Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
If you sang that title, then you must know the song. It was a big hit song for the Animals in 1965, and I was a mere 14 years old. Too young, perhaps, to fully appreciate the lyrics, but old enough to memorize the words and file them away. Fast forward ahead, 59 years later, and I would wake up with this song as the background music while I am trying to think of something to write about this week. It occurred to me that this song is what I should have been “praying about” all this time.
I have never really considered myself one of the “cool guys”. I was the fifth of five children and grew up in the shadows of my older siblings that I always considered to be cool; especially my brother who was a mere three years older than me. I was always Jim’s little brother through my school years, and it always held me back until the time I realized that I had something to offer myself. That epiphany freed me up to be myself and I didn’t have to me naughty anymore to get attention. I never really needed to, but that was how the “child” me coped with my inferiority complex. I was not extremely naughty, but a little bit, I can confess to. Adding the line immediately preceding the title of this story “I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood”, makes it ring whole in my mind.
In my venture though time, there have been many people that didn’t (or don’t) like me. I think that is unfortunate for me as I try to like everybody. I believe that I think a little bit differently than most people and my ability to say what I think often conflicts with what I mean to say. Unfortunately for me, I don’t always recognize my faux pas. So, I end up hurting someone with a stupid joke or a comment made in jest, that struck a nerve and I was too dumb to see it. All this time, I could have benefitted by praying, Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood… I firmly believe I need the divine intervention as my ability to put my foot in my mouth is still something that I struggle with. It’s not as simple as the “I know I’m not as funny as I think I am” line. Are you listening, God? I know that you are!
God has been good to me despite the fact that I don’t deserve it. That concept is easier to take knowing that nobody deserves God’s grace. But I do believe that there are varying degrees of reprobatism. ( I made that word up) I like to think that I’m better than average on that scale. I like to think that it is merely the fact that my heart is bigger than my brain. Simply put; I mean to be good but I’m just a little too stupid sometimes. Lucky for me, God has given me an angel for a wife. She gets me even though I have said things to her that came out hurtful. I hope she believes me when I say that hurting her in any way is the last thing I want to do, and NEVER my intention. It’s so wonderful to have a partner that continues to love me despite me sometimes being a total idiot.
I hope that this story will convince the haters that they can’t hate me any more than I hate myself. So, just let it go. It’s really you that suffers when you hate and not the person who’s in your crosshairs. If a song is playing in your head, take note and listen to the words of that song. I believe that God uses music and songs to help us through this crazy world we live in. It’s funny that a song that I liked back in 1965 would pop back into my head this morning and cause me to pause and listen to the words and apply them to myself and what I need. That’s the coolest thing about God; He uses things that make you tick to make you better. Listen to the voices in your head, one of them is probably God, telling you something you need to hear.
