He paused mid sermon, hesitantly smiled at the congregation and said “I want to try something a little different for today. I was listening to music as I was prepping this message and a song came on and I felt it was fitting. I want to use it in today’s message” He then nodded to the A/V guy who began to play “Life in the Fast Lane” by the Eagles.
Now, if you’ve never heard the song, I first of all highly recommend it. Northeast State Vice-President Shelby Westhoff and I jam to it just about every time we drive somewhere. But secondly, I want to give you a quick summary of it so we’re all on the same page. The song tells a story about a man and a woman, both wicked as described by the song. They meet each other and proceed down the “Fast Lane” which is a metaphor for things such as drugs and other things I probably shouldn’t talk about in an FFA blog… Anyway, they get caught up in this lifestyle, first greatly enjoying it but soon realizing they’ve become addicted. The song puts it this way, “Life in the Fast Lane, surely make you loose your mind.” The take-away of the song is the two become hooked and eventually lose themselves to the things they’ve succumbed to.
As the song played, Pastor Steve broke down the song similar to what I did above and to be honest I’ve never heard the song the same since. He was pointed with his question, “What’s your ‘Fast Lane’? What’s the thing we get so caught up in we lose sight of what really matters?”
I was thinking about that message earlier this week. To be frank, I’m not any more excited about staying at home then anyone else is. I’ve spent the past two years of my life on the road and to have that and the last leg of my FFA journey ripped from me has been hard. That’s my “Fast Lane”. I have made it such a high priority in my life that I’ve got caught up in feeling sorry for myself now that it’s gone. In all reality, I have no reason to complain. I’m healthy and my friends and family are healthy too. There are people out there that don’t even have that going for them. There are folks who had it rough even before this pandemic, now it’s even harder for them.
I guess what I’m trying to say is we all walk a different path, each with its own challenges but it’s important that we look out for those we can help along the way. Not get so caught up in what we’re doing that we can’t be of service to others. The “Fast Lane” seems fun at first, but soon we begin to fly by what really matters. It can be easy for us to pretend not to notice we’re caught up in the race.
What’s your “Fast Lane”? If you don’t know, I’d encourage you to do a little inward reflection on what your life truly looks like. Meanwhile, I’ll be looking for an off-ramp.
Go Get Em,
Chandler Jahner
2019-2020 State President
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