metaphor

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“WINGS” Lyrics sung by Macklemore

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I was seven years old

When I got my first pair

And I stepped outside

And I was like, Momma

This air bubble right here

It’s gonna make me fly

I hit that court

And when I jumped, I jumped

I swear I got so high

I touched the net, Mom I touched the net

This is the best day of my life

Air Maxes were next

That air bubble, that mesh

The box, the smell, the stuffing, the tread

In school

I was so cool

I knew that I couldn’t crease em

My friends couldn’t afford em

Four stripes on their Adidas

On the court I wasn’t the best

But my kicks were like the pros

Yo, I stick out my tongue so everyone could see that logo

Nike Air Flight, book bag was so dope

And then my friend Carlos’ brother got murdered for his fours, whoa

See he just wanted a jump shot

But they wanted his Starter coat, though

Didn’t wanna get caught

From Genesee Park to Othello

You’d get clowned for those Pro Wings, with the velcro

Those were not tight

I was trying to fly without leaving the ground

Cause I wanted to be like Mike, right

Wanted to be him

I wanted to be that guy

I wanted to touch the rim

I wanted to be cool

And I wanted to fit in

I wanted what he had, America, it begins

 

[Hook]

I want to fly

Can you take me far away

Give me a star to reach for

Tell me what it takes

And I’ll go so high

I’ll go so high

My feet won’t touch the ground

Just stitch my wings

And pull the strings

I bought these dreams

That all fall down

 

[Verse 2]

We want what we can’t have

Commodity makes us want it

So expensive, damn

I just got to flaunt it

Got to show em

So exclusive, this that new shit

A hundred dollars for a pair of shoes

I would never hoop in

Look at me, look at me

I’m a cool kid

I’m an individual, yeah

But I’m part of a movement

My movement told me be a consumer and I consumed it

They told me to just do it

I listened to what that swoosh said

Look at what that swoosh did

See it consumed my thoughts

“Are you stupid?

Don’t crease ’em! Just leave ’em in that box!”

Strangled by these laces, laces I can barely talk

That’s my air bubble and I’m lost, if it pops

We are what we wear

We wear what we are

But see I look inside the mirror and think Phil Knight tricked us all

Will I stand for change

Or stay in my box

These Nikes help me define me

But I’m trying to take mine

Off

 

[Hook]

 

[Verse 3]

They started out

With what I wear to school

That first day

Like these are what make you cool

And this pair, this would be my parachute

So much more than just a pair of shoes

Nah, this is what I am

What I wore, this is the source of my youth

This dream that they sold to you

For a hundred dollars and some change

Consumption is in the veins

And now I see it’s just another pair of shoes

 

http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-wing-lyrics

The song is a single released by Seattle rapper Macklemore and his producer, Ryan Lewis.

 

“The song “Wings” is about the pursuit of identity through the means of consumerism. The attempt is to dissect our infatuation and attachment to logos, labels, brands and the fleeting happiness that is intrinsically linked to the almighty power of the purchase. The subject I use in the song is shoes, but its aim is to paint a broader picture of being a consumer and tracing the lineage back to my first memory of retail infused desire.”

http://macklemore.com/post/43688861186/wings-the-nba-all-star-game-selling-out

 

Photo Source:  http://www.nicekicks.com/2011/07/28/wings-1-on-1-with-macklemore/

 

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“Shoes” Lyrics Sung by Patsy Cline

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Everything you told me I believed

You said that I was all that you’d ever need

That I made life worth livin’ for you

And no one else could ever fill my shoes

 

But them shoes don’t fit me anymore

They lost their shape when I lost all that I cared for

And someone else will fill the shoes that I once wore

‘Cause them shoes don’t fit me anymore

 

When a shoe is new, it fits awful tight

When our love was new, everything was right

When a shoe is old, you throw it away

Our love is like the shoes that you wore yesterday

 

But them shoes don’t fit me anymore

They lost their shape when I lost all that I cared for

And someone else will fill the shoes that I once wore

‘Cause them shoes don’t fit me anymore

 

Songwriters: Hank Cochran and Velma Smith

(As recorded by Patsy Cline, 11/16/60)

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Shoes-lyrics-Patsy-Cline/B230530FD7F1D6074825693B0031E933

 

Read more: Patsy Cline – Shoes Lyrics | MetroLyrics

http://www.metrolyrics.com/shoes-lyrics-patsy-cline.html

 

photo source:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=love+is+like+old+shoes+images&espv=2&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2EM8U4_HKum2yAHMqICQCA&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=600

 

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Walking the Tightrope Metaphor

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“Peter Brook: The Tightrope” is a documentary film of actors pretending to walk a tightrope. Simon Brook, son of Peter Brook, directed this film which is as much about actor-training as it is about exposing a metaphor.

In fact, the ‘tightrope’ was a rolled-up Persian carpet on which the actors had to maintain balance but were permitted to perform tricks or stunts. Most importantly, they had to convey that they were genuinely suspended in the air, their feet hugging a thin cord.

Peter Brook, a theater director who is nearly 90 years old, coached the actors using both simple and abstract instructions. The participants soon understood the tightrope as a metaphor for the risks we take in life and the risks inherent in every serious acting role.

A.O. Scott, the New York Times film reviewer extended this metaphorical understanding: “At some point, though, perhaps many years after the encounter recorded here, they will peek down at the chasm under their feet and find themselves possessed of the agility and imagination to keep going.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/movies/peter-brook-the-tightrope-follows-the-theater-director.html?_r=0

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Marked Feet Stand Out

Ordinary feet are not perfect. When they inevitably deteriorate, they have our full attention. In our day to day lives, we may notice other weak, broken or marked feet. But we often look away. It is a shame; even in a glance we could still glean some truth.

Marked feet have metaphorical significance. They point to a spiritual truth, modeling God’s original purposes for our feet:

  • A dependent walk
  • A definitive gait
  • A message of redemption with every step

There is always a back story on marked feet. The theme is usually about overcoming the odds: Clubfeet are a congenital deformity. Badly fitting shoes cause hammer toes.  A diving accident paralyzes the diver. Polio weakens a child’s muscles, necessitating crutches for life.  An industrial accident leaves the worker with a limp. An IED (improvised explosive device) hits a soldier on foot patrol.  Amputation and prosthetics are just the beginning of a rehabilitated walk. 

It behooves us to learn the narrative of any marked foot.

 

© 2013 Teresa Sandhu. All rights reserved.

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A Gallery of God’s Feet

Pretend that you have ample financial resources and want to commission a portrait of God’s feet…only His feet in the setting, no other body part.

(Alternatively, commission a child you know who can draw un-self-consciously. Picture ends up on the fridge, kind of thing.) 

 

  1. Prepare to choose one of the following verses from which to model the picture. 

 Exodus 24:9-10 (NLT)

Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.

Psalm 18:9 (NLT)

He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

Nahum 1:3 (NKJV)

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.

Revelation 1:13, 15 (NIV1984)

And among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

 

2. Pause at each verse to get a glimpse of God’s presence. Pay particular attention to His feet in the different scenes. 

3. Get ready to take consultation notes on:

  •  Setting
  •  Actions
  •  Parts that are difficult to imagine or depict

 4. Read the verses again, noting details from each verse.  For example, Psalm 18:

  • Setting – heavens open, dark storm clouds
  • Actions – descending from above but feet remaining on the clouds
  • Parts that are difficult to imagine or depict – is the opening in heaven a door? 

5.  Visualize each verse. What does each one tell you about His feet? 

6.  Ask the Holy Spirit to put you in each verse and potential picture.  Which one draws you closer to God’s feet?

7.  Then, step outside that picture and imagine looking at the picture with Jesus.  What is He saying to you?

 

Which verse did you choose? 

                   Using your notes, let the great commission begin…

 

© 2013 by Teresa Sandhu. All rights reserved

Adapted from:

Sandhu, T.J. (2013). Walking with God: Praying through footwork metaphors in scripture. Unpublished manuscript.

 

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Calling out to God to Rescue your Feet

Praying from the MESSAGE version of The Book of Psalms: 

God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild. If they catch me, I’m finished (7:1, 2). God! Please hurry to my rescue! God, come quickly to my side (70:1). God, give grace, get me up on my feet (41:10). I run for dear life to God, I’ll never live to regret it. Do what you do so well: get me out of this mess and up on my feet (71:1, 2). Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, as you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet (86:17). I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember (119:25)?

I waited and waited and waited for you. At last you looked; finally you listened. You lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. You stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip (40:1, 2)?

When I run to you God, you save me (37:40). You did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart. You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with you in the sunlit fields of life (56:12, 13).

I bless you, God! I give you a thunderous welcome! Didn’t you set me on the road to life? Didn’t you keep me out of the ditch (66:8, 9)? Yes, because You are my refuge, You the High God my very own home, evil can’t get close to me; harm can’t get through the door. You ordered your angels to guard me wherever I go. If I stumble, they’ll catch me; their job is to keep me from falling (91:9–12).

I said to myself, “Relax and rest. God has showered you with blessings. Soul, you’ve been rescued from death; Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears; and you, Foot, were kept from stumbling” (116:7, 8).

God, you make everything come out right; you put victims like me back on my feet (103:6). Blessed be you Lord – day after day you carry me along (68:19). Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength (138:2, 3). Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps (49:7).

 

Sandhu, T.J. (2013). Walking with God: Praying through footwork metaphors in scripture. Unpublished manuscript.

 

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Losing Your Footing

I remember the last time I tripped and fell. It left me bruised and scraped. A good conversation distracted me on a rocky desert trail; I wasn’t looking straight ahead. I should have been more attentive to the path and to my feet. Can you remember your last stumble? What got in your way? How did you get back up on your feet?

Some wrong moves can have big spiritual consequences. The one time Adam and Eve turned away from God left a fallen legacy for all generations to come. Their weakness is mine and yours as well. The “Fall” is a baseline metaphor for sin. You can trace all faulty footwork to that first wrong move.

Look up “fall” in the dictionary and see how much vocabulary resounds with the fallout from that original sin. Samples from the Oxford Reference Dictionary:

  • “Fall away” means to desert or vanish.
  • “Fall back” means to retreat.
  • “Fall flat” means to fail.
  •  A “fall guy” is an easy victim or scapegoat.

The unplanned physical moves of stumbling, tripping, and falling are a picture of the human spiritual condition after that first momentous “fall.” Thankfully, God doesn’t leave you in this predicament. He reverses the effects of the “fall” with His own resurrection. He gives you His Spirit so you can walk with your eyes on Him.

Quiet your inner spirit as you contemplate the following two Bible verses. Ask God for a revelation of His goodness, mercy, and sovereignty over your footwork. He is in control; His plan is a path forward and He is on it with you.

“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand”.  Psalm 37:23, 24 (NLT)

“I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run you will not stumble”.  Proverbs 4:11, 12 (NKJV)

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Excerpt from:

Sandhu, Teresa (2013). Walking with God: Praying through footwork metaphors in scripture. Unpublished manuscript.