This past year Alan Jackson sang his last live concert for country music fans. As a truly great artist who wrote and sang mostly of the simple pleasures in life, he will be sorely missed. One of his greatest songs, Small Town Southern Man, sits at the top of my classic country playlist. In a few simple verses, he lays out a beautiful vision of living life and, more importantly, facing death.
The song begins by painting the picture of a man grown from humble roots, who marries and works to raise a family; a man that bowed his head to Jesus, only loved one woman, and worked hard to keep his family on his land. A man who spoke with love and understanding. Here is a man! A man that is crafting a virtuous life through attending to the basics.
There is so much that distracts from the important things. National and international news is constantly at our fingertips. In our face, in fact. Attention is the new currency and everywhere we look there are people and technology clamoring for it. It’s hard to keep up! I listen to this song and think, maybe I don’t have to keep up. Maybe I have a right not to know! All of this news and information distracts from what life is really about. This song is a reminder that life really is simple. And if it doesn’t seem to be, maybe it’s a question of attention. At least in my case, I can attest to that. What is God asking of me? Attending to my daily duties is the call, and that is the image this song provides.
The final verse of the song Alan Jackson shows the fruit of what that man sowed over the course of his life. He writes, “Finally death came calling for that small town southern man. He said, it’s alright cause I see angels and they got me by the hand. Don’t you cry and don’t you worry, I’m blest and I know I am – cause God has a place in heaven for a small town southern man.” This man met death with a calm receptivity. He was okay with it. He welcomed it. Is that realistic? Is that even possible? It could be argued that this man was presumptuous, assuming God had a place in heaven for him. I’d argue he had faith. A faith that had been practiced all his life and naturally flowed to the biggest moment of life: death.
How do I prepare for death? Alan Jackson lays it out for us – how he lived his life was the preparation – today I prepare! John Senior said in the imminence of death, there is nothing to be done. Death has no agenda. It is simply the consequence of how we have lived our lives. It’s the consequence of what we had on our agenda each day. This is striking in its simplicity. Ora et labora, St. Benedict’s call to work and prayer, is the call. Now is our chance to live out our death. We die as we live. The small town southern man was simply reaping what he sowed… Or rather, what he took the time to cultivate, in his life. There are so many good things to spend our time on – but even those can be a distraction from the really important things. It’s said that Satan rarely tempts us with outright evil. Rather, he tempts us with the appearance of good.
What are you calling me to Lord? What should be on the agenda of my life? In this fast paced and over-complicated world, John Senior cut to the chase: The catholic agenda is prayer, work, and sacrifice. And the small town southern man offers an image of the end for which we are striving: a happy death, and our place in eternity.
