Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Music Monday – One of Us

June 27, 2022

I have been wanting to do a post on this song for quite a while and ya know, I’m just going to do it.

When I first heard this song I was 32 and Joan Osborne (who sings this) was 33. I thought she was in her 20’s but she was in her 30’s same as me. This is something I’ve found out in the last two or so years – most of the songs I loved in the 90’s were written and sung by people who were MY AGE. That meant in their 30’s. It’s no wonder I love that decade of music and can relate to so much of it. It all makes sense now.

So, I’m going to give my line by line take on it because there’s a lot you can take away from it whether you are a believer or a questioner. And it’s okay to question. Yes, God wants us to believe in Him but it’s okay to ask questions of Him or seek him out or look beyond the bible. All of that is okay. And this song really brings a lot of that up. Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Bishop Robert Barron have both said that they love getting into conversations with atheists because they question things and not take things blindly without really understanding why they believe the way they do. I think that’s why a lot of people lose their faith or faith in their religion because they don’t find out what they believe or why they believe it.

The song was written by Eric Bazillan apparently in an effort to impress a girl. That girl became his wife so she was impressed. :D At the beginning of the song there’s a clip from an old gospel song from the 1930’s called “Heavenly Aeroplane” which is about the second coming of Christ. I looked up the song, the history, and the words up and I think it’s cool. So, without further ado, here’s the song.

If God had a name what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

These are interesting questions – what do we call God? Various religions each have names for God. And Jews think God’s name is too holy to even say it out loud. Which is quite the opposite of so many of us who, without thinking, let God and Jesus’ name roll off our tongues in a less than holy manner. Yes, it’s something I struggle with and I’m really trying to stop – I need to remember Him in all His glory.

And if you could only ask HIm one question what would it be? For me, I often ask the same thing and I probably won’t know the answer until I get to heaven (after 5,000 years in purgatory). But I always think it would be good to know now, but then again, would it really help? Would it change anything? Would I understand?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home

As a Christian I do believe God became one of us – in Jesus. He walked among his chosen band as well as among prostitutes and drunkards and tax collectors. And the self-righteous hated that – I mean wouldn’t God only hang out with the “holy” people? No. He wants the ones who struggle, the ones who hurt. So, when we see the homeless, the stranger on the bus, the lonely ones – yes, we are seeing God. He is one of us in the “distressing disguise” of the poor, the unwanted, the lonely as Mother Teresa often said. We need to see Him in all his creatures on this earth. And yes, I don’t always remember to do this either, but I try to.

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints
And all the prophets

A lot of the old testament prophets and fathers met God or people who went in his stead like the three angels who came to Abraham. They asked to see Him as well so they knew he was who he said he was. Or maybe just to see God. But he covered His glory because it would be too much for them to take. God is a spirit so He doesn’t have a face but He’s always depicted as some ancient man. I guess it was just easier to see Him that way, but I don’t. I’ve moved on from that and just think of Him as spirit, as love, as life. I don’t need to see His face to believe in Him and I don’t blindly believe. That said, it’s a great question. Again – who do we say God is? Who do we say Jesus is?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home?

Just tryin’ to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope, maybe in Rome

And this is my belief – God is certainly not alone. He has all the angels and saints and regular people who did regular things and some who did extraordinary things all with Him. And plenty of people call him “on the phone” – it’s called prayer. I call too much sometimes and I think maybe God takes the phone off the hook. I’m sure he doesn’t but I think he’s also like, “Just trust Me would ya?!” Maybe the writer of the song feels that religion is dead or no one’s in heaven or no one prays anymore and God is waiting for us to make that move. Like most of these stanzas the words can be positive or negative depending on how you look at them.

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home

Just tryin’ to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just tryin’ to make his way home

Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

Not gonna lie – this song makes me tear up every single time. I think of my loneliness, nobody calling, no one to help me through my pain, no one to pray for me except myself. It’s hard. But I know there are millions of people like me too so I just offer my pain up for all those in similar (or worse) circumstances. It eases my heart just a little. I also think of how terrible a Christian I can be sometimes. I don’t want someone not to have faith because of how I behave. I want what others see to be real and good and bring them to God not make them back away. And I’ve quite a long way to go.

So, that’s my take on this great song. Oh, and the actual music itself – so, so good. Just good 90’s rock music. Can’t go wrong there. Give a listen if it’s been awhile or if you’ve never heard it. See how you feel. My husband never liked this song because he felt it was blasphemous, but I don’t see it like that. As I said before – we all question, we all wonder, and we all slip up too. We’re ALL trying to make our way home to God and our journey is just that – ours.

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» Music Monday – One of Us » Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Music Monday – One of Us

June 27, 2022

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