That's the line from Ben Rector's song, Brand New. The song is about how he feels when he is in love: so joy-filled he believes he can do anything. The lyrics evoke a sense of newness tied to experiences ... like flying, dancing, and laughing. So, it's a bit of stumble when, amidst all those experiences, we get to the line about John Cusack.
Rector says he imagines what happens when he sings the lyric ... that people younger than he just draw a blank and maybe think: who's John Cusack? And that people who are older than he think: does he know who that is?
And, of course, there's the question of why it is even in the lyrics: why include John Cusack in a song about the empowerment of love?
Rector explains that he had in mind the 1989 film, Say Anything. In case you don't recall, Cusack played Lloyd Dobler, an average guy who decides that he will make a play for Diane, the most beautiful girl in his high school and, not incidentally, the class Valedictorian. Everyone, not least her father, is shocked when Diane agrees to date Lloyd. It's a case of optimism ---in the face of no real reason to be optimistic--- triumphing over skepticism.
Film critic Roger Ebert gave it his well-known "thumb up," saying, "one of the best films of the year—a film that is really about something, that cares deeply about the issues it contains—and yet it also works wonderfully as a funny, warmhearted romantic comedy." Not everyone agreed at the time, but the movie is now considered one of the all time best movies about high school; not least because everything about it feels real. There are no magical solutions to the challenges faced by the unlikely couple. No Deus Ex Machina providing a convenient plot twist. The only "super power" on display is Lloyd's youthful optimism.
All that to say, Ben Rector was thinking of Lloyd Dobler's optimism when he wrote/sang "I feel like a young John Cusack.” Being in love made him feel, despite perhaps some evidence to the contrary, that he could, like Lloyd Dobler, risk it all.
He had faith.
In this week's Lectionary passage from Genesis, Abraham is instructed to take his only son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to God.
That had to be a shock.
Up until then, things had been rocking along pretty well for Abraham. Life was good. Having a son meant he had an heir, a huge thing for Abraham. After many, many decades of thinking his servants would inherit, life had made a very positive turn. It felt brand new. And his love for his son was the centerpiece of that.
And yet.
Clinging to a thin optimism that, somehow ---in the face of all evidence to the contrary--- God would make it all be OK, Abraham obeyed God's command.
He had faith.
Read the passage and learn why one of God's names is Jehovah-Jireh ... "God Provides."
And prepare to feel brand new.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 8 (13) (July 2, 2017)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 13
Jeremiah 28:5-9
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42
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I hope you can join our group Friday morning for what we call "Lectionary Breakfast." We start at 8:00, and spend the hour enjoying the scripture and each other's company. Location: In the back at Waco's "Egg and I" restaurant.
And some of us might just say anything.
Blessings,
Steve
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More about John Cusack and Lloyd Dobler here: https://g.co/kgs/mv9uTk
And: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-say-anything-1989
More about Ben Rector and Brand New here: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7476878/ben-rector-talks-first-hot-100-hit-brand-new
And: http://roughstock.com/news/2016/06/40507-album-review-ben-rector-brand-new
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