Imagine there’s a heaven
John Lennon’s secular hymn, “Imagine,” was intoned at Jimmy Carter’s funeral by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (above). By all accounts, the song was Carter’s favorite song, which is a real head-scratcher considering that the late president was a devout Christian. The song’s lyrics are pointedly not Christian.
This blog has written on this insipid song before. The lyrics begin thusly:
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
It’s easy if you try.
No hell below us,
Above us only sky.”
We suggest the more productive use of the imagination IS the contemplation of heaven. Not only is heaven more plausible than Mr. Lennon’s vision of eternal nothingness upon death, it’s a much more joyous way of living a life than moping about life without meaning.
So what is the meaning of life?
That life has meaning! Why? Because we were made in God’s very image. Life is a quest to know and love our Creator God, Who is Love itself.
The quest is an exciting adventure with ups and downs, with meaning packed into every breath we take. And this physical stage of life is just the beginning. Heaven awaits those who want to spend eternity with our Creator.
Why waste time imagining a shell of a life when we can contemplate the transcendental values of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful? Life WITH meaning.
Which leads us back to Mr. Carter and Lennon’s syrupy song. A song like “Imagine” with lyrics at odds with our faith has no place in a house of God.
Jimmy Carter was always something of an enigma, as he supported Roe v Wade in spite of acknowledging that God doesn’t like abortion, since it kills His creation.
Ronald Reagan’s funeral
By way of contrast, Ronald Reagan, also a Protestant, had Ave Maria sung at his funeral by the great Irish tenor, Ronan Tynon. He evidently requested it before Alzheimer’s Disease took its toll on him. Nancy Reagan said it was one of her husband’s favorite songs.
Tynon said he was “aware he [Reagan] had a devotion to the Blessed Mother.” Perhaps the late John Paul the Great had something to do with that in light of his close relationship with the U.S. president. They had a unique bond, both having survived assassination attempts that should have killed them.
Tragically, Lennon did not survive his assassination attempt. Did he die the cynical atheist, stubbornly clinging to a belief that there’s no heaven? Perhaps not. Rock biographer, Steve Turner wrote a book, “The Gospel According to the Beatles,” that claims Lennon was drawn to Christianity late in life. According to the author, Lennon was a fan of Pat Robertson and Billy Graham.
Even more, he wrote a song titled, “Talking With Jesus,” and even set the Lord’s Prayer to music, to the chagrin of his wife, Yoko Ono.
Let us hope these reports are true.
In the meantime, we can roll our eyes at Lennon’s song being played at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Mr. Carter was naive when it came to abortion just as he apparently was when it came to music.
Wouldn’t it be something if John Lennon was at the pearly gates waiting to greet him!