time.”
After all those years, here we are today (July 18, 2024) with assassination again in the news, and we find ourselves in “a tumultuous time.”
I’m glad that in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, I do have my “things together.” That is comforting in these tumultuous times.
Have a great day!