“Lord, I hope this day is good.”

-Don Williams (1939-2017)

These are lyrics from a Don Williams song that has snuck its way into my morning drop-off routine with the kids. Somedays its the Lord’s Prayer, other days a blessing or psalm. Last week I was teaching them Psalm 143 as a morning prayer: “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”

Yes, Don Williams shares the esteemed company of King David and Jesus in our morning “car devotions”. Now I presume he’s singing a New Song in glory along with Johnny, Waylon and other good ole boys. Don Williams died this week at age 78.

Now, I want to be clear and honest here: Many mornings I’m rushed, impatient and short-tempered as I try to get the three kids dropped off at the right door of the right school at the right time. It is anything but peaceful and easygoing. That’s where country music’s ‘Gentle Giant’ helps me slow down, welcome the morning as a friend, and offer our day up to the Lord in prayer with the following lyrics:

Lord, I hope this day is good
I’m feelin’ empty and misunderstood
I should be thankful Lord, I know I should 
But Lord, I hope this day is good

I don’t need fortune and I don’t need fame
Send down the thunder Lord, send down the rain
But when you’re planning just how it will be
Plan a good day for me

His voice and music brings me right back to the security and comfort of my childhood. I can smell mom’s bars baking in the kitchen. I can sense my dad’s easygoing presence downstairs in the shop working away. Always available. I’m brought back to about age 6. I can feel the red-orange 1970s living carpet, warm from the sun, running through my fingers as I build Legos in the living room next to that old stereo. Don Williams is singing away in the background, laying down a soundtrack of stability and serenity and simple faith.

 

Don Williams reminds me of my dad most. I’m transported into dad’s light blue Chevy pick-up truck — 1977 I think — riding along on one of his mold deliveries. Don Williams’ story songs are about good ole boys, small town values, faith, home and love. His songs are like a father’s encouraging words anchoring an eager soul, his lyrics are a warm embrace on a cold day where could shoulders and cold stares leave you feeling a bit lonely or questioning your belief in your fellow man.

My dad’s rock solid faith was passed down to me, and it fuels my life and ministry in untold ways. But my faith is often of a more heady, theological and abstract brand. Dad has also taught me that the smallest, simplest graces are also worth believing in and celebrating. Don William’s captures dad’s simple yet unshakable “child like faith” in his well known song, “I Believe In Love.”

Well, I dont believe that heaven waits
For only those who congregate
I’d like to think of God as love
He’s down below
He’s up above
He’s watchin’ people everywhere
He knows who does and doesn’t care
And I’m an ordinary man
Sometimes I wonder who I am.

But I believe in love

I believe in music
I believe in old folks
I believe in children
I believe in you.

I believe in love
I believe in babies
I believe in mom and dad
And I believe in you.

To paraphrase (and adapt) the Apostle Paul: What good is it if I can parse Greek verbs, preach sizzling sermons and lead a congregation in worship, if I don’t believe in love, old folks, children, babies, mom and dad, and you? Dad and Don taught me to believe in these God-given sacraments just as strongly as the Apostles’ Creed.

My favorite Don Williams song, however, is “Good Ole Boys Like Me” for its nostalgic imagery of a young boy being tucked into bed, with Hank Williams singing him to sleep from the radio next to the bed, and the soft winds in the oak trees outside the window.

Nothing makes a sound in the night like the wind does
But you ain’t afraid if you’re washed in the blood like I was
The smell of cape jasmine through the window screen
John R. and the Wolfman kept me company
By the light of the radio by my bed
With Thomas Wolfe whispering in my head

I can still hear the soft Southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee
I guess we’re all gonna be what we’re gonna be
So what do you do with good ole boys like me

The song is all about how the music of our childhood never quite leave us. The rhythms and lyrics are still inside us, wrapped tightly around cherished memories. They will always be with us, sneaking up on us when we’re not ready, bringing us back to the days of innocence and simplicity. Tears often flow in these moments.

We all long to return home, to recover feelings of yesteryear, to have one more dance on daddy’s toes, one more Sunday afternoon lying on the sun warmed carpet by mom’s stereo with the smell of cookies in the oven. We’re no longer building Lego castles. These days we’re busy building more serious things like a family, a marriage and a career. But, as Don Williams reminds us,

When I was eighteen, Lord, I hit the road
But it really doesn’t matter how far I go…

I can still hear the soft Southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee…and Don!

Farewell, Don Williams. Your songs will live on in my heart, forever evoking the most precious memories of my childhood. I’m passing your gentle, comforting songs on to my children in hopes that when they’ve grown up, your voice will remind them of me and our mornings in the mini-van filled with tantrums, Psalms, prayers and the Gentle  Giant.