Come to Papa

Many, many years ago, before I was living a G-d-centered life, I listened to a LOT of Bob Seger. In ways that only music can, his voice reminds me of who I used to be, a very long time ago.

Tonight, as I was walking in my neighborhood outside of Jerusalem, sweating in the hot August night of the Israeli desert, Bob Seger's "Come to Papa" came up on my playlist.



At first, I was transported to my misspent youth. I thought of my friends Amy and Cathy, young women living alone for the first time, in a sparsely furnished apartment, swallowing life in huge gulpfuls. I remembered nights spent in bars, taking crazy risks, trying on a lifestyle that I soon discovered was not for me.

Then I heard Bob Seger singing words that, today, mean something entirely different to me.

If the sun
Ain't shinin' bright
And the moon, the moon, the moon
Won't shine for you tonight
If the stars in the sky gone away
And you feel
Feelin real low down today 

If life gets hard to understand
And the whole thing's getting way out of hand
Come to Papa
Come see your Papa 

Thank you "Papa", for always inviting me to come to You for comfort.