Many the Miles

Don’t tell anyone, but I often to listen to non-Christian music. I know, that’s bordering on heresy, but I will confess it is just one of my many weaknesses. If it is any consolation, however, I do tend to listen to the music differently than most (I think). I often find myself thinking about the artists’ lyrics in terms of how it might look in the light of Christian faith.

One of my all time favorite examples is “One Of Us” by Joan Osborne. It is an easy one, because she really is singing about God and probably doesn’t know just how profound her words are, from a Christian perspective. Maybe she doesn’t know because many Christians don’t realize it either - they are too busy condemning Joan Osborne for being a non-Christian doing non-Christian things (but that is an entirely different blog post). If you have never listened to it, check it out (with an open mind) and try to listen from faith. Personally, I love the song and believe it offers more to think about than many “Christian” songs. Oh, and don’t do a lot of research on Osborne first, just listen to the song.

So, in my most recent moment of weakness, I was listening to this song, “Many The Miles” by Sara Bareilles (I know, it is 10 years old… I didn’t say that I am always current… wait, how did you know it was 10 years old?).

The chorus says this:

How far do I have to go to get to you?

Many the miles

Many the miles

How far do I have to go to get to you?

Many the miles

But send me the miles and I'll be happy to follow you, love

In the convoluted swirl of my brain, I couldn’t help but think of love, as Love, when hearing the lyrics. I’m reasonably confident there was no intent to include God as part of this song, but to avoid worsening my vice, that is how I thought of it. I know, initially, that may not make sense. To be honest, none of this really fits well with the rest of the song (so, if you listen to it, just hum until you get to the chorus), but I couldn’t get past the chorus. The idea of distance, between me and Love, grabbed my attention.

If you give it a moment, I’m sure you will recognize that you have felt it too… distance from Love. We have all felt distant from Love, at some point in our faith. We may not verbalize the question, but in one way or another we have all asked, “How far do I have to go to get to You?” The answer feels the same as well, “Many the miles, many the miles…” not because God is making us work for it, but because we are making ourselves work for it. God doesn’t create the distance, we do, and the distance we create seems like an insurmountable number of miles.

Over the past few years, it seems like I have been there far too often. I find myself in a place where the miles between God and I often seem overwhelming. The distance, at times, can be paralyzing.

How far do I have to go to get to you?

But even within the question, there is a hint of comfort. I know that seems strange, but there comes a point in our faith when we know there is no turning back… there will never be any turning back. We stop asking about the reality of God and instead we ponder the distance to God. The reality of God, the reality of Love that is different from love, is no longer a question. Instead the question is, “How far do I have to go to get to you?” There is comfort in that question for me, because I know that, ultimately, I will answer with the last line of the chorus:

“But send me the miles and I’ll be happy to follow you, Love.”

It is not unlike many Psalms, where the psalmist laments his dire condition and the apparent absence of God only to come around again to God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. Check out Psalm 10, as an example, where the Psalmist begins by saying,

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (ESV)

But by verse 16 & 17 he says,

“The Lord is king forever and ever;

The nations perish from his land.

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

You will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear” (ESV)

I can’t give you a specific date, or a moment in time, or a solitary life experience, but somewhere along my journey of faith I came to the understanding that, no matter how bad things got, no matter how distant I might feel from God, I wasn’t going to walk away. If forced to choose, even in my greatest distance, I know I would go the many miles to follow Love.

I think that perspective is reflected in many of the Psalms. I think it is a perspective that we sometimes forget. We always want God to feel close. We always want that spiritual high that comes when we feel close to God, but sometimes the deepest faith is created in those times when God feels furthest away - the deep faith that tells us that despite the distance, I’ll stand firm, and if I need to walk many miles, “send me the miles and I’ll be happy to follow you, Love.”