At the end of the day, the pursuit of the divine is supposed to offer up wisdom and, practically speaking, teach you how to live life better. But for me, the sacred scriptures are songs; not that I listen to them looking for life lessons, but sometimes they’re there anyway. It’ll Shine When It Shines is by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and it’s up-front about its message; one that I feel good about passing along.
Let’s hand the mike over the Daredevils for a moment:
Seems like everyone is out looking for the sun
singing rain and pain on he who hesitates.
But it'll shine when it shines
you might think I’m wasting time
but I’m just a good old boy who’s learned to wait.
That’s the chorus, and there are a bunch of verses in between, talking about life and never actually saying Be here now; they don’t need to, it’s hiding between the lines and between the words.
Oh, and it’s a beautiful soft melody, beautifully sung by relaxed male voices in a gentle rich harmony. I can’t ever listen to it without smiling. Me, I’m as guilty as anyone of overfilling the space life offers but, all these decades in, I’m mostly learned not to fret while I’m waiting for that which must be awaited. It’s very helpful.
While you’re waiting for the sun, you can always listen to a song, or write one, or write a computer program, or maybe just tell other people about a good song.
This is part of the Song of the Day series (background).
Links · Spotify playlist. This tune on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon. And here are the Daredevils, singing it live.
