This afternoon as I was driving my son to McDonald’s I turned on one of the local classic rock stations, that was doing a “Retro Weekend.” Of course I’m just old enough to find it weird that the songs they’re classifying as “retro” came out after I was married, but I guess I’m just not young any more…anyway, I got caught short by a song I missed the first time around, “What if God Was One of Us?” by Joan Osborne (I understand I missed it the second time around too, as it was covered in “Glee” a couple years ago). Anyway, give a listen:
I’m not going all theological on this song. I could disagree with various nuances of the lyrics, and it’d be beside the point. It’s somehow sweet and thought-provoking and worth chewing on.
Of course, season your thoughts with the fact that, if you believe what the Scriptures teach us about Jesus, than in some interesting, transcendental, and wholly-incomprehensible way God did, in fact, become one of us. Not “just a slob like one of us” exactly, but certainly alone at times and trying to make his way home…with us in tow. That’s worth contemplating as Easter approaches.
I remember this the first time it went around, and yeah, I think I had one or two kids already when this came out. It’s funny how “oldies” used to mean stuff that came out before I was born (ie, 50’s or earlier) and now it refers to music that came out when I was, well… young. Sigh….
I’ve always found this song interesting and contemplative, even though there were a number of things that bugged me theologically. If there’s a choice between someone writing songs about God that are somewhat off theologically or someone writing a song that is totally against God, I’ll take the former. Sometimes though, I hear something like this and wish I could sit down with the writer and help them figure some things out (for their sake, not mine… better theology theoretically should lead to a better relationship with God and more peace/joy/love.)
Good post, Dan. And I am a little surprised you missed it the first time around.