ROCK GOSPEL: SOLSBURY HILL

SOLSBURY HILL by Peter Gabriel

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill

I could see the city light

Wind was blowing, time stood still

Eagle flew out of the night

He was something to observe

Came in close, I heard a voice

Standing, stretching every nerve

I had to listen, had no choice

I did not believe the information

Just had to trust imagination

My heart going "Boom-boom-boom"

"Son, " he said

"Grab your things, I've come to take you home."

To keep in silence I resigned

My friends would think I was a nut

Turning water into wine

Open doors would soon be shut

So I went from day to day

Though my life was in a rut

'Til I thought of what I'd say

Which connection I should cut

I was feeling part of the scenery

I walked right out of the machinery

My heart going "Boom-boom-boom"

"Hey, " he said

"Grab your things, I've come to take you home."

When illusion spin her net

I'm never where I wanna be

And liberty, she pirouette

When I think that I am free

Watched by empty silhouettes

Who close their eyes but still can see

No one taught them etiquette

I will show another me

Today I don't need a replacement

I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant

My heart going "Boom-boom-boom"

"Hey, " I said

"You can keep my things, they've come to take me home."

***

This is an old song, so it’s been with me all of my music and gospel life. It has spoken to me at various times for different reasons, but always at times I am leveling-up spiritually. First a mission, then a big move. Then during Covid lockdowns, and most recently returning home from the temple after a spiritual smackdown in the Celestial Room.

Obviously the eagle symbolizes the Holy Ghost to me, flying out of the night, “Came in close, I heard a voice/ Standing, stretching every nerve/I had to listen, had no choice” – This is similar to my experiences. I just have to trust. And my heart goes “boom boom boom” every time.

“Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home,” translates to “pull yourself together because I’m going to show you a better way home” (home being back in the presence of Heavenly Parents after a journey to become more like them).

The next two verses feel like me trying to learn how to accept the invitations inherent in my covenants, especially Consecration. It’s hard to find a way to give it all to God when I have to remain in this fallen world and do the work of a telestial world. I have always pictured myself someday just walking away from it all like the song says: “I was feeling part of the scenery/I walked right out of the machinery/My heart going boom boom boom/Grab your things I’ve come to take you home.”

But the past four years, and especially the past few months, have brought unprecedented, exponential leveling up. During lockdowns, I started taking drives alone. I’d grab a soda, put on my favorite music, and go watch the sunset from the soccer fields with the radio on because my soul was screaming for solitude in my always-full house. Don’t get me wrong– I LOVED lockdowns and I loved having my people home, but solitude is like water for me. I will shrivel and die if I go too long without being completely alone for long stretches. One night while watching the sunset, I was listening to Peter Gabriel sing about the eagle and his invitation and hearts going boom, and it occurred to me that the pandemic was a grand invitation to walk right out of the machinery. How could we do it? When? For the first time it seemed possible, even expedient. Consecration was on my mind from then on.

A few months ago, I was sitting in the temple thinking about all the promptings I’d been receiving recently. One of the most miraculous was canceling a spring break trip we had been planning since 2017. We rented a cabin on a lake in the Ozarks to watch the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse in totality. Our experience with totality in 2017 was so moving, we really wanted to do it again. So when our family sat down at the new year to plan our actual travel and activities, we all unanimously felt like we shouldn’t go. Rich remembered the terrible traffic. I and some of the kids just wanted to be cozy and safe at home for conference weekend. So we canceled. We never do that. A few weeks later my brother sent me a video about signs in the heavens (of interest to me because I had just done a deep dive into the book of Revelation in December while teaching Gospel Doctrine class). I take most end times speculation with a grain of salt, but the idea of the aleph and the tav appearing in the sky over North America in 2017 and 2023-24 and then over the holy land in 2027 and 2034 matches divine patterns I recognize from scriptural deep diving the past 5 years and it seemed more significant than an educated guess. Add to that the fact our whole family felt the same prompting, at the same time,  to stay home. I felt major shifts were afoot, especially with the idea that the space between the October eclipse and the April one was a period of preparation and consecration because I had felt prompted to consecrate, independent of any prophecies or other people’s experiences. So in the temple, I brought these things up in my prayer and meditation time, with a heartfelt plea to help me do my part and to please reinstate the higher and holier laws that will bring us all closer to God. The answer to that plea was a blunt, “What is stopping you? Live it now.”

So I left the temple thinking about how to walk right out of the machinery today; how to level-up from telestial living to high terrestrial living. The first steps were to remove everything without a Christ focus from my agenda– stop prioritizing entertainment, recreation, and hobbies– and to stop thinking in terms of ownership and start thinking in terms of stewardship. I’ve started with baby steps like limiting the use of the words my and mine in my thoughts and speech, trying to think of myself as a conduit for God’s goods and his love– that they are not mine to have, but to flow through my life and bless me as I pass them on to someone else. I’m still in the phase of learning this, practicing this, and praying for opportunities to divest myself of things and stuff and habits formed in a telestial world that need to stay in that world while I walk away. Trying to make this my permanent way of thinking and being has brought this song full circle in my life. The last line, “You can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home,” is exactly how I feel now. Take every single little thing that ties me to this place because it’s only hindering my ascension to my home. It’s time to bid Babylon farewell.