Earth Has No Sorrow (Heaven Can't Heal) - SQOTW

johnny says to sarah as he takes her by the hand
"i hear angels 'cross that river in beulahland"
the waters are cold and they're deep my friend
i'm going down down down and coming up again
i'm checking my closets since i don't know when
surely life is more than learning how to live with your skeletons
wind swing low whisper in my ears
wind swing low dry these tears

why is joy something i must steal
starving skeletons looking for a meal
out in the graveyard the church bells peal
earth has no sorrow heaven can't heal

-- Earth Has No Sorrow, VOL from the Killing Floor CD

Bill Mallonee's line, "surely life is more than learning how to live with your skeletons" has to resonate with anyone who has regrets they live with, however "large" or "small." Because if they're truly regrets, does size matter at all? Another Mallonee song called Certain Slant of Light tells in this way, "Tell me your deep dark secret, yeah, and I will tell you mine. Oh, is that your deep dark secret? Oh well, never mind." Isn't that so true? The logs in our eyes reflect down into the burden on our souls, and they need to be dealt with. And with regrets, all of them may as well be the world on your shoulders, which is why we like to hide them in the dark places of the soul. Our closets. "Skeletons in my/your closet" is a running theme through a lot of Mallonee's work, and so much of his lyrics ring out on The Fall and Redemption. Skeletons are a tragedy of the fall. Each of us have our own, and they tear us down.

Added to our regret, grief abounds. Death, disease, paralysis, hurt, abandonment, divorce, abuse, treachery, depression, disfigurement, mental retardation... the list of grief sources is endless, and some of them can be found in every family and home in every place in the world.

But I don't want to dwell on that, because amidst all these tears is a wonderful and glorious Hope. And hope is defined as: a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment. Christ has come, and as Easter proclaims, he has defeated sin and death. While on earth we may experience these sources of pain and woe, in the big picture our lifespan is not even a hair's breadth, despite how we feel now as we're trapped in these skins. Our expectation is this: everything has and will be made right by Him who has sacrificed and conquered. And one day, trite as it may sound now, all the tears will be wiped away and our lives shall be restored, which is our hope.

Truly, earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal.