ODE TO THE MAN IN BLACK
I saw Walk the Line. Have been waiting for it since May. Before May. Have loved Johnny Cash for many years. Was always told by my Dad growing up, “No honey, he’s a bad man, don’t like him.” My Dad looked at Cash’s actions, not heart. Bad move on his part. Biggest pet peeve of mine in life.
John & June had a most wonderful love story! Maybe the second best one there is. Last week, I heard an hour long tribute to the two, on some eclectic little radio station. Some bookish sounding woman waxed on about the love these two shared for one another, a sweet love, never tainted with bitterness, never lessened by time. Her soft spot for their story, her respect and admiration, left an impression on me. She told much about June Carter, how she was the daughter of America’s first Gospel family, the roots for many to follow. The host shared how that Gospel wasn’t just a genre to be sung for June, but was based on a sincere belief in God. Torn, she was, in her love for John versus her devotion to the Lord.
For years, she wrestled with her desire for a married man, a floundering, damaged man. She could not reconcile a want of John with following in line with her Godly beliefs, so at last, she chose. It is said, she chose John, to love the man, saying if loving Johnny Cash means burning in hell, I choose hell. Them there, are some powerful words! For a God-fearing Christian woman. I know. That’s BIG love. So in honor of a devoted woman. The words to my new favorite song:
Ring of Fire
Love is a burning thing
and it makes a fiery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire …
I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns, burns, burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.
The taste of love is sweet
when hearts like our’s meet
I fell for you like a child
oh, but the fire went wild …
I fell in to a burning ring of fire …
Simple words, not too much in the way of lyrics, have heard this song many times. But, saw it in a new light. Love compared to a fire. All consuming, enveloping, encompassing. It was shared that June meant for the song to mean her falling, not only into love, but into hell. I am glad to say for her sake, the sweetest of endings occurred. She made her choice. And John, a man of redemption, found his heart in the Lord as well. I have read words written by the man. Words of love that only a man who truly knows the Lord, trusts and shares in Him, could have written. So, for all those who find themselves falling as in the song, like I find myself, may the fall be sweet.