Where I Belong

Alright, I'm still on a Switchfoot kick...so one more song by Switchfoot this week called, "Where I Belong." This was a new song to me at the Concert, it's the last song on their new album Vice Verses.  They played this song for one of the encores that night.  Jon Foreman introduced it by saying that though he hopes this doesn't happen for a really long time, he wants this to be the last song that the band plays in their final performance. 

Several thoughts come to mind when I hear this song.  First, I realized that I don't know much about Babylon.

Until I die I'll sing these songs, on the shores of Babylon....

What do they mean by that?  Babylon has a very long and complex history, and is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible, initially in the Genesis 11 story where the people of earth were building a tower to heaven and God decided to confound the language and scatter people throughout the earth.   Babylon became the greatest city in the ancient world back in the time period around 600 years before Christ.  If I were to attempt to summarize it's history in one sentence...Babylon was the greatest city in the world and eventually fell to abandoned ruins.

So you could interpret this line in the song, singing from the shores of Babylon, as a comparison between Babylon and the modern world....what greatness we have achieved, but over time that greatness is slipping away.

What drew my attention to this song initially are the words:

I wanna see the earth start shaking
I wanna see a generation
Finally waking up inside

I just think that these words speak to the mission that Switchfoot is on.  Kids are drawn to their songs for the great music, but then when they learn the words, they may eventually wake up to the meaning and start thinking about their existence, their Creator, what happens after this life, etc..

Overall, I think this is a song that reminds us of the temporary nature of this life, and that we have yet to find our real "home."  And when that day eventually comes, I pray that we will be able to see God face-to-face and know that we are finally home, where we belong.

And on the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look You in the eye
And know that I've arrived
In a world where I belong

May you have a week filled with blessings and a mindset bringing you closer to God, bringing Him glory.  God Bless!