With the Lord, You Will Never Be Alone.
All you have to do is reach out, and He will meet you way more than half way.
I first listened to the song in New York City, at the souvenir shop in the NBC tower interestingly, as I waited for my family to finish shopping. It was quite catchy. When I read the lyrics, I was taken by the sadness of the song narrator’s situation:
Said he tried to phone me/But I never have time/He said that I never listen/But I don't even try
I got a new place in Cali/But I'm gone every night/So I fill it with strangers/So they keep on the light
She said she told you she knows me/But the face isn't right/She asked if I recognized her/And I told her I might
I stayed a night out in Paris/Where they don't know my name/And I got into some trouble/With that drink in my veins
I got a problem with parties/'Cause it's loud in my brain/And I can never say sorry/'Cause I won't take the blame
I know I always go missing/And you're lying awake/But if you ask why I'm distant/Oh, I'm runnin' away
She seems like she doesn’t care about the effects of her actions on those around her. In fact, she warns anyone wanting to meet her:
I know you're dying to meet me/But I can just tell you this/Baby, as soon as you meet me/You'll wish that you never did
Yet, underneath this, there is a deep sadness, and I feel sorry for her:
You know that everywhere I go/I got a million different people tryna kick it/But I'm still alone in my mind
She is surrounded by so many people, and she’s still so alone. That’s so sad.
Yet, she should not despair: the Lord is always there. He is always calling to her to come back to Him. He will never let her be “alone in her mind.” And in this fact, there is hope.
I last talked about my prayer to never be left alone by God, and reflecting over this song, I have hope. Because, when we reach out to God, He meets us way, way, way more than half way. In the Sacred Tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the Lord our God says to everyone:
Whoever draws close to Me by the length of a hand, I will draw close to him by the length of an arm. Whoever draws close to Me the by length of an arm, I will draw close to him by the length of a fathom. Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running.
All we need to do to reach out, and we will find the Lord our God right there, with Open Arms, welcoming us home. And there is no embrace like His Embrace. There is no love like His Love. There is no peace like His Peace.
In fact, God says in the Qur’an:
And God (continuously) calls unto the Abode of Peace…(10:25)
All the song’s narrator has to do is reach out to the Lord, and she will never be “alone in my mind.” He will always be there. With the Lord, we will never be alone. Never.