As Country as They Wanna Be

  I grew up with parents who thought rock and roll and jazz and pop were evil, and that one should properly listen to old hymns only, but a delight in old country music was understandable.  I prefer louder music, though I like a bit of wood in my rock.  I also have a baritone voice which would be better for singing country.  Normally I fight this, but this one song of mine is supposed to be country.  It's based on a bad pun.  I had written the song "Who Are You Anyway?" which admitted the realization that I really didn't know God like I thought I did.  Didn't get Him at all, actually.  I wanted a song which allowed Him to respond.  I dared to write one.

  It's called "Promises (God's Country)" and is mainly about things I always believed God had promised, but which, actually, He seemed to want me to know He hadn't.  The hard one was that, I was always taught that when the apostle Paul wrote to one specific group of people and said "As you supplied all of my needs, so my God will supply your needs," that this meant that if I never needed anything at all, God would get me that.  The idea was that if I didn't have it, I didn't need it.
  But then one has to ask: What about all the Christians who starve each day?  Didn't they need food?  The answer I've always been given to that one (that what they needed was to die and go to be with God in Heaven) never seemed to me to be satisfactory.  So I had a look and thought "Just because Paul said that one thing to that one group of guys, given how they'd treated him personally, what makes me feel that God has Himself promised to get me anything I need at any given point in time?"  This version needs Tyler to do me some real bass, and other Tyler to do me some piano.  A country fiddle would be great, too.

Promises (God’s Country)

 I didn’t promise that you would never hunger

I didn’t promise that you would feel no pain

I didn’t promise that the sun would never beat down harshly on you

On the just and on the rest I send the rain

I gave you life to live and I won’t say how long you have

I refuse to make your life decisions for you

Because they’re part of what I put you in this big world to explore

But I promise you that I don’t plan to bore you

I didn’t promise I would give you daily bread

You will see I won’t supply your every need

I didn’t promise things would work out in your lifetime

But I often add some growth if you plant a seed.

I didn’t promise that there’d be someone to hold you

I didn’t promise there’d be folks to understand

I didn’t promise to reward your good behaviour

But if you look for it, now and then you’ll see my hand

I didn’t promise you would live to see old age

I didn’t promise that you’d have somewhere to sleep

I didn’t promise that I’d keep you free from cancer

But not a tear falls down uncounted when you weep

I made a lot of things that I really hope you go check out

For everything there is a time and season

Enjoy the things you can and if you can, survive the rest

      I don’t promise you will always know My reasons